Sometimes, it just takes the right team, the right scheme, and the right position for a player to enjoy a breakout season. When defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. moved from the Saints to the Bears in 2020 on a deal that cost Chicago just $1.6 million against the cap, Chicago moved him from a primary edge defender to a primary interior pass-rusher, and Edwards thrived in that role. The second-round pick of the Raiders in 2015 out of Florida State had never had more than 3.5 sacks in a season through 2019, but he set career highs in sacks (4.0) and put up 22 total pressures and 16 stops in just 278 total snaps.
On Sunday, the Bears re-signed Edwards to a three-year, $11.55 million deal, and here’s why it’s a great re-signing if you’re not that familiar with Edwards’ value.
The Bears re-sign Mario Edwards after a career-year where he transitioned from the edge (71% of snaps in 2019 with the Saints) to the interior (89% of snaps in 2020 with the Bears).
Edwards ranked in the top 5 of disruption rate (12.3%) and sack rate (2.6%) among interior DL. https://t.co/RXJFfT4tQS pic.twitter.com/Mh4Qwj48IA
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 15, 2021
The Pro Football Focus numbers match up. Among interior defensive linemen who took at least 20% of their teams’ snaps, Edwards ranked sixth in PFF’s Pass Rushing Productivity metric, behind only Aaron Donald, Chris Jones, John Franklin-Myers, and Leonard Williams. Kudos to the Bears for getting Edwards on another relatively cheap deal before other teams could try to pry him away.
