3 Chicago Bears players who could interest the Detroit Lions between now and the trade deadline

2. DE Yannick Ngakoue

Ngakoue is on his fifth team over the last four seasons, with two sacks over the first six games this season. As he lingered available this offseason he pointed to wanting a "stable home" and a "multi-year deal", before signing a one-year, $10.5 million deal with the Bears in early August.

Ngakoue is a one-trick pony pass rusher, and not much of a help against the run. But his production as a pass rusher can't not be argued or ignored. In seven full NFL seasons, he has never had less than eight sacks and over the last two full seasons he has 19.5 sacks (10 in 2021 for the Raiders and 9.5 in 2022 for the Colts).

The Lions are generating plenty of heat on quarterbacks (pressures, knockdowns, etc.), so that's not the issue. The issue has been finishing at the quarterback consistently (15 sacks this season, 12 over a two-game span), and against the two best offensive lines they've faced (Chiefs in Week 1, Buccaneers in Week 6), the pass rush basically disappeared.

There are bigger-named edge rushers the Lions could make a trade for, including one from a different division rival that's also lined up to be a trade deadline seller. But it wouldn't cost much to get Ngakoue, and renting him for the rest of the season fully fits the template of his career over the last few years.