Grading the Chicago Bears’ signing of Yannick Ngakoue

This will probably be the easiest grade ever given to a Chicago Bears free-agent signing.

The Bears added defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to a one-year, $10.5 million contract Thursday night, bolstering a defense that desperately needed help in its pass rush. After finishing last in the NFL in sacks in 2022, Ngakoue brings an instant double-digit sack artist to a front seven that’s vastly improved since last year.

Ngakoue joins fellow free-agent additions Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards, and DeMarcus Walker and completes the overhaul GM Ryan Poles conducted on defense this offseason.

Early-round draft picks Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens will provide pass-rush help along the interior, and with Walker, Trevis Gipson, Rasheem Green, and Dominique Robinson, the Chicago Bears suddenly have a quality rotation of rushers who can rattle opposing quarterbacks.

Yannick Ngakoue is the difference-maker.

Ngakoue finished the 2022 season with 9.5 sacks and has 19.5 over the last two years. He won’t have any learning curve in the Chicago Bears’ defense after coming from an Indianapolis Colts team that runs a similar system.

Obviously, the Bears get an “A” for this transaction. Bears fans are celebrating the signing, and rightfully so, as Chicago now has the makings of an NFC North contender and a legitimate playoff team.