Bears defensive end Montez Sweat has been voted the 82nd best player in the NFL in a poll of league players conducted by NFL Network.
Sweat was featured Monday on “The Top 100 Players of 2024,” which unveiled players ranked Nos. 100-81, and continues with 10 players revealed weekdays through Wednesday, July 31. The top 10 will be announced Friday Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. CT live on NFL Network.
Sweat is entering his sixth NFL season and first full season with the Bears after being traded from the Commanders Oct. 31.
Last season, Sweat became the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in sacks in the same season, helping earn him his first career Pro Bowl honor. Through the first eight games of the season with the Commanders, Sweat registered 6.5 sacks. In nine games with the Bears, Sweat tallied 6.0 sacks.
He also finished the season with 57 tackles, 25 quarterback hits, 14 tackles-for-loss, three forced fumbles and four passes defensed.
“We actually played the Commanders the first week,” Cardinals tight end Trey McBride told NFL Network. “We had a game plan around him. [We were] thinking we weren’t gonna see him the rest of the year and then he gets traded mid-year. We play the Chicago Bears at the end of the year and then we gotta block Sweat again.”
Since entering the league, Sweat ranks tied for 15th in forced fumbles, tied for 17th in sacks and tied for 18th in tackles-for-loss. He is also one of seven players in the NFL with at least 5.0 sacks in each of his last five seasons.