Linebacker T.J. Edwards is headed home, agreeing to a three-year deal with the Chicago Bears on Monday, according to multiple reports.
NFL Network and ESPN reported the deal includes $12.5 million in total guarantees and is worth a total of $19.5 million. Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham helped bring Edwards to the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2020.
Free agent contracts with new teams are not official until the new league year begins on Wednesday.
Edwards, 26, was one of the top coverage linebackers in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles last season, according to Pro Football Focus. He finished seventh in the NFL with 159 total tackles in 2022, which was the second-most in franchise history behind Byron Evans in 1992 (175).
The Eagles are likely to elevate 2022 third-rounder Nakobe Dean to fill Edwards’ starting role.
Edwards’ high school football field is 20 minutes northwest of the Bears’ Halas Hall practice facility, and he’d join another former Wisconsin linebacker in Chicago. Jack Sanborn was a freshman for the Badgers when Edwards was a senior.
–Field Level Media