Ryan Poles says Yannick Ngakoue will bring ‘leadership, energy’ to Chicago Bears’ pass rush

LAKE FOREST – Everywhere he went, Bears fans reminded general manager Ryan Poles that he needed to sign a defensive end.

“You’ve got to love the Bears fan base and how passionate they are,” Poles said Saturday at Halas Hall. “If it was at my son’s baseball game, people yelling from the field, coaches at third base yelling to me, or literally on the beach in Maui, I was reminded that I need to sign a defensive end.”

Poles finally sealed the deal this week. The Bears signed veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue to a one-year, $10.5 million deal on Friday. Ngakoue had 9.5 sacks last season for the Colts and has totaled 65 sacks over seven NFL seasons.

He fills a huge need for this Bears’ roster, which recorded a league-worst 20 sacks last season and made only one significant addition in signing defensive end DeMarcus Walker. Walker, though, has never recorded more than seven sacks in a season.

Now, Ngakoue will step in and the expectation is he will disrupt the QB. He’s done it everywhere he has played. He has had at least eight sacks every year of his NFL career.

[ Chicago Bears see defensive end Yannick Ngakoue as ‘every-down’ player ]

In addition to his on-field production, Ngakoue brings a level of veteran experience that the Bears need at defensive end.

“Yannick’s going to bring leadership, energy and his pass rush here, which is going to help our defense and help our team get better,” Poles said. “Also, the ability to help our young guys learn that craft and the skillset to be able to get home and be consistent and dependable.”

“Yannick’s going to bring leadership, energy and his pass rush here, which is going to help our defense and help our team get better.”

—  Ryan Poles, Bears general manager

With this signing, Poles once again showed his willingness to be patient. He didn’t panic when free agency began in March. Reports this offseason indicated that Ngakoue wanted a multi-year contract, but Poles felt comfortable waiting him out, even into training camp.

“There’s a level of patience that you’ve got to have to be a sound decision-maker,” Poles said. “Again, it comes back to that. That’s probably the biggest lesson of the last two years – patience and letting things happen. There’s times we’re going to hit the gas and sometimes you want to hit the brake.”

Ngakoue was at Halas Hall on Friday, but is expected to miss the next day or two of practice. He headed back home to get things in order before making the move to Chicago. He’s expected back by Sunday or Monday.

“I just wanted to go somewhere I feel like I fit in, and I feel like I fit in here,” Ngakoue said Friday. “It’s a great culture, great history, it’s a great place to play football.”

The Bears released defensive lineman Jalyn Holmes in order to make room for Ngakoue on the roster.

In addition to Ngakoue, the Bears signed 39-year-old veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis, a deal that became official Saturday. The Bears waived injured tight end Chase Allen to make room for Lewis.

“With such a young team, I thought it was critical to get a pro’s pro, a leader, someone the guys can lean on to understand how to be the ultimate pros and win a lot of games in this league, how to stay healthy and take care of their body, all those little things,” Poles said. “He’s going to bring that as well as help us in the run game and help us stay balanced.”