There will be a lot of discussion about who lines up at the edge defender position opposite Montez Sweat on the Chicago Bears defensive line. Austin Booker, who picked up 4.5 sacks in 10 games after starting the season on injured reserve, has to be in that conversation.
Austin Booker’s 2025 Snapshot
OTHER 2025 CHICAGO BEARS SNAPSHOTS:
Quarterback Caleb Williams Tight End Colston Loveland Safety Kevin Byard IIIMontez Sweat led Chicago with 10 sacks this season. Defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. finished behind him with six. Meanwhile, second-year edge rusher Austin Booker finished third on the team with five sacks. However, Booker’s sack total came in seven fewer regular-season games than Sweat and Dexter.
© Wm. Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesA knee injury sidelined Booker for the first eight weeks of the season, but he made his presence known quickly, recording a sack and forced fumble in his season debut against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9. Booker was held out of the sack column on the stat sheet in his next five games, but finished the season strong. Headlined by a two-sack performance against the Cleveland Browns in December, Booker finished the season on a high note with a stellar five-game run.
This is what Booker’s numbers looked like in those games down the stretch:
5 games 3.5 sacks 6 quarterback hits 22 total tackles (11 solo) 3 tackles-for-loss Stats in two playoff games: 1 sack, 9 total tackles (3 solo), 1 tackle-for-loss, 2 quarterback hits.Booker’s most memorable (viral?) moment of the season was when he drilled Packers quarterback Jordan Love in their second regular-season meeting at Soldier Field, knocking him out of the game with a concussion. Love remained in Booker’s crosshairs in their next meeting when he sacked Love in Chicago’s Wild Card victory over Green Bay at Soldier Field. Booker also logged a stuff and six tackles in that contest.
By the Numbers
Sacks: 4.5 Tackles: 35 Solo: 19 Assisted: 16 Forced Fumble: 1 Hurries: 16 QB Hits: 12 Pressures: 29 Batted Passes: 3 Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesAustin Booker’s Contract Status
(Contract details and figures are courtesy of Over The Cap)
Booker will enter the third year of his four-year rookie deal signed with the Bears after he was drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s scheduled to make $1.16 million and accounts for less than one percent of Chicago’s cap space in 2026, so there’s not much concern over money when it comes to the intriguing but unproven Booker.
Turning the Page
The last line there pretty much sums it up. Booker (much like the initial reports when he was drafted) is intriguing but very much unproven. His red-hot finish to the 2025 season looked like the player Bears General Manager Ryan Poles hoped he was getting when he drafted Booker in 2024. Serious injuries have kept Booker from playing a larger, more meaningful snaps. But he is a player who has popped on the tape in his first two preseasons, as well as during stretches of the regular season.
MORE: AUSTIN BOOKER’S NFL DRAFT PROFILE
To that point, it’s hard to say that Chicago can pencil him into a starting role in 2026 unless it absolutely has to do so. There is plenty of promise and potential with Booker, and the Bears have a multitude of holes to fill on that side of the ball. But banking on Booker to be healthy and productive for 17 games in a starting role in 2026 is a gamble — no matter how you slice it up.
Kevin Byard III and Austin Booker celebrate after sacking Packers quarterback Jordan Love at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesTHE BN BEARS PODCAST IS HERE: Apple | Spotify | YouTube
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