The Chicago Bears quickly found a new pass-rushing partner to play opposite Montez Sweat out the gates of NFL free agency earlier this month. On the first day of negotiations, they agreed to terms on a three-year, $48 million contract with former Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo, making his signing official three days later after the 2025 league year began.

Turns out, the Bears also swiped him away from the Green Bay Packers.

According to AtoZ Sports’ Wendell Ferreira and Destin Adams, the Packers were “expected” to make Odeyingbo – a 2021 second-round pick – one of their “top targets” when the free-agent negotiating period opened on March 10.

Instead, Odeyingbo chose to sign with the Bears and later made it clear that the opportunity in Chicago made his decision rather easy in free agency. “We have an opportunity to do something special in a special city and it’s exciting,” Odeyingbo told reporters on March 13. “This really wasn’t an opportunity I could pass up and it really didn’t make the decision hard.”

Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski also referenced the Packers’ interest in Odeyingbo when discussing which free agents signed with “the wrong team.”. From his view, Odeyingbo would have been better off landing in Green Bay. “If Green Bay really did prioritize Odeyingbo at the start of free agency, the decision should have been more difficult than the free agent made it out to be,” Sobleski wrote.

Related: Bears Turn Heads With Heavy Presence at Trade-Up Target’s Pro Day Regardless of whether Odeyingbo made the right choice, this is not the first time the current front offices of both teams have targeted the same talent. In 2022, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson reported that both the Bears and Packers offered a second-round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool with Chicago’s presumed higher-value pick winning out – ultimately, a terrible decision.

The Packers also tried to acquire wide receiver D.J. Moore around the same time, but the Carolina Panthers turned down an offer that included a first-round pick, according to Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer. The Bears later acquired him in a package deal for the No. 1 overall draft selection and extended him in 2024. The Bears have plenty of reasons to be excited about Odeyingbo’s signing, but getting another one over on their biggest NFC North rivals is a nice sweetener.