Ahead of Sunday’s 5 p.m. 53-man roster cut-down deadline, the Bears are giving one 17-game starter from the 2025 season a fresh start elsewhere.
The Bears dealt defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday morning, in exchange for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick. ESPN reported the deal first.
Dexter, 24, was selected 53rd overall by the Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft out of the University of Florida.
Over three seasons in Chicago, he appeared in 49 games and finished with 115 tackles, 42 quarterback hits and 13.5 sacks. He set a career high in 2025 with six sacks.
Dexter’s name had recently circulated in trade rumors.
Phillips, 24, was the 113th overall selection of the 2023 draft. In 28 games, Phillips has experience on the perimeter and at nickel back over 821 career defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Reference. He played just nine snaps in 2025 – all on special teams – before a triceps injury ended his season in Week 4.
The CHGO staff weighs in on the trade
Adam Jahns: Maybe it’s best to look at this from Dexter’s perspective. He wanted a new deal and wasn’t going to get it from the Bears. The defensive coaching staff that drafted him is no longer here. And veteran Kentavius Street and rookies Jordan van den Berg and Jayden Loving had started to earn more playing time in Dennis Allen’s defense. Coach Ben Johnson called van den Berg a “beast.” Dexter’s place on the team had changed. This happens. He was drafted to fill a very specific role in former coach Matt Eberflus’ defense but Eberflus is gone.
Adam Hoge: While Gervon Dexter’s time in Chicago ultimately did not work out, the Bears’ additions at defensive tackle in the offseason allowed them the opportunity to make this trade. The sudden depth on the interior of the defensive line was a pleasant surprise during training camp, with Ben Johnson even calling it out as a position that was better than the credit it was getting outside of the building.
A big part of that is rookie Jordan van den Berg, who is already a quicker and more disruptive player than Dexter. The Bears might not have superstars at the position, but they have a much better rotation than last year, which includes veterans Grady Jarrett, Kentavius Street, Neville Gallimore and James Lynch. Whether all of those guys make the 53-man roster remains to be seen, but you also have to take into account undrafted rookie Jayden Loving, who could be in danger of getting claimed on waivers if the Bears don’t keep him on the initial roster.
All of these good developments made it even more likely that Dexter would be shipped off. The former second-round pick was hoping to get an extension in the final year of his rookie deal but hadn’t shown enough to get one. Starting over in a new defense was the best case for him.
Meanwhile, the Bears get a fifth-round pick in return and cornerback Clark Phillips III, who is from Dexter’s same draft class and similarly needed to be traded to jump-start his career. Phillips was injured for almost the entire 2025 season and is primarily an outside corner, where the Bears need more depth.
Mark Carman: Gervon Dexter looked the part but he never played to the Bears’ hopes for him. With more talent on the defensive line, Dexter was expendable and the Bears did well getting a draft pick and cornerback depth for a player they clearly were not going to bring back on another deal.
Patrick Norton: It’s funny how unpredictable the draft and development process can be in the NFL. Back in 2023, the Bears passed on defensive tackle Jalen Carter in the first round despite a massive need on the defensive line, and traded back one spot to take offensive tackle Darnell Wright. General manager Ryan Poles addressed the need on the defensive line with his second pick in the draft: Gervon Dexter Sr.
Fast forward three years and Wright has reset the market for right tackles with a four-year, $116 million contract signed earlier in August, while Dexter never quite blossomed into the 3-technique former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus envisioned him becoming.
