Gervon Dexter will be fighting for his next contract in a different locale.
The Chicago Bears moved the fourth-year defensive lineman to the Atlanta Falcons in a Sunday morning trade that was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In return, the Bears are receiving cornerback Clark Phillips II and a fifth-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Dexter will be reunited with GM Ian Cunningham in Atlanta. He was part of the Bears front office that selected Dexter out of Florida with the 53rd pick in the 2023 draft.
But Dexter never lived up to that lofty draft position. While he did show flashes and was well-liked in the locker room, he never became a consistent disruptor on the front seven. He finishes his stint in Chicago with 115 tackles, 13.5 sacks and four fumble recoveries over 49 games played.
Dexter’s name first surfaced in trade rumors this week and it was later reported he was nursing a hamstring injjury. He did not make the trip to Tennessee for the Bears’ joint practice and final game of the preseason.
In Phillips, the Bears are getting another 2023 draft pick who hasn’t panned out. Drafted by Atlanta in the fourth round, Phillips has played 27 career games with one interception. He missed all but one game in 2025 with a triceps injury.
Phillips seemingly provides depth to a Bears secondary that has been rocked by injury and the inability of Kyler Gordon for the nickel position. Phillips could slot in at that position.
Dexter’s fate was likely sealed when defensive coordinator Dennis Allen made a pledge to become faster, more aggresive and more rooted in fundamentals. Dexter had a famously slow get-off coming out of Florida and it never improved.
Combine that with Jordan van den Berg’s emergence in camp and Dexter’s upcoming free agency and it’s apparent Ryan Poles felt comfortable getting back some draft capital with another body in the secondary room.
And while the Bears are now a man down on a thin defensive line, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bears front office make another trade or pick up a veteran once the cuts start rolling in at 5 pm on Sunday.
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