{"id":235113,"date":"2025-06-01T13:00:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T17:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=235113"},"modified":"2025-06-01T12:33:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T16:33:45","slug":"demarcus-walker-landing-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/06\/01\/demarcus-walker-landing-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Teams That Should Sign Ex-Bears $21 Million Pass Rusher"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Bears released <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/tag\/demarcus-walker\/\" target=\"_self\">pass rusher DeMarcus Walker<\/a> back in late February. The move was shocking for a lot of fans, considering the Bears were relatively weak at the edge rusher position.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears signed Walker in 2023 to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/43956112\/bears-save-cap-space-release-demarcus-walker-gerald-everett\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three-year deal worth $21 million.<\/a> Walker, 30, was released along with tight end Gerald Everett to free up additional salary cap space for the Bears heading into free agency. General manager <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/why-bears-released-gerald-everett-154540857.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Poles spoke to the media on Walker&#8217;s release,<\/a> stating there was a bit of a gray area in the new defensive scheme with Dennis Allen coming in as the new defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Any time you have gray in terms of fit with the scheme change and their contract situation, I think giving them the opportunity, giving their representations opportunities, to come to the combine and get their names out there,&#8221; Poles said. &#8220;They can get a good seat at the table with a team before all the seats are taken.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for Walker, that&#8217;s not the case. Despite still being a free agent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/news\/top-remaining-2025-nfl-free-agents-at-every-defensive-position-several-former-all-pros-remain-on-open-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CBS Sports lists Walker<\/a> as the top defensive lineman available, noting the former second-round pick had a career-high 17 starts while recording a career-high 47 tackles with 4.5 sacks last season. A team would benefit by adding Walker into their defensive rotation up front, and here are four teams that could sign the former Bear.<\/p>\n<h2>Landing Spots for Former Bears&#8217; DE DeMarcus Walker<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_235143\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-235143\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-235143\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"DeMarcus Walker\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2025\/05\/DeMarcus-Walker-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-235143\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oct 13, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Chicago Bears defensive end DeMarcus Walker (95) celebrates at the end of the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars during an NFL International Series game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n<p>The Baltimore Ravens always seem to get the best out of aging veterans like Kyle Van Noy and Derrick Henry, and with the announcement that longtime Raven <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/44221609\/ravens-michael-pierce-announces-retirement-8-seasons\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Pierce is retiring<\/a> after eight seasons, it&#8217;ll be wise to sign Walker. He&#8217;ll fit in nicely with Nnamdi Madubuike, Broderick Washington, and be the perfect mentor for 2025 sixth-round pick Aeneas Peebles.<\/p>\n<h3>Los Angeles Chargers<\/h3>\n<p>After the departure of Joey Bosa and Poona Ford, the Los Angeles Chargers could look to add additional help up front. The Chargers will be asking a lot out of 2022 fifth-round pick Otito Ogbonnia, and adding Walker in the mix could help ease the transition into a bigger role for Ogbonnia.<\/p>\n<h3>Kansas City Chiefs<\/h3>\n<p>The Super Bowl runner-ups could use some additional pass-rushing help. After the departures of Tershawn Wharton and Josh Uche in free agency, the Kansas City Chiefs could bring in Walker as a mentor for the younger guys like Omarr Norman-Lott and Felix Anudike-Uzomah. The depth is relatively thin if a guy like George Karlaftis or Chris Jones goes down with an injury, and Walker is a seasoned vet who could immediately contribute for the Chiefs.<\/p>\n<h3>Detroit Lions<\/h3>\n<p>Bleacher Report&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25198062-1-move-every-nfl-team-still-needs-make-2025-offseason\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Moe Moton listed Walker<\/a> as the one move the Detroit Lions need to make before the start of the season, stating, &#8220;DeMarcus Walker moved between the defensive line and outside linebacker early in his career with the Denver Broncos. After settling in as an edge-rusher, he&#8217;s provided quality depth and started in 29 games over the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears. The Lions cut Za&#8217;Darius Smith. Marcus Davenport has missed 28 games over the previous two terms. Walker would be a more reliable starter and rotational pass-rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson, who&#8217;s working his way back from a fractured tibia and fibula.&#8221; It&#8217;ll be a low-risk move for a contending team looking to make the next push to reach the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: Andrew Nelles &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Bears&#8217; pass rusher DeMarcus Walker is surprisingly still a free agent, who should find a new home soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":235134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,10,24,16,18,36],"tags":[7642,7403,7811,7467,7638],"class_list":["post-235113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","category-ravens","category-lions","category-chiefs","category-chargers","category-nfl-news","tag-chargers-featured","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-detroit-lions-news","tag-ravens-featured"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235113"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235118,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235113\/revisions\/235118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}