The Chicago Bears traded defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. to the Atlanta Falcons on August 31, dealing a former second-round pick and three-year starter on the final day of NFL roster cuts in exchange for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a 2027 fifth-round draft pick. The move, executed just nine days before the Bears’ regular season opener against the Green Bay Packers, sends a clear signal about the organization’s confidence in rookie defensive tackle Jordan van den Berg, a sixth-round selection from Georgia Tech who dominated training camp and preseason to the point where the Bears deemed a proven starter expendable.
Key Takeaways
- Gervon Dexter started 33 games for the Bears from 2023 to 2025, recording 115 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 42 quarterback hits, and 10 tackles for loss during his three seasons in Chicago.
- Rookie Jordan van den Berg, the 213th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, earned first-team reps during the final week of training camp and posted an 87.5 Pro Football Focus pass-rush grade across three preseason games.
- Bears GM Ryan Poles executed the trade with Falcons GM Ian Cunningham, his former assistant general manager and close friend who was named Atlanta’s GM this winter.
- The Bears’ secondary has been battered by injuries throughout camp, with Kyler Gordon, Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Coby Bryant all missing time, making the acquisition of Phillips III an immediate need.
- Van den Berg, a South African-born former rugby player who did not play American football until his sophomore year of high school, scored a 10.00 Raw Athletic Score, ranking second among all defensive tackles evaluated since 1987.
- The Bears open the 2026 regular season against the Packers on September 9 at Lambeau Field.
The Trade Prioritizes a Sixth-Round Rookie Over a Proven Starter
Trading a consensus starter with less than two weeks before the season opener qualifies as one of the more aggressive moves Ryan Poles has made since taking over as the Bears’ general manager. Dexter was not a Pro Bowl talent, but the production was real and consistent. The Bears selected Dexter with the 53rd overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, using a second-round selection they had acquired from the Baltimore Ravens in the Roquan Smith trade. Dexter started from day one as a rookie and appeared in every regular season game across his three seasons in Chicago. His 13.5 career sacks, 42 quarterback hits, and 115 total tackles represented dependable interior production on a defensive line that has lacked disruptive playmakers for most of the Poles era.
What changed the calculus was the emergence of van den Berg. From the opening days of training camp at Halas Hall, the sixth-round pick separated himself from the depth chart. By the second week of camp, van den Berg had progressed from third-team reps to working with the first-team defense. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen described the progression in blunt terms: “When you start off with the [third-stringers] and then all of a sudden you show up and you catch our attention, then we’ve got to find ways to get you some reps with the twos, and if you continue to catch our attention, then we’ve got to find some ways to get you some reps with the ones because that’s really how you evaluate what you have in the player.”
The preseason games reinforced what the practice field had shown. Van den Berg finished three exhibition contests with five pressures, two run stops, and four tackles, earning Pro Football Focus grades of 80.2 overall, 87.5 in the pass rush, and 61.2 against the run. His Week 2 performance against the Cincinnati Bengals was the standout: three tackles (two solo), two pressures, two run stops, and the highest defensive PFF grade on the team at 90.9. Head coach Ben Johnson did not hedge when asked about what the coaching staff had seen. “He’s a beast. He’s an incredible athlete,” Johnson said. “He’s still learning the game of football to a degree, and yet it’s amazing.”
Van den Berg’s Path From South African Rugby to the Bears’ Starting Lineup
Van den Berg’s backstory adds a layer to the football evaluation. The defensive tackle was born in South Africa and grew up playing rugby before his family moved to the United States. Van den Berg did not play American football until his sophomore year at Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn, Georgia. The late start meant a steep learning curve, but the raw physical tools were immediately apparent. At Georgia Tech, van den Berg developed steadily across four seasons before his production surged in 2025 with 44 total tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and three sacks, earning first-team All-ACC honors.
The NFL Combine quantified what scouts already suspected about van den Berg’s physical profile. His Raw Athletic Score of 10.00 out of a possible 10.00 ranks second among the 2,098 defensive tackles evaluated since 1987, trailing only Jordan Davis, the Philadelphia Eagles’ first-round pick from the 2022 draft. That combination of elite measurables and limited football experience is precisely why the Bears were able to draft van den Berg in the sixth round and why they believe the ceiling is still far above what the preseason tape has shown. Parker Conley, van den Berg’s high school coach at Providence Christian, described the rookie as “one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met,” noting that the same competitiveness the Bears have praised in camp was evident from the day van den Berg first put on pads.
Veteran defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, who signed with the Bears in free agency this offseason, offered the most telling endorsement from the locker room. “His understanding of the game is improving every day,” Gallimore said. “I just love his competitiveness.” Gallimore added that van den Berg required none of the typical hand-holding that rookies need to understand practice tempo and expectations: the urgency was built in from the start.
Clark Phillips III Addresses a Secondary in Crisis
The return piece in the Dexter trade was not an afterthought. The Bears’ secondary has been one of the most concerning position groups in camp, with injuries stacking at a rate that threatened to undermine defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s press-man scheme before the season even started.
Cornerback Kyler Gordon has not practiced during the entire preseason due to a calf injury that the organization has described in increasingly terse terms, with Johnson offering curt one-word responses when asked about Gordon’s timeline. Jaylon Johnson appeared to hurt his right arm during a joint practice in late August. Tyrique Stevenson has been in and out of practice with a leg injury. Coby Bryant, a significant free-agent signing, suffered a serious knee injury in the opening days of camp and is expected to miss the majority of the season. Safety Cam Lewis, who began camp working at slot cornerback, was moved to safety after Bryant’s injury depleted the depth chart.
Phillips III, who started seven games and appeared in 21 others across three seasons in Atlanta, provides immediate depth at a position where the Bears had almost none. A triceps injury in Week 4 of the 2025 season cost Phillips the remainder of that year, but the Falcons’ coaching staff praised his performance in training camp before the trade. Pro Football Focus graded Phillips as the 20th-ranked coverage cornerback in the league in 2024, tied with Gordon, giving the Bears a player whose coverage metrics align with the starters he may need to replace. The Bears released cornerback Terell Smith to make room for Phillips on the 53-man roster, a move that suggests the coaching staff views Phillips as a better fit for Allen’s scheme despite Smith recording two pass breakups in the preseason finale against the Tennessee Titans.
The Poles-Cunningham Connection Made the Deal Possible
The trade was facilitated by a relationship that predates both general managers’ current roles. Falcons GM Ian Cunningham spent years working under Poles as the Bears’ assistant general manager before being named Atlanta’s top executive this winter. The two remain close friends, and the familiarity between the front offices allowed a deal of this complexity to come together on the busiest transaction day of the NFL calendar. Cunningham knows exactly what Dexter brings to a defensive line, having been part of the Bears’ scouting and development staff during Dexter’s first two seasons.
For the Bears, the trade nets a 2027 fifth-round pick alongside Phillips, adding future draft capital while solving an immediate roster need. For the Falcons, Dexter represents a 25-year-old interior lineman with three years of starting experience and a contract that remains affordable through the 2026 season.
The Bears Enter September With Questions Beyond the Defensive Line
The Dexter trade was the headline transaction on an active cut day for the Bears, but the roster that will take the field against the Packers on September 9 carries additional uncertainty. Johnson has not confirmed whether wide receiver Luther Burden, one of the Bears’ key offseason additions, will be healthy enough to play in Week 1. The secondary’s injury situation remains fluid, with Gordon’s availability for the opener still unclear. And the interior defensive line, for all of van den Berg’s promise, now relies on a sixth-round rookie, veteran Grady Jarrett, and a collection of free-agent signings in Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch to generate the interior pressure that Allen’s defense requires.
The gamble is straightforward. The Bears believe van den Berg’s athletic ceiling and preseason production project to a higher trajectory than what Dexter offered as an established player. If van den Berg’s development continues at the pace the coaching staff has observed since May, the trade will look like the moment the Bears found their defensive tackle of the future in the sixth round. If the rookie’s learning curve flattens against regular-season offensive lines, the Bears will have traded proven production for potential at a position where reliability matters more than upside. The first real test arrives September 9 in Green Bay.
FAQs
What Did the Bears Receive in Return for Gervon Dexter?
The Bears received cornerback Clark Phillips III and a 2027 fifth-round draft pick from the Atlanta Falcons. Phillips started seven games and appeared in 21 others over three seasons with the Falcons and was graded as the 20th-ranked coverage cornerback in the NFL by Pro Football Focus in 2024.
Who Is Jordan van den Berg?
Jordan van den Berg is a rookie defensive tackle from Georgia Tech whom the Bears selected in the sixth round (213th overall) of the 2026 NFL Draft. Born in South Africa, van den Berg grew up playing rugby and did not start playing American football until his sophomore year of high school in Georgia. Van den Berg posted a perfect 10.00 Raw Athletic Score at the NFL Combine, ranking second among all defensive tackles evaluated since 1987.
Why Did the Bears Trade Dexter Before the Season Opener?
Van den Berg’s dominant training camp and preseason performance gave the Bears confidence that the rookie could absorb Dexter’s role on the interior defensive line. The trade also addressed a secondary depleted by injuries to Kyler Gordon, Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Coby Bryant by bringing in Phillips III as immediate cornerback depth.
When Do the Bears Open the 2026 NFL Season?
The Chicago Bears open the 2026 regular season on September 9 against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Head coach Ben Johnson has not confirmed whether wide receiver Luther Burden will be available for the opener.
How Does the Bears’ Defensive Tackle Room Look After the Trade?
The Bears’ interior defensive line now features veteran Grady Jarrett as the projected starter alongside van den Berg, with free-agent signings Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch providing depth. The group will need to replace the 33 starts and 13.5 sacks that Dexter accumulated across his three seasons in Chicago.
