The Bears are trading DT Gervon Dexter to the Falcons, as NFL insider Jordan Schultz was first to report. Jonathan Jones of The Athletic reports Chicago will receive cornerback Clark Phillips and a 2027 fifth-rounder in the swap.

Dexter, who will turn 25 in October, is entering the last year of his rookie deal and has loomed as a trade candidate since the early stages of the offseason. Current Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham was Chicago’s assistant GM when the Bears selected Dexter in the second round of the 2023 draft, and he now has his former prized prospect in the fold with his new club.

After coming off the bench almost exclusively as a rookie, Dexter started in all 32 of his appearances from 2024-25. With his defensive snap share climbing over 57% in his second season, Dexter piled up 51 tackles, 19 QB hits, five sacks, and four TFLs in 15 games. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the game’s 25th-best qualified interior defensive lineman in ’24, and though he added another six sacks last season, PFF was more bearish on his efforts and considered him the 72nd-best player at his position.

That slide was primarily due to his poorly-received efforts against the run, but if nothing else, his abilities to generate an interior pass rush will be welcomed in Atlanta, which has remade its defensive front this offseason. The Falcons added Da’Shawn Hand, Maason Smith, and Chris Williams this offseason, but Hand has missed two weeks of practice due to a lower body injury, as Jones and colleagues Josh Kendall and Kevin Fishbain observe.

Hand’s injury may have prompted the Falcons to pull the trigger, but they were not the only team in pursuit. According to Schultz, both the Giants and Saints showed interest. New York made a lower-profile move to bolster its D-line on Saturday, acquiring C.J. Okoye from the Ravens. New Orleans, meanwhile, already had a thin defensive line before losing Bryan Bresee to a torn ACL.

But neither team was willing to get aggressive for Dexter and top Atlanta’s offer. The Falcons’ new regime may not have seen Phillips, a 2023 fourth-round pick, as a long-term starter, especially after he missed most of the 2025 season due to a torn triceps. But he was still a key part of their cornerback rotation in his first two years in the NFL, appearing in 27 games (seven starts) with over 800 snaps played.

That experience could quickly be relevant in Chicago, as the Bears have been dealing with multiple cornerback injuries this summer. Kyler Gordon is on the physically unable to perform list with a calf injury, while Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson both appeared to suffer injuries during practice on Thursday, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Phillips is now the team’s most experienced behind that starting trio, giving him a solid chance at regular-season playing time, especially with a relatively uncertain outlook for Gordon.

The Falcons do not have an especially deep cornerback room, either. A.J. Terrell and Mike Hughes are set to return to their starting jobs on the boundary, but Dee Alford‘s departure to Buffalo has left the team without a clear nickel. Second-year safety Billy Bowman, who was the team’s secondary slot defender last year, may be poised to step into that starting role. Second-round rookie Avieon Terrell lined up at nickel in the preseason and could see the field alongside his brother in that role.

The Bears are not dealing from a position of strength in this trade. For a team planning a deep playoff run this year, the interior of their defensive line is relatively thin on starting-caliber talent. Grady Jarrett is 33 years old and recorded just one sack and one tackle for loss across 610 snaps. Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch are all reliable veterans who have never produced at a high level. But head coach Ben Johnson previously said (via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin) that the unit is underrated and specifically singled out sixth-round pick Jordan van den Berg for praise. With Dexter gone, the rookie out of Georgia Tech could be in line for a key regular-season role in Chicago.