Bears trade DL Gervon Dexter to Falcons for CB Clark Phillips III, draft pick
The Bears started cut day with a trade, agreeing to send defensive tackle Gervon Dexter to the Falcons for cornerback Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick Sunday morning, a source confirmed.
The Bears added depth to a defensive backs room that desperately needed it. Phillips has started seven games and appeared in 21 more in three seasons with the Falcons. A triceps injury in Week 4 last season cost him the rest of the year.
Former Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, who was named the Falcons GM this winter — and is one of Bears GM Ryan Poles’ best friends — knows what he’s getting in Dexter. The Bears made him a second-round pick in 2023. He was entering the final year of his rookie deal and wanted a contract extension, which made him a popular trade candidate dating back to the spring.
The Bears wanted him to play with lower pad level. Dexter left practice Tuesday with what the team claimed was a hamstring injury and did not travel with the Bears to Nashville for a joint practice and exhibition finale.
Dexter had lost his starting job during training camp practices in the past week. The Bears have used Kentavius Street, Neville Gallimore and rookie Jordan van den Berg next to Grady Jarrett.
“I think Dex is a guy that has come in every single year and has just gotten better,” coach Ben Johnson said last week. “I think he has understood what he can do. He’s playing with technique and doing those things. He can take over a game quite literally. So I think his confidence is growing and growing. We need him to.”
Still, trading him is risky. Dexter started all 19 games last year. Even with Dexter, the Bears’ defensive line was one of the team’s perceived weaknesses entering the season, no matter how much Johnson may claim otherwise.
“I think that whole front has been awesome this year,” he said.
The Falcons made Phillips a fourth-round pick out of Utah in 2023. He started playing for the Utes the year after Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was drafted.
Johnson seemed to hurt his right arm during Thursday’s joint practice, while fellow cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was in an out of practice after hurting his leg. Kyler Gordon’s mysterious calf injury has loomed over the Bears’ entire preseason — he’s yet to practice and the team is a combination of frustrated and bewildered by his slow recovery. Coach Ben Johnson has taken to giving curt one-word answers when asked about his status. Cam Lewis, who was put in the slot at the start of camp, was moved to safety after the team lost big-money free-agent Coby Bryant to a serious knee injury. He’s expected to miss most of the season.
The 5-foot-9, 183-pounder played mostly outside cornerback in 2023 and 2024. Pro Football Focus gave him their 20th-best coverage grade among all cornerbacks in 2024 — tied with Gordon.