Mario Edwards Jr.

BIOGRAPHY

Mario Edwards Jr. is an American football defensive end for the  Chicago Bears in the NFL.

Edwards played college football at Florida State, and was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Regarded as a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Edwards was ranked as the No. 1 defensive tackle prospect in his class. In fact, he was ranked No. 3 overall, which was Rivals.com’s highest ranking for a defensive tackle prospect since Haloti Ngata (No. 2) in 2002. According to ESPN recruiting analyst Craig Haubert, Edwards was similar to Da'Quan Bowers at the same stage of their careers. Recruited by numerous schools, Edwards took official visits to Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, and Louisiana State, before committing to the Seminoles on January 24, 2012.

In his true freshman year in Tallahassee, Edwards was initially projected to redshirt, but then forced into action due to the loss of Brandon Jenkins in week one. Edwards appeared in 11 games and made his first career start in the 2012 ACC Championship Game replacing Cornellius Carradine. For the season he had 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks. As a sophomore in 2013, Edwards recorded 34 tackles, 3.5 sacks and an interception. Returning as a starter his junior season in 2014, Edwards recorded 44 tackles and 3.0 sacks.

After his junior season, Edwards entered the 2015 NFL Draft. Edwards was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round (35th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. On June 19, 2015, the Oakland Raiders signed Edwards to a four-year, $6.01 million contract with $3.72 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.63 million. On March 15, 2019, Edwards signed a two-year, $5 million contract with the New Orleans Saints.