National media outlet has extremely strong take on Bears' decision to trade for Chase Claypool
The Chicago Bears pulled off a huge trade just ahead of the deadline on Tuesday. Chicago sent a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool. The Green Bay Packers were also in the mix for Claypool, but the Steelers reportedly preferred to have the Bears' pick (even though both teams are […]
The Chicago Bears pulled off a huge trade just ahead of the deadline on Tuesday.
Chicago sent a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool.
The Green Bay Packers were also in the mix for Claypool, but the Steelers reportedly preferred to have the Bears' pick (even though both teams are 3-5).
ESPN handed out grades for each trade that was made on Tuesday (and there were a lot of them) and they gave the Bears a D+ for this move.
All the reasons the Bears were better off dealing Roquan Smith than keeping him make this decision puzzling. It's not the exact same scenario — Claypool has another cheap year on his rookie deal after this — but part of his value was what he could offer in the second half of 2022, which doesn't matter to a rebuilding Chicago. Or it shouldn't.
Claypool is an OK receiver. He ranks 76th out of 102 wide receivers with at least 100 routes in yards per route run this season, but he's done that with poor quarterback play. In our Receiver Tracking Metrics Claypool has an Overall Score of 63, which ranks 24th among wide receivers and tight ends. That's a massive upgrade from last season, when he recorded just a 39 Overall Score, 89th out of 109 qualifiers.
While I understand that giving up a second-round pick was a lot for Claypool, I don't agree with ESPN that it was a bad move.
Chicago badly needed some wide receiver talent. And they likely weren't going to get a player as talented as Claypool in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft (it's certainly possible, but it's also far from a guarantee). With very few elite wide receivers ever making it to free agency, the only way the Bears were going to find a guy was via trade or the draft.
And Claypool is more of a sure thing than a draft pick.
The Bears had a second-round pick to spare, which is one reason why they made this trade (they still have the second-round pick they received from the Baltimore Ravens in the Roquan Smith deal). They were probably going to use that pick on a wide receiver anyway. So instead of rolling the dice on a rookie, they went with a player that has nearly three seasons of NFL game film.
I think it was a smart move by general manager Ryan Poles. They got quarterback Justin Fields some help and they can work out an extension with Claypool next offseason if things go well in the second half of the season. This move also shows Bears fans that the building phase of the rebuild is finally underway.
Featured image via Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports
