Chicago Bears land Matthew Stafford in one of these blockbuster deals

The Chicago Bears saw a divisional rival quarterback, Matthew Stafford, head to the trade block on Saturday evening.

Once upon a time the Detroit Lions took a sure fire franchise quarterback at number one overall in the 2009 NFL Draft. Since then, Stafford and the Lions haven’t accomplished a whole lot.

For most of his tenure, Stafford has not been backed by much of a defense, nor has he had any semblance of a running game. It’s been all on the former Georgia Bulldog’s shoulders, and he’s made the most of it.

But, now under the leadership of new head coach Dan Campbell and heading for a rebuild, Stafford is available via trade.

Per multiple reports on Saturday night, the Lions and Stafford have agreed to mutually part ways. Detroit will work to find a trade partner in the coming weeks in order to get Stafford on his feet in a new city, well before draft time rolls around.

Speaking of draft time, that brings up a crucial aspect of the offseason for the Bears. If general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are to stick around much longer than 2021, the quarterback position has to be addressed in a major way.

Currently sitting at the No. 20 overall pick, the Bears would have to move up in order to assure they end up with a top-3 or top-4 quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft.

However, an alternative would be finding a veteran via trade — and this time, it will take more than a journeyman backup like Nick Foles to secure the future of Pace and Nagy.

So, what would it take for the Bears to get Stafford? In short, it will take a bit more than most other teams. To get an inter-divisional trade pulled off like this will be a tough task, but Pace could opt for a home run swing here.