3 reasons Chicago Bears had to trade for Chase Claypool

2. Free Agency would not be the answer Chicago Bears

As we noted, adding a wide receiver in free agency or the draft would not help Justin Fields next week. Beyond that, adding a wide receiver in the draft is a crap shoot. You can bet that if Velus Jones was doing what Ryan Poles thought he would that the team would not be this desperate.

However, Poles saw first hand he cannot rely on a rookie to start week one and make things better. Beyond that, it is not like elite wide receivers are going to be free agents. The top free agent wideouts include JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jakobi Meyers, and Allen Lazard. Signing a wide receiver would not give them someone as young as Chase Claypool, as talented as Chase Claypool, and week one of next year would be the first time we get to see them.

We are not saying do not sign a wide receiver and do not draft one because of Claypool. However, now they are not reliant on a rookie right away, and they are not forced to overpay a wide receiver.

The player and the timing fit, so it is hard to say that this is a big overpay from the perspective of Chicago.