3 reasons to be skeptical of Chicago Bears trade for Chase Claypool
The Chicago Bears traded for Chase Claypool in a deal that has many fans screaming for thanks. Fans have yelled since well before the past NFL draft that the team needed wide receivers, and while they had been going with bandaids, they finally went with a young name who has upside.
While trading for Chase Claypool makes a ton of sense, it is not a slam-dunk decision either. What are the possible things that could turn it wrong?
3. Could Chicago Bears have had a better option at a lower cost?
It is hard to say that the Chicago Bears overpaid when the Green Bay Packers offered a second round for Chase Claypool. However, the fact that both teams were bidding for Claypool only highlights that they did not have the right priorities in mind before the NFL draft.
The reason the Pittsburgh Steelers are so comfortable moving on from Claypool stems from rookie George Pickens and his emergence in the offense. This is the same George Pickens that the Chicago Bears had a chance to draft twice.
The same can be said for the Green Bay Packers, who drafted Christian Watson over Pickens, but this still hurts the Chicago Bears. Pickens fell to pick 52. The Chicago Bears probably traded a pick that will land in the top 50 for Chase Claypool, and no one would say that Claypool is better than Pickens at this point. Beyond that, Pickens is signed on for two more seasons and is three years younger.
Had the Chicago Bears drafted George Pickens and not Kyler Gordon, would the defense be all that different? It is already pretty rough. However, if they had Pickens, everyone would agree that his upside exceeds Claypool, and they would have the extra draft pick to potentially fill the slot cornerback role instead. It is not like drafting Pickens is a revisionist take, as many analysts projected it.
Many fans argued that the Chicago Bears should have taken a wide receiver with that draft slot, and trading a pick that will likely be higher than the two they had last year to get Claypool on a lesser contract only drives that point home further.
The Chicago Bears had to trade for Claypool, and the price is not wrong because they needed to get the deal done. However, had they been more conscious of the issue earlier, they would not have been this desperate and could have had a better, younger, and cheaper wideout without losing a pick.