The Chicago Bears doubled down by trading for Chase Claypool
You could argue that Ryan Poles realized how wrong he was for passing on George Pickens when he traded for Chase Claypool. If you have ever played poker, this is the person who lost a bad hand, is tilting, and is now pushing his chips in aggressively. It almost never works out.
Let’s break this one down. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted George Pickens 52nd overall. They discovered very quickly that Pickens was better than Chase Claypool, and moved Claypool into the slot.
So, the Chicago Bears, who passed on George Pickens with pick 39, then traded pick 32 for a player that is universally accepted as worse than George Pickens. Claypool is older and signed to fewer years on his deal. That is the definition of hustling backward.
On the Steelers’ side, they have to be doing backflips knowing they have the better wide receiver and traded their lesser player for a better pick back. Heck, even Claypool was not drafted as high as pick 32, so they got three years out of him, and then got a better return. It’s like buying a car, driving it for three years, and selling it for profit. Must be nice.
Ryan Poles had to overpay for Chase Claypool because the team was so weak at wide receiver. They would not have been that weak had Poles just paid the right price to draft Pickens. Instead of Pickens at 39 in 2022, they get Claypool at 32 in 2023. He ended up paying a huge tax to acquire a worse receiver.
Now, with Claypool, he has a player who did not produce and has one year left on his deal. On top of that, losing the 32nd pick limits his ability to trade for any other wideout talent this offseason. The hits keep coming.