Bear Goggles On
Fansided

3 off-the-wall trade targets the Chicago Bears need to turn things around

These are not big names for the most part, but the Chicago Bears should consider trading some lower draft capital for former first-rounders who have struggled. These three names have not likely been mentioned but could help the Bears maintain their current winning record and fight for a playoff spot this season.

By Rob Schwarz Jr

Chicago Bears, Evan Neal
Chicago Bears, Evan Neal / Mitchell Leff/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next

Evan Neal, OT - NYG

The offensive line is bruised and battered at the moment. As of right now, Braxton Jones isn't going to be available and Teven Jenkins is questionable after not practicing twice this week. I wouldn't count on Ryan Bates right now either. Kiran Amegadjie finally saw some game action. His level of play was up and down at best. Now, he's also out this week against the Cardinals. Larry Borom should be available this week, but he's not all that good.

We already saw the Alex Leatherwood experiment fail here in Chicago. Leatherwood was a former first-round pick of the Raiders who never amounted to all of the hype. There is another offensive tackle who seems to be in a similar spot, and the Chicago Bears should consider trading for him. He was an even better prospect coming out of Alabama than Leatherwood. That player is Evan Neal.

Neal has fallen out of favor in New York. The Giants selected him seventh overall in 2022. Neal was one of the top offensive line prospects that year but has not performed well at the NFL level. In fact, many draft analysts thought he was the best offensive lineman in that draft. He needs a change of scenery and acquiring him will not cost much. We just saw Cam Robinson traded from Jacksonville to Minnesota. The Vikings sent a conditional fifth-rounder for Robinson and a conditional seventh. With Neal not seeing the field for the Giants, sending a sixth-rounder for him seems plausible.

That said, it does appear that the Giants are not looking to move on from the former seventh-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. I don't really understand the reasoning for that, but it could be they are just looking to drive up the price. For a player with Neal's upside, I'd even be okay with the Chicago Bears sending a fourth-round pick in exchange for Neal and a conditional sixth-round pick.

I know the Leatherwood comparisons will be out there, but Neal has better size and is a true left tackle who can step in for Braxton Jones as he misses time. He could even compete with one year left on his rookie deal.

Home/Chicago Bears News