Many Chicago Bears fans wanted to see the team make a massive trade to go get Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby, and now they have a second chance to make that happen after the Baltimore Ravens backed out of their deal with the Raiders for Crosby.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles admitted to reporters at his most recent press conference that the team has been checking in on Crosby. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter thought and delivered the blunt truth about the Bears' chances of landing Crosby in a trade.
"I don't, the Bears don't have any more money right now, Greeny. They're broke. They're out of money," Schefter said. "The Bears do not have the money to make a move like that right now. They just cannot afford it."
Adam Schefter doesn't think Bears will get Maxx Crosby
To be fair to Schefter, he's pretty much right. According to Over The Cap, the Bears only have $6.5 million of cap space left over.
Essentially, that means if the Bears wanted to trade for Crosby, it would require significant roster movement. Something like cutting or releasing Cole Kmet and D'Andre Swift would create about $15 million in cap space while also providing flexibility to restructure contracts. Going into the offseason, they had $85.9 million to work with on that front.
While a Crosby trade is not impossible, it is no doubt difficult. It would come at the cost of two first-round picks and potentially the loss of more starters on the team. Chicago can't afford to keep losing players on the roster with five starters on defense signed elsewhere, center Drew Dalman retired, and wide receiver DJ Moore traded to the Buffalo Bills.
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Poles right now is more focused on making sure there is depth and money left over in the salary cap for the draft. The Bears might not do much more work the rest of the offseason unless they make some moves on their own roster, and then that could signal a big move coming for them.