We are officially less than a week away from the trade deadline, and the Chicago Bears are running out of reasons to keep Tyson Bagent on the roster amid key quarterback injuries around the NFL.
The Baltimore Ravens have become a prime candidate to make a trade to acquire them after Lamar Jackson injured his thumb and is heading to the IR. Things are only getting worse for the Ravens at quarterback, as ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that backup Tyler Huntley's Week 1 injury is season-ending.
Baltimore is down two quarterbacks and is now desperate for help. Bears general manager Ryan Poles knows exactly what he can do with Bagent and a potential trade with the Ravens.
Bears shipping Tyson Bagent to Baltimore just makes all the sense now
The Ravens need help at the quarterback position more than ever. Right now, undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano is slated to make his first career start, but he is also dealing with an ankle injury that he'll have to play through in the team's Week 9 Thursday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Behind Fagnano are former Bears QB Austin Reed and Kedon Slovis.
It's clear Baltimore has no experience at quarterback and could use some help there. Adding in Bagent feels like a no-brainer at this point.
One obvious reason is that Bagent knows Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle well, since they were together in Chicago last year when Doyle was the OC. Bagent can hop right in, knowing the playbook and terminology well enough to play on short notice.
Bagent's career stats are far more unflattering than his actual play. He has completed over 66% of his passes, throwing for 1,326 yards and three touchdowns against nine interceptions. Bagent holds a 2-3 career record as a starter.
The good part is that Bagent won't be completely cold coming off the bench, since he started two games this year and went 1-1. He completed 65.6% of his passes for 409 yards and three interceptions.
What should the Bears ask for in order of taking advantage of Ravens' desperation?
Baltimore and Chicago will most likely wait until Friday or Monday to make a trade, if it happens. The Ravens play on Thursday, so they want to focus on the game before potentially adding a veteran quarterback. As for the Bears, they would most likely want Bagent to at least be there as the backup unless Baltimore gives them a good deal to get Bagent in right away to learn the offense and build chemistry with some extra days.
So what could the Bears get from a Bagent trade with the Ravens right now? Is it truly crazy to think that a Day 2 selection could be in play?
That might all depend on how the Ravens play on Thursday against the Jaguars. If they somehow win and the offense looks bad, that could push them to throw in a third-round selection for Bagent. Anything outside of that might still be tough for the Bears to pull off.
Still, the Bears will, at minimum, get a fourth-round selection for Bagent. Poles might also be able to wrangle up a 2028 fifth- or sixth-round pick if he wanted two picks as part of the deal.
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The beauty of this situation is that Poles has all the leverage in the trade and can do whatever he wants, since the Bears wouldn't mind keeping Bagent as the backup. If the Ravens are willing to offload two draft picks or give the Bears a Day 2 pick, Chicago will accept it right away, and it will be a massive win.
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