3 reasons the Chicago Bears trade for Chase Claypool was a disaster from the start

1. The Chicago Bears traded too much given the Chase Claypool contract

The biggest question with trading for Claypool was how much they traded for and how little time Claypool had on his contract. Now, it does not look so bad, considering the Bears can wipe their hands clean of him. Still, even when they traded for him, it was a big question why that would happen for the price and contract.

Claypool is in the last year of his deal, so the Bears essentially had half of a season to find out if they should extend him or not. He had this whole season to prove himself, but if he played well, he had a free pass to free agency and would have wanted to test his options.

So, the Bears were paying a long-term price for a rental from the start. If Claypool did play well in his first couple of games with the Bears, would they have extended him? What if he had five good games, and then came crashing down to earth? Extending someone after that short of a sample is tough to do, but so is extending him as he is about to hit free agency. Did the Chicago Bears have any thoughts about the future when they made this move?

When you consider the cost, the desperation of why they did this, and the fact that he did not fit the culture, you could tell this decision was flawed from the start.