Chicago Bears Rumors: Are the Bears interested in Jamal Adams?

With New York Jets Safety Jamal Adams requesting a trade, are the Chicago Bears interested in him?

Over the last few years, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace has developed an aggressive mindset when it comes to building the Bears roster, especially via trade.

Pace traded for Khalil Mack in 2018, a gutsy move indicating that the Bears were ready to go all-in with Mitchell Trubisky as his quarterback, another player that Pace traded up for.

On Thursday, news broke that New York Jets Safety Jamal Adams has officially requested a trade.

While the Bears cannot afford Adams due to the contracts of players like Mack and Eddie Jackson, both two of the many faces of the Bears defense, a new report suggests otherwise.

Now there are a few things to keep in mind here. First, the tweet from the account above is a website based out of Mumbai, India. This means that credibility is low. On the other hand, a key thing to keep in mind is that while we know of the teams that Adams would like to be traded to, there is still so much more information that we don’t know.

Teams around the NFL are always looking to get better. In the case of the Bears, trading for Adams would make an already great defense, one of the best in the NFL. Second, if the Bears were to trade for Adams, they’d need to give up 2021 NFL Draft capital, likely a first-round pick. This is an issue since the Bears have already gone the last two NFL Drafts (2019 and 2020) without a first-round pick. Would Pace be willing to part with a first-round pick for a third straight year in order to land Adams?

Keep in mind that wherever Adams does get traded, no trade is going to come without a contract extension. Adams has already seen fellow 2017 draftee Jackson get paid by the Bears. Back in January, the Bears rewarded Jackson with a four-year deal worth $58.4 million dollars. Annually, Jackson is set to make $14.6 million dollars, making him the highest-paid safety in the NFL.

What Adams wants is to eclipse that number. The Bears do have some flexibility in regards to the salary cap during the 2021 NFL offseason, so they could backload any contract for Adams as they wish but since there’s only so much money to go around, signing and trading for Adams would mean that Pace will have some tough decisions to make and cut older players on the team to make room.

So are the Bears really in on Adams? Who knows. One rumor, as mentioned above, has already started about the Bears making a push for Adams. If more rumors do come out over the next few days, keep in mind that any kind of trade package that the Bears propose for Adams will require another first-round pick, as well as a lucrative contract extension that the Bears will need to get creative when it comes to structuring.