The winners and losers in the Chicago Bears trading the No. 1 pick
By Todd Welter
The Chase Claypool trade did not get minimized.
Claypool sort of loses in this trade. Well, at least the legacy of this trade has now been put in an interesting situation.
As of now, the Chicago Bears are the clear losers in that deal. The Steelers got the Bears’ second-round pick that turned out to pick No. 32. Normally that is the last pick of the first round but since the Miami Dolphins had to surrender their first pick because of NFL sanctions, it is now the first selection in the second round.
It means that Steelers essentially got a first-round pick for a player they took with the 49th pick in the 2020 draft. It did not help that Claypool caught only 14 passes after he arrived in Chicago.
The trade could have been mitigated had Poles been able to acquire pick No. 39 (the Panthers’ first of two second-round picks) instead of No. 61.
Poles can still mitigate the trade by packaging his two second-round picks to move up. Another way the Claypool trade can work in the Chicago Bears’ favor is Chase produces next season. With Moore in the mix, Claypool can settle in as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver. If he can produce in that role, then this trade no longer looks like a loser.
Pundits hoping the Chicago Bears would take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick lost in this deal.
There are some talking heads like Colin Cowherd or Skip Bayless that were advocating the Bears take Alabama’s Bryce Young. The reason varied from Justin Fields’ win-loss record as a starting quarterback to his issues as a pocket passer.
Folks like Bayless just felt like Young is better than Fields.
The main reason pundits wanted this was to just have content. Debating keeping Fields versus trading him and starting over fills airtime. It is good clickbait. The trade puts an end to any future segments.