Here is why the Chase Claypool trade looks even worse at this point.
When the Steelers traded WR Chase Claypool to the Bears on Nov. 1, they thought they were getting a second-round pick. It turns out, it's practically a first-rounder.
At this point, it really seems like the Steelers committed highway robbery when they sent wide receiver Chase Claypool to the Bears before the NFL trade deadline.
With the Miami Dolphins having to forfeit their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and the Bears finishing with the worst record in the league, Pittsburgh now holds the 32nd overall pick, a first in any other year.
Fans are calling for the team to make a big move, and it makes sense. This obviously hurts when the thought was that Claypool was supposed to be the big move. Fans saying that an A.J. Brown type of move should come this offseason have to realize Ryan Poles thought he pulled that deal off a few weeks early with Claypool. He was wrong.
So, they have Claypool, they need a wide receiver, they are supposed to take a big swing, and the next issue is that the pick they traded for Claypool would be the perfect piece to add a wide receiver this offseason.
There are obvious hypotheticals where the team picks up draft capital from trading back from the number one overall pick. Still, right now Chicago has pick one, and they do not pick again until pick 54.
They did not think they were getting Claypool for pick 32, but they did realize they were trading a top 45 pick for Claypool, so they are not even getting a wide receiver similar to Claypool with pick 54.
As the Chicago Bears currently stand, they do not have the real draft assets to add wide receivers that could contribute from day one. We know that free agency will not answer many issues, and the draft is a crap shoot, especially for Ryan Poles, who has already struggled at wide receiver.
Claypool still has one year left on his rookie contract, and the Bears get him for the low price of $1.5 million in 2023, and it's still possible that he could become a solid contributor for them next year. But it's a safe assumption that if the Bears had known their second-round pick would be No. 32 overall and that Claypool would only catch 14 passes for them, they wouldn't have made the trade.
