Ranking Every Chicago Bears WR Trade Target By Likelihood By Erik Lambert - January 16th, 2023
The Chicago Bears can’t go with the status quo again in 2023. What they have at wide receiver isn’t enough. The combination of Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool is interesting, but a third presence is obviously missing. They need another option for Justin Fields if this passing game is finally going to take off next season. GM Ryan Poles will have some possibilities to consider. Free agency is largely devoid of any. There is nobody on the market worthy of being called a true #1 target. So either Poles will focus on the draft, or he might dabble in the trade market again.
He’s already done it twice with N’Keal Harry and Claypool. So he isn’t afraid to explore the market if the deal feels right. There could be some interesting names available this spring. Let’s go over the ones with the strongest likelihood of actually being dealt and the odds of the Bears being the team to get them.
Chicago Bears’ list of options is interesting, if not impressive.
First of all. Thanks GrizzlyBear for posting some great threads here. The board was getting pretty stale and needed it. Regarding this thread though, I would be fine trading a 2nd round pick for a legit solid veteran WR. I don't know those players that well (other than Evans) so I wouldn't know which one would be the best fit here.
But the ideal would be to bring in a truly gifted guy who could be here for awhile, and get a great rapport and chemistry with Fields. While an older guy could be fine for a year or two, that's not as ideal as a guy who can be here for the long haul with Fields. I posted a few days ago about the stats on WRs production going down past age 30. Some positions in football seem to be kinder to older players than other positions - and WR seems to be affected by age more than some others. Yes, there are always exceptions to every rule. But those are exceptions.
Anyway, a 2nd round pick for a solid vet (I think) would be a good investment. Especially when a drafted kid will be a bit of a crap shoot with no guarantee he pans out at the NFL level. And also, even if we do get a good WR, it will take some time to ramp up his game to the NFL. Getting a young veteran though, is a way to get a guy who is ready day-1 to begin building a chemistry with Fields. JMO.
First of all. Thanks GrizzlyBear for posting some great threads here. The board was getting pretty stale and needed it. Regarding this thread though, I would be fine trading a 2nd round pick for a legit solid veteran WR. I don't know those players that well (other than Evans) so I wouldn't know which one would be the best fit here.
But the ideal would be to bring in a truly gifted guy who could be here for awhile, and get a great rapport and chemistry with Fields. While an older guy could be fine for a year or two, that's not as ideal as a guy who can be here for the long haul with Fields. I posted a few days ago about the stats on WRs production going down past age 30. Some positions in football seem to be kinder to older players than other positions - and WR seems to be affected by age more than some others. Yes, there are always exceptions to every rule. But those are exceptions.
Anyway, a 2nd round pick for a solid vet (I think) would be a good investment. Especially when a drafted kid will be a bit of a crap shoot with no guarantee he pans out at the NFL level. And also, even if we do get a good WR, it will take some time to ramp up his game to the NFL. Getting a young veteran though, is a way to get a guy who is ready day-1 to begin building a chemistry with Fields. JMO.
Keep the second round pick and use it to draft Boutte. I have seen this guy play, and he is damn good route runner, 4.4 speed, 20 years old, solid 205 pounds. Johnston, Addison, and at least one or two others may go ahead of him for various reasons that have nothing to do with his playing ability. He might really shoot up the rankings after the combine, because he may be the best athlete in this WR draft class. In that case, I want Poles to draft him right after taking Anderson/Carter.
First of all. Thanks GrizzlyBear for posting some great threads here. The board was getting pretty stale and needed it. Regarding this thread though, I would be fine trading a 2nd round pick for a legit solid veteran WR. I don't know those players that well (other than Evans) so I wouldn't know which one would be the best fit here.
But the ideal would be to bring in a truly gifted guy who could be here for awhile, and get a great rapport and chemistry with Fields. While an older guy could be fine for a year or two, that's not as ideal as a guy who can be here for the long haul with Fields. I posted a few days ago about the stats on WRs production going down past age 30. Some positions in football seem to be kinder to older players than other positions - and WR seems to be affected by age more than some others. Yes, there are always exceptions to every rule. But those are exceptions.
Anyway, a 2nd round pick for a solid vet (I think) would be a good investment. Especially when a drafted kid will be a bit of a crap shoot with no guarantee he pans out at the NFL level. And also, even if we do get a good WR, it will take some time to ramp up his game to the NFL. Getting a young veteran though, is a way to get a guy who is ready day-1 to begin building a chemistry with Fields. JMO.
Keep the second round pick and use it to draft Boutte. I have seen this guy play, and he is damn good route runner, 4.4 speed, 20 years old, solid 205 pounds. Johnston, Addison, and at least one or two others may go ahead of him for various reasons that have nothing to do with his playing ability. He might really shoot up the rankings after the combine, because he may be the best athlete in this WR draft class. In that case, I want Poles to draft him right after taking Anderson/Carter.
Yeah, for me it is going to be interesting, fascinating, to see what actually happens. Do you think it could be a good situation to do this (draft Boutte) and also bring in a veteran FA? I ask that in light of the fact that both Claypool and Mooney are in the last year of their contracts in '23. If a young vet FA is an upgrade over one of those guys, maybe you bring that guy on board for Fields to have here for years. I doubt if the Bears bring back both Claypool and Mooney anyway. What do you think?
Keep the second round pick and use it to draft Boutte. I have seen this guy play, and he is damn good route runner, 4.4 speed, 20 years old, solid 205 pounds. Johnston, Addison, and at least one or two others may go ahead of him for various reasons that have nothing to do with his playing ability. He might really shoot up the rankings after the combine, because he may be the best athlete in this WR draft class. In that case, I want Poles to draft him right after taking Anderson/Carter.
Yeah, for me it is going to be interesting, fascinating, to see what actually happens. Do you think it could be a good situation to do this (draft Boutte) and also bring in a veteran FA? I ask that in light of the fact that both Claypool and Mooney are in the last year of their contracts in '23. If a young vet FA is an upgrade over one of those guys, maybe you bring that guy on board for Fields to have here for years. I doubt if the Bears bring back both Claypool and Mooney anyway. What do you think?
Absolutely! We want Fields to have a true WR1, and that’s not going to be Mooney or Claypool. So bring in D-Hop as WR1 for now to 2025, and Boutte as the long-term WR1.
Now, full disclosure, the reason he reversed his decision about staying at LSU another year is that he was involved in a sex party with a female LSU staffer, LSU recruiting director and a couple other guys. It looks to me like an embarrassing incident for the university, but nothing illegal going on. This might drop him lower in the draft, but I would take him anyway. He’s not exactly Ja’Marr Chase, but he’s got your “top-tier” talent for sure. I would take him over Johnston. If you haven’t seen him, go over to YouTube and check out his highlights videos, especially the one for his sophomore year.