Bears trade for Chase Claypool: Experts hand out grades for Chicago

All the reasons the Bears were better off dealing Roquan Smith than keeping him make this decision puzzling. It’s not the exact same scenario — Claypool has another cheap year on his rookie deal after this — but part of his value was what he could offer in the second half of 2022, which doesn’t matter to a rebuilding Chicago. Or it shouldn’t.

Claypool is an OK receiver. He ranks 76th out of 102 wide receivers with at least 100 routes in yards per route run this season, but he’s done that with poor quarterback play. In our Receiver Tracking Metrics Claypool has an Overall Score of 63, which ranks 24th among wide receivers and tight ends. That’s a massive upgrade from last season, when he recorded just a 39 Overall Score, 89th out of 109 qualifiers.

They paid a big price for Claypool, but he was a second-round pick in 2020 who has flashed enough to validate what the Steelers saw in him. And the Bears needed to step up with this offer to outbid their division rival Packers.

Two or three years from now, of course, there’s a chance the Bears look at this trade and wonder what might have been if they held onto the draft pick. But they need to help Fields right now. Not so they can win, but so they can properly evaluate their young quarterback with real NFL weapons around him. And if Fields, Mooney and Claypool establish chemistry that carries into 2023, they should be thrilled.

Adding Claypool now offers the Bears a benefit over any receiver(s) they land in the offseason. It allows Justin Fields to start gaining chemistry with the big-play wideout with the hopes that he becomes Chicago’s No. 1 option over the next few years. There might be a hidden benefit, too, in that the Packers were rumored to be eyeing Claypool.

Claypool boasts the size of a mini-tight end and the vertical ability of a smaller speed receiver. Claypool and Fields could end up a really strong fit. Throw Claypool jump balls and go routes, and the Bears might have something here. That’s not how he’s been used this season, but Claypool has shown previously he can do things well with the right passing game.

Hey look, a receiver for the young QB! Chicago deserves props for at least acknowledging the need and giving Justin Fields another legitimate target downfield. Claypool certainly has the physical talent to be a spicy complement to Darnell Mooney. The question is, do they still need a true No. 1? Probably. In that case, a second-rounder is a relatively steep price to pay for a guy who had an uneven, occasionally undisciplined run in Pittsburgh.

In essence, the Bears chose a WR2 over an All-Pro off-ball linebacker. That’s the kind of move that sounds bad when you say it out loud, but when you consider how little support Justin Fields has had in his 1.5 seasons as a pro so far. Since 2021, Darnell Mooney leads Chicago with 183 targets. The next highest currently-rostered wide receiver? Equanimeous St. Brown, with 23.

This made Claypool a priority in the development of a young quarterback who has show flashes of greatness in a swirling storm of Illinois ineptitude. The former second round pick is familiar with bad situations, having played his entire career with late-stage noodle-armed Ben Roethlisberger, Mitch Trubisky and rookie Kenny Pickett. His 7.7 yards per target are still better than any Steelers regular but George Pickens since 2020.

After being used more as a deep and intermediate threat his first two seasons, Claypool was often a short-range target in Pittsburgh this fall. He can fill that long distance role for Fields, who’s liable to air it out — his 9.5 air yards per pass is fourth-most in the league in 2022 — or continue to be a mid-range target whose presence opens those routes for Mooney or Dante Pettis or N’Keal Harry or … OK I’m going to stop listing Bears wideouts before I get depressed.

Claypool isn’t meant to be a No. 1 wide receiver and won’t need to be in Chicago. Speedy Darnell Mooney remains the clear-cut go-to guy downfield for Fields, but now he gets someone to deflect attention away in deep coverage.

The Bears had been trying to make it work with retreads such as Equanimeous St. Brown, Dante Pettis and N’Keal Harry. But now they have Claypool to raise the speed quotient along with Mooney and rookie Velus Jones Jr., who will become a bigger factor in Year 2. Claypool can operate well outside but he has some versatility as a unique big slot, too.

The Bears already got an extra second-rounder in the Roquan Smith trade with another AFC North team, the Ravens. So parting with one for the Steelers was rather cheap from their perspective, even though that might be a little high in terms of compensation.

The wide receiver market exploded unlike anything we’ve ever seen this offseason, and a dramatic increase in contracts figures to trickle over into the cost of acquiring a wide receiver in a trade. This is especially true when there are very few pending free agent wide receivers, as is certainly the case this upcoming offseason. The crop of college talent is also not expected to be as strong as 2022’s incredible class. So, in order to acquire a difference-maker at wide receiver, a trade has almost become necessary.

All of that context aside, in a vacuum, a potential top-40 draft pick for a player who was the No. 3 receiver on his own team is a steep price no matter how you slice it. Claypool is a freak athlete who converted from tight end to wide receiver out of Notre Dame before recording a 4.42-second 40-yard dash (81st percentile at wide receiver) and a 41-inch vertical (95th percentile at wide receiver) at 6-foot-4, 238 pounds. He’s a picture-perfect fit in the Bears’ offense as a Z and/or slot receiver who has jump ball ability downfield, can win over the middle, is relatively sure-handed and has the size to make an impact as a run-blocker — a trait this Bears front office values very highly.

First, the value: Getting a potential No. 1 receiver for under $100,000 per game is a steal and helps explain why the Bears were willing to deal a potential top-40 pick in next year’s draft to make it happen.

But this is certainly a gamble. Claypool was marvelous as a rookie (62-873-9), but he has caught just 58.7% of the passes thrown his way with three touchdowns in his last 23 games

Certainly, the quality of quarterbacks throwing him the ball has contributed to that. But it’s not like the Bears have a bonafide star in Fields. They’re betting that pairing Fields and Claypool will benefit both players.

We get the thinking. But we also don’t like the functional reality that the Bears surrendered Smith — a two-time All-Pro — for Claypool, a fifth and the right to pick later in the second round than they otherwise would.

Quarterback Justin Fields should be more productive from the pocket with Claypool lining up opposite wide receiver Darnell Mooney. The former could see an increase in his production because he leaves a crowded Steelers’ pass-catching group for a depleted Bears unit.

The 6’4″, 238-pound Claypool will serve as a big-bodied target for a passing attack that needed a spark. Thus far, it seems as though the Bears whiffed on rookie third-rounder Velus Jones Jr., who’s more of a special teamer with just three catches for 24 yards and a touchdown and 41 rushing yards.

Claypool’s best days are still ahead of him and he’ll be under the Bears’ control for a year and a half at least. Poles made this trade in the hopes they can keep Claypool long-term, though. With him occupying the outside and allowing Mooney to work out of the slot more often, the Bears passing attack just became significantly more lethal.

Claypool is a fine weapon for Fields to work with and frankly, it was the best move on the table for the price. The Bears were always going to have to overpay in some capacity for a receiver of Claypool’s skillset so it shouldn’t bother anyone that it took a second-round pick. It’s good to see Poles finally make the decision to give the offense more talent. We knew it was coming eventually, but that time is now.