NFL Trade Grades: Bears get Chase Claypool from Steelers

Chase Claypool was perhaps the biggest star said to be available at the NFL Trade Deadline. He’s been moved to a shocker destination.

Chase Claypool is on the move. Though it looked like there was a world in which the Pittsburgh Steelers might have kept him on the roster, the price was too high and his talent too mismatched with the Steelers timeline to pass up the opportunity to find Claypool a new home.

The Chicago Bears acquired Claypool in a shocker. It wasn’t a surprise to see Claypool moved, but the Bears were one of the last teams you might have guessed to see Claypool move to at the deadline.

It’s a big, gutsy move from the Bears, and it shows that they think they can compete and compete soon in the NFC.

The Bears get quality receiver talent for Justin Field

The Bears are even with the Packers at 3-5 for second place in the NFC North. There’s a case to be made that the Bears could push for a playoff spot, as there is just about any NFC team right now. The Bears rank 14th of 16 teams in the NFC, but are just two down in the loss column to the No. 7 team.

The Bears could use receiver talent. They are fourth-worst in completion percentage this year and have the second-lowest total passing yards.

Justin Fields doesn’t exactly have all-pro weapons out there. No receiver has hauled in more than 400 yards, and only one has gone for over 300 on the season, Darnell Mooney. Getting your rookie quarterback a player to show what he can do is a good move.

Justin Fields has had tons of pocket time (on average, 2.6 seconds which is third most in the NFL) yet has had to scramble 37 times, the most in the NFL. Claypool’s ability to get open could very well give Fields a weapon he needs to make the most of the pocket time his O-line is giving him.

The only reason I ding this a bit for the Bears is they gave the Steelers exactly what they wanted. The first rule of negotiation is never take the first offer. The fact that they couldn’t get the Steelers to jump down a bit from their hope of a second-rounder is disappointing for Bears fans.

Outside of that, the Bears sent talent out this deadline. They sent out Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn out in two different trades. Geting Claypool feels like a win-now move, so there’s not total alignment here.

TRADE GRADE: B+

The Steelers get draft capital and align talent with timeline

It’s hard to separate the Steelers as they are now from this trade itself. We have to remember to grade the trades for what they are, not necessarily letting the negative thoughts about the Steelers 2-6 season so far creep in…

Chase Claypool is on a Pro Bowl career trajectory. He does not fit with the Steelers who are about to have their worst season since the 80s. Part of running a team that is headed for a rebuild is about aligning your talent and individual timelines with the organizational timeline.

Rookie receiver George Pickens is still growing and putting him in a position to get as many opportunities as possible is smart. Splitting his workload and targets with Claypool — who is more in the winning stage of his career — just wasn’t optimal.

Some said the Steelers asking for a second-round pick was too much. That’s exactly what they got.

The Steelers seemed to want to hold out on trading Claypool unless they got great value. They stuck to their guns and got it. That’s worthy of an A.

Also, Claypool was drafted in the second round. It’s like a complete do-over for the Steelers. Not bad, considering is averaging two fewer yards per target this year than last, and nearly 20 fewer yards per game. He also has just three touchdowns between this year and last.

TRADE GRADE: A