4 blockbuster Justin Jefferson trades that would rock the league

1. Justin Jefferson to the Bears for the No. 1 pick

My cousin, a fellow Bears fan, sent me this exact trade and asked for my thoughts. "Absolutely horrible" was my response. Few things in the league have as much value right now as the top pick in the draft, and whether the Bears choose to draft Caleb Williams or trade down for a historic haul, general manager Ryan Poles has the opportunity to change his team's outlook for the next decade if he plays this right.

Forget for a second that a trade of this magnitude would probably never happen between division rivals. Putting Jefferson with DJ Moore, and maybe even someone like Rome Odunze with the No. 9 pick, would catapult the Bears' skill position players to the very top of the league. I still wouldn't do it if I was Poles, but it's not nearly as bad as I first thought.

Chicago has north of $82 million in cap space, and could easily make Jefferson the highest-paid receiver in the league, even if they extend Jaylon Johnson this offseason and commit to Justin Fields long-term.

Minnesota could move on from Kirk Cousins, whose age doesn't fit with a rebuild, and start fresh with Caleb Williams, one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects in recent memory. If Williams lives up to the hype, the Vikings would be well ahead of schedule, even without Jefferson there to catch his passes.

Therein lies the problem with this deal. Even if the Bears had the chance to get the best receiver in the game, they'd never give the Vikings a chance at a transcendent rookie quarterback. Minnesota would do this deal in a heartbeat, but the Bears wouldn't.

Would the No. 9 pick be enough? Doubtful. Jefferson is such a proven commodity. The chance of drafting a prospect like Odunze or a potential cornerstone left tackle like Olu Fashanu is enticing, but not enough to have to face Jefferson twice a year.

At the end of the day, there's almost no way the Bears and Vikings would come together for a deal involving Jefferson, even if the end result actually makes some sense for both rosters. That's why, more than anything we've proposed here, it would rock the league.