Ahead of the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline, the Chicago Bears made a move that they believed would help improve their offense. They traded a second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for wide receiver Chase Claypool.
Despite being in a rebuild, the Bears knew that they needed to bring in some weapons to help Justin Fields and the offense. Claypool was a dynamic, big-play receiver at times with the Steelers, potentially giving Fields a go-to option at wide receiver to pair with Darnell Mooney.
Alas, things have not panned out as they would have hoped. That has led Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report to suggest that Claypool is one veteran that could be on the roster bubble heading into training camp.
Had general manager Ryan Poles not paid a premium price, the pick that ended up being No. 32 in the 2023 NFL Draft because of the Miami Dolphins losing a pick from tampering, Claypool could have already been moved on from. In seven games with the Bears, he caught 14 passes for 140 yards and zero touchdowns. All of the Bears’ passing metrics decreased with Claypool in the mix.
To make matters worse, Claypool has disappointed thus far this offseason. Marc Silverman of ESPN 1000 was on Waddle & Silvy when he provided an update on how things were going with Claypool. To sum it up, things aren’t going well between him and the Bears.
“I have heard from a few people inside that building that he is not somebody who is very self-motivated… All I can tell you is it isn’t trending in a way that the Bears have wanted it to trend in this offseason.”
That certainly isn’t encouraging for Claypool’s standing with the team. While the draft capital that they parted with to acquire him was a lot, if he isn’t helping the team, the Bears need to seriously consider moving on from him.
There is no reason to hold onto a player who isn’t grasping the offense or putting in the work to improve. Especially when the Bears have so many other options they can turn to after bolstering their pass-catching groups this offseason.
The Bears don’t necessarily need the cap space, as they currently have the most in the NFL. But, releasing Claypool would net them another $3 million in savings that they could put toward elsewhere on the roster.
