The Chase Claypool era in Chicago is over. The Bears announced on Friday that GM Ryan Poles traded the embattled wide receiver to the Miami Dolphins.
The Bears will send Claypool and 2025 seventh-round pick to Miami in exchange for a 2025 sixth-rounder.
The move ends a season-long drama between the team and the wide receiver. Things got off to a bad start in Week 1 when Claypool appeared to put forth poor effort as a blocker and route runner. Claypool’s play was so lackadaisical there was speculation that head coach Matt Eberflus might bench him in Week 2. But Claypool made a point to apologize to his teammates, coaches and Poles and seemed to improve in the short term.
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The changes didn’t last. Claypool called out coaches for using him improperly last Friday. One day later Claypool was made inactive for the team’s Week 4 game against the Broncos. Coaches said the decision to make Claypool inactive was unrelated to his comments, but Claypool may have made the comments if he saw the writing on the wall ahead of the team’s decision.
From there things spiraled. The team asked Claypool to stay at home for the Broncos game, then doubled down and kept him apart from the others in the week leading up to the Commanders game. Suffice it to say, he didn’t make the trip to Washington for Thursday Night Football.
Claypool played only 10 games for the Bears, and the Bears lost all 10 of those games. Over that span he caught 18 balls for 191 yards and one touchdown. Claypool appeared primed for a breakout Bears season in training camp. He became a favorite target for Justin Fields over the summer, especially in the red zone, but Claypool’s camp was derailed part way through by a leg injury.
Now, Claypool gets a fresh start with a fresh coaching staff. If anyone can salvage Claypool’s career it’s probably the Dolphins. Head coach Mike McDaniel is an offensive wiz, known for maximizing his players’ strengths and using them in creative ways to succeed.
NFL
Poles traded a second-round pick to the Steelers for Claypool last November. That pick ended up being the No. 32 selection in the draft, which the Steelers used to select Joey Porter Jr., a talented cornerback. If the Bears still had that pick, they could’ve used it to bring in a pass rusher like Derick Hall or Isaiah Foskey. Several highly touted offensive linemen like Matthew Bergeron, Steve Avila and Joe Tippmann were still on the board, too. Both pass rush and offensive line depth have been issues for the Bears this season.