Let's get this out of the way at the start of this post: Yes, the Chicago Bears' decision to trade their 2023 second-round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool was a horrendous mistake. It was the worst move of GM Ryan Poles' tenure with the team.
That said, Poles deserves credit for not chasing the sunken cost involved in the Claypool trade. He moved on from his mistake when he traded Claypool to the Miami Dolphins for pennies on the dollar of his investment to acquire him.
The Bears traded Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick for the Dolphins' 2025 sixth-round pick. The fact that Chicago got anything in return for Claypool was surprising, and, shockingly, they almost got the same amount of compensation that the Los Angeles Rams received for Van Jefferson.
Rams trading WR Van Jefferson, 2025 seventh-round pick to Falcons for 2025 sixth-round pick. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/4ZNmp17Z2z
— NFL (@NFL) October 10, 2023
The Rams sent Jefferson, their former second-round pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, to the Atlanta Falcons for a 2025 sixth-round pick.
The only difference in this deal is that the Rams keep their seventh-rounder.
Jefferson wasn't as productive with the Rams as Claypool was with the Steelers before he arrived in Chicago, but the former Florida Gator did have 802 yards and six touchdowns in a breakout 2021 season. Injuries limited him to just 11 games in 2022, and the emergence of super rookie Puka Nacua made him expendable this year.
And before you say the Bears spent a 2023 second-round pick on Claypool (I know, I get it), the Rams did invest a second-round pick in Jefferson, too, albeit in 2020.
Silver linings, right Bears fans?