Getty Anthony Miller celebrates a touchdown with Nick Foles.
Draft day is finally here, and with it, endless possibilities, particularly for the Chicago Bears. The Bears may or may not be looking to add a quarterback in the draft this year, but there will be plenty of opportunities for the team to improve its squad. There’s also the possibility of Chicago shipping a player or two off in exchange for more capital.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus has put together a few realistic trade scenarios that could be very good for the Bears in a multitude of ways, from unloading Nick Foles to adding some draft capital — and while many trade proposals are far-fetched or pipe dreams, these actually make sense for all involved.
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Trade Proposal No. 1: Foles Goes to Back Up Zach Wilson in New York
Foles, who didn’t look good in Matt Nagy’s offense when he replaced Mitch Trubisky last season, going 2-5 in his seven starts with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions, could very likely be moved if Chicago grabs a quarterback in the draft. The Bears have not rolled with more than two quarterbacks on the roster in Nagy’s three-year tenure with the team, so moving on from an immobile veteran with a semi-cumbersome contract would benefit them greatly.
Spielberger has Foles getting shipped off to the New York Jets for a 2022 6th round pick, and it makes a ton of sense. Here’s what he proposed and why:
“Jets general manager Joe Douglas is very familiar with Nick Foles considering the two won a Super Bowl together with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2017,” Spielberger wrote. “Douglas is keenly aware of the value of a solid backup quarterback, but perhaps more importantly, he understands the value in a veteran mentor for a No. 2 overall pick quarterback. Furthermore, Douglas worked for the Chicago Bears under general manager Ryan Pace in 2015, so there’s a connection there, too.”
Foles would be an excellent mentor for Zach Wilson, who the Jets will draft unless something catastrophic happens, and the Bears could move on and get a little something in return. It would leave Chicago with just over $5 million in dead money, and it would free up close to $1.4 million in cap space for the Bears. Win-win.
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Proposed Trade No. 2: WR Anthony Miller to the Philadelphia Eagles
In another major trade proposal for Chicago, Spielberger has the Bears trading fourth-year wide receiver Anthony Miller to the Philadelphia Eagles and getting a 2021 6th round pick in return.
Numerous reports, including a few from top NFL insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport, have had the Bears shopping Miller for the past month now. A draft day exchange seems the most likely, and Spielberger has found the perfect team to take Miller on in his proposal:
The Eagles are no stranger to taking on a slot receiver in the final year of their contract and playing the compensatory pick game. They did exactly that with Golden Tate back in 2018. Philadelphia traded their 2019 third-round pick to Detroit and then recouped a fourth-round compensatory pick in 2020, effectively netting out relatively even when all was said and done. This isn’t to say that in this hypothetical scenario Philadelphia has zero interest in extending Anthony Miller were he to put up a strong 2021 campaign, but it demonstrates the team’s willingness to take a flier on a guy with the worst-case scenario being that they net out even in the long run. In fact, the Eagles also did just that in a trade with the Chicago Bears when they sent a 2020 sixth-round pick for running back Jordan Howard, as they now have a compensatory 2021 sixth-round pick following his signing in Miami last offseason.
This is another trade that makes sense for both teams. The Bears could move on from the former second-round pick after he never quite became the No. 2 they envisioned, while Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts could get a solid weapon in the slot.
In the same article, Spielberger called the Teddy Bridgewater-to-the-Broncos trade that went down mere hours later, so there’s some merit his predictions — and with the 2021 draft finally upon us, we won’t have to wait long to see if any more come to fruition.
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