Anything can happen in the NFL, particularly leading up to the trade deadline.
Considering that, it’s interesting multiple Chicago Bears insiders are pointing to an NFC contender as a new potential trade destination for veteran quarterback Andy Dalton.
Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune revealed in his November 1 column that considering the recent injury to New Orleans Saints QB Jameis Winston, a door may have opened for the Bears — albeit a tiny one. NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported that Winston suffered a torn ACL Week 8, while also damaging his MCL. He will miss the rest of the regular season as a result.
Does this mean Dalton could be on the move?
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Biggs: Dalton is Bears’ Best Chance to ‘Unload a Player’
Biggs says that while the chances are slim Chicago will ship Dalton South, the Red Rifle still represents the team’s best hope to make a trade happen before the November 2, 4 p.m. ET deadline:
Taysom Hill will step in as the starter, and the Saints have former Northwestern quarterback Trevor Siemian on their roster. Could they potentially be interested in Andy Dalton? Let me be clear: I think the chances of the Bears being able to trade Dalton to the Saints is relatively low. I don’t know how they feel about Dalton, but that might be the best chance for the Bears to unload a player. They could flip Dalton for a late-round pick and have Nick Foles serve as the backup quarterback for the remainder of the season.
Foles, who has been active just one game this season after starting seven games for the Bears last year, has zero market, so the odds of moving him are even more meager.
Another top Bears insider, Adam Hoge of NBC Sports, also finds the Saints to be an intriguing landing spot for Dalton, and he added an interesting wrinkle to the conversation Monday.
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Could Ryan Pace’s New Orleans Connection Further a Trade Along?
On The Hoge & Jahns podcast, his pod with Adam Jahns of The Athletic, Hoge brought up another good point about a potential Dalton trade: Bears GM Ryan Pace, who spent the 2001-2014 seasons with the Saints, wearing various hats, including director of professional scouting and director of player personnel, still has several connections in New Orleans. If the team were to try to move Dalton, the Saints make arguably the most sense right now.
“It certainly caught my eye that Jameis Winston may have suffered a catastrophic knee injury,” Hoge said on the November 1 episode. “Especially with Ryan Pace’s connections with the folks in New Orleans.”
Jahns also reasonably noted that the Saints don’t have the cap space to afford Dalton, who has played through half of his one-year, $10 million contract. New Orleans is currently 30th out of 32 teams when it comes to available cap space, sitting at just over $800,000, per Spotrac. That said, Jahns doesn’t think that will keep the Saints from looking for a QB alongside Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian.
“From my experience, the salary cap in the NFL is not a real thing. Money can be moved around,” Jahns noted.
“As you said, you can always find a way to do it if you need a quarterback. It’s definitely worth the phone call, (if you’re Pace),” Hoge added.
Time is running out, but for his part, Pace said on Halloween he’s always open to negotiations. “We’re always looking at ways to improve our team,” Pace said, per Chris Emma of 670 The Score. “I think if something presents itself to make us better, we’ll always talk through it as a staff. It’s no different this week. We’ve made several trades this season, and our aggressive mindset will be ongoing.”
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