The Chicago Bears entered the 2023 offseason with a nearly clean slate. They had the most cap space in the league by a wide margin and to top it off, owned the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They made the most of those assets, landing some major upgrades for the roster.
The No. 1 pick was traded to the Carolina Panthers, which sent a package of four picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore went back to Chicago. That filled their need for a No. 1 wide receiver for Justin Fields.
In free agency, the team bolstered its defense by signing linebackers T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds. More help for Fields was signed as guard Nate Davis and tight end Robert Tonyan were also brought aboard. In the first round of the draft, the Bears came away with tackle Darnell Wright, giving the team another building block in the trenches.
General manager Ryan Poles made changes, but there is still some work to be done. The Bears will be improved on the field, but it wouldn’t hurt to continue making upgrades to the roster should the opportunity present itself.
If Chicago wanted to make another splash before the season, a suggested trade target is running back Saquon Barkley of the New York Giants. Before Big Blue placed the franchise tag on their star running back, it was actually the Bears that were the odds-on favorites to land him in free agency.
It is easy to surmise why the Bears would be the favorites. They had money to spend and running back was a need with David Montgomery hitting free agency. D’Onta Foreman and Travis Homer were signed in free agency with Roschon Robinson being drafted in the fourth round.
Those players could certainly all have a role in 2023, but none are close to being able to provide the impact Barkley could. When healthy, Barkley is one of the most dynamic players in the entire NFL as a dual threat out of the backfield.
What could a trade between the Bears and Giants look like? Chicago could offer a 2024 third-round pick, a 2024 fourth-round pick via the Philadelphia Eagles and a 2025 second-round pick via the Carolina Panthers. New York likely isn’t looking to trade Barkley as he is too important to the success of their offense. But if a long-term deal isn’t worked out, a trade should not be considered off the table.
That is a step below what the Carolina Panthers received in exchange from the San Francisco 49ers for Christian McCaffrey, who was already locked into a long-term deal. Trading picks as a rebuilding team may be unorthodox, but given how much draft capital the Bears have compiled in recent years, parting ways with some of it for an established talent would make sense.
Adding Barkley to a backfield with Fields would create major headaches for opposing defensive coordinators as the Bears were the No. 1 rushing team in the NFL last season without a running back as dynamic as him. Adding Barkley, Moore and Tonyan to an offense already with Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool and Cole Kmet will take the Bears to heights they haven’t approached often in the last few decades.
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