Bears' Eddie Jackson confused by defensive trades

Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson had some questions for the direction of the team following the trades of defensive leaders Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn ahead of the NFL trade deadline. 

"Your thoughts start to go through your head like, 'What are we playing for?'" said Jackson this week, via NFL.com. "Is their vision still the same as the players? We're trying to make it to a Super Bowl, get to the playoffs, things like that. Like I said, I'm not upstairs. I get it. I understand it. But it just hits different."

Jackson also added that some of the younger players on the team were asking if those sorts of changes were normal. 

The Bears traded Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a fourth-round pick a week before the deadline and then dealt Smith to Baltimore for second and fifth-round picks on Monday. Both players were in the final year of their contracts and were unlikely to re-sign with Chicago. 

Smith had been the subject of trade rumors all offseason after he and the team were unable to come to terms on a new contract extension. That lack of a contract resulted in a brief holdout that finally ended just before the start of the regular season. 

This helps show the disconnect that often exists between players and front-office decision-makers. Players have a win-at-all-costs mentality every week no matter the record and always want to try and compete. They hate to see their veteran teammates, especially high-level players, get traded away for future assets when they might not be there to benefit from that trade if it works out. They care about it now. 

A veteran like Jackson sees the Bears only a game out of a playoff spot with half of the season remaining and wants to win right now.

But management has to take a more logical approach. General manager Ryan Poles knows that at 3-5 the Bears are unlikely to make a playoff run, and wants to restock his cupboard with as much draft capital as he can. Especially for players, he is likely to lose for nothing after a non-playoff season.

One other aspect of the Smith trade is that it gave the Bears an extra second-round pick, giving them the flexibility to trade their own second-round pick to Pittsburgh for wide receiver Chase Claypool to help give Justin Fields some much-needed help on the outside.