Bears may have repeated last year's mistake with Montez Sweat trade

Last season, the Bears traded what became the draft's No. 32 pick for former Steelers (and current Dolphins) wide receiver Chase Claypool. Chicago lacked any semblance of a passing game, and Claypool was supposed to forge a strong connection with quarterback Justin Fields.

He had 18 catches in 10 games with the Bears and quickly became an afterthought when they added wide receiver D.J. Moore from the Panthers in a trade for the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Sweat has been a much better player for the Commanders than Claypool was for the Steelers, but that doesn't mean this trade will work out any better. If the season ended today, the pick sent to Washington would be No. 35 overall.

Chicago (2-6) definitely needed to bolster its pass rush that has been dormant for the past two seasons, but it's asking a lot of Sweat for him to single-handedly improve the team's production in that area. The Bears rank 32nd in sacks (10) and finished 2022 last in the category as well.

In Washington, Sweat was part of a defensive line that included former first-rounders Chase Young, Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.

Through Week 8, Sweat has 6.5 sacks, but it's unclear how he'll fare when offenses send double-teams in his direction. The rest of the defensive line hasn't shown much to suggest it can take advantage of one-on-one matchups if Sweat gets most of the attention.

Sweat is an unrestricted free agent following the season, giving Chicago nine games to figure out if Sweat is a good fit on the roster and worth a significant contract.

Should Sweat walk after the season, the trade will be another disaster for the Bears. It doesn't seem wise for a team so far from being a contender to part with valuable draft picks in consecutive seasons, especially after the first one failed spectacularly.

The Bears have an approach and are sticking with it, no matter how much the evidence suggests it might be the wrong one.