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The Bears could have rescued Deshaun Watson in front of Mitchell Trubisky in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Now, they could be ready to give up many future draft picks to acquire Watson in 2021.
In Monday’s edition of ESPN’s “NFL Live”, analyst Dan Orlovsky suggested Chicago should go “all in” to complete a trade with the Texans for Watson. Following this, reporter Jeff Darlington explained that bears might be in a pretty hopeless state to the quarterback to make such a move.
The Bears had been mentioned as the earliest contenders for Watson with Trubisky set to become a free agent whom they will not attempt to re-sign. They also do not want to return to the departure of Nick Foles, who still has two years on his contract.
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Since those initial rumors of trading with Watson, the Bears lost a key QB option when the Colts traded for the Eagles’ Carson Wentz. They also saw Alabama’s Mac Jones draft stock continue to pass their 20th first-round pick. For now, the 49ers also don’t appear to be dealing with Illinois-born Jimmy Garoppolo.
That leaves the Bears, if they have to go the non-rookie route, with the less inspiring option, Sam Darnold of the Jets, and the more unrealistic option, Russell Wilson of the Seahawks. If Chicago doesn’t just want to reunite Alex Smith (soon published by Washington) with Matt Nagy as the QB bridge, there should be more incentive to aim for the moon with Watson.
The Bears would undoubtedly have to cede a ton to the Texans for that to happen. It starts with being able to carry Watson’s contract. They just barely got in line with salary with the exit of the Corner Buster Skrine corner and are now around $ 233,000 under the cap, according to OverTheCap.com.
But Watson’s current deal with the Texans comes with a cap of $ 15.95 million for 2021. While that’s reasonable for a QB, created by the large guarantees Watson has secured on his four-man contract. $ 156 million year old who filed his biggest hits for the next three years, the Bears have yet to make more cuts to make room for Watson.
The Bears can do it by passing defensive tackle Akiem Hicks and tight end Jimmy Graham. That’s $ 17.5 million in additional cap relief, and they could free up another $ 8 million by designating offensive tackle Bobby Massie a June 1 cut. Not only could the Bears afford Watson in the short term in this scenario, but they would be closer to keeping free agent wide receiver Allen Robinson as his partner of choice, either on the franchise label or, better, on a long term deal. .
It would make little sense for the Bears to trade for Watson if they left him with Darnell Mooney, Anthony Miller and second-year tight end Cole Kmet as their top receivers. So forget the tag-and-trade scenario with Robinson. He has to stay to draw Watson, and Watson has to be on his way for Robinson to return by staying in Chicago.
The next part of the plan is to determine the compensation. The Texans need a lot of defensive help, but the Bears are limited in what they can offer. Edge Rusher Khalil Mack has been mentioned, but although he’s still an elite player, it would be difficult for Houston to take another massive contract for a 30-year-old.
Without a veteran in the mix, the Texans should ask the Bears’ top three players, at a minimum, No. 20 this year, more where they choose in 2022 and 2023. They shouldn’t hesitate to ask about the second, either. of this year. -rounder, No. 52 in total.
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Houston must now target Chicago before all teams to get the biggest comeback. With no Robinson’s needing to be involved, the Bears shouldn’t have to worry about giving up everything it takes when it comes to draft picks. Watson is only 25 and will give the Bears a shot at fighting in the NFC every season, provided they work to give him excellent offensive support and decent defensive assist. If the Texans take one less turn in the first round for Mack or another player or two of their choice, the Bears should agree as well.
The Bears were an NFC playoff team in 2020, no matter how you try to break their 8-8 record. They have a lot of positives around the QB which positions them to win big now with the right QB. It would be a waste of time to think that Darnold or Smith could do much better than what Trubisky and Foles gave them last season.
The Jets and Dolphins don’t need to force a Watson deal as they have other options on the rise, BYU’s Zach Wilson at No.2 overall and Tua Tagovailoa, respectively. The Panthers may have more reason to balk at compensating young veterans (Christian McCaffrey? Brian Burns? Jeremy Chinn?) Leading the picks to try to acquire Watson, and they should have their pick of Jones, Justin Fields from Ohio State and Trey from North Dakota State. Lance remains n ° 8 in the general classification. The winds of despair are swirling much more through Chicago.
The Bears are down with next to nothing to lose and everything to gain from taking on Watson. They can either try to win big or go home earlier with no playoff spot in 2021.
Forget how much it will cost the Bears to make up for the 2017 draft mistake. They have to do their best to take advantage of a rare opportunity to correct it.
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