Bears acquire WR Chase Claypool from the Steelers, report says

LAKE FOREST – The last two trades by the Bears were meant to acquire draft picks to select players that would be a part of the team’s future.

But the one that was made on Tuesday just a few hours before the deadline brought a player to Chicago who could be a long-term solution at a position of need starting immediately.

Per multiple reports, the first from Field Yates of NFL Network, the Bears are acquiring wide receiver Chase Claypool from the Steelers. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the team will be sending one of their two 2023 second round picks to Pittsburgh.

The teams have yet to confirm the move.

A second round draft pick of the Steelers out of Notre Dame in 2020, Claypool has 153 receptions for 2,044 yards and 12 touchdowns in 39 regular season games. He has 32 catches for 311 yards and a touchdown in eight games in the 2022 season.

He comes to Chicago with one year left on his first NFL contract.

Claypool gives the offense and quarterback Justin Fields a receiver who can make big plays, which the team currently doesn’t have outside of third year receiver Darnell Mooney. He’ll likely take the field for his first game with the Bears Sunday against the Dolphins at Soldier Field at Noon.

This move is a major departure from the previous two deals where the teams traded their best two defensive players for draft picks. Last Wednesday, the team traded defensive end Robert Quinn, a 2021 Pro Bowler and second team All-Pro, to the Eagles for a fourth round pick.

On Monday, the team agreed to a trade with the Ravens as two-time All-Pro second team selection and NFL leader tackler Roquan Smith was dealt for a second and fifth round pick.

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