As we get through Bears week, with a grim outlook, let’s look at things the Bears are terrible at, like trading draft picks.
The Bears have been pretty active with trading their draft picks over the years and, with revisionist history, we get to see just how terrible they really are at it.
2009: Earl Thomas, Clay Matthews, Mike Wallace, and Kyle Orton for Jay Cutler and Johnny Knox
The Bears get Smokin’ Jay Cutler and all they had to do was give up Kyle Orton (arguably better than Cutler) and the following picks:
- 18th overall pick in 2009 (Matthews went at 26)
- 11th overall pick in 2010 (Thomas went at 14)
- 3rd rounder in 2009 (pick 84, which was used on Mike Wallace)
The Bears also got a 5th rounder, which they used on Johnny Knox, whose career highlight was going to the Pro Bowl on special teams after the starter and alternate both declined.
It’s entirely possible that Green Bay and Seattle don’t win Super Bowls without Matthews and Thomas, which would open the door for a team like Chicago.
Oh well, at least they got their franchise quarterback!
2010: Rob Gronkowski for Gaines Adams
Gaines Adams’s early passing was a tragedy. However, with all due respect, he was not a great football player at the NFL level in his first three years in the league and then the Bears traded a second round pick for him. In one year for the Bears, he had 4 tackles and 0 sacks. The pick that was traded away (number 42 overall in 2010) passed hands a couple more times before it went to New England, who chose Rob Gronkowski.
I’ll just leave it at that.
2017: Patrick Mahomes, Alvin Kamara, and Carl Lawson for Mitch Trubisky
This is one of my favorites. They gave away picks to move up one spot for a player that isn’t nearly as good as a guy who went 8 picks later!
So the Bears gave up the following picks:
- 3th overall pick in 2017 – Which could have been used on Patrick Mahomes, the next QB off the board, who went at 10
- 67th overall pick in 2017 – the pick that was used on Alvin Kamara, who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with 1,500 yards and 13 touchdowns
- 111th overall pick in 2017 – A few picks just before Carl Lawson went off the board at 116
What a clusterf#ck of a deal! They could have actually traded down and ended up with a better QB! Heck, staying put, drafting Mahomes, and spending the other picks on long snappers to fight it out in camp would have been a better move! Ha! Stupid Bears!
All of these trades have contributed to an 8-year playoff drought for the Bears. With stupid moves like that, it’s no wonder they’ve only finished over .500 twice in over a decade!
Good news for us, I guess.
Could you imagine if this team currently had Patrick Mahomes, Alvin Kamara, Rob Gronkowski, and Mike Wallace on offense with Earl Thomas, Carl Lawson, and CM3 on defense? Sure, you could argue that Clay is past his prime, but as a situational rusher spelling Khalil Mack with Carl Lawson while Earl Thomas roams the backfield? It’d be unstoppable!
A defense like that sure wouldn’t be giving up 20-point leads in the 4th quarter…
These are just a few reasons why the Bears still suck!