When it comes to Chicago Bears trades throughout history, you remember the classics. Trading with the Steelers to acquire Dick Butkus in 1965. The deal for the future 1st with Tampa in 1979 that secured Dan Hampton. Giving up a future 2nd in 1982 to get Willie Gault a year later. Swapping two 3rds for Brandon Marshall in 2012.
Last but certainly not least? The Khalil Mack blockbuster a year ago.
However, those are just a few samples in a far wide smorgasbord of moves the franchise has made over the years. This raises a fun question. What were the trades the Bears made that turned out to be excellent value but that nobody remembers ever happened?
Here is a list of the highlights over the past 40 years. Be prepared for a few shockers.
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2014: Two 5th round picks for Charles Leno Jr.
The Denver Broncos may have gotten the better of the Bears in 2009 with the Jay Cutler trade, but most people don’t remember that Chicago got a bit of revenge five years later. In a minor deal that saw them gift two 4th round picks to Denver, they received 4th and 7th rounders in return.
The 4th rounder became safety Brock Vereen, a forgettable player in team history. That 7th though? It turned into Boise State left tackle Charles Leno Jr., who has since transformed himself into a Pro Bowler.
2012: Tyler Clutts to Houston for Sherrick McManis
Fullbacks don’t have a place in a lot of offenses these days, but they still have value to certain teams. Tyler Clutts was a good one during his brief stint in Chicago, but they had no use for him by 2012. So they shipped him to Houston in exchange for reserve cornerback Sherrick McManis.
Nobody knew it at the time, but the Bears had just scored one of the best special teams players in the NFL for the past six years. Keep in mind Clutts played his last game in 2015 for the other Texas team in Dallas.
2005: John Owens to Miami for Brendon Ayanbadejo
Good as McManis was, he wasn’t the first major special teams ace the Bears had nabbed for pennies. That came seven years earlier. Tight end John Owens served little purpose to them by that point and so the team offered him to the Dolphins for backup linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo.
Little did anybody know that he would become a monster in the third phase, reaching two Pro Bowls and helping to establish the legend of Devin Hester in 2006 and 2007.
1999: A 2nd and 4th round picks for Marty Booker and Rosevelt Colvin
Mark Hatley gets a lot of grief as a former Bears GM because he oversaw such a miserable era from 1997 to 2000. However, he did have some bright moments. He drafted Brian Urlacher of course. His best maneuver though came a year earlier when he moved down from #40 in the 2nd round to #48 in a deal with the Oakland Raiders.
This deal also included a swapping of 4th round picks with the Bears getting a 3rd rounder as primary compensation. That 3rd became wide receiver Marty Booker. The 4th from Oakland became pass rusher Rosevelt Colvin. Booker had two 1,000-yard seasons in Chicago. Colvin 10 sacks two-straigh years.
1994: A 5th round pick for Jeff Graham
The Pittsburgh Steelers have historically been a franchise who never let good wide receivers get away. So it was a crowning moment for the Bears when they stole Jeff Graham from them for a 5th round pick in 1994. In just two years he had 2,245 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. This with Steve Walsh and Erik Kramer as his quarterbacks.
1988: Willie Gault for Donnell Woolford
This trade was a perfect demonstration of knowing your customer. The Bears knew Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis loved fast receivers. So they felt they’d get a good return by trading Willie Gault to them. This proved true as they received 1st and 3rd round picks. That 1st became cornerback Donnell Woolford, who made a Pro Bowl and had 32 interceptions as a Bear.
1983: Reuben Henderson for Mark Bortz
Cornerback Reuben Henderson had a good rookie season in 1981 with four interceptions. He fell off a cliff the next year though, heavily impacted by the NFL strike. Realizing this, the Bears sent him to San Diego while his value was still good for 4th and 8th round picks. That 8th rounder became unheralded guard Mark Bortz, a future two-time Pro Bowler.
1981: A 5th round pick for Mike Singletary
People never understand how even the minor moves can make such a huge difference in the draft. In 1981, the Bears sat at #40 in the 2nd round. They made a deal with the San Francisco 49ers to move up to #38, relinquishing a 5th round pick in the process. They selected Mike Singletary out of Baylor.
Ten Pro Bowls, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, and a Super Bowl title later it’s safe to say they did just fine without that extra pick. One of the best and most forgotten Chicago Bears trades ever.
