It’s no secret that the Houston Texans are shopping Jadeveon Clowney. The star pass rusher is holding out for a new contract. Undoubtedly his money demands are high. Probably close to what Khalil Mack is making right now. This naturally should warn the Chicago Bears off from even remotely considering the idea of actually contacting Houston about a trade. Still, crazy things happen in the NFL. So what would it take for GM Ryan Pace to actually pull something like this off?
Two key factors come into play here: trade compensation and money. How can the Bears adequately compensate the Texans and find enough cash to pay Clowney what he wants? Rest assured it will take some sacrifices. As of now, the Bears have over $16 million in cap space but that will drop significantly in 2020. So the odds are they’d have to put one or two players in a package for this trade. Ones who command a decent amount of cap space and would interest the Texans.
Leonard Floyd is the obvious first choice. He gives Houston something back to help with their pass rush and is already secured with his 5th-year option for next season. That will remove over $13 million from the Bears’ 2020 cap right away. The other sacrifice? That would be Kyle Long. The Texans offensive line is a train wreck. Getting a veteran former Pro Bowl guard would undoubtedly be a big help in their efforts to better protect Deshaun Watson. His removal from the books would also create another $8 million in cap space.
Next comes draft picks.
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Chicago Bears can avoid giving up another 1st rounder
Giving up another future 1st round pick is obviously not something the Bears want to do. However, by including Long and Floyd in this deal they should be able to get away with a 2nd round choice for next year. It would likely have to be the one they got from Oakland which is expected to be much higher in the round. Two solid players and a top 50 pick is pretty fair compensation for the Texans and enables Chicago to avoid sacrificing another 1st.
Obviously, Clowney wants his new contract. The best way for the Bears to make it work is via a contract extension rather than just a brand new deal. That means paying him the $15.9 million he’s scheduled to make in 2019 and then adding more years onto that in the future. This would keep the Bears under the salary cap for this season and enable them to tackle the money problems that will come in the future.
The big problem such a move would create is it makes life so much more difficult for Pace in terms of extensions for players already on the roster. Especially Cody Whitehair and Eddie Jackson. Other moves would be needed to create more space. Prince Amukamara would almost certainly be cut ($8 million). Taylor Gabriel ($4.5 million), Cordarrelle Patterson ($5.25 million), and Mike Davis ($3 million) would also be unfortunate but necessary sacrifices.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but such losses can be covered in the draft. In return, the Chicago Bears defense would secure a 26-year old three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher to pair with Mack for years to come. Could it happen? Anything is possible. Will it? Don’t count on it.
