NFL Exec Identifies Likely Position Ryan Poles Targets At Trade Deadline

The Chicago Bears have one week before the trade deadline arrives. Ryan Poles has established himself as somebody who isn’t afraid to be aggressive. We already saw it with Chase Claypool and Montez Sweat. Poles stated before last Sunday that he would be making calls throughout the week to see if any deals are available. Whether they happen remains unknown. What nobody knows for sure is which position the Bears GM may target. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune spoke to an assistant GM on the subject.

In his mind, two positions seem like the strongest possibilities. One is wide receivers, which have been red-hot for the past two weeks. However, that is unlikely since the Bears don’t need help there. The second possibility is another pass rusher. Offensive line, in his mind, never has any viable options available.

“O-line?” he replied. “There’s no depth there. You don’t have teams that are looking at their starter and saying, ‘Ah, we’ve got a guy behind him we can just plug and play.’ I don’t think that guy is out there.”…

…“It’s a 25-year-old pass rusher that wants to get a deal done. It’s somebody like (wide receiver) Tee Higgins — Cincinnati isn’t trading Tee Higgins — but it’s something like that where it falls in your lap. You’re not going to trade for a runner.

“There is just a limited number of positions you would walk away from those picks for. And the Bears don’t need a receiver, and I’m with you, I tend to doubt they’re feeling the need to trade for that pass rusher if there is even one out there.”

Ryan Poles has two viable options if this proves true.

Is trading for another pass rusher necessary? The Bears pressured Jayden Daniels 32 times on Sunday. It’s not like they are unable to put heat on the quarterback. Darrell Taylor has been a quality addition to their rotation. Together with DeMarcus Walker and Austin Booker, they seem to have a handle on the rush opposite Sweat. Still, if Ryan Poles is determined to find more help, two names fit the criteria the executive talked about. One is Azeez Ojulari of the New York Giants, and the other is Chase Young of the New Orleans Saints.

Ojulari is 25 years old and will be a free agent next spring. New York already has Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, so paying him is impossible. Ojulari has six sacks in eight games this season. New Orleans is in salary cap hell. Young can’t expect any kind of sizable deal from them. He was teammates with Sweat in Washington. While he only has two sacks this year, he does have 12 QB hits. Based on his track record, Ojulari feels like the bigger prize. Would Poles be willing to pay him despite having already traded for Taylor?

Probably not. We’ll see if the Bears have something else in mind.