The Chicago Bears haven’t made their intentions clear on whether they might be active at the upcoming trade deadline. Then again why would they? If there is a move to be made, GM Ryan Pace isn’t the type of person to let the world know about it. Few people value secrecy more than he does. So with three days left before the clock expires, fans wonder if he has another bold move up his sleeve.
It’s hard to say at this point. The Bears don’t have a ton of wiggle room in terms of their ammunition for a trade nor their salary cap flexibility. They already burned their 1st and 2nd round draft picks in 2019 in the trades for Khalil Mack and Anthony Miller. They also have less than $5 million in cap space for this year due to the contract extension handed to Mack.
So any move they make will take some creativity to pull and would have to be a bit on the cheaper side. That’s not to say there won’t be such opportunities. It’s merely a question of finding the right players and the right trade partner. Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com hints there could be one such opportunity out east.
Chicago Bears may have a reasonable shot at Landon Collins
The New York Giants appear to have kickstarted their rebuild operations. That means unloading players for as many draft picks as they can get. Eli Apple and Damon Harrison are already gone, netting them three selections for next year. Bergman believes that safety Landon Collins could be next, and his price tag isn’t that bad.
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“Instead, after unloading the other Eli, Big Blue should double down and ship their star safety out of town. This is a chance for the Giants to take advantage of a market that includes plenty of teams hungry for help in the secondary, and Collins is in a contract year. Plus, as with Eli Apple, he’s not a “Gettleman guy,” as he was drafted by the previous Giants front-office regime. That’s not a deal-breaker for us, but for those in the building in East Rutherford, who knows? Potential compensation: 2019 third-round pick.”
The Bears have their 3rd rounder in hand for 2019, so this is a deal they can make from a compensation standpoint. The big question will be his contract. Collins is making less than $2 million this year, so he’s affordable for the time being. However, being a former 2nd round pick there’s no 5th-year option on his contract, which means he’d need an extension almost immediately.
Collins is 24-years old and a two-time Pro Bowler.
He had seven interceptions the previous two years and has 19 tackles for no gain or a loss this year. He’s the total package. A definite upgrade over what the Bears currently have at the position. Players like that will cost money, probably somewhere around $8-10 million.
The Bears will have around $21 million in cap space next year with an ability to create more if need be. So it’s not like they couldn’t afford to pay him, even with others like Jordan Howard likely needing attention as well. This is the time where they have to be aggressive spending on defense. Mitch Trubisky’s contract will come up by 2021, by which point the cap will be devoted to him if he continues ascending.
Adding a playmaker like Collins to the second while the window is open is something they cannot and should not ignore.
