When news came out that Anthony Miller was on the trade block for the Chicago Bears, everybody thought a move would be imminent. Fast forward two months and the wide receiver remains fixed on the roster. No trade. No release. Nothing. The status quo remains unchanged. Why? Have the Bears changed their minds about maybe giving him one last chance?
Their moves up to this point suggest otherwise. Since March they’ve added three new faces to the receiver depth chart in Marquise Goodwin, Dazz Newsome, and Damiere Byrd. Newsome and Byrd were particularly interesting since both are capable of playing Miller’s position in the slot. This would suggest the team isn’t resigned to the fact that he is staying at all. So why does he remain on the roster?
There is no reason to cut him. Not yet anyway.
The thing to remember about trades is only one fixed deadline exists and that’s in the middle of the regular season. Still several months away from now. A lot can happen during an NFL offseason. Particularly when it comes to injuries. Teams see players go down in training camp all the time. When that happens, one of the first places they look for an immediate solution is the trade market.
A perfect example was just last year. Minnesota lost star pass rusher Danielle Hunter for the season. So they turned right around and traded for Yannick Ngakoue from Jacksonville. Ngakoue had been on the block for literal months. The Bears are doing the exact same thing with Miller. He’s still a younger player with plenty of talent. His contract is very affordable. There is no reason to release him for the time being. All it takes is one unfortunate injury and a team could come calling with an offer for him.
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Ryan Pace is playing the long game.
Anthony Miller wouldn’t be the first one the Bears stashed
A lot of people were confused that the team kept former 2nd round pick Adam Shaheen going into the summer last year. This after Pace had spent the spring months adding Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet. It was a clear indication the team was moving on from that experiment. What sense did it make to keep him? Fans found out on July 26th when Chicago traded him to Miami for a conditional 7th round pick.
Those conditions were soon met and the pick became a 6th rounder. Pace then traded that pick to Seattle for an extra 7th in the draft. As a result, the Bears ended up with Khalil Herbert and Khyiris Tonga because they were willing to keep Shaheen around.
It is likely they are doing the same with Anthony Miller.
With no immediate need to send him packing, the Bears will stash him away to see if a team comes calling. More often than not, somebody will eventually. Don’t forget the Bears only have five picks in the upcoming 2022 draft. So any possible ways they can find to add more picks would be a necessity. Miller is one of the few commodities they have who can and should fetch something.