Claypool traded to Bears

The Bears are trading a 2nd-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for WR Chase Claypool, ESPN's Field Yates reports. It's a steep price for a guy who's been mostly disappointing since a flashy rookie season. Claypool ranks 52nd among 62 qualifying WRs in Pro Football Focus' 2022 receiving grades. His 1.03 yards per route run ranks 57th -- a bit behind teammates Diontae Johnson (1.16) and George Pickens (1.14). Of course, Claypool is still just 24 and brings a 6'4, 238-pound frame with 99th percentile athleticism. There's still intriguing fantasy upside here. Chicago is obviously a rough landing spot, though. QB Justin Fields has been better lately but remains a question mark as a passer. And this is the league's run-heaviest offense. The Bears rank dead last with just 20.0 pass attempts per game. That's climbed to 22.8 over the last 5 weeks -- but that's still not a workable number for Claypool. Consider him a WR4 unless we get a significant increase in passing volume from Chicago. Claypool's departure from Pittsburgh should mean more targets for Johnson, Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth.

Per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, the Bears are trading WR Chase Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Dolphins in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. Claypool's tenure in Chicago was short-lived, as he only appeared in 10 games after being acquired from the Steelers prior to the trade deadline last year. On Wednesday, Bears GM Ryan Poles shared in a radio interview that trading for Claypool last season "didn’t work out and we were hoping for him to be a little bit more productive," signaling that a potential move was on the horizon after marking the wideout inactive for two straight games. From a fantasy perspective, moving to the Dolphins at least keeps Claypool somewhat on the radar. He'll have a hard time finding relevance ahead of his new teammates Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, but it's never a bad thing to move to one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses. Still, he's only worth stashing in very deep leagues for now. Most 10 or 12-team league managers shouldn't take action.

Bears HC Matt Eberflus said Monday that WR Chase Claypool won't be with the team this week. He was a healthy scratch for the Week 4 loss to Denver. Claypool and the Bears seem headed for a split. We'll see if it's via release or trade, but he's not worth hanging on to in redraft fantasy leagues.

Bears WR Chase Claypool will be a healthy scratch for today's game vs. the Broncos, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Claypool had to apologize to his coaches and teammates for lack of effort in the season opener and then told the media this week that he's not being put in the best position to succeed. We'll see where the situation goes, but Claypool is off the redraft radar for now. WR Equanimeous St. Brown is expected to be active in Claypool's place today, according to Rapoport. Chicago is also replacing Nathan Peterman with Tyson Bagent as backup QB.

Bears WR Chase Claypool picked up a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s practice. It’s minor by all indications, but we’ll see when the 25-year-old returns to the field.

"It's been clear early in training camp that Justin Fields has a strengthened trust in Chase Claypool. Feeding him the football, even in tight coverage, and they're connecting." That tweet comes from Chris Emma, a reporter for 670 The Score in Chicago. There's never been much question about Claypool's talent. It's been preparation and attitude. Fields spoke earlier this offseason, though, about Claypool showing improvement on that front. Of course, the big remaining question for fantasy is passing volume. The Bears ranked way behind the rest of the league in pass share in 2022. But they traded for Claypool and then paid even more for D.J. Moore. They clearly plan to pass more. How much more? We probably won't know until the season starts. Claypool will have a tough time being relevant for weekly redraft lineups. But he's interesting in the very late rounds of best ball drafts. See where all the Bears' wideouts sit in our WR rankings.