Rumors: Could the Bears trade for Chris Jones? |
It is no secret that the Chicago Bears were one of the most aggressive teams this offseason, and rightfully so. Anytime you have the No. 1 overall pick and the most financial flexibility in the league, that will happen, and the Bears made sure to be aggressive early on.
Even with the preseason looming, the Bears continued to scour the free agent market and added Yannick Ngakoue to their roster to help shore up their pass rush. This was the most significant area of need for this team, so to see them address this the way they did and as late as they did speaks volumes to how Ryan Poles works and how much he sticks to his word when he says he will fill a need. As the Bears roster sits right now, you have one of the more improved rosters in the NFL and one of the youngest. That may have some issues in the short run, but in the long run, it bodes well for this franchise as long as everyone stays healthy and develops at the speed they need to. If Chicago wants to add more pieces to their roster, look for them to look at the waiver market for those pieces, as teams will still cut valuable players this time of year. However, there is a shocking report, or should I say rumor, that has the Bears trading for Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones. Whether there is truth to those rumors remains to be seen, but if the Bears want to improve their pass rush even more, adding Jones would be massive for this team. Don't get it twisted, the Chiefs are content on keeping Jones around, and GM Brett Veach will make sure he does what it takes to keep him. However, Jones isn't happy right now, and he has taken his frustrations out on X (formally known as Twitter) to put some cryptic tweets that have people wondering about his future. Jones may be on the wrong side of 30, which is when players tend to start slowing down production-wise, but he has come off his best season as a pro, so you know plenty is left in that tank. He is also a guy who can stop the run and get consistent pressure on the QB, two things the Bears defense failed to do a season ago. The 6-6 310-pound Jones is set to enter his ninth season in the league, with all coming in KC. He has played in 107 games so far, with 86 coming as starts, and has amassed 65 sacks. That includes a career-high 15.5 sacks last season, tying the mark he set in 2018. That shows you that in two seasons, Jones had more than 30 sacks which is half his career total. However, take those seasons out, and he is still a productive player, as he has never had fewer than 6.5 sacks apart from his rookie season. Not only is Jones a great player, but he is a player that wants and deserves a big contract but has yet to receive one close to what he deserves. Even at that, there are some hurdles for the Chiefs to climb through if they want to get a deal done, but Jones feels underappreciated by the organization, which is never a good thing for a player. What would it take to get Jones is the next question, as the Chiefs will ask for a lot. However, given the picks the Bears have accumulated in recent seasons, they may be able to swing a deal as the proposed package could be Jones coming to the Bears for four draft picks, including second-rounders in 2024 and 2025, with their 2024 first-round pick also going KC's way. That seems like a steep price for an aging player, but coming off the season he had, you have to spend a little to get a little. When you look at the Bears front office, Poles knows all about Jones and his production as he spent time with Jones during his days in KC. He knows what Jones can bring to a defense and has a relationship with him far beyond football. If any team were to make a run at him, the Bears seem like the favorites. They have the financials to give him a lucrative deal, the ammo to provide KC with what they want, and the past relationships many players look for this late in their careers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtrEJx8MuUU
