Browns All-Pro is Perfect Trade Target for Bears During Bye Week
The NFL trade deadline takes place on November 5th, which is only three weeks away. Bears general manager Ryan Poles has shown to make moves the week of the deadline over the past two seasons.
In 2022, Poles traded a 2023 second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool. Claypool’s addition was meant to give then quarterback Justin Fields another weapon, too. Unfortunately, it didn’t end up working out for Claypool in Chicago.
Although Poles’ acquisition of Claypool didn’t end how he wanted it to, it didn’t discourage him from making another move at the deadline the next season. Last year, Poles acquired edge rusher Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders for a 2024 second-round pick. Unlike Claypool, Sweat immediately added value to the Bears’ defense and helped elevate their play.
This season, the Bears could add another big-name player at the deadline in the trenches. This time, though, on the offensive side of the ball. Even though the offensive line has looked good the past three games, the back half of the Bears schedule is loaded with tough defensive line matchups.
Although midseason trades of offensive linemen don’t happen often, it’s not completely out of the question when the team the player is on could be looking to reset. According to Erik Lambert of Sports Mockery, Poles is monitoring the 1-5 Cleveland Browns for a potential trade for offensive guard Wyatt Teller.
Bears Rumors: Chicago Could Add Wyatt Teller at the Trade Deadline
The Cleveland Browns’ trade for Deshaun Watson might go down as the worst in NFL history. Watson was brought to Cleveland in the hopes of turning their franchise around and has done the complete opposite.
In three seasons and 18 starts with the Browns, Watson is 9-9 with a 60.4 completion percentage, 3,237 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. That’s not at all what the Browns wanted out of Watson, and it doesn’t seem like he will return to what he was when he was in Houston.
The Browns front office’s refusal to give up on Watson means the team is likely to be out of the playoff race by the deadline. That’s why speculation about the Brows trading players like Teller is rampant.
Teller has been with the Browns since 2019 when the Bills traded him and a seventh-round pick for 2020 fifth and sixth-round picks. Teller has been with the Browns since 2019 when the Bills traded him and a seventh-round pick for a 2020 fifth and sixth-round pick. While on the Browns, Teller has put together three Pro Bowl seasons (2021, 2022, 2023) and two second-team All-Pro seasons (2020, 2021).
Throughout Teller’s tenure in Cleveland, he has given up 18 sacks, 78 quarterback hurries, 108 quarterback pressures, and been penalized 32 times. While the penalties are a bit concerning, the rest of his game is borderline elite.
The 108 QB pressures are his most worrying stat, but pressures given up aren’t always the linemen’s fault. Instead, blame can be put on the quarterback sometimes.
As mentioned above, it is uncommon for elite-level offensive linemen to get traded, but it’s not impossible. In 2020, the Washington Commanders traded left tackle Trent Williams to the San Francisco 49ers for a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft and a third-round pick in 2021. Then, in 2021, the Kansas City Chiefs acquired left tackle Orlando Brown along with the 58th pick in the 2021 draft and a sixth-round pick in 2022 from the Baltimore Ravens for the 31st pick in the 2021 draft.
Although Teller is one of the better guards in the NFL, he’s coming off an injury, which may help lower the price to acquire him.
If the Browns are willing to move off of Teller for this draft capital, Poles should absolutely pull the trigger. Even if Teller isn’t his All-Pro self, he is still better than any right guard the Bears currently have on their roster.
