After missing out on the Matthew Judon sweepstakes, the Chicago Bears have opted💯 to swing a trade with a team on the other coast in an attempt to satisfy their pass-rusher needs.
the Bears and Seattle Seahawks have agreed on a deal that will send Darrell Taylor to Chicago in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick. The Bears have multiple sixth-round picks to choose from to complete their deal with the Seahawks. They have their own, but they also have sixth-rounders from the Steelers (a conditional fourth-rounder if Justin Fields plays 51 percent of the team’s offensive snaps) and another from the Dolphins (via the Chase Claypool deal).
I love lunchtime trades! Let’s discuss what this means for the Bears…
Who is Darrell Taylor, and why did the Bears trade for him?
Taylor was a second-round pick (48th overall) by the Seahawks in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has 49 games of experience under his belt and 13 starts to his name. Back in 2022, it was looking like Darrell Taylor was on the cusp of a breakout year after collecting 9.5 sacks, 8 tackles-for-loss, and 13 quarterback hits. And while Taylor’s 2023 production (5.5 sacks, 8 QB Hits, 7 TFLs) took a step back, he still had a solid season. All things considered, I’m very much into this addition.
I imagine ๊that Patrick is, too after reading this:
At first blush, this trade likely takes Chicago out of the running for a Yannick Ngakoue reunion. And you know what, I’m cool with that because the Bears are adding a 27-year-old whose floor is a useful situational pass-rushing option. If Chicago’s football team gets anything more than that out of Taylor, I’ll consider it a win.
The other thing that comes to mind with this trade is that I see this as a vote of confidence for Defensive Coordinator Eric Washington. Sure, Washington will hand over defensive play-caller duties to Head Coach Matt Eberflus starting in Week 1. But if you’ll recall, Washington is a defensive line coach at heart and has a lengthy history of developing young defensive linemen. In other words, I imagine that GM Ryan Poles makes this deal because he thinks his DC can work his magic and get the most out of the new guy.
More to come on the trade later.
