NEWSLETTER
Adam Shaheen’s time in Chicago is officially done.
The reported trade sending Shaheen to Miami has formally crossed the NFL’s transaction wire:
Here’s the Adam Shaheen trade in the NFL transaction wire. Officially listed as the Bears getting a 2021 conditional seventh-round pick from Miami pic.twitter.com/b8wmBe4HfB
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) July 26, 2020
Original reporting on the trade had a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft going from Miami to Chicago. But upon completion of the trade, it turns out the Bears are getting a conditional seventh-round pick that originally belonged to the Atlanta Falcons. So, yeah, the seventh-round pick is slightly less valuable than a potential sixth-rounder. Nevertheless, getting any draft capital – conditional or not – for a player who was at risk of getting cut is still a decent get for Bears GM Ryan Pace. And that the Bears save more than $1 million in cap space in the process only sweetens the pot.
This isn’t what Chicago envisioned when the team drafted Shaheen with the 45th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. As a second-round pick and a top-5 ranked tight end in his class, there was plenty of potential that went unfulfilled during Shaheen’s 27-game Bears career. But after the team signed Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris as free agents, then picked Cole Kmet in the 2020 NFL Draft, Shaheen figured to be on thin ice. Now, Shaheen gets a fresh start in Miami, while Chicago goes to battle with an overhauled tight ends room for the third time since 2017.
