The Bears started the month reportedly prioritizing a run at acquiring Russell Willson. And as recently as Sunday, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler chimed in saying: “the expectation league-wide is that Chicago is going to try to take a big swing to try to get Russell.” But to this point, it obviously hasn’t happened.
In fact, it doesn’t even sound like they’ve put their best offer on the table:
https://twitter.com/MikeSilver/status/1371519407793577988
Why would the Seahawks need me to negotiate for them? It's not rocket science. They plan to keep Wilson. Wilson's agent has said a trade to the Bears would be acceptable to him. The Bears haven't blown them away with an offer. I'm just reporting this for YOUR benefit, not theirs. https://t.co/cdSMXMkM71
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 15, 2021
Why would they "negotiate through the media" when someone from the Seahawks could just have me call up someone from, say, the Bears and express the same thing? Y'all slay me, man… https://t.co/N5MIqzFKDb
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 15, 2021
I don't think that's happening here. If I'm talking to people on both sides, they're definitely talking to each other
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 15, 2021
It’s telling that the Seahawks haven’t slammed the door on this, despite given every opportunity to do so. And it’s equally as telling that the Bears haven’t blown away the Seahawks with an offer to this point. Given the Bears’ need at the position and Wilson’s stature, there should be no price that deemed to be too much to pay to upgrade the most important position on the team.
Maybe Bears GM Ryan Pace pulled up with a middle-tier offer to gauge interest in how serious trade discussions could get. But Silver is quite adamant here that conversations are happening. Not this stuff about taking in an offer while not reciprocating, as has been discussed earlier (and since reiterated).
In the end, the Seahawks have done nothing to close the door. And with that being the case, there remains a non-zero chance the Bears can slip through the cracks and make something special happen.
But in order to do so, it’s evident they’ll need to step their game up.