NEWSLETTER
The NFL’s roster-cut deadline is in four days, so prepare yourself for a trickle of rumors to come down in the coming days as teams look to get ahead of the waiver wire process by making trades.
With that in mind, I find pieces like this one by Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon to be interesting. To be clear, Gagnon isn’t reporting (or even predicting) a possible trade for each of the league’s 32 teams to propose ahead of the 2021 season. Instead, what Gagnon does is provide a lay of the land and suggestions as to how movement could look across the league if each team were to do something. Some of these hypotheticals are a bit on the wild side, including one that made Bears Twitter’s eyes get big like saucers.
Gagnon proposes a Bears-Browns swap that sends Odell Beckham Jr. from Cleveland to Chicago with Akiem Hicks going the other way. Let that marinate for a minute. Long enough? Cool. Let’s get along with the show.
In a vacuum, this one is as wild as it gets. It is difficult to envision the Browns dealing Beckham ahead of what figures to be a telling season for Baker Mayfield’s future. And even though Hicks has been off-and-on the trade block throughout the summer, signs have been pointing toward him playing out the final year of an extension he signed in 2017 in Chicago. But when you take some time to think about it, that type of deal makes sense for Chicago — even if it isn’t this specific trade.
Hear me out.
The Bears *SHOULD* be pivoting from spending a bulk of their assets on defense to rebuilding the offense around Justin Fields. And while Allen Robinson II should get an extension given what he brings to the table in that respect, trading for a receiver such as Beckham has its perks, as well. Again, even if it isn’t Beckham specifically, bringing in a wideout who has multiple years of team control while avoiding having to go through contract negotiations could be seen as a net win for the Bears. Be honest. You’re drooling thinking about the idea of lining Beckham on one boundary, Darnell Mooney on the other, and Robinson in the slot with Fields under center. It’s OK, I am, too.
For me, the challenge here is justifying this trade from the Browns side. I suppose that, as Gagnon points out, Cleveland needs help along its defensive line. The group that anchored the trenches in the Browns’ run to the playoffs isn’t intact a year later. So with that in mind, bringing in Hicks — who is playing with the motivation of being on a contract year — makes sense. And I guess that clearing Beckham’s future salary doesn’t hurt matters either. In the end, Gagnon is right. I can’t tell him this doesn’t make at least some sense. Because it does. At least, in theory.
Ultimately, I write this not to go one way or another on a trade. But instead, to present a possibility of what could happen if certain stars align and teams come together to strike a deal. I don’t expect it to be all quiet on the NFL front between now and the season starting. The league’s never-ending roster churn stops for no one. So it is good to keep your mind open to things that could happen, even if it isn’t at the highest level.
