NEWSLETTER
The NFL’s offseason is evolving.
For as long as I can remember, the heaviest transaction portion of the football calendar year came at the start of free agency. But in recent years, we’ve seen an uptick in trades around this time of year. And we’ve also seen more players change hands around the trade deadline. The NFL turning into a wheeling-and-dealing type of league has been fun to follow. And it would be even more fun if the Chicago Bears put their trading shoes on again.
Bonus points if Houston Texans left tackle Laremy Tunsil is the object of their affection.
Tunsil, 28, has made the Pro Bowl in three of the last four seasons and is widely seen as one of the league’s top left tackles. However, Tunsil is about to enter a contract year in Houston. On top of that, Tunsil wants a sizable pay raise. More specifically, he wants to reset the offensive tackle market. And I imagine his contemporaries would like that too, especially when you consider how mega-deals are ships that tend to raise all boats around them.
In discussing the offensive line options available to the Bears right now, the Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser notes that Chicago could kick the tires on Tunsil. At a minimum, they should check in on Tunsil’s availability. After all, it never hurt to ask. It is worth underscoring Lieser’s nugget that the Texans have made floated Tunsil’s name in trade talks often. In fact, Houston-based reporter Aaron Wilson says in this video that the Bears were asking about Tunsil in a trade up to the first pick (before they sent it to Carolina).
Check it out:
I found it noteworthy that the Bears and Texans were exploring this in conjunction with the No. 1 overall pick. And it makes me wonder if the Bears could restart those conversations again. For what it is worth, the Bears have the No. 9 pick, while the Texans have the No. 12 selection. Perhaps the Bears can pique the Texans’ interest by offering a pick swap and other considerations. All for the opportunity to help satisfy Tunsil’s desire to reset the market. I mean, find me a better way to help Justin Fields than by investing at the top of the market to protect his blindside. Merely having this conversation makes for an intriguing path when it comes to team building. And it would be an interesting way to bolster the line by adding one of the game’s top left tackles.
Maybe the Orlando Brown Jr. Chiefs-Ravens trade could be a starting point? Baltimore sent Brown, the 58th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and a 2022 sixth-rounder to K.C. in April 2021. In return, the Chiefs gave up the 31st, 94th, and 136th picks in the 2021 NFL Draft — PLUS a 2022 fifth. I don’t want to go too far down the road with this, but I feel as if the Bears could do something similar. They don’t have to do it. But this is why I maintain that keeping flexibility this time of year is important. Keep your options open. You never know what could come available. Until the Texans extend Tunsil or trades him elsewhere, we’ll be monitoring this situation from afar.
