By Jim Coffman
Well, Ryan Pace, whaddya got?
Does Matt Forte have any trade value? Probably not due to his decent-sized contract, age and now injury, but I know you are out there looking, desperately trying to generally manage another draft pick or two into the Bears’ coffers with some sort of transaction.
Perhaps Robbie Gould? The kicker who blasted a 55-yard field goal that would have been good from 60 may have missed from 51 yards later on. but he is a proven, clutch commodity. And a really good kicker on a bad football team is like a really good closer for a baseball team on its way to 90 losses – extremely tradeworthy.
Hell, any chance the Texans might consider some sort of deal for Jay Cutler?
The Bears forfeited their last chance to spend the next day-and-a-half engaged in anything other than a fire sale after losing 23-20 to the Vikings to fall to 2-5.
If they can get anything (read a draft pick) for anyone (on their roster) before the deadline tomorrow at 3 p.m. Central Standard Time, make the move. And yes, we know the NFL trade deadline is the most boring in sports because so few football teams are willing to pull the trigger (due to the salary cap or obsessions with hanging onto all draft picks or whatever else).
But Bears brass, let’s be clear, fans are counting on you to pull at least one trade in the next day that improves this team’s prospects in 2016 and beyond at least a tiny bit.
Cutler’s contract is almost certainly too odious to make a deal work. Thanks again richly deservedly former general manager Phil Emery for the monster extension that makes the signal-caller almost untradeable.
Wait a minute, you say? Cutler has been good this year, don’t trade him away at this point!
He is now, as he has been for his entire career, just good enough for his team to lose. Yes Jeremy Langford dropped a catchable third-down pass that would have put the Bears in awfully good position to go get the game-winning field goal late Sunday. But the throw was a bit behind him. And Cutler had all sorts of opportunities earlier in the game to make difference-making plays that didn’t get made.
Also, when the offensive coordinator calls a fourth or fifth wide receiver screen in a half and the veteran quarterback knows it will fail, maybe just maybe the quarterback ought to change the play. Cutler has been decent this year but the Bears have been very conservative in their play-calling and it doesn’t take that great a memory to remember the terrible quarterback Cutler was last year (when in his eighth year behind center he led the league in turnovers, remember?)
And yes, Cutler reminded us again Sunday that whatever his flaws, he is a tough son-of-a-gun. You know what all of that means, don’t you? It means Cutler might be tradeable at this point. Fans with operational brain cells know that you can’t trade guys away when they are playing poorly. It turns out other teams watch game video, know when guys are struggling and then, strangely enough, are not eager to trade for them. Cutler may never again have the trade value he has right now.
Another guy who made a beautiful play Sunday and therefore might be attractive to other teams today is Kyle Fuller. The buzz last week was that maybe it was time for the Bears to think about switching the second-year cornerback to safety. I happen to think that would be goofy; that sometimes it takes guys more than a season-and-a-half to truly figure out how to play cornerback in the NFL.
But if the brass believes he will not become a shutdown corner and can get something decent for him, make the move.
The one guy who is almost certainly too valuable to trade is Pernell McPhee. Then again, if someone offered a top pick and something else, wouldn’t you have to give it some thought?
Enjoy the next 28 to 30 hours, Bears fans. It will be your best chance to dream of future championships for the rest of the season.
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Jim “Coach” Coffman is our man on Mondays. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on November 2, 2015