Report: Pittsburgh Steelers trading Chase Claypool to Chicago Bears

Chase Claypool is on the move. The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading him to the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN’s Field Yates and Adam Schefter.

Pittsburgh is receiving a second-round pick for Claypool, who has 311 yards and a touchdown this season — his third in the NFL. Last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had four receptions for 45 yards as the Steelers fell 35-13.

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Now, he’s heading to Chicago, where he’ll try to help boost a struggling wide receiver corps to work with quarterback Justin Fields. Pittsburgh drafted Claypool in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft after four years at Notre Dame, where he played alongside Bears tight end Cole Kmet. He was also an NFL All-Rookie Team selection when he totaled 873 yards and nine touchdowns in his first year in the league.

The Bears have been active in the days leading up to the deadline and traded star linebacker Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens for a second-round pick on Monday. However, the Bears traded their own pick to the Steelers for Claypool.

Chicago Bears trade Roquan Smith to Baltimore Ravens

With the NFL trade deadline approaching, teams are making their final moves of the season to either finalize their contenders or sell out on the year. For Chicago, it seems the Bears just made the later move by trading away one of their franchise’s best young assets in Roquan Smith.

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Bears have traded Smith to the Baltimore Ravens. He’ll be headed to the AFC North while Chicago will get a second and fifth-round pick in return.

Chicago selected Smith with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft out of Georgia. He has become one of the leaders of their defense as their other stars on that side of the football have moved on from Chicago. Over his five seasons with the Bears, Smith totaled 608 tackles, 16.5 sacks, 20 pass deflections, seven interceptions, a forced fumble, and a touchdown. He was having a great season so far with Chicago with 83 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two interceptions through eight games so far.