Ed Oliver To The Bears Trade Rumors Are Being Fueled By None Other Than Ed Oliver
What kind of tricks does Ryan Poles have up his sleeve here?
Ed Oliver posted stories of himself sacking every quarterback in the NFC North with the exception of the Chicago Bears. That sent Bears twitter into an absolute frenzy. They started connecting dots. "HE POSTED EVERY NFC NORTH TEAM EXCEPT THE BEARS!!!"
Then a couple of hours later he posted a clip of him sacking Justin Fields too. (Nice save, bro. We are on to you)
This is one of those situations where maybe there isn't any fire, but there's plenty of smoke.
The Bills are said to be after more help on the offensive side for Josh Allen. They've been linked with DeAndre Hopkins. The rumor is that Buffalo would move Ed Oliver to clear the cap space needed to add another weapon.
You could make an argument that the Bears biggest need after free agency is on the defensive line. Ryan Poles also still has more cap space than any team and a ton of assets that he could move something to acquire Ed Oliver. Oliver kind of fits the mold that Poles went after already this offseason. Still young, proven ability, premium position. Oliver is only 25 years old right now. He is in the last year of his contract.
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Now, I have no idea what the compensation would be for Oliver in a trade. I saw this guy speculate a 1st round pick swap.
If this is what it takes then I will pass. I remember Oliver being an absolute wrecking machine in college at Houston, but it feels like he is just a quality starter and not an all-pro type guy. I'd rather stay at #9 and try to get an elite talent at LT or CB than add Oliver and a player who might just be a quality starter instead of a stud.
I have no idea how to guess value in NFL trades. They never seem to make sense to me. You'd think that if Buffalo was desperate enough to just get Oliver off their books it wouldn't take a top 10 pick to do so. But again...who the fuck knows. I would probably offer them a future 2nd round pick and maybe some other type of sweetener if needed. If they say no then so be it. Oliver being in the last year of his deal has to drive his value down a bit in the trade market too.
I think part of my willingness to pull the trigger on a trade for Oliver is because I think the Bears are pretty fucking close to having all the key components to win. DT, DE, offensive tackle, and CB are still needs and it'd be hard to get ALL of that in this draft. Adding Oliver who is a surefire starter allows them to cross DT off the list because they already added another starter in Billings. I've seen people say that the Bears don't need to fill every hole this year. That's probably a pragmatic approach, but the clock is ticking on Justin Fields' rookie deal so I'd like to win and spend now while the cap space is there, especially because Oliver could just be a mercenary if the trade compensation is right. Something to think about. The Bears are closer than people think. I can't wait for the draft and the season. Get me to Fall.