When the Bears traded their 2023 second-round pick to the Steelers for receiver Chase Claypool, no one was expecting a breakout performance coming in learning a new offense. But they did expect Claypool to have an impact in Chicago’s offense.
That didn’t happen.
Claypool didn’t have the end to the 2022 season that many were hoping. He had 14 catches for 140 yards and no touchdowns in seven games.
But general manager Ryan Poles made it clear he doesn’t regret making the trade for Claypool. If anything, Poles made it clear the move for Claypool was for the future.
“That’s the difference between trades in baseball and basketball, it’s like plug and play,” Poles said Tuesday during his end-of-year press conference. “There’s an entire offseason and half of a season of installs and all the things you need to do collectively to play and execute offensive play. On top of that, it was a little bit choppy with Justin getting dinged up, [Chase] got dinged up. So it was a little bit choppy of a start. I told Chase, and we had a really good conversation, I’m not blinking at that one at all. I think he’s gonna help us moving forward, and I’m excited about it.”
Claypool is expected to have a bigger impact in his second year with the Bears. He’ll have an entire offseason to grasp Luke Getsy’s offense and build a rapport with quarterback Justin Fields. Safe to say, expectations for Claypool next season are high.
With that said, Poles isn’t quite ready to ink the third-year wideout to a contract extension.
“With health, with Justin being out for a little bit, your expectations, I told him, yeah, I wish he came in with 1,000 yards and we’re going,” Poles said. “But it didn’t happen that way. But do I believe in that talent and what he can bring to this team? Yeah, I do. I still think we’re going to get that.
“In terms of the contract stuff, we just got to take the next step, see how he gets implemented and how he does in this offseason. He’s going to spend a lot of time with Justin as well as the other receivers and build that chemistry. We’ll evaluate that even clearer next year.”
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