The NFL trade deadline is quickly approaching (Nov. 3) and with it comes the opportunity for teams like the Chicago Bears to make last-minute bold moves to enhance their odds of making a legitimate playoff run.
One area of Chicago’s roster that needs a lot of work is the offensive line, and according to ESPN’s Matt Bowen, there’s a logical fix that requires sending a few late-round picks to the Falcons.
“Falcons center Alex Mack to the Bears for a 2021 fifth-rounder and 2022 sixth-rounder,” Bowen wrote. “Adding Mack would allow the Bears to bump center Cody Whitehair to guard, boosting the interior of the offensive line that has struggled to gain traction this season in the running game.”
There’s a lot to like about this proposal. First, Mack is a quality center and, at worst, is a lateral move from Whitehair. At best, he’s an upgrade. Whitehair has been a target of criticism from former Bears players like Olin Kreutz, who knows a thing or two about playing center. It may be time for a change at the pivot.
Second, and as Bowen pointed out, Mack would give the Bears a chance to reshuffle the interior of their offensive line and elevate the level of play they’ve been receiving from Rashaad Coward and Germain Ifedi.
Coward is the Bears’ lowest-graded player on offense, per Pro Football Focus, and needs to find his way to the bench. The problem is Chicago doesn’t have a viable replacement for him. Hence, a trade!
There’s no other way for the Bears to fix their offensive line. They have to make a trade, and they have to make an aggressive trade for a player like Mack. Swapping a fifth-round pick in 2021 and a sixth-rounder in 2022 is well worth the returns they’ll receive from Mack over the second half of the 2020 season.
The Falcons should be willing to part with Mack, too, who’s scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.