As the NFL season approaches the quarter turn, the Chicago Bears are among the teams most uncertain of their contender status.
On one hand, the Bears' offense has looked reprehensible at times this season, failing to get anything off the ground in their two losses. On the other, the Bears are 2-2, and in today's NFL, all a team has to do is stay around .500 to be in the race.
A move the Bears made before the season has the potential to impact how this season is viewed for years to come. They acquired highly-decorated veteran wideout Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for their 2024 fourth-round pick.
Allen hasn't gotten much off the ground yet this season, missing two games with a heel injury and catching just seven passes for 48 yards. Meanwhile, another star receiver looks to be on the trade block now, and one Bears writer has misgivings about Chicago's inability to pursue him.
Mike Luciano of FanSided wrote recently that Bears general manager Ryan Poles should deeply regret acquiring Allen instead of waiting on a chance to bring in disgruntled Las Vegas Raiders receiver Davante Adams.
"While Adams may be eyeing a quarterback he knows like Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr, the Raiders have also made it known that they will take the top price irrespective of his wishes. If the Bears were willing to pay up, Adams could have come to town," Luciano said.
"Instead, the Bears have an expensive receiver who is clearly the third-best option on the team and has issues staying healthy. Unless he turns it around quick, this decision taking Chicago out of the Adams market could be one move Poles wishes he could take back."
While Allen and Adams have both had excellent careers, there can be no doubt that the latter has been a cut above. They may both be six-time Pro Bowlers, but Adams has three All-Pro honors to his name while Allen has none. And though Adams is a year younger (31) than Allen, he has 96 career touchdowns to Allen's 59.
It's hard to play the "what if" game with every trade, though, and this one is particularly tough to compare to Adams' situation.
Say the Bears had acquired Adams before the draft instead of Allen. Would they still have drafted Odunze? And, of course, there's always the possibility that Adams wouldn't want to play for the Bears, or for that matter, anywhere either Aaron Rodgers or Derek Carr isn't the quarterback.
Nevertheless, the Allen trade so far hasn't paid off much for the Bears. They'll have to hope the veteran wideout can turn things around and help them spark a playoff run, or they may not look back on the move too fondly.
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