It’s poker season and during yesterday’s press conference, we got the first look at what Ryan Poles’ hand might be. As noted in Aaron Leming’s writeup earlier this week, Poles made suggestive comments about players like DJ Moore and Tyson Bagent while a report came out yesterday about the Bears letting Tremaine Edmunds seek a trade.
It is becoming increasingly likely that the Bears will cut ties with several important pieces this offseason in an effort to manage the cap or secure some draft capital.
So who do you want the Bears to keep among players on the chopping block?
For today’s activity, I think it’s important to establish who has a reasonable chance of being traded or cut. Some names that I have seen pretty regularly include:
- Tremaine Edmunds
- DJ Moore
- Tyson Bagent
- Cole Kmet
- D’Andre Swift
Players like Dayo Odeyingbo and Grady Jarrett simply have no trade market or would cost more to cut.
Players like Jaylon Johnson, Montez Sweat, and Jonah Jackson would open up expensive holes to fill. So the five players listed above seem like the most likely candidates to be cut/traded.
So who among them do I think we should keep? Personally, I think Cole Kmet.
That’s not to say that Kmet is the best player among this group. I would say Moore, Swift, and Edmunds are all likely better players than him. I simply think he has a fairly low cap hit, plays a vital position in Ben Johnson’s offense, is a locker room leader, and has very little trade value.
Moore and Swift could potentially fetch some draft capital, while Edmunds can clear the most cap space. Bagent is a great backup to have, but he simply doesn’t see the field.
I think the combination of Loveland and Kmet will continue to make for one of the better TE rooms in the league going into next season, and I hope that Poles sees it the same way.
