The Bears had big plans for Chase Claypool when they acquired the wide receiver at the 2022 NFL trade deadline. Those dreams never materialized, and the relationship quickly fizzled.
After issues with effort, attitude, and buy-in, the Bears cut bait by trading Claypool to the Miami Dolphins last Friday.
On Wednesday in Miami, Claypool addressed the media for the first time as a Dolphin. The fourth-year wide receiver pointed to the Bears' losing streak as the reason he became irritated with the situation.
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“I think that when you lose a lot of games in a row, there’s frustration, naturally,” Claypool said, via The Miami Herald. “I think that’s new for everybody. I’m sure from the top down. So I think just being excited getting some wins and stuff like that. I think that just comes naturally. And once you start winning, things start getting less frustrating obviously.”
The losing -- and Claypool's inability to channel that frustration positively -- was something Bears tight end Cole Kmet, who is a close friend of Claypool, also hinted at when asked why the relationship devolved.
"I think losing can be hard for guys to deal with," Kmet said after the Bears' Week 4 loss. "It’s been hard for me to manage, but you’ve got to find ways to get back to work, clear your mind, every day. It’s hard– look, I haven’t won a game in almost a year now, and trust me, I take it home with me, and it hurts, man, it hurts. It’s hard to deal with it, but we’ve all gotta be adults about it and be able to move on and be able to trust the process set. That can be hard to do sometimes when things aren’t going your way, and maybe you’re not getting the targets you want, and you’re not winning, all those things kinda add up, and you get frustrated, but you have to be a man about it, be an adult about it and be able to reset your mind each and every week and just look to improve yourself individually, each and every day."
Claypool never won a game as an on-field member of the Bears. The Bears snapped their 14-game losing streak last Thursday while Claypool was a healthy inactive. On Friday, the Bears traded Claypool and a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Dolphins for a 2025 sixth-round pick.
By all accounts, the Bears tried to make things work with Claypool. General manager Ryan Poles, head coach Matt Eberflus, and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy all viewed Claypool, with his size and physicality, as the ideal complement to No. 1 wide receiver DJ Moore.
When he was healthy early in camp, Claypool looked the part. He showed improved chemistry with quarterback Justin Fields and was a go-to weapon in third-down and red-zone situations.
But the Claypool the Bears thought they'd get when they sent the No. 32 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers turned out to only be a theoretical weapon.
Claypool's season got off to a rough start when he was universally criticized for poor effort during the Bears' Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers. That led to a meeting with Eberflus and Poles where Claypool wanted the expectations and role they envisioned for him clarified.
Claypool's effort was better in Week 2, but he aired out his frustrations with the staff during a media scrum in the week leading up to the Bears' Week 4 game against the Denver Broncos, saying he didn't believe the staff was putting him in the best place to succeed.
Claypool opted not to offer his opinion when asked how the Bears' staff could better utilize him.
"You know, I’ll let them decide that. I’m not going to give any pointers," Claypool said in his final media session before the Bears sent him home. "That’s their job to decide and I’ll just do what they tell me to do."
BEARS ANALYSIS
In his 10 career games with the Bears, Claypool caught just 18 passes for 191 yards and one touchdown.
The Bears were confident they'd get the best out of Claypool after an offseason to digest the playbook and build chemistry with Fields. That the wide receiver is also in a contract year was another reason to expect the best version of Claypool.
For whatever reason, the Bears never got the receiver they envisioned.
Now, both parties are moving on from a failed experiment.
"I really don't have any regrets on that," Eberflus said after the Bears traded Claypool. "I just think we took a shot on a guy to bring more skill in here and, again, for whatever reason -- I'm not going to get into the reasons -- it just didn't work out. We wish him the best."