Chicago Bears Trade for…Gaines Adams?
Published by TAB BAMFORD on October 16, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
In what can only be described as unsettling news, the Chicago Bears have reportedly traded their second round draft pick in the 2010 draft to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for defensive end Gaines Adams.
Adams, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, has been a bust in Tampa in his first two-plus seasons, and comes to the Bears for what, on paper, appears to be way too much. Adams has one sack and 10 tackles through three games this season.
Adams, 26, is listed at 6’5″ and 258 pounds, and has 13.5 career sacks.
Because the Bears defensive line has been playing exceptionally well so far this year under new coach Rod Miranelli, a flood of questions pour to the surface when reading this news.
Given the success of the line so far, what prompted the team to add an end?
At end, Alex Brown has played both the run and pass as well as he has in his entire career to begin the year, and Adewale Ogunleye has rediscovered his pass rush. The Bears also spent their highest pick in the 2009 draft on Jarron Gilbert, a defensive end from San Jose State. He’s listed at the same height as Adams but 30 pounds heavier. Are the Bears now formally jumping off the Mark Anderson Bandwagon?
The Bears have dealt with injuries at defensive tackle, where Tommie Harris has been limited and Isreal Idonije has been banged up. But Adams is not big enough to play tackle, which raises questions about where the future is for Gilbert, who could move inside.
Perhaps the biggest question from this trade is why the Bears would unload their highest pick in next spring’s draft for an underachieving, skinny defensive end? The Bears traded next year’s first-round pick to Denver in the deal for Jay Cutler, so losing their second round pick further limits the Bears’ ability to add talent through the draft.
This move is intriguing, if not questionable, especially for it to happen on a Friday night at the end of the Bears’ bye week. It’s now up to Marinelli and the rest of the Bears coaching staff to get Adams to play like the All American from Clemson, not the bust he’s been in Tampa.
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