National Football League

Why Bears were both buyers, sellers at NFL trade deadline; Dolphins' dynamic duo

Updated Nov. 3, 2022 4:29 p.m. ET

Peter Schrager

NFL Insider & Sideline Reporter

This NFL trade deadline featured a couple of very busy days, especially Tuesday's final push for buzzer-beating deals.

A lot of moves were made, and a lot of much-discussed moves didn't materialize.

Let's take stock in this week's NFL Cheat Sheet:

1. Bears GM Ryan Poles is not afraid to do what he thinks is best.

When the Chicago Bears hired 36-year-old Ryan Poles as their general manager in January, there were a lot of people around the league nodding their heads.

Poles was a trusted scout and has been a key voice for the Kansas City Chiefs throughout the Patrick Mahomes Era, and he and was one of Scott Pioli's early hires when he got to K.C. in 2009.

Bears acquire Chase Claypool

Colin Cowherd reacts to the news of Chicago trading for receiver Chase Claypool at the NFL trade deadline.

Since being one of Matt Ryan's offensive linemen at Boston College, Poles has carried himself like he belongs in NFL circles. When I got to know him at the NFL Scouting Combine a few years back, he wasn't waving his hand, saying "Hey, look at me." He was at a dinner with other Chiefs staff members, already focused on the position group that would be working out the next morning.

Poles interviewed well for the Carolina job a year ago, and though owner David Tepper didn't hire him to run the Panthers, his name was fully on the radar. The rest of the league was on notice that it wouldn't be long before this rising star with a playing background and experience in both pro and college scouting would be an NFL GM.

In his moves this week, Poles proved he has a plan, and Chicago is by no means in a "total rebuild", as was suggested when Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith were traded away. The Quinn situation was what it was: an aging veteran being traded to a contender in exchange for valuable draft capital.

The Smith deal was a little more tricky. Here's a 25-year-old stud linebacker, the league's leading tackler and a former top 10 pick who actually has lived up to expectations. But Smith and Poles didn't quite see eye to eye on what Smith's value was — both to the Bears, and perhaps, on the open market as a free agent — so Poles did what seemed inevitable: He traded away the fifth-year pro.

In his news conference Tuesday, after a wild 48 hours of activity, Poles looked right into the camera and said the following about the talks with Smith, "The reality is that you have to ask yourself a question: Are we ever going to find that middle ground? And from our previous conversations, you gather that information, and it felt like it was highly unlikely."

So Smith is gone. And so is Quinn. And Poles can go to sleep knowing he tried, and Smith (who has no agent) walks out the door in exchange for two draft picks — as opposed to nothing besides a compensatory pick in the 2024 draft.

But just when you thought Poles was tearing it all down and loading up with picks, he goes ahead and from what I gather, outmaneuvered the rival Packers to land Chase Claypool in exchange for a second-round pick.

"I'm the decision-maker, and as a leader, you have to make those decisions," Poles said.

Reviewing the NFL trade deadline

Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe share their most impactful NFL deadline deal.

What does Claypool bring to Chicago? He's a big, physical guy who has shown flashes, but fell out of favor in Pittsburgh. Was he worth a second-round pick that could end up being in the top 40? I tend not to look at the trade comp of what DeAndre Hopkins fetched a few years back (also, a second-round pick), and instead at the free-agent class that awaits Chicago in the offseason.

The Bears already have two other young receivers they like under contract in Darnell Mooney and rookie Velus Jones. Claypool can play right away and make an impact.

The top free-agent receivers in next year's class, considering AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin all signed long-term deals before the start of the season? Those names are Nelson Agholor, DJ Chark, Marvin Jones, Allen Lazard, Jakobi Meyers and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

And while all of those names have had serviceable NFL careers, it's fair to say Claypool — with his age, skills and current salary — might be the best value of all.

The Bears have plenty of youth on the roster. In Claypool, they continue that trend and land a guy who has had some big moments and experiences in the NFL.

The move screamed from the mountaintops that Poles won't be defined, and the Bears are going to do what the GM deems what's best for his roster. Buyers? Sellers? Chicago was both. And their unapologetic Wunderkind GM is fine taking the heat.

2. And yet, Roquan Smith is still a heck of a player

As much as I can nod my head in approval of the trade of Roquan Smith, I can also stand up and applaud the Ravens for going out and getting him; even if it's for a half-year rental.

Smith is in the final year of his deal, and the trade wasn't made on any agreement that the Ravens would ink him to a new one. So, the league's leading tackler heads to Baltimore, where the inside linebacker position was in need of a boost with the recent injury to Josh Bynes.

Roquan Smith to the Ravens

The Ravens fill the void in the middle of their defense by adding Roquan Smith, the NFL’s leading tackler. Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe determine what this means for Baltimore.

GM Eric DeCosta will have a pickle on his hands in the offseason, with both Smith and Lamar Jackson's contracts expiring and both wanting top dollar. They can't place the franchise tag on both players.

So, does this trade mean Baltimore is "all-in" for 2022 and going for broke with the deal to get Smith? Not necessarily. The expectation is that Roquan — if he signs elsewhere — will net a lucrative free-agent contract, and thus, Baltimore will be due a compensatory pick from the league; likely after the third round.

When you look at it that way, the Ravens get Roquan Smith, a 25-year-old tackling machine, who'll line up next to Patrick Queen, and they do so at next to nothing. They do that and will likely get a third-rounder back, in exchange for what they see as a late second- and a late fifth-round pick.

DeCosta has a headache of a March to deal with at the negotiating table, but this trade? That's a no-brainer for a team likely one defensive stopper away from being the bona fide leader in the AFC North.

Baltimore quietly added DeSean Jackson a few weeks back, and they'll be getting Day 2 pick David Ojabo on the field sooner rather than later. Teams are losing players left and right.

Baltimore, entering Week 9, is adding them.

3. So, you want to be an NFL GM?

Have a good fantasy team? A knack for identifying sleepers on the waiver wire? Surely, you can be an NFL GM, then, right? Do you want to be?

Albert Breer tweeted this the other day, showing that four of the top eight draft picks in the 2018 NFL Draft have already been traded.

To which, I responded this:

It is indeed a brutal business. Truly.

Do you know the safest way to keeping your job? Draft a great QB. Good luck nailing that one.

4. Terry's homecoming

I'm blown away by Terry McLaurin. If he was on maybe any other team in the league, the Commanders receiver would be a face of the NFL.

Instead, you show fans of the 31 other squads McLaurin's face, and they might not even know who he is. That's a shame.

McLaurin has a classic NFL story: The dude was a third-round pick, selected after 11 other receivers in the 2019 draft class, but he was the best player on the field Sunday in the Commanders' 17-16 win over the Colts.

And it was a special Sunday for McLaurin, who had his career game in Indianapolis, five minutes from where he grew up, and in front of 30-40 of his closest friends and family.

McLaurin's big play on Sunday was a 33-yard "Moss'ing" of Stephon Gilmore, and it came on a pass from Taylor Heinicke. McLaurin is one of these receivers — and there have been a few in NFL history (Larry Fitzgerald comes to mind) — who just hasn't had any stability at the QB spot in his NFL career. He already has caught passes in the NFL from a "Who's Who" of guys who've been around the league. Heinicke, Carson Wentz, Kyle Allen, Garrett Gilbert, Ryan Fitzpatrick (for a half), Dwayne Haskins, Case Keenum, Colt McCoy and Alex Smith have all considered McLaurin their No. 1 targets in Washington, and that's only over the course of four seasons.

For whatever reason, McLaurin plays his best with Heinicke. The Commanders are 4-4, and the sky isn't falling anymore in Washington.

5. The Dolphins' dynamic duo

Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have combined for 1,688 receiving yards for the Dolphins this season, the most by a teammate duo in the first eight games of a season in the Super Bowl Era.

The previous best was the Rams' Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, who totaled 1,679 yards through the first eight games of the 2000 season.

And Hill? Well, he's on pace to shatter Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving yards record of 1,964 yards. Not bad for his first season with a new team.

Peter Schrager is an NFL writer for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network.