After weeks of bad press, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Chase Claypool has found a new home.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Chicago Bears are trading Claypool to the Miami Dolphins.
According to NFL insider Dianna Russini, Claypool is heading to Miami in a pick swap, with the Dolphins sending the Bears a 2025 sixth-round pick for Claypool and the Bears’ 2025 seventh-round pick.
Claypool was dealt from the Steelers to the Bears last season right before the trade deadline as Pittsburgh shipped Claypool to Chicago for its original second-round draft pick. The trade looked like a steal at the time for GM Omar Khan, sending away a player whose role in Pittsburgh’s offense continued to decrease with the addition of WR George Pickens. The trade proved to be of immense value to Pittsburgh when Chicago finished the season with the worst record in football, setting the Steelers up to select at the top of the second round. That allowed them to take Penn State CB Joey Porter Jr. after Porter fell out of the first round in the 2023 NFL Draft.
As for the Bears, the Claypool experiment in Chicago proved to be a nightmare after GM Ryan Poles made the trade, attempting to give QB Justin Fields another young weapon in the receiving corps. Claypool played in seven games with three starts last season after the trade, catching 14 passes on 29 targets for 140 yards and zero touchdowns. He played in just three games with two starts this season for Chicago, catching just four passes on 14 targets for 51 yards and a touchdown, his only score in a Bears uniform.
Claypool’s effort on the field was heavily scrutinized by fans during his time in Chicago, looking like he was going through the motions on the field without much heart or effort. Claypool would end up critizing members of the coaching staff, responding to the media by stating that the coaches weren’t using him correctly to get the most out of him on offense. Claypool’s antics ended up making him a healthy scratch for last week’s game against the Denver Broncos, being told to stay home and not report to the team as Chicago looked for a trade partner.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz mentioned that the Bears were looking for a late Day Three pick in this year’s draft in exchange for Claypool, stating that Poles was actively calling teams to try and find a suitor. Poles eventually settled on Miami, which offered a pick swap for Claypool, having the Bears and Dolphins flip late-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft to get Claypool off their hands.
This represents a huge fall from grace for Claypool, who was dynamic as a rookie for the Steelers, catching 62 passes for 873 receiving yards and nine touchdowns with another two scores coming on the ground. It seemed like Claypool could never get out of his own way when it came to his antics, becoming a distraction in the locker room for Pittsburgh, which motivated the Steelers to look for a trade partner last season. The Steelers ended up selling high on Claypool after a couple of strong performances last season, and he proceeded to take those same antics to the Bears where he continued to tank his value as a possible trade chip, and possibly his NFL career.
Claypool now heads to Miami, a team that has a plethora of talented wide receivers at its disposal including Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Robbie Chosen (formerly Robbie Anderson). It’s a dynamic offense that Claypool could find success in if he manages to crack the lineup, doing his best work in the slot as well as down the field as a height/weight/speed specimen. Still, Claypool is likely on thin ice as Chicago was close to outright releasing him if no trade partner was found. Miami may be his final chance to turn around his young and once-promising NFL career.
