The Chicago Bears, coming out of their Week 5 bye, beat the Washington Commanders 25-24, securing a key win to get back to a winning record and look like a playoff candidate.
For their Week 6 game, Ben Johnson made some changes to the offense. Other than the utilization of Luther Burden III, Johnson also swapped Braxton Jones for Theo Benedet at left tackle. This change leaves Jones without a role on the team, something Ryan Poles could use at the trade deadline.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN predicts that Poles flips Jones to the Las Vegas Raiders to bring in a former first-round pass rusher in Tyree Wilson. It's an exchange of disappointing draft picks, but for the Bears, it's a risk well worth taking with Benedet securing the starting job.
Bears predicted to exchange Braxton Jones with the Raiders' Tyree Wilson
"Let's make bets on two frustrating players." Barnwell writes. "Jones entered the season with a potentially massive contract riding on his performance at left tackle for the Bears, but the Ben Johnson regime quickly soured on the player it inherited on Caleb Williams' blindside."
The new Bears leadership being out on Jones was not a good sign for the former fifth-rounder. He lost his starting job officially coming out of the bye, and with the Raiders without Kolton Miller for an extended period of time, Jones could be, at worst, a decent stopgap.
Coming back to Chicago for Jones, a potential starting left tackle, something that has decent value in the NFL, they would be getting Tyree Wilson. The former top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft hasn't lived up to the potential in Las Vegas, and could need a change of scenery.
The Bears' pass rush needs some help, and while Wilson hasn't been a huge force along the defensive line, the first-round pedigree is worth taking a flier on.
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Wilson is guaranteed $4.2 million in 2026, and if he plays well, he could have a fifth-year option used to keep him around in 2027. Such a scenario is very unlikely, but it does help further justify making this player-for-player swap with the Raiders.
Across his two and a half years in the NFL, Wilson, now 25 years old, has 10 total sacks, 67 total tackles, and 21 total quarterback hits. He's made just five starts in 39 games, showing just how little he's been involved in the Raiders' defense.
He's never played more than 50 percent of the defensive snaps in a season, and while he might not reach beyond such a threshold in Chicago if dealt there, he could be an intriguing rotational pass rusher for a Bears defense in need of help along the defensive line.
So far in six games this season, Wilson has two sacks and five pressures with 11 tackles on 159 snaps. Wilson is worth taking a flier on, and Barnwell's prediction that all it'd cost would be Jones, who just lost his starting job, makes this trade prediction an enticing one for the Bears.
Poles could swap a backup offensive lineman for a highly drafted pass rusher. Both Wilson and Jones have been disappointments this season, but in new places, they could turn things around.
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