NFL Rumors: Packers Offered 2nd-Round Pick for Chase Claypool Before Bears Trade

The Green Bay Packers reportedly offered the Steelers a second-round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool before Pittsburgh traded him to the Chicago Bears.

Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the Steelers chose the Bears' offer because the Pittsburgh front office believes the Chicago pick will be higher than Green Bay's. The Bears and Packers enter Week 9 with matching 3-5 records.

Chicago's trade for Claypool came as a bit of a shock after the team was seemingly setting itself up for a rebuild. The Bears traded linebacker Roquan Smith and defensive end Robert Quinn before the deadline, sending a signal they were sellers rather than buyers.

Green Bay, meanwhile, was linked to nearly every wideout on the market but ultimately stood pat—locking Aaron Rodgers into arguably the worst receiving corps of his career. No Packers pass catcher has more than 340 yards this season, and Rodgers hasn't topped 255 passing yards in a single game.

After winning back-to-back MVPs with Davante Adams hauling in 100-plus catches, Rodgers has looked like a shell of himself in a moribund offense.

If the Packers' deadline was Claypool-or-bust, they didn't do nearly enough to ensure he'd be making the trip from Pittsburgh to Green Bay. Adding a Day 3 pick to the mix might have been enough to create the difference between where the Bears' and Packers' second-round picks are expected to fall.

Regardless, it's borderline inexcusable for the front office to saddle its 38-year-old MVP quarterback with this group of receivers, especially given the Packers are winners of three straight divisions and came into this season considered a Super Bowl contender.