Chicago Bears: Trading Greg Olsen Was an Extremely Poor Decision

The Chicago Bears thought they were doing the right thing as they traded tight end Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers for a 2012 third-round draft pick. 

Despite offensive coordinator Mike Martz's contention that having Desmond Clark, Kellen Davis and newly acquired Matt Spaeth will improve the Bears' blocking and thus the offense, trading Olsen for scraps was an extremely poor decision that will only hurt the unit. 

The following slides only demonstrate how this trade will negatively affect the Bears. 

Players Should Not Be Sacrificed for Scheme

Mike Martz wanted to use blocking tight ends in his offense, and that is what he has with Clark, Davis and Spaeth. 

But let's face it, they do not scare defenses the way Greg Olsen did. 

Clark is prone to dropping passes in the open field. Spaeth has a whopping 275 yards receiving for his entire four-year career. Davis is inexperienced and is a big gamble to make your featured tight end without having the more proven Olsen to fall back on. He has 94 yards and four touchdowns in limited action. 

While it's true Olsen was a subpar blocker, Martz could still had other tight ends who could block well. 

What Martz did was eliminate vertical options besides his receivers and Forte for the sake of his scheme, which calls for tight ends to be extra offensive linemen. 

Schemes are important, but Martz is getting paid to utilize his players to their fullest potential. The coach failed to do that with Olsen, even when he could have been in three- or four-receiver sets with Clark or Davis as a blocker. 

Greg Olsen Was Cutler's Favorite Target

Quarterback Jay Cutler was really comfortable throwing to the 6'5", 255-pound Olsen, connecting for 101 completed passes, 1,016 yards and 13 touchdowns. 

Fifty-five of those catches were for first downs. 

Only losing one fumble in the last two seasons, Olsen had sure hands that Cutler could rely on. 

Wide receivers Johnny Knox, Devin Hester and Earl Bennett are now Cutler's only returning vertical threats on the Bears, but Olsen actually bested the three athletes in touchdowns while being comparable with first downs and yardage gained. 

Knox pulled in 10 touchdowns, Hester seven and Bennett five, which are less than Olsen's 13. 

The Miami product's 55 first-down receptions are close to Knox's (65), Hester's (57) and Bennett's (59) numbers shows how reliable Olsen is in big situations. 

The tight end's 1,016 yards are not that far off Knox's (1,487), Hester's (1,232) and Bennett's (1,278) totals. 

Not bad for someone who was not the focal point in the Bears' offense, especially under Martz.  

Greg Olsen Was Arguably the Bears' Top Offensive Weapon the Last 4 Years

Besides the Cutler era, Greg Olsen was arguably the Bears' top offensive weapon the last four seasons. 

His 20 touchdowns from 2007-2010 (he could have had more if former offensive coordinator Ron Turner and Martz made more use of Olsen's unique abilities) are more scores than Desmond Clark (7), Hester (12), Bernard Berrian (5), Rashied Davis (3), Devin Aromashodu (4), Bennett (5), Jason McKie (4), Cedric Benson (4), Chester Taylor (3), Kellen Davis (4) and newcomers Roy Williams (19), Spaeth (5) and Sam Hurd (2). 

The only Bears player who has more scores is running back Matt Forte, who has 25 between rushing and receiving touchdowns. However, Chicago's offense is designed to be run-first and getting the ball into Forte's hands, so he had more opportunities to shine. 

If the Bears had an offensive coordinator who was not a tight-end-as-an-offensive-weapon-phobic and would put Olsen in the slot more in goal-line situations or even split him out to the outside on the nickel corner, he could have excelled more. 

Olsen One of Best Tight Ends in Bears' History

Greg Olsen was an elite tight end for the Chicago Bears—not just for this era, but the franchise's history. 

Olsen is second with 20 receiving touchdowns, only playing second fiddle to Iron Mike Ditka's 33. His 189 receptions from 2007-2010 are 20 short of Ditka's amount from 1962-1965. Olsen's 60 catches in 2009 were second only to Dikta's 75 in 1964. 

Ditka was a Hall of Famer at the position and changed it to be used as an offensive option. However, the Bears have had countless weak tight ends. 

Despite these two and Emery Moorehead (200 passes for 2,730 yards and 14 touchdowns with the Bears), Chicago has had many below-average tight ends as Marv Cook, Kerry Cash and Bobby Neeley.

Greg Olsen Will Succeed in Carolina

Greg Olsen will be one option out of many in Carolina. 

While the Bears only had Matt Forte as a consistent threat, the Panthers feature three Pro Bowlers and a future one on their roster. 

Tight end Jeremy Shockey will team up with Olsen to create the most dynamic one-two tight end punch in the league, as Shockey has 33 career touchdowns and over 5,600 yards receiving. 

Wide receiver Steve Smith, when healthy, is a top-five wideout in the NFL. Smith has grabbed 52 touchdowns and 8,884 yards during his career, including five seasons with over 1,000 yards and seven  touchdowns. Smith could be double-covered if he's on, thus opening up open routes between the hashes for Olsen. 

Running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for 2,632 yards and 25 scores from 2008-09. Williams has the explosiveness to make defenses play for the run. 

And don't forget No. 1 pick Cam Newton at quarterback. Newton is a dual-threat QB who will take time to develop, but already has the offensive pieces to succeed. 

Also, the Panthers hired Rob Chudzinski as their offensive play-caller. Chudzinski worked with Antonio Gates at San Diego and Shockey, Kellen Winslow II and Bubba Frank at Miami. If anyone knows how to utilize his tight ends properly, it's Chudzinski.