Dontrelle Inman trade: Bears get WR for nice price from Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers have traded Dontrelle Inman to the Chicago Bears in a deal before the league’s trade deadline.

The National Football League’s trading deadline is coming up at the very end of this month, on October 31, which means teams are going to have to decide very soon whether or not they are contenders or pretenders for the rest of the 2017 season. The Los Angeles Chargers have reasons to believe they are still very competitive in 2017 despite their presence at the bottom of the AFC West, behind the first-place Kansas City Chiefs, but that hasn’t stopped them from also getting a future draft asset in exchange for a part they’ve deemed replaceable.

As shown above, the Chargers have sent wide receiver Dontrelle Inman to the Chicago Bears, but at this point the exact draft asset(s) coming back to L.A. are unknown. As Schefter reported, it’s a seventh round choice, but the Chargers information release makes it clear that it could be a higher pick if he performs well (or perhaps no compensation at all if Inman flops with the Bears).

It’s not surprising to see the Chargers moving one of their receivers given the sheer amount of talent they’ve acquired at the position. Keenan Allen has stayed healthy this year and the team has also gotten Mike Williams back into the fold after losing their first round pick for the first part of the year due to a back injury. Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin are also strong receivers who have each shown the ability to move the chains when necessary for the Chargers.

For Inman, it was a lack of quality reps that he was going to receiver and clearly the Bears thought they could poach him for little. Inman is due to be a free agent next season, so that means the Chargers were able to get something in return for the 28-year-old.

Inman only has 2 catches for 9 yards this year, but for the Bears it’s a nice buy-low opportunity for a receiver who set career-highs last year with Philip Rivers throwing to him. Inman had 58 catches and 810 receiving yards on 97 targets, showing just how thinned out the receiving corps had become after injuries. Inman now gets a fresh start in a young offense and could show enough to earn some free agent interest.

This move has very little effect on the AFC West race except to say that the Chargers are a bit less equipped to handle an injury to their wide receiving corps than they were before. Given the injury history for Allen and Mike Williams, it could be a bit much to ask them both to stay healthy for another 8 games or more, but L.A. is taking that chance.