Four Chiefs players who could be trade targets for Bears

As the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Chicago Bears, it could be a good preview of potential trade targets for Chicago GM Ryan Poles.

The Kansas City Chiefs are ready to kick off their 2022 schedule with the start of the preseason on Saturday afternoon by kicking off at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears. The pairing features two teams on disparate sides of the National Football League’s pecking order—one with a run of sustained success enjoyed by few teams in today’s NFL and the other in need of impact talent at nearly every single position on both sides of the ball.

Because of the projected direction for each team this season, the Chiefs and Bears are coming into their preseason opener with very different postures. For the Chiefs, Saturday is about gaining experience for the starters, staying healthy, and then beginning to sort out the competition at key positions in order to make the best roster decisions at month’s end. For the Bears, however, they’re not only sorting out their young talent but should be focused on the rest of the NFL for potential imports.

Given that Ryan Poles, the Bears general manager, was a Chiefs exec only months ago, it makes sense that K.C. could be the present home for more than one future player for the Bears. One or more might be via waiver claims, but if the Bears wanted to secure someone from the Chiefs roster who makes sense to fill a need this season (and potentially beyond), here are some faces to watch.

Cornell Powell

Ryan Poles knows as well as anyone what the Chiefs have in Cornell Powell given that he was part of the front office that dissected, discussed, and drafted him in the sixth round in 2021.

While at Clemson, Powell was a late-bloomer who was often bypassed on the depth chart during his career by younger players. However, during his final season for the Tigers, Powell turned the corner and became a go-to target with 53 catches for 882 yards and 7 touchdowns as a fifth-year senior.

With a full year in the system, Powell is certainly in the mix for the Chiefs to compete for a spot within a newly-remade wide receiving corps, but the competition is pretty fierce and if the Chiefs could get a return for a player they feel is only as good as the others on the roster, then it’s a move worth making for both parties.

As for the Bears, they could use more than one wide receiver and that’s before watching Byron Pringle and N’Keal Harry go down. Justin Fields has the worst array of targets in the NFL, so there’s room here for someone like Powell to shine. If Poles liked what he say when he was with the Chiefs, then he should make a call to see if he can bring a familiar face on board in the Windy City.