At this point in the summer, teams sometimes try to trade players that aren’t in their plans in the hope of recouping something for a player they’d be willing to give away for nothing.
One player that could be in that position is Bears wide receiver Earl Bennett. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Bears “have had some discussions” about trading Bennett, who has been with the team since they drafted him in the third round in 2008.
Schefter doesn’t think it will be easy to do and we’d agree with that assessment. Bennett has missed most of the last month of work with a concussion, continuing a trend that’s seen him on the sideline more often than a team would like. Bennett has missed nine games over the last two years, a span that’s seen him catch just 53 passes for 756 yards.
Injuries factor into another complication as well. Bennett is also set to make $2.25 million this season, a lot for a player who hasn’t shown that he can be consistently productive in an offense over the course of his years in Chicago. Nothing’s impossible as only one team needs to be interested to make a deal happen, but it feels like Bennett is a better bet to wind up as a name to watch when cuts are made this weekend.