
The Chicago Bears drew first blood against the Green Bay Packers in the trade market Friday, trading for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Gaines Adams.
Adams was the fourth overall selection in the 2007 NFL Draft out of Clemson, but he has been an underachiever for the Bucs. The Bears sent a 2010 second-round pick to Tampa for Adams, leaving them without a pick in the first two rounds in next year’s draft. Their first-round pick went to Denver for Jay Cutler.
How much Adams will help the Bears is debatable, but defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has been a fan of Adams since he came out of college, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Vaughn McClure.
The trade is aimed at bolstering Chicago’s pass rush, which has registered 14 sacks so far this season. The 6-5, 258 lbs. Adams will play in rotation with the Bears current starting defensive ends Adewale Ogunleye and Mark Anderson.
Ogunleye has been productive, but is 32 and in the last year of his contract.
Anderson, meanwhile, has struggled to recapture the magic of his 2006 rookie season when he tallied 12 sacks. Anderson, who is also in a contract year, has only one sack this season.
Unfortunately for the Bears, Adams isn’t much better than Anderson. He’s totaled 14 tackles and one sack this season in a starting role for the Buccaneers. In 37 games, Adams has 124 tackles and 13.5 sacks – not overwhelming numbers. But the Bears obviously feel they can develop Adams into a solid starter if they traded a second-round draft pick for him.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun Times, Adams needs to hit the weight room and improve his work ethic.
“He hasn’t really developed yet and he’s not a great player,” a league source told Biggs. “For the fourth pick in the draft, yeah, he’s a bust. But I think a change of scenery will help him. He’s a guy who needs someone to motivate him. He needs to develop his body. He looks like a basketball player. But he looks good coming off the ball sometimes. He can be better. He shows flashes. You can see the talent there. It will be interesting to see what he does.”
Interesting indeed. If Adams can bulk up (even a college defensive end should be bigger than 258) he could be a decent player for the Bears. If the current pattern with Adams holds up, the Bears just got fleeced.
But then again, Marinelli used to coach the Detroit Lions, so that shouldn’t surprise anyone.
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Last updated on August 26th, 2014 at 04:24 pm
I Wish the Packers would make a move to bring in a veteran to bring leadership. They are the youngest team for the 4th year in a row. At some point that has to change. When was the last time the youngest team in the leauge won a Super Bowl???????