ESPN analyst pitches Chicago Bears trade for a quarterback ahead of 2026 season

The Chicago Bears could still be one of the more intriguing teams to add talent this offseason. They have added some interesting players to the roster, but could still be in talent acquisition mode through trades. There are a few players they can be in the market for. Let’s take a look at who one ESPN analyst believes Chicago can trade for and why they’d do that.

ESPN pitches Tyson Bagent for Anthony Richardson trade

In an article by a handful of ESPN NFL analysts, they discussed multiple potential trades and packages. Dan Graziano had the Bears as a potential suitor for quarterback Anthony Richardson from the Indianapolis Colts. The trade package he had was a straight one-for-one as Chicago sends Tyson Bagent to Indy. Below is the reasoning why he believes this makes sense:

“I don’t see anyone giving up a pick for Richardson at the moment. The Bears dangled Bagent in trade offers earlier this offseason, and here he likely gives the Colts a better backup option than Leonard. Richardson gets to learn from Bears coach Ben Johnson and maybe show enough in the preseason that he becomes appealing to another team in trade. Heck, maybe Johnson has some ideas for how to use him in a package or two. The Bears still have Case Keenum behind Caleb Williams as a veteran backup.”

Bagent is signed for two more seasons with a cap hit of $4.75 million each season. If the Bears want to get a younger option in the quarterback room, this would make some sense. This trade has high upside with Richardson being a former fourth-overall pick.

Why would the Chicago Bears be interested in Anthony Richardson?

This would certainly be an interesting trade for the Bears. It makes sense for Chicago to be interested as they free themselves after this season of another quarterback contract. Graziano spoke about this, but they have Keenum as a backup quarterback already, so this is a chance to correct Richardson and get some experience with a new coaching staff.

Richardson can also be a player used in a similar role as Taysom Hill, getting a few packages to use his unique abilities. Richardson could be used in a wildcat formation or simply in a heavy formation to give the defense a different look. This would be interesting because it seems Bagent is someone the Bears’ front office likes. However, this would be a trade with a lot of potential and not too much risk involved.

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