Chicago Bears trades for Darrell Taylor, Chris Williams walk the line between value and desperation

the Chicago bearss traded two sixth round picks for two defensive linemen over the weekend it should provide some valuable depth at the team's biggest weakness but will it be enough you are locked on Bears your daily Chicago Bears podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day this is lock on bears and I'm your host Lauren Cox I'm here to bring you your daily in-depth Chicago Bears news and Analysis you can follow me on Twitter at Cox Sports one you can follow the podcast at lockon Bears on Tik Tok Instagram Facebook Twitter and the locked on Bears YouTube channel where you can keep up with all of our video podcasts as well thanks for making lockon Bears your first listen today we're part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day today's episode is is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a 3we free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com locked on to get started on the show today we get to know the two newest members of the Chicago Bears defensive line darl Taylor from the Seattle Seahawks who will learn just how excited he is to be a member of this Bears team in a way that is is more than you're expecting to hear from Taylor we'll get into that here in just a moment we'll also get to know defensive tackle Chris Williams from the Cleveland Browns who feels like a little bit more of a desperation trade for Ryan poles to address a position that they might be getting a little bit desperate at but we'll figure out exactly where he fits into the equation here and then we'll wrap up with a look at the defensive the injuries on a couple of different spots on this team where it could shape your 53 man roster depending on if they're going to put these players on injured reserve or not and whether they do injured reserve before the roster cut down or after the roster cut down depending on whether they want to be able to bring them back or shut them down for the entire season we'll kind of get the latest on a couple of different injury situations that will definitely affect how this team operates in week one and at the very least the beginning of the season if not like the entire season at a couple of these particular positions but I want to start with the new Edge rusher Daryl Taylor definitely the bigger headline of the two trades Taylor is a guy who has over 20 sacks in his three-year career he had nine and a half sacks in 2022 alone five and a half sacks this past season has always kind of been the number three rotational guy in Seattle they were switching over to a new scheme under Mike McDonald maybe perhaps not quite as good of a fit in that and so the Seahawks said all right you know willing to part ways with him in exchange for a sixth round pick Daryl Taylor comes into Chicago then right away is going to be at at worst you know your number three defensive end after montz sweat and Demarcus Walker but going to rotate with Demarcus Walker and could kind of be the starter there we heard Matt neber PL say over the weekend that they're going to kind of take the hot hand approach so it'll be a rotation either way but who's the starter will kind of depend on who's producing more and of course Demarcus Walker's going to kick inside a defense tackle a lot and they'll both be on the field together so the starter distinction there is going to end up being a little bit more you know a gray area blurred line there but we also got to know Daryl Taylor this weekend he came to Chicago he and Chris Williams both did press conferences to you know meet the media and meet the city and something in particular stood out with the way darell Daryl Taylor addressed the media and talked about coming to his team and so I want you to pay to just how excited Daryl Taylor is here cuz he might he is I can guarantee you the most excited player in the NFL just coming here and being around everybody and being in this environment I'm just excited to be here you know uh it's something new for me I've never been traded before never been with another team so I'm just excited to see new faces you know being in a different environment and just get to work I can already tell this team is very excited to you know be doing what we doing right now so I'm just excited to be here you know whatever the Bears are ready to you know put me at any position I'm excited to be there I'm just excited to be here and excited to be a part of the organization you know what I'm saying I'm excited about it and I'm excited and I'm ready to show you know the Bears what I can do so I'm just excited the Bears wanted to step in and you know have me on their team and you know have me come do some things for them so I'm just excited about that hey I didn't know that much but I know we have 4-3 defense and I'm excited to be moving forward like going straight all the time I'm excited about that part so I'm excited to be you know in this defense and I'm excited to do that too and being here I'm excited about that you know you know I'm just excited about learning everything that this defensive scheme has to offer for the defensive line and I'm excited about helping everything um just fall into place that's why I'm excited to be here I'm excited to be here you know I'm an opportunist so I'm just excited to be here and so I'm excited to see what the Bears have to offer it was just a the excitement I have for my teammate you know I'm excited I'm excited about football you know yes I'm excited that I have you know I'm saying I don't always get my shot you know what I'm saying but I'm excited to be here and I'm excited to be able to do that in blue and orange I'm definitely excited to get the opportunity to play you know I'm saying alongside with that guy you know what I'm saying so I'm excited to get to you know what I'm saying rush opposite of him you know what I'm saying race to the quarterback so that's what it's all about um and I'm just excited be able to do that here so for those of you playing along at home uh that was 31 excited there from Daryl Taylor and we love it we have to love the excitement coming into Chicago and being fired up to play with Mont sweat on this defensive line I would be excited to 31 excited in about eight minutes of press conference that we condensed down there and did a super cut of there but you can get a sense you I you could also tell that like the media picked up on it pretty quickly because I heard Mark Carmen from chgo asked him a question like hey so are you excited to play with Montes like sneaking in the word excited in there and a couple other media members too I don't remember off the top of my head the voices I recognize there but they started asking them questions about hey are you excited about XY or Z because that was the uh the word of the day from Daryl Taylor so whatever happens this season we will remember him for sure as being very excited every single time his his arrival though doesn't bode well for the likes of Dominique Robinson for the likes of perhaps Daniel Hardy on the defensive line when you think about as the Bears try and trim down by Tuesday at I believe 3:00 I don't know if it's three Central or three Eastern might be four Eastern three Central Tuesday afternoon is the deadline for teams to go to 53 players and so when you think about like what the Bears have on the defensive line sweat Demarcus Walker darl Taylor and Austin Booker are locked in as your four defensive ends that are for sure going to make this team so then do you don't even know do you keep five or do you just keep those four I'm guessing they'll probably keep a fifth one just because of how the defensive line rotations are going to go here with Demarcus Walker playing inside a little bit but then is Dominique Robinson the number five is he in is Daniel Hardy the number five is he in instead I mean how do those guys Stack Up head-to-head on the depth chart they also signed Jake Martin this off season but he's been hurt all training camp and all preseason so we just haven't seen him but could Daryl Taylor could be the one that pushes somebody like Robinson or Daniel Hardy off of the 53 man roster altogether I do think that despite trading for a defensive end and a defensive tackle here the Bears could still also go out and add another defensive lineman that was released from or waved from another team's 53 man roster this preseason like the whole point of trading for Taylor and Williams was that you give up a late round draic to make sure you get them as opposed to if that team was going to cut them you'd have to compete with every other team and the waiver order as well to decide to try and decide whether or not you'll actually be able to have the opportunity to acquire that player and in that context the Chris Williams trade feels a little bit more desperate than the Daryl Taylor trade maybe not quite as excited about that one but we'll kind of get to know what the Bears are getting from their defensive tackle next unlocked on [Music] Bears this episode of lockdown Bears is brought to you by our friends at LinkedIn jobs when you're hiring for your small business you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role that's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs because LinkedIn jobs has the tools to help find the right candidates for your team faster and for free I'm on LinkedIn I would bet you're on LinkedIn and if you're not a lot of your friends family members and co-workers are all a part of LinkedIn and that's why LinkedIn isn't just a job board LinkedIn helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but hey you know they might be open to the perfect role in any given month over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites so if you're not looking on LinkedIn you're looking in the wrong place on LinkedIn 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours so hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn post your job for free at linkedin.com lockon NFL that's linkedin.com SL locked on NFL to post your job for free terms and conditions [Music] apply so after the Daryl Taylor trade the Bears follow that up immediately by sending a sixth round pick to the Cleveland Browns for defensive tackle Chris Williams and a seventh round pick so it becomes a pick swap there moving down from your sixth round pick to a seventh round pick instead of just you know giving up a sixth round pick straight up altogether in the darl Taylor trade and I think that reflects noticeably in the difference in production of the two players I mean Taylor had five and a half sacks last season nine and a half the year before that has has proven NFL pass rush productivity that the rest of the Bears defensive ends not Nam Montes W just don't have Chris Williams on the other hand has zero career sacks and six career tackles in 13 career games in now entering his fourth season this is very much a you know bottom of the roster type defensive lineman and I don't mean that to be like to try try to trash talk anything just over the course of his career you know he's been um number three number four defensive tackle rotating Off the Bench for a few games here and there on the practice squad all of last season for I think a couple of different teams this was not necessarily a player that everyone was clamor in for or that was in line to make this Cleveland Browns roster this season and so it starts to feel a little bit more like desperation when Ryan poles trades a sixth round pick for Chris Williams and a seventh round pick I understand that is a very low trade compensation right swapping a sixth for a seventh is about as low as you can get I don't know is that is that more or less than just giving up a seventh round pick straight up I mean I it's sort of nitpicking right or if you do it for like a future seventh round pick usually to me feels like the lowest thing you can possibly do but maybe poles would prefer to swap and keep the same number of picks total it just move that pick farther down but either way like Chris Williams is a a guy who is certainly going to be cut by the Browns and certainly going to hit the open market and then it's a question of is this guy so valuable that you have to give up draft pick even a smallest smallest amount of draft compensation to make sure that you get him like to me when I look at Chris Williams like yes in their last preseason game against the Vikings he had two sacks for the Browns and in their first preseason game against the Packers he had a couple of quarterback hits in that game as well didn't play in their third preseason game on Saturday because he was traded to the Bears before he had a chance to play in this game so some flashes in the preseason and he had previously played for Matt eus and the Indianapolis Colts and his his college head coach at Wagner is the Bears assistant offensive line coach so there is a lot of familiarity with this player and he had a good preseason so I understand why the Bears would be interested and want to bring him in where I'm where I where I struggle with this a little bit and feel a little bit of desperation here is that like is this such a good player that you have to give up something for him like is he better than any other defensive tackle that's going to get cut this weekend and hit the open market like I get that you want to make sure you have a guy but you know there's going to be other guys that are in a similar boat as Chris Williams like Williams is a young developing defensive tackle who works hard and has some positional versatility you know he he can play nose tackling and play three technique and he he can even kick out wide and play some like defensive end oversized defensive end he has played before over the course of his career they've used him up and down the defensive line there's value to who to what he what his skill set is but when we talk about a guy who's played eight games in three seasons and has six tackles in three seasons I'm guessing there are going to be 10 players that have had a similar career to Chris Williams that get cut today and tomorrow and hit the open market that the Bears could add to their 53-man roster if they want to so the only main difference with Chris Williams versus any of those other guys or the main difference not the only but the main difference is the familiarity with your coaching staff and there's a value to that and is that value swapping a sixth round pick for a seventh round pick like maybe I'm maybe I'm overly valuing this this the pick swap there is but like it feels like when you give up a six round pick Daryl Taylor who has 21 sacks I mean he had n and a half sacks a couple seasons ago like he's had more sacks than Demarcus Walker you know who's a starter on your defensive like like Taylor will be a borderline starter for you and that cost you a six round pick and then you trade a sixth for a seventh to get Chris Williams who was available all last season on practice squads you could have signed him off of another team's practice squad last year at any time if you really thought like oh hey he's got some familiarity with e flu and we want to bring him in like he was available the entire time he was available at any point the Bears wanted to sign him last season so like that's to me where it's like was is this some really good player that you be sure you want to make sure and get or are you feeling a little bit desperate because of where your defensive tackle situation is right now where you know you've got Dexter and Billings as your starter you like Zack Pickins as your number three but Zack Pickins is dealing with an injury right now and Matt eberl doesn't have any update for us on the exact severity of that injury but the way everyone talks about Zack pickin's injury it sounds like he's maybe not going to be ready for week one we don't know if it's you know if it's maybe just one game and then it'll be good or if it's an injured reserve type situation but like you're you're already thin on the defensive line and one of your guys that you do have might not be ready to go this week so does Ryan poles or sorry for week one which is still like three weeks away so does Ryan poles feel like ah crap we have maybe two total healthy defensive tackles that we trust in dvon Dexter and Andrew Billings we got to get somebody we know we like for sure and we can't take the risk or the chance of dumpster diving on the open market let's go get a trade for a guy that just is something we know we can like here as the newest defensive tackle in here and maybe if if Pickins is injury is going to be an issue you can still keep Byron Cowart or Michael Doom for one of the guys who is in training camp with you you know you can still keep him on your 53 man roster as I'm recording this on on Sunday uh the Bears have already released undrafted rookie F agent Keith Randolph Jr from Illinois the other undrafted rookie FR agent defensive tackles are likely soon to follow and maybe by the time you hear this podcast they will have made other cuts on the defensive line and so I apologize for not being able to time travel but nonetheless the Bears need Cap all caps NE need defensive tackles and so I can understand Ryan P's feeling a little bit desperate to have to give up something for it just feels a little bit like the Dan Feeny trade last year where you gave up a six round pick for a guy who even at the time were all like okay I mean he's all right sure he can play the position that you need bodies at so I guess but obviously like when feni played he wasn't very good and they didn't bring him back and it kind of was yeah okay you wasted a six round pick not the end of the world but still it was a bad trade when it was all said and done and the Chris Williams trade feels a little bit like that whereas the Daryl Taylor trade feels like pretty good value for a guy who's been a fairly proven pass prusher in three seasons and can certainly help you out with a little bit more confidence than you know at that position than what we've got at defensive tackle right now but Pickins is one of these big injuries that is really going to shape how many players the Bears keep on this 53-man roster on the defensive line and there's a couple of other spots too where we've got injuries that we don't know the exact length and severity of and depending on how bad that is that that will change how many players the Bears keep and at what positions they keep extra players so we'll look at what questions we have ahead of 53 man masterer cutdown day and that the injuries will ultimately decide for the team next un locked on [Music] Bears this episode of lock on Bears is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook America's number one sports book we've talked a lot about FanDuel this offseason but they've got something a little bit different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 on anything and get a free 3-week trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and then of course you can cancel at any time you just place that $5 bet on any of your favorite teams the Bears week one against the Titans four and a half Point favorite in that game Matt's Coach of the Year odds Caleb Williams is offensive Rookie of the Year odds plus baseball season is round rounding towards the playoff hunt you've got soccer and tennis and Combat Sports and all sorts of goodies between now and September 22nd so to get your free 3-week trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV just visit fanduel.com lockon to download America's number one sports book [Music] 53 man roster predictions are always uh feudal we went through one on Friday after the last preseason game getting a sense of who had played their way in or off of the roster and of course trading for D two defensive linemen from outside of the organization derails all of that anyone's 53 men roster did not include those players and we're not going to do another full prediction here or anything again because as I'm recording this or and as you're listening to this the Bears are making more and more cuts and decisions here that will shape this that we just can't again time travel to stand top but the biggest questions for me on the outside are not okay performance-wise did Dominique Robinson play well enough to make the team or did you know ex player here play well enough to make the team it's how injured are the injured players and will those injured players injuries Force the Bears to keep extra players at other positions or will the Bears put those players on injured reserve and then we lose them for the season like how will the Bears handle these injuries that we just haven't gotten super super concrete timelines or Tim taes on their returns we talked a little bit about Zack Pickins and his injury it happened last Monday so it's been a full week bears are calling it like not necessarily like a they're trying to figure out how long term of a thing it's going to be and M wouldn't commit either way to you know whether or not even he's going to be ready for week one or not but I think it's being talked about in you know week terms as like we in terms of weeks as opposed to in terms of days that Pickins might be out and so that's what leads to the Chris Williams trade because if Zack Pickins out you got Dexter Billings and Chris Williams if Pickins is going to miss let's let's throw a hypothetic out here with no purely speculation I'm just picking a number let's say he's going to miss a month going to miss four the first four games of the season for whatever reason you okay then you might not put him on injured reserve just yet because he could be back before a full short-term injured reserve stint so you keep him on the roster but he's still going to take up a roster Spot while injured so then you'd have to take up a fifth defensive tackle so is that how Byron Cowart makes the team so you can have four healthy defensive tackles Plus have Demarcus Walker and other guys kick inside or do they even say Off Script we'll bring in another outside player cut Cowart and dwom for and have it be Dexter Billings Pickins Chris Williams and then a fifth outside player who's brought in off the street but that outside player might not be locked in ready to go week one at least Chris Williams has some time to get re acclimated with Matt E and has the background knowledge of like oh yeah I've played in this defense for these coaches before so there's some familiarity there that should make that transition easier but like Pickins is going to be counted on to be their top backup as both the nose and three technique defensive tackle so like this is a big deal and they could choose you know if they want to if they want to put him on a short-term injured reserve then he has to count on your initial 53 man roster that that's the big decision here so if you put someone on injured reserve before the Tuesday deadline you know Tuesday afternoon you have to submit a roster to the NFL that says here's the 53 players we're taking if you put someone on injured reserve before that time they are out for the rest of the season and cannot be reactivated off of injured reserve if you wait until you submit your 53 men roster and say hey this player is on our 53 man roster he's a part of our active team the very next day you can put him on injured reserve and then designate him for return to make it the short-term injured reserve and have him only be out you know the however many weeks he needs to be out and then he won't count on your roster then but he has to count on your initial roster so you have to cut to 53 players with that injured player counting as one of those 53 get through the deadline then he can go on injured reserve free up his spot and then you can add someone back to get back to 53 after you got to your initial 53 and so that's where the duration of the Pickin injury is going to be interesting it sounds like again based on the way people are talking about it it's not going to be a season ending injury I don't think it seems to me like he's going to make the they're not going to put him on injured reserve before the 53 man roster deadline I think it's a question of yes he's going to for sure make the team but then then does he go on short-term injured reserve after that or is he only going to miss you know a game or two and so the short-term injured reserve would keep him out longer than he would need to be out so then you know you keep it an extra body that way that's the real question for me with him it's the the same type of conversation with Larry borham on the offensive line where he is your top swing tackle clearly their first choice Off the Bench behind Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright he is dealing with an injury that he suffered in the last preseason game the Bears haven't been able to really provide a concrete timetable it was you know look like an ankle lower leg kind of thing that he suffered and was carded off with is that a one month thing is that a season ending thing we still don't have a super strong sense of that but the Bears also then have other offensive line questions and it's the same conversation do you put them on injured reserve before the cutd down deadline so he's for sure just shut him down for the whole season do you keep him on the initial 53 to to get him through and then put him on injured reserve and replace him after the fact and then then it can be a short-term injured reserve or is this a one or two we thing where you stick with him injured but not an injured reserve just taking up that roster spot at someone who's not healthy or ready to go just yet because you look around the rest of the offensive line Ryan Bates is also injured at Center and he's also in this conversation a little bit he he might not be ready for week one it sounds like you know he could his is definitely going to be on the shorter term side so probably not an injured reserve candidate but if he's not ready for week one you need a backup center so that would leave Doug Kramer or or Jerome Carvin or kind of your only other Center options currently on the roster unless you go out and add someone from another team's 53 man roster like they did with Dani last year via trade but I'm not expecting an offensive line trade for Center at the very least with boram being injured Matt ebra is pretty publicly endorsed Matt prior as a backup who's for sure going to make this 53 man roster he endorsed him as someone who they trust to play left tackle to trust to play left guard they trust to play Right Guard they trust to play right tackle so if boram's going to miss time Matt prior will be your new swing tackle and your new swing offens essentially Matt pry is your Sixth Man in this basketball lineup here here if he can play every position but Center so if any of your tackles or guards get hurt Matt Pryor well well as long as Larry boram is injured Matt PRI will be your first guy off the bench so then do they keep another guard if they're going to trust Matt prior to be the tackle you know is that the way that Bill Murray or jari Carter makes the 53-man roster or Jake keran your offens your backup right tackle who can play some guard like that that's what's going to be most interesting to me is like the duration of those injuries and whether or not they put boram on injured reserved and create a spot that way or whether they Rite it out and plus you've got you know Karan magaji is going to be on your roster and is healthy enough to practice at least but you wouldn't necessarily trust him to go into the game so like you know he's for sure going to make this team so if you think about like where this offensive line is the number of guys that make this 53-man roster you got your five starters Braxton Jones Tevin Jenkins Coleman Shelton Nate Davis D Darnell Wright then you've got Matt prior is your new six offensive lineman as long as Larry borms hurt Karan amagi is definitely making this team and Ryan Bates is definitely making this team so that's eight so then if you keep Larry Borum if he's healthy enough to stay on the roster he would be nine so then do you keep a tenth by keeping one of the other guards or do you just stick with those nine or do you put Larry borm on injured reserve and then just leave it to eight with prior amagazi and Bates as your three backups there depends on how healthy Bates is because Bates can play guard or Center and prior can be can play tackle or guard so those two could kind of handle the five backup spots while alagi develops but if Bates is also going to miss a few weeks and boram's missing time like these are the kind of moving parts that Ryan poles is juggling here and waiting for the proper updates from his training staff to know when and how long we can expect these players to be out and when they can ultimately come back and provide depth on this team the last spot that's a real concern here it's not one that's going to be top of mind for everybody but Long Snapper Patrick scales has been been out for like two or three weeks with an injury didn't snap in the preseason at all I don't think they had Cameron on the roster a former undrafted free agent who' been spent some time with the New York Giants uh but the Bears brought him through and and ultimately you know had him a part of this preseason but I don't think they're going to necessarily keep you know two long Snappers on the the roster and at some point during during this fall they had they had waved him and then brought him back when when scales had been healthy and then he got hurt again they brought back camera lines but like you can't keep two long Snappers on the 53-man roster so it's a question of you know do you keep scales and does he end up going on injured reserve or is he going to be healthy enough to play week one like we kind of take for granted the consistency of having a really good Long Snapper or just a a consistent Long Snapper that you never have to think about you never have to worry about you just know Snaps are going to be there it's not going to mess up a punt or kick if if a punt or kick is going to be shanked it's because of the holder the kicker or the punter not the Long Snapper when Patrick scales is in there Cameron Lions I didn't think was quite as solid but I didn't watch a lot of Long Snapper tape I'm going honest I'm not going to sit here and say oh yeah the the spin rate on lions long snaps were just you know were horrible but I remember a couple snaps here there being a little bit outside of the frame but it's a small sample size in the preseason anyway and it's long snapping whatever but like it's another spot of do they keep scales on the initial 53 then put him on injured reserve and then resign someone like lions as a short-term fill in or do they is scales's injuries serious and they put them on injured reserve for the full season and shut them down and just keep lines or do they take another Long Snapper from somewhere outside the organization that's why 53 man roster predictions are impossible but still something it's a fun and valuable exercise I'm glad we went through it on Friday after the preseason game not we're not going to do it again before the Tuesday deadline but we will break down all the other big moves the Bears make on this initial roster right here on the lock on Bears podcast so make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts cuz that's going to be the best way to keep up with all of our da daily in-depth Chicago Bears news and Analysis thanks for making lockon Bears your first listen today we're part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day if you're looking for a second listen go check out locked on fantasy football we're your team every day here in the lockon podcast Network and that includes your fantasy football team where you can get daily insight to the best fantasy draft strategies and of course waiver wire pickups and lineup decisions throughout the season to help you win your league you can find locked on fantasy football on YouTube or wherever you're listening to this locked on Bears podcast right now then come on back tomorrow make us your first listen here once again and you'll always be left with another opportunity to be excited like Daryl Taylor and Bear Down