It appears the trade rumor involving Gervon Dexter was true, as the Chicago Bears have dealt him to the Atlanta Falcons, according to reports.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Falcons are acquiring Dexter from the Bears in exchange for a fifth-round pick and defensive back Clark Phillips.
“The Falcons are sending defensive back Clark Phillips and a fifth-round pick to the Bears in exchange for DT Gervon Dexter, per source,” Fowler wrote.
Here’s our view on who won this trade.
The Falcons no doubt win this trade because of the very cheap price they acquired Dexter for.
As for the Bears, this trade is at least a bit puzzling, and for multiple reasons.
After all, the Bears had a shaky defensive line to begin with, and now that is even more the case after Chicago subtracts its best interior pass-rusher — and does so for just a depth piece and a fifth-round pick.
Granted, Dexter was no doubt a liability in run defense and he was never a good fit for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s scheme, but Chicago should have been able to get more for Dexter considering he is an above-average pass-rusher.
We would have preferred to subtract Phillips from the trade in order to pick up a higher draft pick. There should be plenty of players like Phillips available after the cutdown deadline.
The Bears also now find themselves with an even shakier situation upfront and Chicago will have to rely on the unproven Jordan van den Berg and career backup Neville Gallimore, among others, to pick up the slack.
The addition of Phillips does make sense for Chicago because the team has been hit hard by injuries in the secondary this offseason.
Chicago is still missing Kyler Gordon, who has been on the PUP list throughout training camp with a calf injury, Coby Bryant might miss the entire season and Jaylon Jones got hurt again in the preseason finale on Saturday night.
Most of Phillips’ experience comes on the boundary, but he has played snaps in the slot and at safety, also. Phillips brings some special teams value as well.
That said, Phillips, who was limited to just one game last season due to a triceps injury, isn’t much of a needle-mover as a player with just 28 games and seven starts under his belt.
In his last full season in 2024, Phillips surrendered a completion rate of 74.4% and a passer rating of 107.5 in coverage.
We want to believe the Bears have something else up their sleeve when it comes to a replacement for Dexter, but we can’t say for sure.
For now, we don’t like this trade for the Bears, both because of what they received in return, and because of how it impacts a position that was already a weakness.
If you’re a Falcons fan, there’s a lot to like about the deal.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
