General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears front office tried to bring Matthew Judon from the Patriots to Chicago in trade discussions on Wednesday evening.
In the end, they fell short, as the Falcons successfully traded a 2025 third-round pick to the Patriots in exchange for Judon. However, the Bears attempted the same, offering New England their third-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, league sources confirmed to NBC Sports Chicago's Josh Schrock.
Uniquely, former Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli was in the room with Poles during the ongoing discussions with the Patriots and Judon's agent.
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For clarity, Pioli hired Poles as a scout to the Chiefs in 2009 while the former was serving as the GM.
He detailed his live experience in the room with Poles during the negotiations.
"Part of what was really cool was being here with the Bears and Ryan Poles was they were involved in this trade possibility," Pioli said on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football." "They were one of the teams that were talking to the Patriots. They were talking to the agent for Matthew Judon. I was watching this whole thing unfold.
"This is the cool part behind the scenes; when you're trading someone, you have to talk to multiple people. And part of what has to be done during that process is the team needs to give you permission to talk to the agent to see what the contract is gonna be like. ... I had a front-row seat listening to Poles and their folks here talking (about) it."
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It must be fascinating watching GMs up and close work the phones with several people to try and land a player in trade discussions. It would be even more fascinating if the footage of those discussions made it to an episode of the Bears' ongoing "Hard Knocks" series.
Nevertheless, the Bears couldn't make a trade work. The Patriots opted for the Falcons' third-round pick, a sign of their confidence in Atlanta owning a worse regular season record than the Bears in 2024.
But the Bears didn't go down without a fight, as Pioli mentioned he thought the Bears had a strong chance.
"When it happened, I thought there was a really good chance (for the Bears)," Pioli said. "But what it came down to was the money and what was going to be done with the contract."
MORE: Matthew Judon trade would've been right idea, wrong move for Bears in Year 1 with Caleb Williams
The move to try and acquire Judon was the right idea for the Bears. The team has ranked last and second-to-last in the past two seasons in team sacks, respectively, evidence of a poor pass-rushing unit. And while Montez Sweat trademarked "The 'Tez Effect" last season, leading the team with six sacks in nine games, the Bears still could use another elite edge.
But Judon, 32, might be outside the Bears' competitive window. He also played in just four games last season on account of tearing his bicep early in the year. He excelled during the 2021-22 seasons by combining 28 sacks from both seasons, but no one can say for certain how he'll perform this season.
That being said, Judon is in dire need of a new contract. Reports say he might play on the rest of his existing deal this season which is slated to earn him $6.5 million. But he'll soon need an extension and he'll likely seek a new contract in the $15 to $18 million annual range.
The Bears have spending power with Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze on favorable rookie deals. But the Bears have invested heavily into contracts for DJ Moore, Jaylon Johnson, Tremaine Edmunds and Cole Kmet. Not to mention, Keenan Allen is playing on the last year of his deal, and the Bears might be inclined to extend him for a hefty price tag.
If Allen's number is in the $22 million range, the Bears would have only $16 million left in salary cap space for 2025 before their draft picks are signed. If they were to pay Judon something in the $15 million ballpark, they would have just over $2 million left in cap space.
To Pioli's point, it appears the Bears might've pumped the brakes because of Judon's contract situation. Still, their aggression in Judon's market is evidence the team is on the hunt for a game-changing pass rusher opposite of Sweat.