One of the Bears’ biggest recent disappointments is getting a shot with their archrival. Wide receiver Chase Claypool got a tryout with the Packers on Friday at the start of their rookie minicamp.
Claypool, 27, hasn’t played in a game since the Bears dealt him to the Dolphins for a late-round draft pick swap in 2023. He spent the 2024 offseason with the Bills before suffering a toe injury in training camp and wasn’t with any NFL team last year.
Acquiring him was the worst mistake of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ tenure. He traded a second-round pick — it turned out to be No. 32 overall — to the Steelers for him in November 2022, and he lasted just 10 games. Claypool was a headache in the locker room, was criticized inside Halas Hall for his effort and totaled just 18 catches for 191 yards and a touchdown as a Bear.
The Bears kicked him out of the building early in the 2023 season, and former coach Matt Eberflus said he didn’t meet the team’s standards of “being on time, being respectful and working hard.” They traded him and a seventh-round pick to the Dolphins for a sixth-round pick a few days later.
Claypool had four catches in nine games for the Dolphins and mostly played on special teams.
If he performs well this weekend, the Packers could sign him to their 90-man offseason roster, but he would have a near-impossible path to making the in-season roster given the team’s depth at wide receiver.