Tim Benz: Chase Claypool trade is a win for Steelers' front office, a loss for Steelers' image

The trade of wide receiver Chase Claypool looks like a win for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ front office.

It’s also a loss for the entire narrative surrounding Steelers football.

Both outcomes are the result of the same necessary reality check this organization just made at the halfway point of its rotting 2022 season.

Let’s start with the positive — the trade itself.

On Tuesday, in advance of their bye weekend, the Steelers traded Claypool to the Chicago Bears for that club’s second-round pick in this spring’s NFL draft. Like the Steelers, the Bears are struggling at 3-5. So that pick could be fairly early on Day 2 of the draft.

To me, that’s a wonderful return for Claypool, who was a second-round pick himself back in 2020. The Notre Dame product is a 6-foot-4, 238-pound physical specimen that has all the tools in the world. But he has never put them together on a regular basis.

Through his first 10 NFL games, “Mapletron” was making a Rookie-of-the-Year push with 10 total touchdowns. Counting the playoffs, he’s had six in the 31 games since then. Seven, if you count last weekend’s trick-play touchdown pass.

.@ChaseClaypool TD PASS to @DerekWatt34 on 4th and Goal!

????: #PITvsPHI on CBS
????: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/kHi66m0LGX pic.twitter.com/NR713Wal6v

— NFL (@NFL) October 30, 2022

Last year, his stats took a very mild dip, dropping from 62 receptions to 59 while totaling 860 yards compared to 873 the year before. But he found the end zone just twice.

This year, Claypool is averaging a meager four catches for 38.9 yards per game and has only one receiving touchdown. He hasn’t had a 100-yard game since Week 5 of last season.

Was Claypool a victim of a dreadful offense with steadily declining quarterback play over his tenure in Pittsburgh, to say nothing of hideous play calling and even worse play design? Yes. Yes, he was.

But Claypool has come up short of expectations — and his own predictions — for reasons of his own doing as well. For all of Claypool’s physical attributes, he’s yet to master the art of combat catches in the NFL. He doesn’t create enough separation on a regular basis to escape that kind of tight coverage. Only this year, at times, has he been able to channel his size into effective blocking. He’s earned a reputation for going to the ground too often and has struggled with keeping his feet. And he’s never truly established himself as a force in the slot or on the perimeter.

Could Claypool rediscover that splash he had early in his rookie season once he gets to Chicago? Sure.

However, it’s not exactly as if the Bears have been renowned for developing offensive magic in recent years. Wasn’t that the explanation Steelers fans used to talk themselves into believing that quarterback Mitch Trubisky was going to thrive here after he faded out with the Bears?

So for a guy who was going to enter the final year of his contract in 2023 — with little to no expectation of receiving an extension next summer — a (potentially high) second-round pick is a good exchange for what would’ve remained of Claypool’s potential in Pittsburgh.

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Now the team better hope that this year’s second-round pick, George Pickens, is everything we made him out to be in training camp and that 2022 fourth-round receiver Calvin Austin III recovers from a season-ending foot injury before next year begins.

All that being said, let’s not kid ourselves about what this trade is saying about the franchise’s outlook for the rest of 2022. Forget all the bluster coming from the Steelers about how “football is our game, and our business is winning.” Ignore the empty soundbites that you are going to hear about how the goal remains to win every week, and they are never in rebuilding mode.

“We’re going to build plans to win games on the weekends that we play, I promise you,” coach Mike Tomlin said after the team’s 35-13 loss in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Of course. Of course that’s their business. Of course they’ll try to win for 60 minutes every week and won’t tank. They won’t call this a rebuild out loud. Well, except for Diontae Johnson, I guess. He at least deserves credit for verbalizing this trend weeks ago, whether he meant to do so or not.

But the goals the rest of the way this season are more about player development and aiding the outlook for the 2023 season and beyond.

“I’ve probably been there before,” Tomlin said Sunday when asked about dealing with the challenges of a 2-6 start.

He has been. Yeah, you’ll hear a lot about how the Steelers were 2-6 in 2013 and rallied to finish 8-8, barely missing the playoffs. Just don’t count on that this season.

It certainly appears the Steelers aren’t. If they were, why would they trade a wide receiver who is on the field for 86.3% of the snaps? Especially when there is no clear-cut replacement available beyond special teamers Miles Boykin, Steven Sims and Gunner Olszewski.

I know, I know. They traded for Washington Commanders cornerback William Jackson III too. But they gave up virtually nothing to get him. And that’s as much a move for next year as it is this season.

Until Tuesday, it has not been in this franchise’s DNA to punt on a season. And the front office certainly isn’t wired to admit it, even if it’s happening right in front of our faces. But, c’mon. Trust your eyes.

The Steelers may stumble their way to a few wins after the bye. T.J. Watt’s return will help the defense. Even without Claypool, the offense has to get better because it really can’t get any worse. And the schedule is soft.

Just don’t confuse slight improvement at the end of 2022 for a legit push to extend it into the postseason. The Steelers’ actions are telling you what they think of their chances the rest of the way. It’s just up to the fans if they want to acknowledge it.

I’ll at least acknowledge their first step in the plan as being a good one.