It would've been easy for the New England Patriots to gloss over Thursday night's matchup between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, especially with a looming Week 6 road game against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium.
Instead, the Pats sent representation to the Windy City, with NFL Media's Mike Giardi tweeting Thursday night that Steve Cargile, New England's director of pro scouting, was in Chicago for an up-close and personal look at the Bears.
This raises a simple question: Why?
The most obvious answer, of course, is the Patriots play the Bears in Week 7, a "Monday Night Football" clash at Gillette Stadium just eight days after this Sunday's showdown with the Browns in Cleveland. There's no harm in scouting the upcoming competition with boots on the ground.
The more fascinating theory, however, centers around the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline and whether the Patriots were there to scout potential targets. Both the Bears and the Commanders seemingly are going nowhere this season and therefore could sell off pieces in the coming weeks.
A ton of replies to Giardi's tweet centered around two names -- for two very different reasons: N'Keal Harry and Roquan Smith.
The Harry tweets obviously were in jest, as the Patriots traded the beleaguered wide receiver to the Bears back in July, ending a highly disappointing three-year run in Foxboro that began when New England selected him in the first round (32nd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Smith tweets, meanwhile, were far more substantive. The fifth-year linebacker openly requested a trade out of Chicago this past offseason, and rumors and speculation since have persisted about his future with the organization. Smith, a two-time Second-Team All-Pro, is set to hit unrestricted free agency after the 2022 campaign. The Patriots, for what it's worth, could stand to improve the second level of their defense.
Other Bears players who theoretically could pique the Patriots' interest: defensive end Robert Quinn and running back David Montgomery, with the former being an accomplished pass rusher who's coming off an 18.5-sack season and the latter being a tough runner who would help New England overcome the loss of Damien Harris.
The Commanders, despite Giardi stating the Patriots were in town to scout the Bears, also have a few potential trade candidates, including cornerback William Jackson III, defensive tackle Daron Payne and defensive end Montez Sweat.
Again, the Patriots play the Bears next week. So, there's probably nothing significant to see here. But it's nevertheless a fun exercise to kick around with the trade deadline less than three weeks away and New England having its head of pro scouting in attendance for Chicago's ugly 12-7 win over Washington.
