The Chicago Bears may consider a Matt Forte trade this season if the team continues to struggle and this comes after deals with Jared Allen and Jon Bostic. The team has Jay Cutler back in the starting lineup and the Bears hope Alshon Jeffery can join him in Week 5 and if not, fantasy football owners should look at Eddie Royal and Martellus Bennett as the best Chicago players to start. UPDATE: Jeffery will be evaluated this week to see if he can play in Week 6.
The Bears earned their first win of the season in Week 4 and moving forward the team likely will decide on more trade moves based on how the next stretch of games turn out. After the Allen trade, numerous reports came out that the team would consider trading Forte this season. Jason La Canfora as CBS Sports writes that the Bears are "willing" to deal the running back, but that the "price would be steep" for a deal. Sources said to La Canfora that the team is not going "to give him away" and there has "to be value" in the deal.
NFL.com reports that Forte is "among the players the Bears would consider trading" this season and that GM Ryan Pace "will consider all options" moving forward this season. Forte fits the bill as a player that would come up in trade talks, as the Bears are struggling and he is coming into the final year of his contract. Adding to that is the fact that Forte will turn 30 soon and that is usually the age when players at that position start to decline.
According to Jeff Dickerson at ESPN, the Bears are hoping that Alshon Jeffery can return for Week 5, but his status remains up in the air. Jeffery has only played in one game this season and he is dealing with a hamstring injury that has been lingering. Jay Cutler was able to come back from his injury and now Jeffery will try and do the same after being questionable coming into Week 4, but he ended up not playing against the Raiders.
No trade is close to happening now, but clearly the Bears have at least considered a move with Forte and if John Fox can't turn things around, Pace could have a bit of a fire sale. Forte is a productive player and he already has 367 rushing yards and 133 receiving yards this season. Forte had 1038 yards rushing to go along with 102 catches for 808 yards and seven total touchdowns last year.
Last year the Bears had a tough season and after Cutler was benched late in the year, his future was questioned, but so far the team has not seriously looked at making a trade. Forte put up great numbers last season, but it didn't help the Bears win and while he has been a great player for the team, Chicago may try and get something back for him if they aren't planning to sign back Forte this offseason. Brandon Marshall was traded away in the offseason after he had his worst statistical season in years and now the Bears could make more moves this season.
Check here for more on the potential for the Bears trading Forte, Alshon Jeffery's status and more on the Bears into Week 5.