The Bears defense has been a universal disappointment most of this season, and a large part of that can be laid squarely at the feet of DT Tommie Harris, whose diminished presence in the interior has cost Chicago dearly in back to back weeks. Punching Cardinals OG Deuce Lutui and getting ejected barely a minute into the game last Sunday didn’t help much either, although Harris did avoid a suspension for this week’s contest, according to ESPN Chicago.

With that in mind, a potential trade during the off-season involving Harris is looking more intriguing by the day, so much so in fact, that ESPN Insider took up the topic just the other day. Obviously, the Bears would have to feel that Harris has become major threat to their team chemistry or public perception to move him, but the potential reward they could receive for doing so could outweigh the negative.

Any team wishing to acquire Harris would likely have to provide a significant ransom to the Bears, given his recent status as one of the league’s most dominant interior lineman, although with each passing game, Harris is doing damage to his reputation in that regard, so his value may have lessened as of late. I suspect it would take at least a second round pick or possibly a third and two mid round picks to extricate Harris from Chicago, although that’s just pure speculation on my part, given Harris’ talent and overall ability.

Fans of the Bears would likely be dismayed to see Harris leave this early in his career, but with his precipitous decline in production over the past two seasons, a potential departure during the off-season shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. That said, Chicago could very well elect to keep Harris around for another season, hoping he’ll turn it around and give them the production they enjoyed several seasons ago, and decide on his future with the club at that point instead.

All in all, a trade of Harris this off-season may make the most sense for the club financially and on the depth chart, as the Bears could use the added picks obtained in his trade to acquire much needed talent to revamp their struggling defense, and at the same time save themselves a significant amount of money by dumping his contract. The downside would be moderate, especially if Harris shows he’s still capable of producing this season, but given the Bears struggles to field a healthy and talented team as of late, the upside would likely outweigh the negative in this case.

It would take a serious effort on Chicago’s part to explain the move to their fan base, but that should be but a minor hurdle to overcome if the team decided on that route. At the very least, the Bears will likely explore this in the off-season, so don’t be surprised when this discussion comes back to the burner in January.

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