Chase Claypool on CFL Team's Exclusive Rights List

Former Bears receiver Chase Claypool seems to have hit a low point as a free agent but a CFL team is interested in him.

Nov 6, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Chase Claypool (10) avoids a / Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

Failed Bears and Dolphins wide receiver Chase Claypool has been put on the exclusive negotiation list of the Canadian Football League's Sakskatchewan Roughriders, according to Pro Football Talk.

This doesn't mean Claypool wants to sign with the CFL but that the Roughriders have first dibs if he did.

The native of Abbotsford, British Columbia has fallen off an NFL cliff in a manner of speaking.

Bears GM Ryan Poles gave the Steelers a second-round pick for him, then got a 2025 sixth-round pick back in exchange for him and a seventh-rounder in 2025 from Miami in a trade in October, 2023, after he had 18 catches for 191 yards in 10 Bears games for two seasons.

With the Dolphins after his trade in 2023, Claypool had four catches on seven targets for 26 yards.

Only three years ago, in 2021, he was in the second of strong back-to-back seasons in Pittsburgh to start his career. He eventually left there with with 153 catches for 2,044 yards and 12 TDs.

Claypool currently is a free agent as his contract expired in March.

During his stay in Chicago his general attitude and availability were questioned, and Bears sources said he didn't have a commitment to learning the offense the way he should have.

He threw a helmet on the sideline in a December, 2022 41-10 loss at Detroit. Last year his attitude didn't improve before the trade and his effort on blocking came under fire following one game.

"We addressed it on the sideline," wide receiver DJ Moore said. "Chase knew during the game his effort wasn’t good enough to help us win."

However, the Bears held out hope Claypool would turn it around until the last few weeks he was in Chicago.

Then coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles had to tell him to stay home and miss practice as well as a loss to the Denver Broncos, prior to the trade.

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