On Tuesday, news of the Chicago Bears acquiring Patriots' receiver N'Keal Harry broke.

Harry, a former first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, spent the first three-years of his NFL career in New England. Unfortunately, for both sides involved, the N'Keal Harry experiment has been nothing shy of underwhelming. Ultimately, this resulted in a trade that sent the receiver to Chicago for bare minimum.

In exchange for Harry, the Bears gave New England a 2024 seventh-round draft pick.

While Harry's time as a Patriot was a disaster, it doesn't mean another team can't reap the benefits of the 24-year-old's potential. If there's one team that needs Harry's upside, it's Chicago. Uncoincidentally, that's exactly where the former Arizona State wideout landed.

As minor as a trade for a receiver whose totaled 598 yards through three-years sounds, there are some clear benefits if you're the Bears. With that in mind, let's discuss a few of them.

Reasons the Bears benefit from the N'Keal Harry trade

2. Value vs Upside

Despite New England planning to release Harry, the Bears chose to shell out a late pick to claim his contract. While it may seem counterintuitive to trade a draft pick for an impending free agent, guaranteeing they landed Harry at the cost of a future 7th-round pick was a smart move.

The reality is, Chicago gave up their final pick in a future draft for a potential stud wideout.

When it comes to measurables, Harry's are impressive. With a 78 and 1/4 wingspan, the former Patriot trumps the NFL receiver average of 75 and 1/2. The 74″ 1/2 height of Harry is 2 inches taller than the receiver average, and his 4.54u 40-time is faster than you expect a 228lb monster to run.

Of all things, the strength of N'Keal is what shines the most. At his combine, Harry totaled 27 reps, tying DK Metcalf for the most among receivers. This number also beat out every tight end in the '19 combine.

Per NFL savant, the average bench reps for receivers at the combine is 15.21. The newest Bears' receiver practically doubled that number.

You can see the strength of Harry on display when making catches like this:

It's easy to look at Harry's numbers and dismiss him. After all, there's a reason the Patriots walked away with only a 7th-round draft pick. In a scope, though, we're talking about a towering target with an above-average wingspan, who nearly benched twice as many reps as the average receiver at the NFL combine.

A 7th-rounder is well worth the gamble in comparison to Harry's upside.

1. N'keal Harry and the Bears are a perfect match

With Allen Robinson gone, the Bears need a standout wideout more than ever. To this point in his career, that hasn't been Harry – But as referenced above, all the tools are there. Harry doesn't only have the potential to be a standout receiver in Chicago, but he is the exact type of receiver this Bears' roster needs.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Windy City ended the season with the 22nd ranked offensive line. Unfortunately, the line has only downgraded over the course of the off-season, losing their second-highest graded player in Chase Daniels.

'21 rookie quarterback Justin Fields struggled mightily, partly due to that poor line play, and partly of his own faults. Take these two pieces of information, and you get one solution: The Bears need a big body safety blanket to help Fields progress in the pros, and get rid of the ball when the line collapses.

That player is N'Keal Harry.

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While there have been a few head scratching drops from Harry downfield, the hands are typically reliable, especially on shorter throws. Getting your young quarterback a big target with a wide catch radius when he needs to get rid of the ball is never a bad idea.

Last season, the wideout entering his fourth-year in the NFL did have noticeable progression in one key area: After posting a yards per reception mark under 10 in his first-two seasons, Harry upped his season average to 15.3.

With this, Harry proved he can be more than a short safety blanket, averaging 13.3 depth-yards per target; Prior to 2021, 6.2 was his career-high in that department. Here's the 6'4 wideout showing off some deep threat ability:

Not only will Harry bring that net Justin Fields needs, he's also proving he can be a threat downfield at the next level. A change of scenery could be just what N'keal needs to fulfil his potential, and the Bears intelligently risked but a future 7th-round pick on that happening.

Best case scenario: Chicago gets a legitimate starting-caliber wideout, for the latest possible draft pick they could've coughed up.

Worst case scenario: The N'Keal Harry experiment doesn't work in Chicago, either. Bears lose a 7th-rounder.