The Chicago Bears had a rather bizarre trade deadline, all things considered. Yes, they made an upgrade at wide receiver with Chase Claypool. However, the team also made a couple of trades that stripped their defense of their best players. Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn, two stars of the Chicago defense, were traded to different teams for draft compensation.

The Bears' midseason trades seemed to displease one of the new captains on defense, safety Eddie Jackson. Speaking to reporters a few days after the trade deadline, Jackson expressed his frustration over the trades. The safety acknowledged that this was part of the business, but it didn't make things any easier for them. (via NFL.com)

“Your thoughts start to go through your head like, ‘What are we playing for?'” safety Eddie Jackson said Wednesday. “Is their vision (in the Bears front office) still the same as the players? We're trying to make it to a Super Bowl, get to the playoffs, things like that. Like I said, I'm not upstairs. I get it. I understand it. But it just hits different.”

The Bears have been playing pretty well over the last few weeks. A big part of that was their defense with Smith and Quinn helping cover for some of the offense's miscues. They were among the best outfits in the league in preventing points. That has been their identity for quite some time now.

On paper, the moves do make some sense: both Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith don't fit the Bears' rebuilding timeline. Shipping them off for more trade assets make sense. That doesn't make their departure any less painful or frustrating for the players, who seemed to finally hit their stride in the last few weeks.