

At first glance, most people will argue that the Patriots ‘won’ the Martellus Bennett trade. Sure, Bennett adds another supremely talented tight end to the roster, giving quarterback Tom Brady the kind of mismatch that he has so masterfully taken advantage of throughout his career.

But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll see why the Bears actually end up the winner in the long run.

A cleansing of the locker room

Second-year general manager Ryan Pace has proven — quickly — that he’s not afraid to trade players who are problems in the locker room. Last year, he sent wide receiver Brandon Marshall packing for a fifth round pick to the New York Jets; the deal ended up working out for the Jets, as Marshall posted the best year of his career. That said, the Bears used the pick to draft safety Adrian Amos who now looks like a long-term answer in the secondary.

It was no secret that the John Fox-led regime butted heads with Bennett. While it wasn’t quite as overt or public as some of the Marshall outbursts, reports still circulated about Bennett’s poor attitude and overall failure to buy-in.

Regardless of how brilliant a general manager or head coach is, players who infect a locker room can undermine and destroy the strongest of rebuilding plans. Pace understands this, and he’s acted quickly to rid the roster of the kind of guy who is capable of doing irreparable harm.

Related Bears receive fourth round pick from Patriots in Martellus Bennett trade

Bennett isn’t a bad guy. No-one would say he is. But he’s quirky, different, and hard to please. The Bears offense is in a transition year, with second-year receiver Kevin White and running back Jeremy Langford expected to become focal points of the program. The franchise simply couldn’t risk those young players being influenced by an unhappy, aging vet.

Draft picks build championship rosters

Free agency is a fun and exciting time for fans, but the reality of building a championship team that is capable of sustaining long-term success is that it’s done through the draft. Sure, some teams (like, say, the Broncos) have had success in purchasing talent, but the NFL’s consistently great teams like the Patriots, Seahawks and Packers have primarily built their squads through sound and successful scouting and drafting.

A fourth round pick isn’t going to change a franchise by itself. But adding top-150 players year in and year out will, if done right, build a strong core of key contributors that are needed for any legitimate chance at a Super Bowl run.

The Bears hit on two of their day-three picks last year in Langford and Amos. Assuming both players make their expected strides in year two, the team will have long-term, key contributors on both sides of the ball for at least the next four years. You simply cannot overstate how critically important that is.

The Bears acquired the 127th pick of the 2016 NFL Draft in the Bennett deal; it’s a pick that, if properly made, will result in a contributing rookie in year one. Players like Illinois’ Jihad Ward, Notre Dame’s Sheldon Day, and Wisconsin’s Joe Schobert are all currently ranked as prospects that will fall within that range on draft day; any one of them would be welcomed by the Bears with open arms.

The Bears have nine draft picks in this year’s draft, the same number they had before the trade was made. But the trade has resulted in one of those picks being 77 slots and two rounds higher, a difference that takes the pick from a fringe-roster guy to a potentially key role player.

More money to spend, more appealing picks to trade

By dealing Martellus Bennett, the Bears have freed up just over $5 million from their 2016 salary cap. Whether they roll that into another signing or two is yet to be seen, but it’s a significant part of the trade. Bennett was likely to ask for a pay raise had the trade not been made, something the Bears would not have been willing to do.

The extra cap flexibility allows the club to address depth by adding a collection of established veterans on one-year deals, much like they did last year with Jarvis Jenkins and Tracy Porter.

In addition to the cap savings, the Bears now have the extra fourth round pick to package in a trade if they feel like there’s a must-have prospect who is potentially out of their reach. Teams are much more willing to listen to trade offers that include the early day-three picks than they are for the fringe roster guys (sixth, seventh rounders).

Bottom line

The immediate returns from the Bears and Patriots trade will tip the scales toward New England, but the long-term impact that a deal like this will have on the Bears gives the nod to Chicago from a team-building standpoint.

The Patriots are used to winning. They’ve been the best winners in the NFL for the last decade. Bennett’s presence won’t change that; the Patriots would’ve won in 2016 without him. But the Bears’ decision to move him for a quality team-building asset is a clear sign that Ryan Pace knows what it takes to develop a winner.