Will have to agree to disagree. Mooney is a good receiver, but definitely not a No. 1. Claypool has been a disapointment. The fact that receiver savy Pittsburgh decided to let him go speaks volumes/ And Velus is a marginal receiver at best. All but the most biased homer Bear fans agree that this group is at or very near the bottom of the league in talent.
Having invested so much in Justin Fields, it makes zero sense to fail to prioritize supporting him with quality receivers.
I think people look at the roster on paper last year from the beginning of the year and how Claypool performed and think the group is at the bottom of the league. But I already laid out the numbers in another thread. Mooney is a top 35-40 WR in the league. Claypool isn't there, but there's a reason he went for a high 2nd and had multiple suitors. He's a very talented dude. And yes, Velus is marginal at best, but he was also a rookie. And when everyone else was down he provided an adequate threat and led the team in receiving. I'm not saying add nothing.
And the point wasn't that they are good or anything, but you're kidding yourself if you think the Bears traded a high 2nd for Claypool just to go nuts trying to find another WR. Like Poles said, they made the move in large part because this FA class was trash. So, clearly they don't see much help there. They may add a guy there. They may add a high draft pick. But they aren't going to move everyone down the depth chart unless a team gives up a top notch WR. I know there was a bunch of guys that got traded last year, but that's not normal. AJ Brown, Tyreke Hill and Devante Adams don't come available every year. The guys most likely to be on the market (Higgins, Aiyuk, Hopkins, Thomas) are either on contenders that have no reason to blow it up yet or are old and don't move the needle as much as you guys think.
Basically, based on opening day WR roster last year:
Mooney = Mooney
St. Brown = St. Brown
Claypool for 17 games >>> than Claypool for 8 games, especially since he only played more than 42% of the snaps ONCE w/ Fields.
Jones Jr year 2 > Jones Jr year 1.
So basically they just have to add a couple guys better than Smith-Marsette, Pringle, Pettis, and Harry to be a significantly better group. That's really not a hard task in all honesty. Throw in an actual OL that can give Fields time and it may actually be enough for a decent offense. They aren't going to pass for 4500 yards and 30 TDs or anything, but it's definitely not the death of Fields if they don't go crazy adding quality receivers which may or may not even be available.