The Colts were 7-2 and in first place in the AFC South when they decided to go all-in last November.
In a trade that shocked the NFL world, the Colts traded two first-round draft picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner, who had signed a four-year, $120.4 million extension just four months earlier.
The Colts won one more game the rest of the season, however, sunk by poor play, Gardner playing only four games because of injury and quarterback Daniel Jones tearing his Achilles tendon in early December.
Then the Colts began this season 2-4. They lost to the pitiful Titans on Sunday, and general manager Chris Ballard was fired shortly thereafter.
It’s easy to credit NFL teams that push their chips in to try for a playoff berth, but the Colts are a sobering reminder of what happens when it doesn’t work out.
The Bears would be wise to keep them in mind as they search for reinforcements in the 2½ weeks before the NFL trade deadline Nov. 10. While they don’t figure to package two first-round picks — they wouldn’t have done that even for the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby during the offseason — they’re likely to search for veteran help at a modest cost.
They should. The Bears only have quarterback Caleb Williams on his rookie deal for another 1½ seasons and have an offense that seems built to win long into the winter.
The defense, however, is another story, and it’s where general manager Ryan Poles should keep his focus — so long as he doesn’t trade anything better than a fourth-round pick. He has to be more aggressive than he was last year, however, when his trade-deadline addition was situational edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.
The Colts and Bears aren’t completely analogous, of course. Ballard was on thin ice once he drafted quarterback Anthony Richardson, a flop, No. 4 overall in 2023, while the Bears think they’ve found their franchise quarterback.
Still, the Bears see in front of them exactly what the Colts did almost a year ago: room to climb the standings.
With the exception of the undefeated 49ers, no team in the NFC is particularly intimidating. That wasn’t the case even a month ago. The Rams, the preseason Super Bowl favorites, are 2-4 and in last place in the NFC West. The Eagles are 2-4, too, and were struggling — they’ve scored the fewest points in the NFC — even before quarterback Jalen Hurts was lost for the season with a blood-clot issue.
The Cowboys, a popular preseason pick, have a losing record. The Super Bowl champion Seahawks are just 3-3. The NFC South-leading Panthers gave up 59 points to the Bears in Week 1.
Then there’s the NFC North, where everyone is .500 or better — and the division-leading Vikings are the most flawed team of the four. Their dominant defense has given up the fewest points in the NFC, but their offense has generated the fewest passing yards in the conference, too.
At 0-2 in NFC North play, the Bears have work to do to win the division again this season. They won’t play another divisional game, however, until Thanksgiving. Adding veteran help between now and then might make a difference.
Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack, who played for the Bears in 2018-21, is an obvious target. The Bears have shown interest in a reunion since March 2025, when their social-media team posted a defensive highlight reel days before free agency began that featured more clips of Mack than any other former player. The message to the video: ‘‘Leave Your Mark.’’
Mack decided to stay with the Chargers, with whom he has signed consecutive one-year free-agent deals. It’s only a matter of time before the winless Chargers decide to sell, though. Having a bye this week figures to cement the direction they decide to take.
The Cardinals have been denying they want to trade defensive end Josh Sweat since training camp. He has two sacks in the last three weeks but is signed through 2028.
The Bears could use help at cornerback, too, where Jaylon Johnson has been disappointing and Tyrique Stevenson has been a combination of injured and underwhelming. The Eagles’ Riq Woolen would make sense as a change-of-scene player. So would a familiar face: Nahshon Wright. The NFL’s takeaways leader with the Bears last season signed a free-agent deal in March to join the Jets but has yet to play a defensive snap for them, despite being healthy.
If the Colts decide to sell (and they should), defensive tackle DeForest Buckner — who, like Mack, is playing on an expiring, expensive contract — is worth a phone call.
Before the Colts fired Ballard, he bemoaned that he was ‘‘sick and tired of the same song-and-dance every year.’’
The Colts showed what can happen when going for it goes wrong. Playing for the Bears would be different — or at least Poles would hope so.
