Could the Bears trade down again? Top NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks they might |
The Bears made a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers about a month ago that changed the entire scope of the NFL Draft. Now, top NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah thinks Chicago might be in a position to trade down again because of all of the teams that are in need of a quarterback.
“I thought it was smart to go to nine. It made the most sense,” Jeremiah said. “I love the return they got, and the crazy thing about it is, I think as we’re a week out, I think (I) never would have thought this when they made that trade, but they might be sitting there with more quarterbacks still on the board when they pick at nine and might be faced with another opportunity to continue to add more picks.” Jeremiah’s comments also come right after reports that the Pittsburgh Steelers are interested in trading up and the Bears are a contender for a team for them to trade with. This is quite interesting given the Steelers were the only team to pick a quarterback in the first round last draft with Kenny Pickett who eventually replaced former Bears first-rounder Mitch Trubisky as starting quarterback for the team. But why would Chicago want to trade again? They could lose out on an elite offensive lineman, most commonly projected to be Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski. However, Jeremiah argues that they need the draft capital and there are a number of elite offensive line prospects. “(The Bears) are a lot more than one particular player away from being a good team, so get back as far as you can, get as much as you can,” Jeremiah said. “I’m a little higher on Skoronski, but I think all four of those guys (Skoronski, Georgia’s Broderick Jones, Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr and Tennessee’s Darnell Wright) are going to be starters. I think if you had to play a game tomorrow and know you were going to line up and play tackle, I think Darnell Wright might be your best option as a right tackle, right away, who could plug in there and get going.”
Because all of these players are elite players, the Bears could potentially trade down and still get one of these prospects. Going back to Pittsburgh, they currently hold the No. 17 overall pick. Trading back to No. 17 would most likely still have Chicago getting one of these players.
In addition, they would be getting some draft picks in return. Jordan Sigler with ChiCitySports actually proposed a scenario where, in part, the Bears get back their No. 32 overall pick they had traded to the Steelers in exchange for receiver Chase Claypool during the season. Sigler’s trade proposal has the Bears getting No. 17 overall, No. 32 overall and No. 80 in the third round. In exchange, Chicago would give them No. 9 overall, No. 64 in the third round and No. 103 in the fourth round. Thus, the Bears wouldn’t get additional picks but they would get higher picks to allow them to draft higher-quality players.
Such a proposal is not a bad idea. While trading out of the spot where Chicago could acquire Skoronski doesn’t seem like a good thing, the Bears are certainly in need of more draft capital and that is something general manager Ryan Poles has already made moves to accomplish.
Thus, Poles and the Bears seem open to acquiring more talent to serve this rebuild. If such a trade occurred, it most likely would not occur until draft night.
As of right now, Chicago holds a total of 10 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft. The draft starts on Thursday April 27 (7 p.m./ABC) with the first round and will continue the next day on Friday April 28 (6 p.m./ABC) with the second and third rounds and finally conclude on Saturday April 29 with the fourth through seventh rounds (10 a.m./ABC).
