Will Bears trade up to grab Marvin Harrison Jr.? |
General manager Ryan Poles and the rest of the Bears have been adamant from the beginning that they would be concerned about all possible options with their first-round picks. Right when it seemed certain that Chicago would use their No. 1 overall pick on USC’s quarterback Caleb Williams, reports came out that could challenge that.
Reportedly, on Monday, the Chicago Bears hosted Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr, linebacker Laiatu Latu from UCLA, and wide receiver Xavier Worthy from Texas. Having Harrison Jr visit the Bears is particularly surprising because if they draft Williams with the No. 1 overall pick, they will unlikely be able to acquire Harrison Jr. unless they trade up from No. 9. Harrison Jr. is the top receiver in this draft class. He is a two-time All-American and the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year after putting up over 1,200 receiving yards and 14 receiving touchdowns for the second season in a row. In addition, he also had his first rushing touchdown this season. Son of Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, who played wide receiver with fellow Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, Harrison Jr shows the talent to be elite like his father. The top three teams in the NFL draft — the Bears, Washington Commanders, and New England Patriots — all need a quarterback. Therefore, the first team expected not to draft a quarterback and thus draft Harrison Jr. to fill their gaping hole at wide receiver is the Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 overall. Therefore, if Chicago was going to trade up, they would have to trade with Arizona. Is this even feasible? Most likely not. What the Bears would have to give up is incredibly high since they would have to give up their first-round pick in 2025 in addition to the No. 9 overall pick to trade up to No. 4. Given the need for quarterbacks around the NFL and the emerging trend of J.J. McCarthy being a top-10 pick, there are most likely other teams, such as the Minnesota Vikings, that could offer Arizona more for their pick than Chicago can. So, why would the Bears host Harrison Jr? There are a few possibilities. First, they could be running through the motions of bringing in the top players in the draft when they know they will not be in a position to draft him. Or, they could be trying to find a way to draft him. Chicago controls the draft since it has the No. 1 overall pick. While this is incredibly unlikely, the Bears may not select Williams with the No. 1 overall pick. If they are not going to draft Williams, it would make sense to trade down from No. 1, such as No. 2 or No. 3; they would still want to draft ahead of the Cardinals if they are trying to acquire Harrison Jr. The Bears would then have their second first-rounder on a quarterback like McCarthy or Oregon’s Bo Nix. Regarding Nix, it should be noted that head coach Matt Eberflus and three other Chicago coaches attended Nix’s Pro Day. This could mean nothing, or they are open to drafting Nix as their next quarterback. Trading down could also make sense from a capital standpoint because the Bears would acquire a first-round pick next season. If it is from the New England Patriots, in particular, at No. 3 overall, that first-round pick would be even more valuable since the Patriots are not expected to be an excellent team next season. While it would seem highly unlikely that Chicago would trade down with its No. 1 overall pick or trade up with its No. 9 pick, nothing is outside the realm of possibility at this point. The NFL Draft always has some unexpected surprises, and the Bears could be one of them. The first round of the draft will start on Thursday, April 25 (7 p.m./ABC).
