Now We Know Why Chicago Bears Are Looking To Trade Down Again
GM Ryan Poles was thrilled when the trade involving the #1 pick going to Carolina from the Chicago Bears was finalized. In the space of fewer than three months since the season ended, he’d added three more high draft picks and a Pro Bowl-caliber wide receiver in D.J. Moore to the inventory. One would think Poles would be happy in his current spot, sitting at #9, hoping to land one of the top players on his board. However, something unusual happened. Days after the trade was finalized, rumors began cropping up that the Bears were thinking about moving down again.
Poles himself did nothing to dismiss that idea. People couldn’t understand the reasoning. Sure, it would lead to more draft picks, but it would also drop the Bears out of position to land any potential blue-chip talents in this class. That seems like an unnecessary risk since the team already has ten total picks. We finally got some clarity on this thinking from Panthers GM Scott Fitterer via an in-depth article by The Athletic. It appears the Bears wanted Carolina’s 39th overall pick this year in the trade. However, Fitterer resisted. His reasoning offers a clear window into Poles’ thought process.
The framework of the deal was mostly in place, but there was a hangup: The Bears wanted the Panthers’ second-round pick (No. 39), which Fitterer was determined to keep. Instead, the Panthers countered with their other second-round pick (No. 61), which they’d acquired in the McCaffrey trade.
“We didn’t want to have that big gap in there,” Fitterer said. “We thought the sweet spot in this class is somewhere between 20 and 45, just really good value in there. At 61, that’s a heck of a fall, and you’re gonna watch a lot of good players (get taken).”
The Chicago Bears likely knew the same thing.
Poles understood his team’s dilemma from the start. Thanks to the trade for Chase Claypool, the Bears are left with no pick between #9 and #53 in the 2nd round. That means they will miss that window of 20-45 entirely. That isn’t ideal. It gives Poles three courses of action. He could suck it up and deal with this reality, take the best player at #9, and hope somebody he covets falls to #53. He could package picks to move up from #53 into that window for a player he wants. Or he can trade down from #9, either securing a pick in that range as compensation or adding enough ammunition for a move up.
That last option is the most appealing of the three. While it sacrifices draft position in the 1st round, it’s the right call if Poles believes the best chance to land value is between 20-45. He’s all about value. The difficult part is finding a trade partner. The #1 pick was in high demand. Finding a market for #9 will be more challenging, especially if a quarterback isn’t involved. Then again, this Chicago Bears regime has found ways to swing deals in the past.