NEWSLETTER
You’d think we’d be well-versed in trade-back options after months of wondering what kind of haul it would take for the Bears to move off taking quarterback Caleb Williams with the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.
But trading back from No. 1 and doing so from No. 9 are different. However, it is worth noting that trading down from the ninth pick is more realistic than trading down from No. 1 ever was for this Bears team. So it’s not like it hasn’t been on our minds or anything. But I digress. There are two recent mock drafts provide an outline for the Bears should they choose to move down from the No. 9 pick in April’s NFL Draft that I’d like to discuss.
What does a Chicago Bears draft-day trade back look like?
One mock draft comes from The Athletic, which has the Bears cutting a deal with the Arizona Cardinals. And it looks a little something like this:
In the mock by Ben Standig, the Chicago and Arizona would swap firsts with the Bears moving to 11 and Cardinals jumping to nine. With the ninth pick, Standig sends Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze to the Cards. That would be a bummer for Bears fans who were dreaming of teaming D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen with a WR3 who possesses Odunze’s upside. For me, the cost to move out from choosing Odunze would be more than what Standig projects. But that is more of a personal preference thing than anything.
For what it’s worth, the Bears end up with a stellar pass-rushing prospect as a part of the deal. That is because Standig has the Bears taking Florida State edge defender Jared Verse with the No. 11 pick. Verse is a two-time first-team All-American and has been one of college football’s top pass-rushers the past few seasons. The 6-4, 260-pound defender racked up 9 sacks in each of the last two seasons. In 2023, he added 12.5 tackles-for-loss in 12 games. And the year before that, Verse chipped in with 17 TFLs. There appears to be plenty of game-wrecking potential for Verse. Teaming him with Montez Sweat could be fun.
Note: You’re probably wondering how the Cardinals got No. 11 in the first-place? Well, they swung a trade with the Minnesota Vikings to move up to the fourth spot to take Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. The cost of doing business was pick Nos. 11, 23, 108, and a first-round pick in 2025. All of that to draft QB4 is wild to me. And I love the idea of the pick that originally belonged to the Vikings chasing down and sacking Minnesota’s rookie QB.
What about a trade-down that sees 5 picks switch hands?
My favorite mock drafts are the ones where the author shows some creativity. Trades happen. And they oftentimes come from unexpected partners. But sometimes, you can find those willing traders in familiar places. For instance, this Pro Football Focus mock draft from Brad Spielberger has the Bears making a trade with the New Orleans Saints. One might not expect a team that should want as many players on rookie-scale deals as possible since it continues to deal with cap constraints. But the Saints play like the NFL salary cap is a myth and are often aggressive at the negotiation table. In other words, the Saints make a nice potential trade-back option for the Bears.
This is what Spielberger envisions a Bears-Saints trade looking like:
It’s a 3-for-2 swap with the Bears getting a volume of picks to move off the No. 9 spot (while also giving up their third-rounder) but the result nets Chicago a second-round pick and a fifth-round selection. All things considered, that isn’t a bad trade-down option if the Bears’ top draft options are off the board.
If you care about such things, the Saints use the pick on Penn State offensive tackle Olu Fashanu. There could be a compelling case for the Bears to take Fashanu to protect quarterback Caleb Williams. That type of decision could set the wheels in motion on trading Braxton Jones (or possibly guard Teven Jenkins) for some draft capital. And while that might be an intriguing idea for some, I’m not ready to go down that rabbit hole just yet.
As for who the Bears would take with the No. 14 pick, Spielberger doesn’t give us a clue on that front. However, if we use Matt Rooney’s latest BN mock draft, there are intriguing options at offensive line (Amarius Mims, JC Latham, Troy Fautanu, Jackson Powers-Johnson), wide receiver (Brian Thomas Jr., Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy), and along the defensive line (Johnny Newton, Byron Murphy II, Chop Robinson, Laiatu Latu). Heck, maybe the Bears could trade back multiple times. The first night of the NFL Draft can be weird and I’d be down to clown.
