Matt Miller Says Bears Can Call These Teams to Get Into the 1st Round

Everybody who has watched the Chicago Bears for the past five offseasons know it is never a wise idea to count on Ryan Pace not being aggressive. The GM is a pure quality-over-quantity guy. He believes in using the draft to go after future stars. This is evidenced by his trading up from his first pick in three of the five drafts he's conducted for Chicago. Don't think for a second he's not considering the idea of jumping into the 1st round come April 23rd. The question becomes who might listen to offers. Draft insider Matt Miller has an idea.

He discussed draft buzz he's been hearing in his latest scouting notebook for Bleacher Report. In it, he pinpointed two teams that are likely candidates to move down the board via trade. This due to a lack of draft picks overall. They are the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. The fact both sit at the end of the 1st round would make it rather ideal for Pace since the price to get there wouldn't be too steep.

"With only seven selections in the draft—including none in Rounds 2, 3 or 4—the 49ers need more draft capital in the middle rounds, which is an area where general manager John Lynch and Co. have been great at finding starters...

...Many league sources believe general manager Brett Veach and head coach Andy Reid will draft a weapon for quarterback Patrick Mahomes instead of prioritizing needs on defense such as cornerback and linebacker. If that's the case, don't be surprised to see Kansas City trade back out of the first round. With only five selections in the draft and more needs than picks..."

Matt Miller is correct but doesn't solve a key issue

The problem from the Bears' perspective isn't that the Chiefs or 49ers won't listen. It's more the team doesn't have the resources to make a deal easy. After trading for Nick Foles, the team now has no 3rd or 4th round picks this year. Considering those are what the two teams would be looking for in a deal, it makes a trade that much more challenging. Are there ways around it? Perhaps.

Pace could look to acquire extra picks by dealing the #50 pick to teams interested. This would give him more proper ammunition to get a deal done.

He could offer a future draft pick. Perhaps a 3rd round though by the sound of it both the Chiefs and 49ers are looking for more picks in this draft. Not 2021.

That leaves one option. Packaging both of their 2nd round picks.

This undoubtedly would be more appetizing for those two teams. It creates another problem though. The 31st or 32nd pick is actually less valuable than those two. According to draft value charts, #43 and #50 in the 2nd rounder are worth 870 points combined. The 31st pick is worth 600 and the 32nd is worth 590. So the Bears wouldn't get a fair deal in that scenario. They would need to get something back in return.

San Francisco has no 3rd or 4th round picks to offer, so they'd need to pony up a 2021 pick, which might not interest Pace. Kansas City though does. They could give their 3rd rounder along with #32 to Chicago. They would then have three 2nd round picks, which would allow for tons of maneuvering to add even more. So that might be the best way to go for the Bears if they truly wish to get into Day 1.