Ryan Poles has been the general manager of the Chicago Bears since 2022. In that time, he has traded up in the draft only twice. One came in 2023 to get Tyrique Stevenson in the 2nd round. The other was last year to acquire Austin Booker in the 5th. He has made two trades in the 1st round. Both were down. The first was the infamous deal with Carolina to land that massive package for D.J. Moore and, eventually, Caleb Williams. The other was the short drop with Philadelphia in that same draft to go from #9 to #10 before selecting Darnell Wright.
He has never moved up. There was brief consideration to do so last year to snag Rome Odunze, but Poles was convinced to wait, which turned out to be the right decision. Most people will say this year does call for such an aggressive move. However, new details suggest it might be the perfect year. According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, there is a genuine buzz that every team in the top 5 might be looking to move down. In such cases, history shows that the price to move up is considerably lower than it usually would be.
I think every team in the top five will at least look at the idea of trading down, with a dearth of top-end players available (Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter are, for a lot of folks, the only two real blue-chip players) and a shaky quarterback group in the class. Of course, those elements could make it tough to find teams willing to trade up.
The Chicago Bears can take advantage of a weak QB draft.
There is evidence to back this up. In 2013, widely considered one of the worst quarterback classes in a quarter century, the Miami Dolphins managed to move up all the way from #12 overall to #3 for just a 2nd round pick. In 2019, Pittsburgh jumped from #20 to #9 in the 1st round for just 2nd and 3rd round picks. There is a realistic possibility that the Bears could jump into the top 5 this year without surrendering a future 1st round pick. All it takes is for the right player to be available.
If Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter or Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham slip just enough, it might compel Poles to move. New England at #4 may feel they need more ammunition to bolster a depleted roster. The same goes for Cleveland at #2. It may not seem likely. The Chicago Bears may prefer to stay put or even move down themselves, but prices likely don't get much cheaper than they'll be this April due to a perfect storm of circumstances.
