These Are the Most Likely Chicago Bears Draft Trade Down Scenarios

A Chicago Bears draft trade down discussion is always one of the most enjoyable parts of the off-season. Why is that? Perhaps because it rarely happens, for starters. Then there's also the allure of acquiring more picks. By logic more picks means more chances to land superstar players. It's a wonderful fantasy that is much harder to pull off than people realize. To date Bears GM Ryan Pace has avoided that possibility. Both of his first round trades in three years have gone up the board. First for Leonard Floyd in 2016 and then for Mitch Trubisky last year. He comes from the Mickey Loomis school. Loomis has run the Saints front office since 2002. During that time he's only traded back in the first round once. Pace has made it seem like the idea doesn't hold much merit for him as well. Then again Pace is notorious for his misdirections. So playing the what-if game, are there any viable trade scenarios that he might be willing to bite at? Here are three that stick out as possibilities.

With the Buffalo Bills for a quarterback

The Bills right now look like the team most poised for a move up. As of now, they are the second-best equipped team going into the draft in terms of draft picks. First is the Cleveland Browns who have five selections in the first two rounds. Buffalo is right behind them with four including two in the first and two in the second. This provides them the ammunition to move up if they wish. According to growing buzz, that may indeed be the case.

Buffalo was given a cold reminder of how far they have to go in the playoffs. Jacksonville held them to 140 yards passing (on 40 attempts) with two interceptions and three points. One doesn't reach the Super Bowl that way. They need a better arm. Chicago could be a sweet spot for them depending on which QBs are available. It's a matter of whether Pace would be willing to fall so far back to the #21 pick. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Malik-Jackson-Sacks-Tyrod-Taylor-on-Huge-Jags-Blitz-Bills-vs.-Jaguars-NFL-Wild-Card-Highlights.mp4"][/video]

With the Arizona Cardinals for a quarterback

If there is any team on the market who might have a hard time finding a quarterback, it's the Arizona Cardinals. They just lost starter Carson Palmer to retirement. They also changed coaching staffs and don't exactly feature an ideal setup at wide receiver or offensive line. So luring a top free agent there is unlikely at this point. What makes matters worse is they sit at #15 in the draft order, all but eliminating their hopes of getting one of the top QB prospects as well. This means one of two things. Either they have to settle for a lesser tier free agent or make a bold trade of some kind. Perhaps they might try to pursue former Arizona star Nick Foles, but that seems unlikely. Thus their best shot is attempting a jump into the top 10 for a quarterback they might covet. GM Steve Keim held off on such a maneuver last year and it ended up costing them. Will he try to make up for it this time around?

With the Miami Dolphins for a running back or guard

It's not difficult to surmise where the problems centered for the Miami Dolphins in 2017. They had the 29th ranked running game in the NFL. That makes their trading of Jay Ajayi all the more puzzling. Be that as it may, the facts remain they have to find some way of regaining their ability to run the football. This can be accomplished via two methods. Either they find a top-tier running back they can feed, or they get a big-time blocker to open more lanes. As it happens the 2018 class has two elite prospects who can accommodate them. The first is Penn State star running back Saquon Barkley who was two-time Big Ten Player of the Year. The other is Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson, considered by many to be the best overall prospect in the draft. If either were to fall to Chicago at #8, the Dolphins would undoubtedly have considerable interest in moving up.