Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has two trade down decisions to weigh when it comes to acquiring more selections in the 2026 NFL Draft
The Chicago Bears general manager has done his fair-share of wheeling and dealing in past drafts.
The 2026 NFL Draft is one month away and the Chicago Bears will be banking heavily on the upcoming rookie class to get the team over the hump after a modest two weeks of free agency.
As things currently stand, the Bears have seven selections in the draft next month, including four picks in the Top-100 selections. Here is the team’s current war chest for context:
Knowing general manager Ryan Poles and his previous tendencies, the Bears will be working the phones in order to acquire more selections in the draft via trading back. Looking at the list, the Bears don’t have any selections in the fifth or sixth-rounds with a 100+ selection gap between picks 129 and 239. That’s a big void and the Bears would be smart to get more plate appearances in that range.
All of this to say, expect to see Chicago trade back (perhaps multiple times) in the draft next month and Poles has two big trade down decisions to weigh.
Trading down from the 25th overall pick in the first-round of the 2026 NFL Draft
The 25th overall pick in the first-round has had a lot of recent trade history. Last year, the Houston Texans traded the 25th overall pick to the New York Giants in exchange for the 34th overall pick (second-round), the 99th overall pick (third-round), and a 2026 third-round pick. The Giants used that selection to draft a quarterback in Jaxon Dart.
In 2023, the Jacksonville Jaguars traded the 25th overall pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for the 27th overall pick (first-round) and 130th overall pick (fourth-round). The Bills used that selection to draft tight end Dalton Kincaid.
In 2020, the Minnesota Vikings traded the 25th overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the 31st overall pick (first-round), the 117th overall pick (fourth-round), and 176th overall pick (fifth-round). The 49ers used that selection to draft wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.
Of those three recent trade down instances from the No. 25 spot, the the haul the Vikings got in 2020 would be the most attractive for Chicago. Minnesota was able to add two additional selections on Day 3 while still keeping a pick in the first-round.
The Bears would be wise to do a similar approach by working with teams in the backend of the first-round instead of teams picking early in the second-round. Saying the Bears go the EDGE route with their first pick, having that fifth-year option as a first-round draft pick will be valuable for that position. Of course, this all depends on who is still on the board.
Trading down from one of the second-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft
The other trade down option for the Bears, saying they intend to stay put at No. 25, is trading back from one of the two second-round selections. Last year, the Bears had the 39th and 41st overall picks in the second-round and traded back from the 41st overall pick (Bears traded picks No. 41, 72, and 240 for picks No. 56, 62, and 109).
The problem this year is that the Bears have two late second-round selections instead of two early second-round selections. However, we’ve still seen some recent trades with those two selections.
In 2022, the Buffalo Bills traded the 57th overall pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 60th overall pick (second-round) and the 180th overall pick (sixth-round). Then, the Bills traded the 60th overall pick to Cincinnati Bengals for the 63rd overall pick (second-round) and the 209th overall pick (sixth-round).
Based on those two trades, the Bears could simply slide back a few spots from either 57 or 60 and net a sixth-round pick in return. Since the Bears don’t have the luxury of having a high second-round pick, I don’t see a similar trade going down like Chicago did last year.
I would be surprised if the Bears stick with picks 25, 57, and 60 when the draft is all said and done. One of those three selections will eventually be traded and how the Bears assess the potential return will be something to watch closely next month.
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