Ryan Poles tells reporters what he wants if he decides to trade the Bears' No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft
There's zero doubt the Chicago Bears made the right move by trading away last year's No. 1 overall pick and wildly enough, the franchise is faced with the exact same decision to make in 2024. It's not because of their own accord, either. It's because last year's trade partner, the Carolina Panthers, finished the year as […]
There's zero doubt the Chicago Bears made the right move by trading away last year's No. 1 overall pick and wildly enough, the franchise is faced with the exact same decision to make in 2024.
It's not because of their own accord, either. It's because last year's trade partner, the Carolina Panthers, finished the year as NFL's worst team, along with the worst record. Therefore, the Bears were awarded the top pick since it was included in last year's trade.
And, just like a season ago. everyone is wondering if this is the year general manager Ryan Poles trades Justin Fields and drafts a QB at No. 1. Reports have stated he's looking for "historic" compensation if runs it back in the form of a trade, but Poles cleared all that up on Tuesday when he spoke with reporters at the NFL Combine.
"It's hard to say right now, but it's got to help our organization, significantly, to move around," said Poles. "Because we saw what it did last year. And I'm looking for that type of return to continue to improve."
As a reminder, the Bears received stud wideout, D.J. Moore, along with the Panthers' first- and second-round picks in 2023, their first-rounder in 2024, and a 2025 second-rounder. That's a helluva haul.
The main part about trading back is it allows the Bears to continue to build their infrastructure, so, there will be a successful environment set up for whomever plays QB in 2024 and beyond.
This is very likely to happen, however, if the Bears do want to trade back
Because this year's QB class is even more heralded than last year's. The 2023 class was viewed as solid, more than anything, whereas 2024 has several QBs that can lead organizations for the next 10 years.
Teams will be more than willing to move in order to get their guy and the best part is the two teams directly behind the Bears need quarterbacks. It would be expensive to even move up from No. 3 to No. 1, but it can definitely happen and is more likely to happen than a jump from 12. The key will be if a player is involved in the trade, as was Moore's inclusion, last year.
Poles wants to get this done as quickly as possible, too, but also without cutting corners. Last year's trade was executed on March 10 – about three days before the start of the legal tampering period and five days before the start of free agency. If the Bears do make a move, right around then is a realistic timeframe.
"I would love to know as soon as possible, but I know that's not how the process works," said Poles. "Sure, before agency would be good. Like I said, if we were to do something with Justin [Fields], I want to do right by him. And I know, again, living in that gray space – you would want to do something sooner rather than later. But like I talked about with contracts, it takes two teams to figure that out."
No "big-time" conversations, so far
Speaking of a timeline, Poles also said there haven't been any big-time conversations, so far. But, that's understandable, considering it's pre-combine.
That doesn't mean the Bears will be left out in the cold, so to speak. Again, it's before the combine. Once teams get their interviews and medicals in, along with the numbers results, they'll feel a lot more comfortable pursuing trades.
In other words: expect the "temperature" to rise rather significantly over the next couple of weeks.
