Legendary NFL writer Peter King is retiring, but not before giving some interesting nuggets and perspectives about what the Chicago Bears might do in this year's draft. And the moves would be slightly surprising.

Right now, the natural path for general manager Ryan Poles would be to trade Justin Fields, maybe for a day 2 and a day 3 pick, and take Caleb Williams with the first overall pick. But King has different ideas.

<sup>"I suppose the Bears are going to trade the top pick. I know nothing, but that seems to be the way the wind is blowing. What I say: The Bears could keep Justin Fields (and should), and trade the first pick down once or twice, and build the kind of supporting cast a team needs to contend. Suppose GM Ryan Poles traded the top pick down one spot to Washington (which would take Caleb Williams), and got the second pick, a second-round pick and a 2025 first-round pick in return. Then suppose Poles traded the second pick to Atlanta at eight, and the Falcons picked one of the other quarterbacks. In return, Chicago gets the eighth pick, Atlanta’s second-round pick, and first- and second-round picks next year. Imagine moving from 1 to 8 and ending up with this draft haul:

The eighth and ninth (their own) overall picks in round one this year.

Second-round picks from Washington and Atlanta this year.

Three first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2025.

For moving down seven picks in the first round, the Bears could end up with nine picks in the first two rounds of the next two drafts. Instant infrastructure."</sup>

Sure enough, it's hard to know anything at this time of the year, but Peter King is very well connected around the league. So the fact that he wrote that this is "the way the wind is blowing" is something to watch closely.

There's good and bad with that approach, and it's interesting to evaluate the options with that two-headed perception.

The good

The best part of that potential deal (or sequence of deals) is how much Ryan Poles would have been able to extract from other teams. In 2017, for example, the Bears paid two thirds and a fourth-rounder to move up from 3 to 2 before taking Mitchell Trubisky. If Poles is able to get a high second-rounder this year and a future first, that would be amazing business.

That would allow the Bears to build something really special around Justin Fields, and put the team in position to have a lot of flexibility moving forward.

Another good part is if you like what you saw in Justin Fields over the last half of the 2023 season. He showed some signs of improvement, and with a strong environment and a new playcaller in Shane Waldron, he could finally take off.

The bad

Nobody complains about the trade down last year because the Carolina Panthers took the wrong quarterback and gave up the first overall pick to the Bears. Had the Panthers taken CJ Stroud and given up, let's say, the 10th pick, the perception around the move would be totally different. Now, imagine if one of Williams, Drake Maye, or Jayden Daniels is really good, and the Bears stand pat with Fields. Ryan Poles would be the general manager who passed up both Stroud and whoever from this class plays well.

That would mean a lot of pressure over Poles, Fields, and the new offensive coaching staff — especially because it’s rare for a player who hasn’t consolidated himself after three years to do so later in his career.

The second aspect is financial. The Bears probably wouldn't keep Fields and not exercise his fifth-year option. Therefore, right after trading the picks which would allow them to take a new, relatively cheap quarterback, the Bears would guarantee $25.664 million to Justin Fields in 2025.

The Bears are in a good cap situation, but that's still a hard pill to swallow — especially because Chicago would still need to find a long-term extension to keep Fields beyond 2025. With a new quarterback, they would have at least three inexpensive years, resetting the money clock.

It's an overall difficult situation, but some kind of good problem to have. The Bears have multiple options, and everything depends on how much they like Justin Fields, how much they like the quarterback prospects, and what the market says they can get in each trade compensation package.

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