Ryan Poles has kept his cards close to the vest up until now regarding the #1 overall pick. He acknowledged the possibility he could trade it, as many believe he will. He’s also prepared to stay put if the Chicago Bears GM doesn’t get the kind of offer he wants. That likely won’t be a problem. Multiple high-profile insiders have said the interest in that top pick is significant. With several teams involved, it’s a safe assumption that the Bears will get a massive return whenever they pull the trigger.
Nobody could’ve predicted that one of the biggest revelations would come from Poles himself. He spoke with Peter King of NBC Sports about the Bears’ situation at length. He seemed to indicate the plan is to stick with Justin Fields moving forward. That isn’t a huge surprise. The young quarterback made progress in 2022. He has a chance to take a big step this year with more help around him. No, the bombshell came when Poles openly stated he’d talked to teams about trading #1 overall at the combine and has a good idea of what he can get in return.
He even revealed specifics.
Poles spoke softly but urgently in 50 minutes. He was supportive of quarterback Justin Fields, saying “we’ve got to see it through” in giving Fields a chance to be the team’s long-term starter. It’s clear he’s not trading Fields, and he’s not picking a quarterback high in this draft. He left little doubt the Bears will trade the first overall pick and said he’d spoken to three teams at the Combine about a deal. (He wouldn’t identify them.) He said he had enough conversations about a deal to know in swapping first-round picks this year he can get “a ’24 one and a ’25 one” in a major package for a trade. However far down he goes in the draft this year, Poles wants to be sure he gets a “blue player,” his term for a premier first-rounder—and there may be only six or eight of those when the Bears end up setting their board.
Ryan Poles knows he has leverage now.
That became clearer than ever after the quarterbacks put on a show at the scouting combine. C.J. Stroud had an excellent throwing session. Anthony Richardson broke records in athletic drills. Will Levis looked good too. To top it off, Bryce Young eased fears about his weight by showing up at 204 lbs. Several questions were answered. Now teams are prepared to take a big swing to get one of them before somebody else does. Poles seems ready to make the deal, but only once they agree to his price.
It sounds like some of those teams want to get something done now. The sooner they can acquire the pick, the more comfortable they can feel about their plans. Ryan Poles has no problem with that. However, it will come at a cost. Making a deal this early before free agency would force the Bears to alter their own plans. The GM would do it, but only if one of those teams pays up. Two future 1st round picks and likely additional Day 2 selections would undoubtedly be his ticket to reconstructing this roster into a possible contender.
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JD: The chances that Houston would trade #2 and #12 for #1 are not zero. I agree they are small, and that it’s unlikely that this will be the (first) trade the Bears do, but it’s not impossible. The trade from #3 to #2 to get Trubisky is not a reasonable comparison at all. There wasn’t a lot of competition for Trubisky, teams were not trying to move up willy nilly to get him. What happened there was that SF was planning on taking a DL (who ended up being a bust), and when the Bears offered them pretty much… Read more »
The qb’s closed the deal for the number one pick by showing off their skills and leaving no doubt about their abilities and potential. As a matter of fact they were so good that it’ll make it hard to pick which one and so Poles is really in the driver’s seat because he can now do a double trade down and the trade value is there or he can trade once for a massive haul and even Carter helped Poles with his drama and made it one instead of possibly two at the top for defensive players or he let… Read more »
Stroud looked like a franchise quarterback all year but with the receivers he’s had you never know. He looked good at the combine. It was like he didn’t have a care in the world. I wouldn’t argue at all if we needed a quarterback and drafted him. Luckily we don’t and many teams do. Trying to figure out if he or Young will end up in the hall of fame is impossible, but history says don’t take the small guy. The first hour or so of the draft should be highly entertaining. It’s rare that the team with the first… Read more »
Jioha You nailed it. Not only will teams latch on to “their guy” and believe that they have found the absolute best solution, they will also fear that others have too, I have been a proponent of the 1 for 2 and 12 probablity for some time now but recently another poster pointed out the alternate draft pick value chart that has gained acceptance over the past few years. The Richard Hill chart (said to be based on analytics that did not exist when Jimmy Johnson created his nearly 30 years ago) puts the #1 pick at 1000 and 2… Read more »
I think fans underestimate the motivation to get THEIR guy at QB for a GM. Sure Houston at #2 (or Colts at #4) can still get a “good” QB. But if THEIR guy goes at #1 and he turns into a superstar and has a HOF career, the GM is going to get fired for not doing what it takes to get him. That good QB won’t be good enough to erase that. Maybe he has a fine career. Maybe he even becomes a star. But if he’s not better than the guy they wanted he could cost you your… Read more »