New projections are out. As of this moment, the Chicago Bears have a 95% chance of landing the #1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Carolina Panthers would have to win three of their last four games to prevent this from happening. Given how they’ve played all season, that feels unlikely. Two of those four games come against Green Bay and Jacksonville. Both are fighting for playoff spots. If Carolina stumbles to the finish line as expected, GM Ryan Poles will hold the top pick in the draft for the second season in a row. The big question becomes what he’ll do with it.
There are three options on the table. He will use the pick to take the best quarterback on his board, starting the QB clock over. He will use the selection on the best non-QB prospect on his board, such as Marvin Harrison Jr. or a top pass rusher. Or he could choose the third option: trading the pick to a QB-needy team. Poles already did that this past year when he flipped the pick to Carolina for a massive package, including wide receiver D.J. Moore, the 9th pick, a future 1st, and a future 2nd. Would he dare do it again?
Longtime insider Peter King said on his podcast that not only does he think it’s possible, but that Poles should 100% do it. He even provided an idea of what the Bears would get in return.
The Chicago Bears may find it hard to pass up that opportunity.
Poles believes strongly in stockpiling draft picks. It allows him more opportunities to find young talent and build the depth of a roster. Star power is essential to championship success, but so is depth. That is done through cheap young players. Great teams are often built with lots of quality high draft choices. It isn’t a coincidence the 1985 Bears were as dominant as they were. Their depth chart was made up of nine 1st round picks. Poles has only added one to his roster thus far. A trade of this magnitude might allow him to add seven by the end of 2026. If most of them are good players, the Bears will be in Super Bowl conversations.
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Everything depends on what Poles does at quarterback. If he’s out on Fields, then there is no way he trades that pick. He’ll use it on whichever QB he desires. That said, if Fields finishes strong, the odds drastically increase that the Chicago Bears will be open for business again. As things stand, there are at least five teams with a need at quarterback in the top 12 picks: the Patriots, Raiders, Giants, Falcons, and Saints. Washington may also be in that conversation if the next coaching staff decides they don’t want Sam Howell.
It won’t be hard for Poles to drum up a market for that pick.
