The Chicago Bears tried to draft a running back early. They tried like hell. GM Ryan Poles made calls about moving up for Ashton Jeanty in the 1st round. Nobody was biting. So he opted for Colston Loveland instead, saving his big swing for the 2nd round. It made sense. There were plenty of options on the board. The name he and head coach Ben Johnson wanted most was TreVeyon Henderson. It made sense. The Ohio State standout had a skill set similar to Jahmyr Gibbs, who’d emerged as a star under Johnson in Detroit. His fit in the new offense was obvious.
Unfortunately, the run on running backs started early. That meant if the Bears wanted him, they’d have to move up. Poles was convinced Henderson wouldn’t get past the New England Patriots at #38. It looked like Chicago had a deal with Tennessee for #35, but that fell through at the last second. Patriots beat writer Mike Reiss of ESPN did some digging into what happened next. It turns out there was one extra layer to the Bears’ attempts to land the running back.
5. Teams wanted pick 38: One draft-day nugget revealed in “Forged in Foxborough” was that the Chicago Bears tried to move up to pick No. 38, offering pick 39 and a seventh-rounder to do so. The assumption is that they wanted running back TreVeyon Henderson. The Patriots declined and took Henderson themselves.
Passing on a free pick for TreVeyon Henderson says it all.
The Patriots could’ve taken the pick to move down one spot and taken whoever they wanted on the board. Chicago did something similar in 2023 when they took a 4th rounder from Philadelphia, who moved up a spot for Jalen Carter. Declining meant they were locked in on TreVeyon Henderson from the start, just as Poles had feared. This serves as a great lesson in the NFL draft. Sometimes things don’t break your way. The player you want is just out of reach, even if you burn down the phone lines trying to trade up. It has happened many times in the past. Henderson would’ve been a great addition. Sadly, he’ll be helping a different young quarterback moving forward. Chicago didn’t lament the loss for long, pivoting to Luther Burden at #39. Time will tell if the Bears were right to make such a determined push.
