Holding the 25th overall pick in the 1st round puts the Chicago Bears in an interesting conundrum. Given the nature of this 2026 draft class, they could easily look to move up for one of the few premium players. That is something Bears general manager Ryan Poles has never done, though. Most of the time, he’s chosen to stick and pick, taking the best player on his board, as was the case in 2024 and 2025. However, we also know Poles isn’t afraid to move down if the situation warrants it. We saw that three years ago in 2023.
That is why speculation remains strong that the Bears may look to move down from #25. They have several starting spots that still need filling, and seven picks might be too slim a margin to work with. There are also rumors that they aren’t overly happy with the options they’re projected to have at that spot. This was confirmed thanks to draft insider Dane Brugler. He recently unveiled his latest iteration of “The Beast,” a massive series of scouting reports on over 300 players in this class. What was interesting from the Bears’ perspective was the player rankings. Here are some notable names and where Brugler stacked them.
- EDGE Akheem Mesidor – #28
- OT Blake Miller – #29
- EDGE T.J. Parker – #31
- OT Max Iheanachor – #33
- DT Peter Woods – #35
- EDGE Malachi Lawrence – #36
- EDGE Zion Young – #37
The Chicago Bears have plenty of incentive to do this.
This means barring a wild series of twists in the top half of the 1st round, that several players projected as potential targets for the Bears should be available at the bottom of the 1st or top of the 2nd round. That screams trade down from their perspective. The only reason not to would be the possibility that they love one of them in particular and are scared that moving down would ruin their chances of getting him. While always possible, it doesn’t sound like this is that sort of class. A lot of players are being clustered into the same category.
Let’s say moving down to the top of the 2nd means Mesidor, Miller, and Young are likely to be drafted, but you still have a shot at Iheanachor, Woods, Lawrence, and Parker. Would you still trade down? The answer is probably yes. The Bears would still have a strong chance of landing a good player while picking up one or two extra picks. Poles has done this before. He’s shown he can handle the process, having secured a massive package from Carolina while still landing Darnell Wright.
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The trick is always the same.
You need a dance partner to engineer this kind of scenario. It’s one thing for the Chicago Bears to want to trade down. That won’t matter much if no teams are interested in coming up from the 30-40 range. Hooks aren’t much use without bait. The Bears have to hope that a prospect will be on the board that somebody is anxious to grab. Usually, that means a quarterback. Everybody knows Fernando Mendoza is going #1 overall to Las Vegas. Is anybody else good enough to draw that kind of attention like Jaxson Dart did last year?
We may soon find out. There have been plenty of cases where the Bears looked primed to move down but couldn’t because the offers weren’t there. That is something they can’t control. However, the phone lines are open. Poles likely has a good feel for who the interested parties may or may not be. All things hinge on how the top of the draft unfolds. If some unexpected names slip to #25, Chicago will have a choice: take one of them or dangle them as bait.
