A Chicago Bears draft trade that most people would think about are one of two options. Neither totally crazy in the context of the modern era. Either they would move up from their #87 spot in the 3rd round for a player they covet, something GM Ryan Pace is known for. Or they would trade down and likely out of the round in an attempt to acquire more later picks.
Pace has gone both directions and had success with each. He traded up for guys like Mitch Trubisky and Eddie Jackson. He traded down in 2016 and still ended up with Cody Whitehair. It all depends on how the board falls and what Pace sees as the best course of action for his team.
There is another option though. One that is seldom used but can be exceedingly effective if a team is willing to be patient. This trade would involve surrendering their 3rd round pick to a team for a future 2nd round pick. It may sound lopsided, but this is how draft value is structured.
Picks in the present cost more in the future. A 4th round pick is worth a future 3rd. A 3rd is worth a future 2nd and so on. Rather than settling for a player at the bottom of the 3rd this year, why not shoot for a 2nd in 2020? It would be a move that sets them up to have three such picks.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
This sort of Chicago Bears draft trade has been done before
Now the inevitable question is obvious. Why would the Bears give up a pick in this draft when they only have five to begin with? The easy answer is do their odds really improve that much between having five and having four? They don’t pick until the 3rd round. An area of the draft they haven’t had a ton of success in during the Pace era. See Hroniss Grasu and Jonathan Bullard.
The Bears are looking for a running back, correct? That position tends to yield good players in the later rounds. Chicago proved that by snagging Tarik Cohen and Jordan Howard in the 4th and 5th respectively. Trading to get a future 2nd sets them up to have 10 picks including three in that round alone next year. A prime opportunity to bring in another wave of talent.
It’s not like the Bears haven’t done something like this before. In 1982, they traded their 2nd round pick to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a 1st round pick in 1983. That pick ended up becoming wide receiver Willie Gault, the critical deep threat Chicago would need for their Super Bowl push two years later.
All they need is somebody willing to make the deal. Odds are by the end of business in the 1st round of this upcoming 2019 draft, there will be a handful of teams with multiple 2nd rounders in 2020. That is when the Bears could start formulating such a move.
