Peter King shocked the NFL world in two ways this week. The first was by announcing his retirement, ending one of the most decorated careers a football reporter has ever had. Then, right near the end of the column, he dropped a bombshell. He indicated there were growing whispers the Chicago Bears might trade the #1 overall pick again, hoping to stockpile a massive amount of draft assets. This would mean they plan to keep Justin Fields for another year, building the roster around him.
A lot of people were reluctant to buy this report. After all, several national insiders, including Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport have indicated all the signs to this point say the Bears will trade Fields and select a quarterback at #1. That quarterback will likely be Caleb Williams. King is the first notable name to run counter to that trend. Is he stirring up drama for nothing? Fellow longtime analyst and insider Dan Patrick doesn’t think so. He talked about the report on his show this week. Having known King for years, Patrick believes there is no way the reporter would write something like that unless he were hearing something legitimate.
Dan Patrick has been around for a long time.
He knows which people to trust in situations like this. King is not the type of guy to put something like that out there without a good reason. He’s hearing something and has enough credible sources around the league to believe there are some legs to it. Let’s remember who is running this show. GM Ryan Poles has already proven multiple times over the past two years that he understands how to manipulate the media to his advantage. He proved that last year when he had everybody thinking he’d take Jalen Carter if the defensive tackle fell to #9. Then he traded #9 to Philadelphia for #10 and a 4th round pick. A year prior, the running belief was he’d target a wide receiver and center with his first two picks. The Bears drafted two defensive backs.
It is time to start thinking that maybe this overwhelming narrative of Chicago planning to trade Fields and select Williams is exactly what Poles wants everybody to think. Such an approach would give him maximum leverage in any trade discussions. Maybe King ends up wrong, but the fact Dan Patrick trusts him on something like this is worth noting. A lot of clarity should come in the next couple of days at the scouting combine.
🔥 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel to hear Chicago legends tell stories you’ve never seen in headlines — real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.
