Windy City Gridiron
The 2025 NFL Draft is just 15 days away. With the Top of the first round a jumbled mess of projections, would it be in the Bears’ best interest to trade down? We’ll investigate three potential options and what the expected return could be.
The 2025 NFL Draft is just under two weeks away, and all 32 teams are prepping to make their first-round picks for the first time in recent memory. The Chicago Bears were one of a handful of teams that held multiple first-round picks last year. This year, they’ll make yet another Top 10 selection and have a pair of second-round picks, which will officially complete their 2023 March trade for the No. 1 overall selection that eventually went to Carolina, who selected quarterback Bryce Young.
Unlike previous classes, the Bears are in a tough spot at No. 10 overall. This class doesn’t have a lot of blue-chip players, and most, if any, are unlikely to fall to the final picks of the Top 10. Fortunately, general manager Ryan Poles and his staff were able to fulfill the majority of their pressing needs through trades and free agency. As most NFL fans know, those avenues rarely produce long-term solutions, so Chicago is a spot where they’ll need to draft to eventually backfill some of the areas they were aggressive in filling last month.
Chances are high that the Bears will be forced into making a selection at No. 10. The best way to look at trading down is this: If you’re team isn’t happy with the talent on the board at their selection, why would other teams behind them jump at the opportunity to move up and trade away value draft capital? Operating with a realistic mindset should be key for fans entering draft weekend. It doesn’t mean that Chicago won’t be able to execute a trade down, but this is an unusual draft class, and other teams’ needs versus the talent on the board will play a big factor in how many teams can move around.
Now that we’ve set the groundwork for realistic expectations next weekend, let’s take a moment to dream. Assuming that none of the blue-chippers (Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, Mason Graham, or Ashton Jeanty) fall to the Bears at No. 10, which scenarios could be in place to allow the Bears to move back and gain additional draft capital? Need and draft placement will be key in determining three potential trade partners.
Because of the lack of top-end talent and similar draft grades expected from picks 8 to around 25, any team looking to trade down might need to take around 85-90 cents on the dollar regarding return value. Especially when factoring in how much talent there is on Day 2 of this year’s class. For trade value reference, we’ll be using the Jimmy Johnson chart. In my research, it has been the most accurate when predicting value.
Without further ado, let’s plot out three potential trade-down partners for the Bears and...
