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Ryan Poles did it.
After two solid months of speculation, the Chicago Bears traded away the top overall pick to the Carolina Panthers and received a haul of picks as well as outstanding wide receiver, DJ Moore.
Now the Chicago Bears sit with the ninth pick in the draft, and I think it's a safe assumption that Ryan Poles will find a prospect he feels can step right in and play a key role for his team moving forward. But Poles has talked about the amount of holes he has on his roster and how one player certainly isn't going to fix their issues.
A unique position about number nine is that there is a high probability that none of the offensive linemen will be selected in the top eight. The Bears' range is where the top linemen are expected to fall. We know the Bears need offensive line help, so they could certainly utilize the pick and bolster the offensive line. But Poles has made it clear after last year and now with the top pick here that he's willing to trade down.
There are other positions that will have strong prospects at 9. Wide receiver will most likely not have anyone taken before the Bears select at 9. Cornerback may have 1 or 2 guys off the board, but there are probably three very strong prospects (Christian Gonzalez, Devon Witherspoon, Joey Porter, Jr) who may compel a team to move up. There's also, of course running back Bijan Robinson, who is the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley.
In short, there may be teams calling the Chicago Bears on draft day to talk about moving up with the Bears. Perhaps Poles has a guy in mind, and if he does, he may not want to move. But if he has a few prospects he likes and is willing to trade down again, what could he land?
That depends on how far, but presumably, Poles wouldn't want to fall out of the top twenty, so if he traded back in the 12 to 14 range, the price would be approximately a third round pick. If he traded back in the 16 to 20 range, the price would jump to a second round pick. If he did decide to trade out of the top 20, Poles could start asking for a 2024 first round pick, or at a minimum, he could ask for both the second and third round picks this year.
If Poles traded back that far, he does lose out on drafting an elite top 10 talent, but he would have quite a war chest of picks, especially in the range of 20-65, where he could land himself multiple starters on day one.
Poles is off to a great start with the trade with Carolina, but with $75 million in cap space and the potential to trade back once again, the Bears' offseason is just getting started.
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