Bears should trade their No. 1 overall pick to Texans |
With the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, there is a lot of talk that the Bears are going to be trading their pick. While there are many teams in contention for getting the pick, one common projection is the Indianapolis Colts, where the Bears drop to No. 4. But, there is an even better solution for Chicago - trading to Houston.
First of all, it’s clear that the Bears do not need a quarterback. Justin Fields, while inconsistent and frustrating at times, showed improvement in his second season and really built on his dual-threat ability in the run game. He led all NFL quarterbacks this season with 1,143 rushing yards when he only had 420 rushing yards last season. Furthermore, he led the entire NFL in yards per rushing attempt at 7.1. Since the Bears do not need a quarterback, they would draft the same player whether they had the No. 1 pick or the No. 2 pick. The Texans are currently sitting with the No. 2 pick, along with the No. 12 pick from their trade with the Cleveland Browns when the Browns acquired DeShaun Watson. They also have a second-round pick, two third-round picks, a fourth and fifth-round pick, and four six-round picks. Also, they have a lot of picks to send in a package to the Chicago Bears. This makes it really easy for the Bears to trade with the Texans, giving them the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and in return, receiving both of their first-round picks, their earlier third-round pick, or maybe a fourth-round pick, and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil (if the Bears do not trade for Orlando Brown during the offseason). The Texans would have to give up a lot, but it should be worth it for them to acquire quarterback Bryce Young out of Alabama. If they are unwilling to give up Tunsil, then the Bears can potentially get a few more draft picks out of the deal or trade for wide receiver Brandin Cooks who the Texans were trying to trade prior to the trade deadline anyway. Getting an offensive lineman or a wide receiver both help the Bears’ needs in the offseason. However, the specifics of this kind of trade will be determined more by the off-season moves for both of these teams. The Texans also have much rebuilding to do but almost $70 million less in salary cap than the Bears. This could help incentivize the Texans to trade Tunsil because that would ease the burden on their salary cap, but it could also mean they won’t be open to a trade where they are losing a lot of draft capital. Still, there is no other quarterback in the draft that offers the same upside and talent as Young, and if the Bears don’t trade to the Texans, they will trade to someone else who will most likely take him with the No. 1 overall pick. For the Bears, not only are they acquiring all of these picks and a potential player, but they can still draft the same player they would draft with the No. 1 overall pick. This is the case with any trade they make for the No. 1 pick, so it is something they should do anyway. But with the Texans, there is no compromise in who they can draft as it is most commonly projected that this will be Will Anderson out of Alabama, and if the Bears were to trade with any other team than the Texans, they would be taking the chance that the teams ahead of them would not draft Anderson. Jalen Carter out of Georgia would most likely still be available, and if not him, then Myles Murphy out of Clemson. But, Anderson does have a stronger resume going into the draft than Carter or Murphy, even though they are both top-10 talent. Furthermore, by trading with any other team, the Bears would probably end up getting draft picks for the 2024 season. While there is not anything wrong with that since the Bears have a lot of rebuilding to do, it is ideal to acquire these players now and develop them rather than have to wait until the 2024 draft to see the full fruition of their trade. This could allow the rebuilding process to happen faster. Chicago desperately needs a faster rebuild, not just to compete in their division, but for the city overall. Right now, the Blackhawks are performing miserably, and the Bulls still have a losing record, while the White Sox and Cubs both missed the playoffs. The Bears just had arguably the worst season in franchise history, which is rather difficult when the franchise is over 100 years old. From a division standpoint, the Vikings are division champs, while the Lions were one loss by the Seahawks away from making the playoffs, and the Packers were one win away from making the playoffs. Everyone was in playoff contention, or already in the playoffs, in the last week of the season in the NFC North except the Bears. If they want to be competitive, they need to rebuild fast. The high volume of 2023 picks from the Texans allows that process to begin faster.
