Here’s a few of the latest draft rumors, with a focus on teams that could be moving up or down the board in the first round:
- The Bears, who hold the No. 20 overall pick, have been rumored as a team that could be climbing up the draft board to grab a QB, but as Albert Breer of SI.com writes, they haven’t been particularly active in trade discussions just yet. A lot can happen in a week, and Breer says rival clubs do expect Chicago to at least consider a bold trade to land a top passer. On the other hand, such a deal will be very expensive in terms of draft capital, and Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune hears from some sources that GM Ryan Pace might try to protect his draft assets to fill his club’s multiple needs. Still, Pace’s job and HC Matt Nagy‘s job are very much in jeopardy, and unless the duo is particularly high on a second-tier QB like Florida’s Kyle Trask, expect the team to exhaust all possible avenues for a trade up.
- The Falcons may be open to all options when it comes to their No. 4 overall pick, but Breer is getting the sense that Atlanta is perfectly content to stay right where it is. Whether the Falcons take a QB with that pick or the top non-QB prospect in the draft remains an open question, but they have put a very high price on their selection, and it sounds like they will need to be overwhelmed by a trade offer to move it.
- The buzz around the Bengals has pointed towards the team keeping its No. 5 overall pick and selecting LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase. Director of player personnel Duke Tobin said that he has engaged in talks with teams looking to move up to No. 5, but he wants to stay put and select a premier talent (Twitter link via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com).
- Other teams are expecting the Dolphins to keep the No. 6 selection, but GM Chris Grier says that he will continue listening to trade offers up until the pick is in (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). If he does get an offer that convinces him to move down, he won’t want to slide too far.
- Connor Hughes of The Athletic says Jets GM Joe Douglas could try to engineer a trade up from the No. 23 overall pick, especially if an OL like Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater or USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker should start to fall. However, he doesn’t see Douglas moving into the top-15.
If the bears make a trade up into the top part of the first round for a QB that would seemingly indicate ownership is giving Pace and Nagy more time.
It would require a ton of assets to make such a move and I’m not sure what qualified coach/GM would want that job next year if the cupboard was that dry.
Cupboard is that ‘bare’ – agreed, would be a desperate act but it’s not like the Bears didn’t just do this with Trubi… and how’d that work out for Pace?…
Yes but it’s also kinda the last chance here. ownership saying you make right choice you may stay wrong qb well, 5 strikes and your out
wouldn’t that be the reason you might take it. I have a young franchise qb so that should buy me 2-3 years minimum to “develop”
“We are proud of how the team played after the 6 game losing streak” -George mccaskey in the year end press conference, pace and Nagys jobs are not in jeopardy at all, as long as the bears can sell themselves as competitive that’s all they care about, we have Andy dalton on a triple last salary deal to be our starter right now, if Pace was worried about his job he wouldn’t make that pathetic of a move
Bears ownership shouldve made Pace keep Trubisky(5th yr option)..Pace was such a genius to move up a pick to draft the guy and bring in Nagy to coach Mitch they should all finish out their contracts together
Bears should get rid of the 2 bozos before they destroy the teams chances of any recovery in this decad.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Bears D is legit so I you believe that one of these QBs can get you to where you need to be. You need to explore every avenue to try and do so.
The Bears D is overrated! Multiple times last year they failed to produce. Big money being paid on that side of the ball.
Hard to win when your offense is at the bottom of the league.
The smart move is to trade back and acquire more talent. The Bears are not a rookie QB away from a super bowl.
I feel that way about ATL if they aren’t drafting a QB. you aren’t a TE away from a Superbowl with that defense and knowing your QB is likely done in a few years.
And that may happen. But it doesn’t matter how great a draft they have.. With Dalton at QB they’re going nowhere.
One of the top left tackles to come down the pike in many years should be available to the Bengals. Why would they consider anyone else, especially after what happened to their franchise QB last season?
because that franchise qb played with the WR that may be available and has that rapport and you want to keep him happy
Not saying you are wrong, moneyball, but why worry about making a second-year QB happy? Are they really going to let a second-year players’ happiness dictate who they draft? They are drafting top-5, which means they have lots of holes on that roster.
BBC
Kyle Trask would be a good move if they traded down to 30 & picked up another pick or traded out of the first round & took him in the second round.
I would prefer that the Bears invest their draft capital in position players with upside. After all, even a highly rated QB in this year’s draft won’t take them where they want go next season, and even if they land one, they still would have to stock the roster with talent at other positions of need.
Take the best Tackle available and trade back in to get the QB. If you’re going to draft a QB in the second round, it’s better to trade into the 1st and get the extra year.
realsox….Pace does not have a good record of any kind in drafting good players. Nope…i would not even trust him in the bears draft room for any of the picks that the bears have