Bears Must Mortgage Almost Entire Draft to Land Top Wide Receiver

Getty General manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears addresses questions after Kevin Warren was introduced as Chicago Bears president and CEO at Halas Hall on January 17, 2023 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

The Chicago Bears aren’t afraid to deal draft picks for players, but essentially all their picks — save for No. 1 overall — for one guy might be asking too much.

Albert Breer of Bleacher Report on Wednesday, April 10, authored a mailbag in which he discussed Chicago’s potential to move up from the No. 9 pick somewhere into the top five to draft Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. While Breer said he loved the idea, he added that it will be difficult considering how much that kind of move will cost.

Chicago has improved its roster under GM Ryan Poles, to the point where there aren’t a ton of needs necessitating having 10 or 12 picks in the draft. I also love the concept of having Harrison develop as an NFL player with Caleb Williams, and under the tutelage of pros such as Keenan Allen and DJ Moore.

That said, the Chicago Bears have just four picks in this year’s draft, with the next one after 9 at 75. … So let’s say they deal up with the [Los Angeles] Chargers, who are sitting at five, to get Harrison. Per the Jimmy Johnson draft chart, there’s a 350-point gap between the fifth and ninth picks. The 55th pick in the draft is worth 350 points. The 75th and 122nd picks, which are the two the Bears have outside of No. 1 and No. 9, are worth 265 points. Which means, to make that move, the Bears probably have to either clean out this year’s picks, and add something from next year, or fork over a premium 2025 selection. That’s why it’s difficult to see it happening.

Bears Have Multiple Positions of Need to Fill, and Trading for Marvin Harrison Jr. Would Complicate That

GettyFormer Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

The Bears have addressed several positions of need by trading 2024 draft picks already.

Chicago picked up edge rusher Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders at last year’s trade deadline for the 40th overall pick in the second round. During the offseason, the Bears landed Allen from the Chargers for No. 110 selection in the fourth round and offensive lineman Ryan Bates from the Buffalo Bills for the No. 144 pick in the fifth round.

The team is likely to address its need at quarterback with the No. 1 pick, and Williams is the favorite. Landing Harrison would make the offense even more formidable and create a QB-WR duo that could dominate the league for more than a decade.

However, trading the entire cache of 2024 picks plus a meaningful selection in 2025 would hamper the Bears’ ability to address other clear positions of need that include, but aren’t limited to, a second edge-rusher to play alongside Sweat and more offensive line depth.

Bears Can Trade Back From No. 9 for More Picks, or Possibly Draft WR Rome Odunze

GettyFormer Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze.

A less exciting but more functional trade proposal involves Chicago trading back off the No. 9 pick for multiple top-100 selections and addressing all of their major needs over the draft’s first two days.

The market for the 9th spot should be solid regardless, but will be exceptionally strong if Washington receiver Rome Odunze falls that far. Odunze would be a tough player for the Bears to pass on, but the team could justify doing so by moving back into the mid-teens and drafting a pass rusher like Jared Verse then using the other draft capital it acquires to make a play for a receiver like Brian Thomas Jr. of LSU.

Franchises interested in top offensive tackles may also be in play as trade suitors for Chicago’s No. 9 pick, given that Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN predicts in his latest mock draft that only Joe Alt of Notre Dame will be off the board by that point, going 7th to the Tennessee Titans.