The Chicago Bears only have four picks in the 2024 NFL draft. Their 2nd was traded to Washington for Montez Sweat. A 4th went to Los Angeles for Keenan Allen, while a 5th went to Buffalo for Ryan Bates. GM Ryan Poles seems to have focused his efforts on acquiring proven players over the past few months. It feels odd that he would consider the idea of only going with four picks. Poles has said many times he wants to build through the draft. One would think he’d be anxious to acquire more. That is why the belief is he will look to move down from the #9 pick after securing Caleb Williams at #1.
Poles has said he’s open to all avenues, but one must remember he’s never afraid to tell the truth. He spoke to Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic about his thoughts on how the top 10 should unfold next month, including the idea of trading down. A few things became clear right away. He is certain beyond a doubt that at least one player the Bears really like will be available at #9. Probably more. It got really interesting when he mentioned how the limited number of picks this year doesn’t reflect how many they’ve had overall in the past three and how many they’ll have in 2025.
“I like the numbers,” Poles said. “I talked about it when I first got here, but we have different tiers on our draft board. I like the numbers in terms of the talented players that can get to 9…
…“If we don’t move at all, I think that’s 25 picks in three years, which is over eight (per year) and some change,” he said. “I like where we’re at there, on top of being set up next year to have a pretty good setup as well. I think it matches the draft. I think a lot of guys went back to school this year. I think you’re going to see a significant drop-off. Hopefully some guys squeak through, but the way we’re set up in the draft this year actually pairs up really well with how I think it’s going to play out.”
Unlike previous drafts, he seems convinced this class is far thinner than previous years. The Bears had 21 picks in their first two drafts. If they stick at four this year, that will make 25 as he said. A regular complement of picks each year is seven, which means they would have 21 in normal circumstances. So even if they go with what they have, they’ll have come out four picks ahead. Not only that, but Poles has set them up to have nine more next year, including two in the 2nd round, thanks to that trade with Carolina.
It becomes easy to see the logic of his thinking under such circumstances. While he may not have a lot of picks, he does have two of the most valuable in the entire draft at #1 and #9. If he can turn both of them into great players, nobody will care about how many picks the team has. It’s not like small classes can’t have big impacts. The New York Giants only had four picks in 2005. They still ended up with Corey Webster, Justin Tuck, and Brandon Jacobs. That was done with no 1st round pick.
Ryan Poles is correct. The Bears are in a great spot.
