10 biggest Chicago Bears needs going into the NFL Draft
By Todd Welter
The Chicago Bears did not make any major free-agent signings. Instead, Bears general manager Ryan Poles chose to clear up the team’s salary cap issues.
That meant trading away Khalil Mack while letting James Daniels and Allen Robinson walk in free agency. Eddie Goldman was released and Danny Trevathan will be released after June 1st.
It also meant Poles went bargain shopping in free agency. The Chicago Bears have signed 16 free agents. Most of them were signed to one-year deals.
The NFL Draft is the next method up for Poles to improve the Chicago Bears roster. The Bears have six picks in this year’s draft. They are lacking a first-round pick as previous general manager Ryan Pace traded that pick in last year’s draft to the New York Giants to move up and select quarterback Justin Fields.
The Chicago Bears have two second-round picks, a third-round pick, two fifth-round picks, and a sixth-round pick. The Bears do have three picks in the top-75 (second-round picks 38 and 49 along with third-round pick 71) but then have to wait for 77 picks until they are back on the clock in the fifth round.
That is a lot of good players that will not be available to the Chicago Bears. Poles could choose to trade back once or twice to gather more picks. He could also possibly trade defensive end Robert Quinn during the draft to possibly pick up a third or fourth-round pick.
The Chicago Bears have a long way to go before contention so the draft is important.
When Poles was in Kansas City’s front office, the Chiefs had six picks in the last five drafts and stuck with those six picks. Although in 2017, the Chiefs traded up to draft Patrick Mahomes.
It will be Poles’ first draft being in charge so it will be interesting to see the players he drafts. Does he draft for traits (size, speed, and other measurables) or draft off what he sees on game tape (goes for productive players)?
The Chicago Bears still have glaring needs on their roster. They have three high-priority needs, two medium priority needs, and the rest of the needs on the roster are low priority.