Chicago Bears News: Ryan Poles to take his time in trading no. 1 pick

One of the biggest questions of the offseason for the Chicago Bears is no longer whether or not they will trade the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but when they’ll do so.

Not only that, but just what exactly would they get in return?

General manager Ryan Poles has seemed very cool, calm and collected any time he’s been asked about the situation, and just recently had yet another instance where he proved just that.

Poles had the chance to sit down with Peter King and provided us with a bit of his thought process when it comes to trading the number one overall pick in the draft:

“Should we do this before free agency? Or should we wait?” Poles told King. “I don’t know. That’s what I’ve communicated to teams\]. I could carry this all the way until we’re on the clock the night of the draft. But then there’s teams that want some certainty because, ‘If I need a quarterback bad, should I do that now when some of these guys, like [Derek Carr, are out there?’ To me, they’ve got to go so much more above to do it now.”

It is crystal clear that the Chicago Bears will not make any rash decisions regarding a trade for their number 1 overall pick

“I’m not greedy with it. But they’re gonna have to go above and beyond to close the door now,” Poles said.

This should all be music to Bears fans’ ears. Of course, we want the chaos. We want the madness, and we want it now. But, free agency is about to kick off in just a bit more than a week, and fans will have plenty to keep them occupied until the draft in April.

So, just what exactly could we expect the Bears to receive in exchange for the pick? Say what you want, but Poles knows exactly what kind of value this selection holds.

“No one’s gonna rush me. I know I can get a ’24 one and a ’25 one. You’re telling me for the next two years I’ll have two ones? That’s either four really good players, or if we’re cruising, we can still trade back.”

Think on that for just a minute. The Bears are going to get a first rounder this year, if not additional picks later on in the draft. Then, they’re going to get a first-round pick in each of the next two drafts. That type of return would be absolutely monumental, but this is a year where there are a good amount of quarterback-needy teams, and the Bears can take full advantage.