NFL Draft rumors: Bears trade partner for No. 1 pick could offer king’s ransom

The Chicago Bears have the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and they may receive a haul from a quarterback-needy trade partner.

The Chicago Bears can be the biggest winners of the 2023 NFL Draft, and that is by trading away the first-overall pick. Sure, they could stand pat and take the best defensive prospect available in either Georgia’s Jalen Carter or Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., but they could get a haul of draft picks from a quarterback-needy team. There just so happens to be four teams in the Top 10 that are in need of a signal caller, and could be enticed to trade up to the No. 1 spot to take the prospect they become enamored with during the pre-draft process.

Could the Bears already have a trade partner?

During an appearance on ESPN 97.5 in Houston, NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein predicts that the Houston Texans will strike a deal with the Bears for the No. 1 overall pick to select Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

https://twitter.com/espn975/status/1626368076437458950

Do Bears have a trade partner for No. 1 pick of 2023 NFL Draft?

The Texans notably have two first-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, one being the No. 2 pick and the other being the No. 12 pick they received from the Cleveland Browns in the Deshaun Watson trade. Zierlein believed that there was no chance that the Texans would package the No. 2 and 12 picks to move up one spot in the NFL Draft. Again, this is a prediction by Zierlein.

Even so, that didn’t stop from some Twitter trolls to make up some absurd trade packages to rile up the Texans fanbase. In fact, Zierlein had to refute what one user was saying.

https://twitter.com/B_Willijax/status/1629191739033686016

The Texans lost out on their chance to secure the first-overall pick after they defeated the Indianapolis Colts 32-31 in Week 18. Now, the Texans face the possibility of getting leaped in the draft order by a team who wants a signal caller. One of those teams are the rival Colts, whose owner in Jim Irsay did express his interest in Young during head coach Shane Steichen’s introductory press conference.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah detailed in a conference call on Friday what the Bears could get in a trade for the first pick in scenarios with the Texans, Colts, and Carolina Panthers based off recent history and value charts.

"“If you look at those trades — trade-ups for quarterbacks, usually when you look at the trade chart, it’s about 120 percent, give or take, in terms of the trade chart value,” Jeremiah said, h/t NBC Sports Chicago. “You have to pay a premium if you are going to come up for a quarterback, which is great news there for the Bears.“So if you are just going to go back to pick No. 2, you’re going to get the second pick, the 33rd pick, and next year’s two. That would be the trade you would have there with the Texans. If you go to four, would you have to give up a fourth-round pick this year? Or, sorry. A fourth-round pick in 2024 as well as the No. 1 overall pick. You would get No. 4 overall, No. 35 overall, and a first-round pick in ’24, and a second-round pick in ’24. If you want to go all the way to nine, you are going to get the ninth pick, you are going to get the 39th pick, and get a first round in ’24 and a first round in ’25.”"

The Bears have the better part of two months to figure out who they would be willing to trade the No. 1 pick to. In recent memory, talks could increase after the NFL Scouting Combine from Feb. 26 until March 6 and at prospects’ specific Pro Days.