Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on April 4, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

It’s been a while since the Bears have had a first round pick (thanks to the Jay Cutler trade) so we may have forgotten just what it’s like to live with what the Bears decide to do in the first round of the draft.  They haven’t been exactly spot on in the first round recently especially after picking offensive tackle/guard Chris Williams in the first round (he is in limbo right now) leaving some to wonder just the Bears will do.

Chicago has some options.  They can take an offensive lineman, preferably a tackle, with the 29th pick and insert him into the starting lineup right away.  They could choose to replace Tommie Harris by adding a defensive tackle in the first round and, like there is with the offensive tackles, there would be some good ones around towards the end of the first round.

But, the Bears may go another route in the first round if the player or players that they are interested in aren’t there.  What is that route?  Trading their first round pick.

First of all, what would the odds be that the Bears would trade up in the first round?  Very slim.  Angelo is not a big risk taker (although he did go out on a limb to get Cutler and paid big money to get Julius Peppers) and knowing how much they covet their draft picks you can bet that trading up will be difficult if not impossible.

Even if there is a player that the Bears covet further up in the draft it’s doubtful that they will try to jump ahead a few spots especially since it’s doubtful that players couldn’t be used in a trade scenario thanks to the lack of an agreement between the NFL and its players.  So trading up, it’s not going to happen.

The Bears have traded down in the past and may elect to do that in this draft if they feel that there is no one there that they want with the 29th pick then they could decide to trade down a little and get someone in the second round.  Trading down would give them the opportunity to acquire additional picks which is what the Bears like to do so trading that pick away may interest them.

There wouldn’t be much room to trade down and stay in the first round but it’s a possibility.  The may not find a willing trading partner with the Jets, Packers and Steelers picking just after them (you can bet it would be difficult to try to get the Packers to trade up with the Bears but anything is possible).  So this option may not be available to the Bears.

It’s difficult to predict what the Bears or any other team will do in the draft.  The Bears are generally conservative when it comes to the draft and free agency but the past two seasons have seen some uncharacteristic things done to help improve the team.  The Cutler trade was not something that anyone thought that the Bears would do but they did it.  No one felt that they would open up their pocketbooks to get Julius Peppers, Brandon Manumaleuna and Chester Taylor but they did.

Could the Bears decide to do something outside the box in the draft?  Anything is possible but with free agency up in the air and some pretty significant needs on the team expect them to play it a little conservative as they try to take care of these needs and get back to the playoffs next year.

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