The Chicago Bears stunned their fans and the entire NFL when they traded up to acquire the second overall draft pick from the San Francisco 49’ers, and now we have an inside look into how everything went down.
According to a new piece by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, the 49’ers were looking into taking either Solomon Thomas or Reuben Foster with the second pick, and when the Bears came calling to move up, they thought that G.M. Ryan Pace was eyeballing Thomas with the selection.
Here is an excerpt from King’s riveting story about how the deal came together:
“(49’ers Chief Strategy Officer Paraag) Marathe called the Bears. “To try to solidify this now,” Marathe said to Pace, “we’re gonna need a little bit more to finish. It wouldn’t have to be much. Like, your four. So let’s say your third, 67 overall, this year, your three next year, and your four this year, 111 overall……I’m not gonna string you along….No….I will do it quickly. Let me get with John (Lynch) and Kyle (Shanahan) and I’ll call you right back.”
“The Bears agreed. They’d give two third-round picks and a fourth-rounder to move up one spot.
“”Man, who do they want?” Lynch said. “Gotta be Solomon, right?””
“”Call me crazy,” Marathe said. “But I think it’s Trubisky.””
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Marathe ended up being correct, as the Bears selected Trubisky with the second overall pick in the draft, making him the first quarterback selected by the team in the first round since they took Rex Grossman with the 22nd overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.
The Bears did ultimately give up the package described in the piece, with this year’s third and fourth round picks, as well as a 2018 third round pick, going to San Francisco in exchange for the number two pick.
