Teams will 'move heaven and earth' to get No. 1 pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
It looks like the bidding war the Chicago Bears and general manager Ryan Poles were hoping for has materialized.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft is in hot demand.
"There are teams ready, as he put it to me, to move heaven and earth to get that pick from the Chicago Bears," David Kaplan said a current NFL assistant coach told him.
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This isn't out of left field. It's consistent with what we've heard.
We've heard NFL Network's Ian Rapoport report that teams are "scrambling" to get the No. 1 pick. ESPN's Adam Schefter said the Bears could have a "feeding frenzy" for the pick and get some "unbelievable offers."
Poles himself has said he sense urgency in the market and pressure on teams to make a move and said at least three teams have reached out about the pick.
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Now, what can the Bears get?
"He fully believes they're going to get a pick in 2023, a flip. They'll give up one. And the team that they're trading one to will give them their pick and then they're going to get a '24 and '25 first-round pick," Kaplan said the assistant coach told him. "And he said, and I would think there will be either a second or third round pick and maybe some later picks. He said the Bears hold all the cards."
That aligns with what Poles himself has said.
“I know I can get a ’24 one and a ’25 one,” Poles told NBC Sports' Peter King.
And it seems like the quarterbacks are driving the trade market coming out of the scouting combine.
"A lot of teams are really in now on C.J. Stroud and there are some that have Anthony Richardson as the highest-rated quarterback on the board," Kaplan noted the coach told him.
Bryce Young did not participate in drills at the combine, but he’s been the consensus No. 1 pick for months. However, other players like C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson and Will Levis did well to raise their personal stocks, which could open up the possibility of the Bears trading back twice as more teams try to add an exciting young arm to their roster.
For instance, if the Bears swap places with the Texans and acquire the No. 2 pick, it’s conceivable the Bears get back on the phones and move the No. 2 pick to another team desperate to draft one of the remaining QBs.
The Bears currently control eight picks in the draft, but that number could grow if a bidding war breaks out for the No. 1 pick. The draft begins Apr. 27.
