Ryan Poles turned down trading with the Houston Texans
The Chicago Bears came into the offseason with a position they hadn’t had since the start of the Cold War, the number one overall pick in the NFL draft. The Bears went ahead and traded that selection to the Carolina Panthers for a haul of picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore. The overall trade was good for the Bears, who will get a number-one wide receiver and much-needed draft capital. But general manager Ryan Poles declined the opportunity to seek more.
Poles went with his gut
Peter King with NBC Sports spoke with Poles about the trade with the Panthers. Poles said there was an opportunity for the Bears to trade with the Houston Texans at the two spot and then trade down again to the Panthers at nine. But Poles got cold feet after the NFL Scouting Combine:
“I thought there was an opportunity to do something historically pretty cool with a trade from one to two and two to nine. That had potential to add more draft capital this year, and then the possibility that you’re sitting on three ones in the following year. That had my attention. But my gut told me to trigger on it now. At the combine, I thought those quarterbacks did an outstanding job in their interview process. A lot of teams felt really good about some of those guys, but as you get further away from the combine, maybe there’s a bad pro day or something that turns teams off.”
King wrote that Poles has a better relationship with Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer than with Texans general manager Nick Caserio. Poles admitted his relationship and trust in Fitterer made him ultimately pull the trigger on the deal that came the weekend before free agency instead of trying to get the Bears a better package.
The Bears walked away from the March trade with good value for trading the number one pick. If Moore becomes a Pro Bowl wide receiver in Chicago and the Bears’ first-round picks from the Panthers work out, questions won’t be asked about the opportunity cost they gave up by not dealing with the Texans before the Panthers.
But one will have to wonder about those potential three number ones in 2024 if the Bears continue to act passively in accumulating talent in free agency because of scheme. If Poles wants to build in the draft, he has to aggressively grab draft capital.
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