2023 NFL Draft Rumors: Bears 'Long Down the Road' on Trade for No. 1 Pick

Much of the NFL draft will hinge on what the Chicago Bears do with the No. 1 overall pick. And the likely scenario is that they will trade the selection.

The NFL Network's Rich Eisen reported on his show (3:00 mark) that the Bears are "already long down the road of trading the first overall pick. Teams have been identified, compensation is being hammered out."

That shouldn't come as much of a surprise—the Bears have their quarterback of the future in the dynamic Justin Fields, while Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Florida's Anthony Richardson and Kentucky's Will Levis could all potentially be top-10 picks.

So yes, trades are expected.

The Athletic's Mike Sando polled three general managers and a number of executives around the league while compiling a top-10 mock draft and reported that most believed that Young and Stroud "would be the first two players selected, one way or another, and that Young was probably going to be the first pick. This presumes another team will trade into the top spot for one of those quarterbacks, which most execs said they thought would happen."

"I think a trade is more likely than not—I would say 75 percent chance," one of the general managers added. "I could see it being more of like a Carolina (currently picking ninth) or someone outside the top 10 jumping into that top spot."

Most of the reporting around the Bears has basically presumed they would shop the top pick:

General manager Ryan Poles has done little to dissuade those assumptions. He told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated that there was a "strong chance" the team trades the top overall pick, adding the odds were "over 50 percent."

And he told Peter King of Pro Football Talk that he spoke to three teams at the NFL Scouting Combine about a potential trade for the No. 1 selection and believes he can get, at minimum, two future first-rounders—"a '24 one and a '25 one"—in a deal swapping first-round picks this offseason.

Fields, 24, emerged as one of the most dynamic playmakers in football this season, throwing for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 15 games while completing 60.4 percent of his passes and taking 55 sacks. Those numbers weren't great, but his rushing stats—1,143 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns—were elite.

He was arguably the lone bright spot for the Bears in a tough 3-14 campaign, and while he needs to improve as a passer, Fields did enough to convince anyone who watched Chicago play this season that he's the team's franchise quarterback going forward.

So the Bears can focus on other positions and look to secure a treasure chest of future draft capital from a quarterback-needy team looking to leapfrog the competition and secure the top overall pick. It's a solid position for the team to be in, and while there is plenty of time before April's draft, it won't be surprising if—or when—a deal is finalized.