Chicago Bears 2016 NFL Draft Continued
Chicago Bears trade down twice to select IOL Cody Whitehair
Chicago Bears receive:
- No. 49 pick – traded to the Seahawks
- No. 117 pick – traded to Los Angeles Rams who selected WR Pharoh Cooper
- No. 117 pick (2017) – traded to Los Angeles Rams who selected WR Josh Reynolds
Buffalo Bills receive:
- No. 41 pick – LB Reggie Ragland
Chicago Bears receive:
- No. 56 pick – IOL Cody Whitehair
- No. 124 pick – S Deon Bush
Seattle Seahawks receive:
- No. 49 pick – DT Jarran Reed
This series of trades by Ryan Pace is pure genius. He acquires a ton of draft capital by trading down twice with the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. Reggie Ragland never even played a snap for the Bills. Then, Pace traded back again allowing the Seattle Seahawks to get Jarran Reed who has been a mainstay for the defensive line for years before his release this offseason.
The Bears then got both Cody Whitehair and Deon Bush who are both still on the Bears’ roster. Whitehair is a high-end left guard for the Bears and a solid center. He is a great leader for the team and has been a great selection living up to his draft pick. Bush is a great special teamer and great backup safety for the Bears and has filled in well when called to action at safety. The Seahawks and Bears both won these trades.
Chicago Bears trade up to select ILB Nick Kwiatkoski
Chicago Bears receive:
- No. 113 pick – ILB Nick Kwiatkoski
Los Angeles Rams receive:
- No. 117 pick – WR Pharoh Cooper
- No. 206 pick – WR Mike Thomas
Ryan Pace once again executed a great trade with the Los Angeles Rams and clearly won this trade as well. Both Pharoh Cooper and Mike Thomas have been irrelevant for the Rams essentially only being special teamers. Thomas caught a total of 10 passes in LA. Cooper specialized as a kick returner and was great at it.
Nick Kwiatkoski was outstanding in his time in Chicago, to say the least. The converted safety adjusted to the NFL and was a great backup for the Bears filling in multiple times for injured inside linebackers. He additionally served well on special teams. The Bears poorly decided to sign Danny Trevathan instead of bringing him back in 2020 though and now he is a full-time starter for the Las Vegas Raiders.