Chicago Bears and Ryan Pace trade up for Mitch Trubisky in the 2017 NFL Draft
Bears trade: the 3rd, 67th, 111th, and a 2018 third-round pick, to take Mitchell Trubisky with the 2nd overall pick
Verdict: Not a good trade
I don’t think I really need to go into detail about why this trade didn’t work out, but there are some things that are important to touch on. The Bears gave up an absolute haul to move up a single spot in fear that another team would trade up and take Trubisky from them.
The Bears had the right idea though
Chicago had cut ties with longtime quarterback Jay Cutler earlier in the offseason. They signed Mike Glennon to a two-year deal, but they were still in search of a long-term answer at the position. After going 3-13, the Bears had a top-five pick and finally had a chance to go after an elite quarterback prospect.
With quarterback being the most valuable position in football, moving up to get Trubisky wasn’t an awful move at the time. It seemed a little excessive to give up all the mid-round picks, but the Bears were so confident in Trubisky’s potential, they couldn’t risk having him go to another team.
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Right position, wrong player
Had Trubisky ended up being the Bears’ franchise quarterback, this trade would’ve been fine. The issue was Trubisky was a disaster in Chicago and is now a backup with the Buffalo Bills. Chicago went all-in on the Trubisky hype train, and it cost them big.
To make this pick look even worse, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were selected later that night. The Bears had a chance to secure their franchise quarterback but instead pulled one of the biggest draft-day blunders in recent memory.