The Chicago Bears trade back leaving some top-level wide receivers on the board
Just like that, Ryan Poles makes his mark by moving back from the first pick the Chicago Bears have in the 2022 NFL Draft. Instead of selecting a player at 39 overall, Poles makes a trade with the Buffalo Bills and leaves some of the top-level wide receivers left on the board. Christian Watson, George Pickens and Skyy Moore were all available for the Chicago Bears, but Ryan Poles wanted to acquire more picks instead.
Moving back will not make fans happy when they see those three receivers taken off the board before the Chicago Bears are on the clock again at pick No. 48. In fact, to make the sting worse, Christian Watson goes to the Commanders at pick No. 47.
Honestly, I don’t think there is a reason to even stay at pick No. 48 either. Especially because the Steelers are on the phone offering pick 52, only five picks later, and a late fourth-round pick. Ryan Poles hits the trade accept button again since there are enough solid offensive linemen available to choose from.
If you look at the names of the players the Chicago Bears seem to be focusing on in their meetings at the Senior Bowl, the Combine and now recently at Halas Hall (or virtual), there are plenty of players who will be available later in the draft. This is leaving me to believe that Ryan Poles plans on trading back early to acquire more draft capital.
Now, the team went to plenty of Pro Days and did meet with guys like Christian Watson, Treylon Burks and even Tyler Linderbaum (who was selected by the Packers at 22nd-overall in this mock by the way), but my assumption is that with who was on the board and the draft capital gained in these two drafts — trades like these are more likely.