The beginning of the 2025 NFL Draft is here as the first-round will be completed on Thursday night.
For the Chicago Bears, the team currently holds the No. 10 selection, but there have been rumors over the last 24 hours that have suggested the Bears are looking to move up in the draft. A rumor out of New York suggests that the Bears are among the teams that want to jump within the first five selections of the draft.
League source text: “Chicago Bears looking to move up”
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) April 23, 2025
Another league source: SIX teams ahead of the Bears at No. 10 are open to moving back#NFLDraft
Being that the rumor is originating from a New York Daily News reporter, it would be fair to suggest that the Bears could be talking with the New York Giants. The Giants hold the No. 3 spot in the draft, the likely landing spot for Abdul Carter. The Bears were hopeful to get a Pre-Draft visit with Carter, but he was only taking visits with the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Giants, and New England Patriots. The Bears wouldn't need a Pre-Draft visit to understand that Carter is the game-changing type of player they lack on their defensive line.
The idea of the Bears moving up in the draft has also been floated out by Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
A day before the NFL draft, here’s my interpretation of some of the increasing chatter, speculation, etc.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) April 23, 2025
The Bears don’t feel they have as many eye-popping roster holes as a typical 12-loss football team. Their urge to add *elite* talent is real. Thus shopping for potential…
The framing done by Wiederer in that report may remind Bears fans of the approach the team had during the 2024 NFL Draft. Ryan Poles felt comfortable enough with his roster construction last offseason that he took a project offensive tackle in the third round, and a punter in the fourth round. It was an egregious miscalculation made by Poles.
Having said that, the case could be made that the Bears' roster could withstand the team's aggressiveness to add an elite talent in the draft. The Bears spent the early weeks of the offseason adding three new starters to their offensive line while addressing the defensive line with the signings of Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo. Adding Carter would be the perfect culmination of the work that the Bears have done thus far.