The possibility remains for the Chicago Bears to use the No. 9 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft in a trade that would allow them to address their first-round need for a wide receiver and pass rusher.
In this two-team trade scenario, the Bears could land their two biggest needs at this time outside of the quarterback position. It all starts with making a trade with the New Orleans Saints. The Saints give the Bears the 14th, 45th, and 189th picks in the draft for the 9th pick. This enables the Saints to draft one of the best left tackles in this deep offensive tackle draft. Joe Alt is very likely the Saint's top choice, but Olu Fashanu might also be the left tackle they want the most. This sets up the Bears with the 14th pick to draft Adonai Mitchell. Outside of Marvin Harrison Jr., Adonai Mitchell has the best combination of height, speed, and hands in this draft as an X receiver.
Mitchell has exceptional body control and flexibility while he runs with long smooth strides. He is very good with vertical routes. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination which extends his catch radius in a big way. He is a threat to all three levels of a defense. He has outstanding catch ability as he is able to be effective in snaring off-target passes from a variety of angles. He is quite impressive in creating separation with his quick and sudden changes of direction. He is also very effective at tracking long balls and winning jump balls. Given all this, he is well worth the 14th pick in this draft.
Switching over to the defense, in order to also draft a pass rusher, the Bears trade up from No. 45 in the second round to land the 21st pick owned by the Dolphins. With this pick, the Bears select Chop Robinson. As I lay out this trade you will see that it enables the Dolphins to fill in most of their important needs. The Dolphins should agree to this trade because they are in win-now mode and have many needs on both offense and defense while also currently having only 3 million in cap space.
Chicago Bears could be active in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
My trade suggestion fills the needs that the Dolphins have on offense. In this trade, as mentioned, the Dolphins acquire the 45th pick the Bears received from the Saints. On top of that, the Dolphins also get Nate Davis, Tyler Scott, and maybe Velus Jones Jr. If Jones is included, then the Dolphins have to give back a mid-round draft pick in 2024 or 2025. The Dolphins very much need a slot receiver, which the speedy Tyler Scott can become for them. They also need another receiver for depth to back up Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle as well as give them a better option when they line up four wideouts on a play. If the Dolphins push for him, the Bears can certainly afford to trade Jones. They can then use one of their later draft picks to select a receiver in this wide receiver-heavy draft.
In the second round, the Dolphins can use the 45th pick from the Bears and their own 55th pick to fill in their biggest needs on defense, inexpensively. The positions they need to fill in are a 3-technique and a 5-technique. To make the Davis part of the trade work, the Bears will need to eat a fair amount of his 2024 contract. However, this is more than worth it as this trade gives the Bears a first-round pass rusher that they very much need and covet. The prospects that the Dolphins can draft to fill in these needs include Braden Fiske who can play 3T and 5T. Realistically, they can draft either Ruke Ohorohoro to play 3T or Kris Jenkins to play 5T.
Tyler Forness of Sporting News was among the first to suggest that the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints will be trade partners. Forness is aware of the need that the Bears have for an X receiver. Rome Odunze should become a great NFL wideout, but Adonai Mitchell's 6'2" height, 4.34-40 speed, and good hands are a better fit than Odunze for what the Bears have now. Odunze does not have the long speed to turn on the after-burners to consistently create big plays that Mitchell can make happen. With the dynamic and tall Mitchell working together with Moore and Allen, the Bears' offense could be special in 2024.