The Chicago Bears trade back with the Indianapolis Colts
The Chicago Bears are on the clock in this Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator and I am playing the part of Ryan Poles. As soon as the draft starts, I had 12 teams interested in trading up. Houston was not one of them. It should be noted that I don't think Houston is truly interested in giving up too much to move up from two to one in reality anyway. In the end, I made a trade with the Colts to move down from one to four. Here is what the trade looked like.
In order to receive the Colts' first-round picks in both 2024 and 2025, I had to send back a future fourth-rounder. That's a small price to pay to make this deal work. I also had to drop down from their 2023 third-round pick to their 2023 fourth-rounder. The difference was roughly 30 picks. I want this mock draft to be realistic. I'm not about to get expectations up for something better because it really is not likely to happen.
Now, Ryan Poles stays within the top five, gains an early second-round pick and nets two future firsts. Not a bad way to start this mock draft. Let's see how the top four picks shake out though. The Colts took C.J. Stroud first overall and the Texans took Bryce Young. Will Anderson went off the board to the Cardinals at three. I could take Jalen Carter, but at this point in time, I am not touching Carter this early in the draft. I'll let another team take their chances on him.