The Chicago Bears' first round of the 2026 NFL Draft could not have gone any better for the team as they somehow landed Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman.
This ended up being the best-case scenario for the Bears, as many mock drafts didn't have Chicago anywhere close to Thieneman, but that reality was almost a dream. Bears general manager Ryan Poles spoke with the media, where he mentioned that they were considering moving back in the draft, as they had a couple of other players on their big board they were considering selecting.
“There wasn’t much interest right behind us where we felt comfortable in terms of the numbers,” Poles said via The Score's Chris Emma. “So we just moved forward. We loved the player. We were excited about it.”
Ryan Poles almost didn't select Dillon Thieneman and made a trade to move back
Would it have been the worst decision in the world? Maybe not, but the Bears had the dream prospect right in front of them, one who could solve a large percentage of their defensive problems.
Chicago lost both starting safeties in free agency and signed Coby Bryant to be one of them. The other one was potentially going to be Cam Lewis, but not many Bears fans viewed him as a starter, as he's more of a backup.
Rolling with Lewis and Bryant would have been bad for a secondary that was already very shaky against the pass a season ago. They need a playmaker like Thieneman to hop in and help create turnovers, which was something the Bears did better than any other unit in the NFL.
Read more: 4 winners (and 1 loser) from Bears' impressive Dillon Thieneman selection
Extra picks would have been nice, but Thieneman is a much better option for the Bears. The fan base in the Windy City should be grateful Poles didn't make that mistake.
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