Getty Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy.
The Chicago Bears certainly have their work cut out for them, particularly if the latest report about their draft plans has much weight. The Bears currently have the 20th overall pick in the first round of the NFL Draft this year, which isn’t high enough to nab one of the top five available quarterbacks, but they’re apparently working diligently to change that.
In his most recent article for Denver Sports Radio’s 104.3 The Fan, longtime NFL analyst John Clayton says the Bears are “competing with” the Denver Broncos and several other teams for the opportunity to move up in the draft to select a franchise quarterback.
“Add Chicago to the number of teams trying to trade up for one of the five first-round quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft,” Clayton wrote. “Andy Dalton is the Bears starter. Nick Foles is still on their roster, but Chicago is looking to get their quarterback of the future.”
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Clayton: Bears ‘Tried Like Crazy’ to Acquire QB Russell Wilson
“They tried like crazy to trade for Russell Wilson, but that was never going to happen. They were willing to give up three first-round picks, cornerback Kyle Fuller and a top defensive starter,” Clayton said about the Bears.
After failing to pry Wilson away from Pete Carroll and the Seahawks, the Bears are now rumored to be looking to the draft for their next franchise quarterback — and so far, Clayton joins a growing list of analysts and insiders saying Chicago has every intention of trying to move up to snag one. Bears insider Jeff Hughes of DaBearsBlog said last week that the team was “trying actively to get up to the fourth pick,” which is currently held by the Atlanta Falcons.
The Broncos currently hold the No. 9 overall pick this year, which may not be good enough to land Mac Jones, Trey Lance or Justin Fields — if any of them are even left by then. Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson, of course, are widely expected to go No. 1 and No. 2 overall.
Considering how much second-year quarterback Drew Lock has struggled entering the league, the Broncos are also predicted to try to find another quarterback to compete with him. Teddy Bridgewater’s name has been mentioned as a possibility in Denver, but nothing definitive has gone down, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens. The ninth pick is a more desirable trading chip than the 20th pick, so if Chicago wants to outshine teams like Denver in a scenario where both try to move up, it’ll have to offer a pretty sweet deal.
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Bears Have Hinted They May Be Going That Way
In their most recent meeting with the media, Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy both revealed their interest in adding a young signal-caller.
“We have a lot of experience in that room when you look at it now, when you combine Andy and Nick. That’s a lot of games in the NFL. It does bode well for a young quarterback in that room with the experience of those two guys and some of the accolades they have in our league,” Pace said earlier this month. “We’re always looking to add to every position and get better everywhere, and there’s no more core position than quarterback.”
“There’s a lot of teams in this league right now that are always evaluating the quarterback position,” Nagy added. “Ryan and I are super excited about going through that right now together, and how we do it. It’s a challenge but we look forward to it. There’s a lot of good quarterbacks in this draft.”
The Broncos, of course, are led by former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who spent the 2018 season working with Nagy in Chicago. They could be intensely battling each other in less than two weeks, so stay tuned, Bears fans. Things keep getting more interesting by the day, and the draft will be here before we know it.
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Bears ‘Competing With’ AFC Team for Franchise QB: Report