General manager Ryan Pace is at his do-or-die threshold, folks. The Chicago Bears are entering a crucial period as the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off.
A lot of rumors continue to fly around today, and one of them remains that Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields could fall to pick seven or later. If Fields does indeed fall, the Bears would have to be the one team to watch out for.
After all, even The Chicago Tribune’s own Brad Biggs is feeling as though the Bears will do everything they can to move up for a quarterback. Tonight could get wild, and the fans are here for it.
All day long, we’re continuing to see the rumblings and reports shuffle through. One of the bigger ones is from senior Pro Football Focus analyst Steve Palazzolo, who tweeted one simple phrase Thursday afternoon.
The national media is starting to pay attention to the Chicago Bears and what they might do.
Historically, PFF has not been kind to the Bears. Chicago has been a team they love to hate. But, if Palazzolo is putting his name out there like this in connection with the Bears, then there is much reason to stop and listen.
Chicago is in desperate need of a franchise quarterback, and it appears they may end up with one tonight. The questions are aplenty, though.
If the Bears trade up, with which team are they going to partner? That might depend on Pace’s top target. It also depends upon which quarterbacks last past pick three. We know Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson are going 1-2, but the San Francisco 49ers hold a lot of weight with that third overall pick.
After the 49ers make their selection, things could start to go off the rails in a hurry and Pace may need to take a leap of faith. As Biggs had in his final mock draft, Chicago moved up to that fourth pick to take Trey Lance out of North Dakota State.
If it’s not Lance, it’s likely Justin Fields, assuming many of the reports regarding Mac Jones to the 49ers hold true.
Then again, Jones might not be the pick at three — and we’re in for a wild ride.
The one report coming out on Thursday which makes the trade talk even more intriguing is what Ian Rapoport stated about 2022 draft picks. He tweeted out that next year’s picks will be valued like “gold,” insinuating that a team like Chicago may not have to give up as much as we originally thought.
For the Bears to move up into the fourth pick, for example, it would have been assumed that they would need to give up three first-round picks. Now, after Rapoport’s tweet, maybe that value changes.
Whatever the case may be, Palazzolo seems to be onto something here. Maybe the Bears are going to shock the world tonight — and hopefully this time, Pace gets it right.