The Case to Trade Pick 25

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 24: A general view of a Trade Alert on screen during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft on April 24, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images) | Getty Images

As we do every year, we take a look at the Bears’ first-round pick and the different positions the team needs, and what would make sense for the team to do. As a reminder, I will go through multiple positional cases for the 25th pick, making the case does not necessarily mean I believe this is what the Bears should do, simply laying out the reasons as to why this pick makes sense.

We have already looked at Cornerback and Safety, but let’s look at strategy this time and not a position group. The Bears should trade this pick, and here’s why.

We have heard the term “flavors” draft quite a bit this year. To me, a flavors draft is code for a bad draft. You hear a lot about how, after about 15 to 20 picks, in a lot of ways, the top-end talent dries out a bit, and that it will become a flavors draft and that any number of players could go in any kind of order after that.

Now, when I say it’s a bad draft, of course, I don’t mean that there won’t be any high-quality players drafted outside the top 20; of course, there will be, but they will be a little tougher to find with a higher degree of varying outcomes.

Now the draft geeks will tell you that calling it a bad draft is unfair because of the reasons I laid out above, but the 2027 draft is considered a great draft where there could be more than 32 players with first-round grades. That’s a great draft, and you feel great drafting in the back end of round 1 in a draft like that. This draft that just simply isn’t the case.

There are three very obvious outcomes here: trading. The Bears could trade up, trade down, or trade for a player. You can argue that any of those three moves makes sense.

First, trading for a player. The Bears need an interior disruptor on their defensive line. They hoped Grady Jarrett would be that guy, but he just doesn’t seem to have enough gas left in the tank to be that guy. Arguably the best guy in the league at disrupting an offense from the IDL is the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence, who, as it turns out, hates it in New York and has demanded a trade, and the Giants media seem to think the relationship is broken beyond repair.

Trading for Dexter Lawrence and putting him next to Montez Sweat gives the Bears a dominant duo up front that will elevate the Gervon Dexters and Austin Bookers, but also protect the linebackers behind them and boost the secondary with better pressure up front. It’s the exact kind of move a Super Bowl contender would make.

Trading for Lawrence is the type of move the Bears would make if they are serious about competing for a Super Bowl in 2026. If they don’t, their defense isn’t going to be strong enough to make them a contender; they’ll be a playoff team that can maybe win a game, but simply can’t string together enough wins in a row against high-level competition to win the Lombardi. Their defense will be too much of an Achilles Heel.

If the Bears decide they won’t do something bold for Lawrence, you could absolutely make the case that trading the pick to move within the draft is the smart move.

Trading up is always a dangerous thought, but with the talent level drying out near 20 potentially, the Bears may have someone on the board that they know won’t get to 25, but they really need on their roster (like a Dillon Thieneman). If Thieneman is there at 19, would they move their third-round pick for him? If he’s there at 22, would they move their 4th to get him? It’s something they’ll have to consider, but they should not consider giving up 2027 draft capital for the pick. Packaging a pick in this draft (despite the Bears needing bodies) is a better strategy than losing picks in what could be a special pick next year.

If teams are willing to move up into the back half of round 1 and the Bears have an opportunity to trade down, that’s also something they could consider. If the players they really like aren’t there (and there’s a pretty good chance that’s the case), trading down from 25 into the 30s is going to give the Bears access to a similarly talented player, and the Bears could end up getting an early third-round pick for it. If a team is willing to give up a 2027 2 for the Bears to move down 8 to 10 spots, Ryan Poles should just accept the trade and make a 3-way call to the commissioner’s office with the trade details and not let the other team off the phone.

This is an interesting draft in terms of talent tiers, and the Bears are in a weird spot. Not sitting at the 25th pick makes a lot of sense, whether it’s a move up or down, or a move for Dexter Lawrence, you can make a strong case that any of those three outcomes is the smart play.