An intriguing NFC team is a club to watch as a potential “trade-up team” for the first overall pick, according to NFL Network’s insiders.
Per Mike Garafolo, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, other teams around the league believe the Washington Commanders are a candidate to land the No. 1 pick from the Chicago Bears:
“(New GM Adam) Peters faces one of his largest decisions for the next several years in figuring out how to handle the No. 2 pick. Plenty of teams view Peters’ Commanders as a possible trade-up team to No. 1, with the belief that offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could be paired once again with Williams. And the Commanders likely will place a call to the Bears to gauge the market and see if a trade is possible.
Otherwise, their options at No. 2 appear to include North Carolina’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels, or they could perhaps take a position player and acquire a veteran like Fields.”
The Bears own the first overall pick via the Carolina Panthers, who surrendered their 2024 first-round pick as part of the move up for Bryce Young last year.
Though there’s a case to be made that Chicago GM Ryan Poles should trade the No. 1 pick and continue building around Justin Fields, Rapoport reported that the Bears need “historic” compensation to trade the top selection.
Rapoport added that the Bears will “likely” use that pick on a quarterback, presumably USC quarterback Caleb Williams. If that happens, the Commanders would likely use the No. 2 pick on North Carolina signal-caller Drake Maye.
