Bear Digest

2025 NFL Mock Draft: Bears find new trade partner for massive first-round power move

The Chicago Bears are a wildcard in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, including in this mock draft, where GM Ryan Poles makes a blockbuster trade.
Bryan Perez|
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The Chicago Bears' 2025 NFL draft narrative is beginning to get wild.

Perhaps we're at that point in the NFL Draft calendar when mock draft authors' eyes are crossed after imagining every possible scenario that could unfold in the first round, but Bears projections are getting crazy.

First, it was TreVeyon Henderson (RB, Ohio State) getting mocked to the Bears in the first round (!!!), now, it's a new 2025 mock draft from CBS Sports that has Chicago making a power move up to the fourth overall pick to select Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter.

"TRADE! (details of the trade: Chicago gets No. 4 pick, New England gets No. 10, No. 41 and a 2026 3rd-rounder)," CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson wrote. "A freakish athlete who moved from off-ball linebacker to edge rusher for the 2024 season. Carter is not Micah Parsons -- not yet, anyway -- but he's just scratching the surface on what he can do."

First reaction? If that's all it will take for the Chicago Bears to move up to the fourth overall pick and land Carter? Sign me up. Their second second-rounder and a third-round pick in 2026? Yep, that would qualify as a no-brainer for the Bears, especially considering Carter is one of only four or five 'blue' players in the 2025 NFL Draft.

And when you combine Carter with the selections Wilson makes for the Bears in the second (TreVeyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State) and third rounds (Jaylon Reed, SAF, Penn State), the net return on the first-round mega deal is a huge win for the Bears.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive end Abdul Carter (11) against the Boise State Broncos
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The problem with this mock draft projection is there's no way -- at least, there shouldn't be a way -- that the Patriots would agree to those trade terms. Sliding from the fourth pick down to No. 10 is essentially sacrificing an elite prospect for a good, solid player. And that downgrade is worth a lot more than just a second-round pick in 2025 and a future third-rounder.

The Chicago Bears would likely have to cough up their first-round pick in 2026 for a move like that, which pushes this trade idea from really enticing to unappealing.

It's true that Poles and the Bears could decide that they have enough draft capital to make a push up the first round for Carter, or Mason Graham (DL, Michigan), or Ashton Jeanty (RB, Boise State). But if we've learned anything from how Chicago has operated in the NFL Draft under Poles, they're more likely to trade down.

With two weeks to go until the 2025 NFL Draft kicks off, speculation about what the Chicago Bears will do in the first round will only get wilder. Buckle up.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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