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Draft History Points the Way for Ryan Poles With Bears' Pick at No. 25

The trend is an obvious one for the Bears, whether it's Poles making the pick at 25 in Round 1 or some other NFL GM in recent years.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears tight end Colston Loveland last year was the first Ryan Poles first-round pick made without a trade involved.
Bears tight end Colston Loveland last year was the first Ryan Poles first-round pick made without a trade involved. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Bears GM Ryan Poles never has a problem with trading during the draft, but he also has never been in the situation he now faces during Round 1.

Pick No. 25 at the back of Round 1 is a place the Bears haven't been much in recent history, period. A team needs to be pretty good to select at that point unless they acquired the pick through trade. Obvious, the Bears had a run of lousy or mediocre football from 2013-2017 and from 2019-2024, so they normally didn't see what picking 25 was like.

"Yeah, I think if you look at some late-round action, historically I think you want to just stay disciplined with taking good football players," Poles said. "I think you can take a little risk and you can go get a flashy guy that may not be the wiring in terms of culture fit isn’t the right thing to do. You take a chance there. Or he flashes or they’re a young player and you’re going to project this crazy growth.

"I think taking good football players at 25, I think back to the Steelers, I think back to the Ravens and some of these teams that just were able to put really good rosters together and draft well late, those guys aren’t sexy."

Then again, when those are the types of players available then trading back or even forward are not bad ideas. You're getting a similar quality of player either way.

Poles obviously had his heart set on Colston Loveland last year and took him at No. 10, but both of his earlier first-round picks came after trades. They dealt away the first pick of the draft in 2023 to get a chance to select Caleb Williams the next year. They traded down one spot and drafted tackle Darnell Wright in 2023 with one of the first-rounders they got back in that trade.

Poles' history suggests they'll make a trade at No. 25, but it's likely they'd wait until the draft to make the move because you can never be sure who might fall in your lap so late in Round 1. It's like being a fisherman with a net.

Something else makes it far more likely Poles will trade the pick.

The 25th pick of the draft got traded in eight of the last nine drafts. In one, it got traded twice.

The rarity in Green Bay

The only time in that nine-year stretch when a team did not trade the 25th pick was in 2024 when Green Bay drafted tackle Jordan Morgan, who started 12 of the 17th games he played in last season.

That stretch of eight traded 25th picks in nine drafts began in 2017 after cornerback Artie Burns was drafted by Pittsburgh with its own selection in 2016.

The 25th pick is in a place where a team can escape the higher pay for first-round picks by moving back and taking an extra pick later on in the draft. The Houston Texans did this last year by sending the 25th pick to the New York Giants for the 34th pick, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2026 third-round pick.

This type of trade compensation isn't necessarily what the Bears could look for if they move back. The Giants were desperate to acquire a quarterback, and teams in need at that position will pay more. The Giants did and moved up to 25 to select Jaxson Dart.

If the Bears make a move with the 25th pick, history says it is going to usually be a case of moving back but not always out of the first round like with the Dart trade. In 2020, the Vikings had it and traded it to the 49ers for the 31st pick plus fourth- and fifth-round picks.

There have also been instances when it was used in trades to move up in Round 1.

In 2023 it was traded twice, once to move up and then to move back. Eventually the Bills took the 25th off the Jaguars' hands for pick No. 27 and a fourth-round pick. Then Buffalo selected tight end Dalton Kincaid.

A player of recent notoriety in free agency went at 25 after a 2022 trade. The Bills had the 25th pick, traded it to Baltimore with a fourth-round pick and moved up to No. 23. Baltimore then used the 25th pick on center Tyler Linderbaum.

During the draft

Almost all of the trades came during the draft, but a few occurred well in advance. The 25th pick in 2019 turned up well in advance when the Rams sent it with a 2020 first-rounder and a fourth-round pick to Jacksonville for cornerback Jalen Ramsey.

When the Bears selected Loveland No. 10, they could set their sites on him early. At No. 25, it's not really possible unless your personnel staff thinks it knows something very specific about a player that late in Round 1.

As Poles said, they'd just be looking for a "good, hearty football player" so late in Round 1.

Or, they'll be looking to trade for a chance to take a good, hearty football player and some other draft picks later on.

Pick No. 25

2016 draft-2025 draft

  • 2025: Giants traded 34th pick in Round 2, 2025 third-round pick, third-round pick for No. 25
  • 2024: Packers drafted Jordan Morgan with No. 25
  • 2023: Giants traded 25th pick to Jaguars for No. 24 and also picks in Round 5 and 7. Jaguars traded No. 25 to Bills for No. 27 and a fourth-rounder
  • 2022: Bills traded No. 25 and a fourth-round pick to Ravens for No. 23
  • 2021: Rams in 2019 traded a 2021 pick that turned out to be No. 25, with a 2020 first-rounder and 2021 fourth-rounder to Jaguars to acquire CB Jalen Ramsey and a 2021 fourth-round pick
  • 2020: Vikings traded the 25th pick to the 49ers for the 31st pick and fourth- and fifth-round picks
  • 2019: Eagles traded 25th pick to Ravens with fourth- and sixth-round picks for the 22nd pick
  • 2018: Titans traded 25th pick and a fourth-round pick to the Ravens for the 18th pick (TE Hayden Hurst) and a sixth-round pick
  • 2017: Texans traded 25th pick with a 2018 first-round pick (No. 4 overall) to the Browns for the 12th pick in 2017 (DeShaun Watson)
  • 2016: Steelers drafted CB Artie Burns 25th

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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