Bears Trade Downs Need to Stop at Round 1

With the draft approaching, the Bears need to use it.

They need to use every single bit of it.

They need to squeeze every last drop out of it, much the way GM Ryan Poles did last year. They can use the extra pick or picks available by trading down out of the top pick because they'd still be getting early, quality picks in exchange, but after that first round the trading down needs to stop.

They need quality and quantity in this draft and in future ones rather than just quantity.

More than anything else, they need to avoid giving in to temptation.

There will be tempting offers available, and many of those include trading for a veteran wide receiver.

Tee Higgins and DeAndre Hopkins

One could be Cincinnati wide receiver Tee Higgins, although the Bengals definitely have ways of keeping him rather than dealing him. They seem to have an offense and quarterback capable of functioning without a high-quality offensive line. Whatever they have in place has worked well the last two seasons so keeping Joe Burrow, Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase together shouldn't be as hard if it's only those three they're really worried about retaining.

If the Bengals weren't likely to retain Higgins, it would be worth a Bears move depending on the asking price, except for the fact they've already wasted a second-round pick on a similar move and would just be back-sliding into this rut of dealing away early picks.

Another option out there is trading for a receiver who will be 31 years old this season. That's DeAndre Hopkins, who tested positive for a banned substance and missed six games last season. The banned substance was reportedly a 0.134 trace element of ostarine, and he was said to be 0.035 over the allowable limit.

There's no way to prove whether or not Hopkins was aware of taking this substance or how much or whether something like this could happen again in the future, so this situation alone must raise a yellow caution flag at the least.

The real red alert for Hopkins is his age and not the substance situation. Why on earth would the Bears be willing to throw away draft picks at a 31-year-old wide receiver when they are building a team from the ground up?

History shows a receiver in their 30s can be more productive than a running back who is that old, but not for much longer. Teams know what happens to receivers in their 30s.

NFL GMs put their money where they know it needs to be and they know there isn't value in 30-something receivers.

According to Spotrac.com, there are no wide receivers who signed contracts past age 30 that rated among the top 57 at this position in average annual cash. Marvin Jones Jr. was the only one to sign a deal in his 30s that ranks among the top 77 receivers in the league for average annual cash.

Sending draft picks away for an aging wide receiver is something a team on the verge of winning a title can afford, or one on the verge of competing for something relevant. They don't mind a player for a year or two of production then.

If rebuilding teams trade for such players, they're destined to be rebuilding teams for an even longer period because throwing away draft picks is about the worst thing an NFL team can do.

Ryan Pace Wasted the Future

The Bears just went through seven years of Ryan Pace and one theme to his time as a GM was a willingness to ship away draft picks, either for a veteran he viewed as a sure thing or for other later picks when the talent level is lower.

The trade he made for Khalil Mack brought the Bears one good year and could have made for another except opponents figured out blocking Mack required two offensive linemen or even two plus a chipper. Once they neutralized him, the other defenders who had the chance to capitalize did not do it enough, and eventually other problems developed with injuries to Mack and Akiem Hicks.

The Bears had been squandering draft picks, and they had little depth because they lacked players who developed within their system over the years and could be relied on in reserve. They were busy throwing away picks on draft day that could have supplied higher quality depth.

When this draft takes place, the Bears pick first in part because they didn't have a first-round draft pick three of the last four years and because they wasted the pick when they had it from 2015-17.

They didn't have a first- or second-round pick in 2019.

What Pace did with fourth-round picks bordered on criminal.

A fourth-round pick is valuable because it's the final day of the draft. Day 3 starts with the fourth round and the break between Day 2 and 3 allows personnel departments to strategize, reset priorities and comb what's left. It's like the second first round of the draft, the best of what's left.

In 2017, Pace made tremendous use of Round 4 and drafted Eddie Jackson and Tarik Cohen. Both were valued greatly. Losing Cohen to a fluke knee injury on a fair catch really hurt the Bears significantly as both a punt returner and a receiver/runner.

Pace used fourth-round picks to draft Riley Ridley and lifetime special teamer Joel Iyiegbuniwe the next two years, so they got very little out of it.

Then Pace proceeded to trade away his fourth-round pick for 2020 and 2021. When Poles drafted last year he had no fourth-round pick because Pace had dealt this one away, as well.

Sure, the Bears needed to trade up and lose picks to get Justin Fields, but when Pace was giving away picks every year to move all over the draft board in different rounds it eventually was going to become a problem and did.

They had too many gaps in the draft where they missed out on talent before picking again.

In 2019, they went until the third round before picking. In 2020, they waited until Round 2 to participate and then didn't have a pick after that round until the fifth round.

In 2021, they were without a pick after Round 2 until Round 5. Last year they didn't have a first because of the trade up for Fields, but again didn't have a fourth-rounder, either.

It's often said it takes three years to evaluate a draft, but it wasn't difficult to evaluate Pace's drafts because he was busy trading away the picks so there was less to evaluate.

Now the Need Is Quality and Quantity

Last year Poles had to do the same thing in several instances in order to make up for Pace's past mistakes. He had to get as many picks as he could because he entered the draft with only six picks.

Even without first- and fourth-round picks, he found ways to come up with 11 draft picks. Eight were on Day 3 of the draft so the chances for success were diminished, but this year if they are dealing down for more picks it will be from a position of strength with the No. 1 pick overall. The return should be great at that point.

There is no need to be trading away middle-round picks to move down and get late Day 3 picks. They can pick players without giving up quality.

There is no need to trade away early picks for players who might be an age or illegal substance risk.

There's no need to trade away multiple picks for someone else's veteran receiver who needs a big contract right away. Poles already did this and gave into temptation by acquiring Chase Claypool. That one could come back to bite him. The jury will be out on the move at least until they've had a chance to see how Claypool works within an offense after he's had an offseason to learn it.

In the meantime, the Bears need to stand their ground and select in this draft after taking picks to move down from the first pick overall, if this is their option.

They control the draft. They can do what they want then.

Whatever they do, they need to make meaningful picks because it's been far too long since they were drafting players in bulk at spots where there is still quality available thanks largely to Pace.

The bottom line is if they need a veteran, they have plenty of cap space to get one in free agency this year and can afford to avoid dealing away picks at the expense of their future.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven