Trade Talks For Bears QB Tyson Bagent Heating Up at NFL Combine

The 2026 NFL Combine kicks off in Indianapolis this week, and that means that NFL trade rumors are about to start flying as fast as people can type out a tweet on their phones. With every general manager in the league gathered together for this event, they inevitably turn to trade talks with their peers, testing the waters and seeing who's available and for how much.

For Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles, much of that talk has centered around his quarterback. No, not Caleb Williams. He's not going anywhere, but three-year veteran Tyson Bagent has been gaining respect around the league as a capable backup with the upside to be a starter.

On Tuesday morning, while speaking to the media at the NFL Combine, Poles confirmed that he's been fielding calls about Bagent's availability. Before the 2025 NFL season, I asked if Tyson Bagent was becoming a legitimate trade option, and we finally have our answer, and it's a resounding 'yes'.

Ryan Poles confirmed the Bears are getting calls on Tyson Bagent. Poles is weighing what he, Ben Johnson and the locker room think of Bagent versus the return, the price to replace him and also the opportunity for Bagent to go play.
— Mark Carman (@thecarm) February 24, 2026

The Bears won't move Bagent for a cheap return

After confirming he's received calls expressing interest in a trade for Bagent, Ryan Poles noted that Bagent is important to the Bears. A good, reliable backup quarterback is hard to find in the NFL, and most teams hesitate to let one go once they find him. Poles is weighing the value the coaching staff places on Bagent and the cost to replace him should they send him off in a trade, and what they would get in return, but he's also considering Bagent's own wants and needs.

Bagent has said before that he fully believes he can be a starter in this league, but so long as he's in Chicago behind Caleb Williams, he won't get that opportunity. If an offer is on the table that would allow him to compete for a starting NFL quarterback spot, you can bet your bottom dollar he'd ask Poles to make it happen.

A trade may not make sense for anyone

Unfortunately, any trade for Bagent would be tricky to hammer out. He's popular within Halas Hall, and he's a good backup who went 2-2 in the four starts he's had in the NFL thus far. Therefore, it's unlikely that the Bears would trade him for anything less than a third-round pick. A proposed mock trade that would send Bagent to an NFC rival floats the idea of a conditional fourth or fifth-round pick that becomes a third-rounder if he starts at least nine games for his new team, and I feel like that's something Chicago would accept.

But I can't see any team offering up the potential for a third-round pick for a quarterback with limited upside. I'm a big fan of Tyson Bagent, and his contract extension with the Bears was well deserved, but it's hard to imagine him being anything more than a low-end QB1 in the NFL. Players can have long, fruitful careers with that potential, but general managers aren't likely to give up more than a fifth or sixth-round pick for that.

And for what it's worth, head coach Ben Johnson, who spoke to the media shortly after Poles, appears to be dead set against trading Bagent. When asked about that possibility, he jokingly covered an emphatic 'no' with a fake cough, then said, "I love Tyson... and he's a hell of a football player, and at some point, you want to see him have a chance to [be a starting quarterback]. We'll always do what's best for our team, our organization. I do think there's a lot of merit to having a strong No. 2 quarterback, and he certainly fits that bill. I'm of the mind that he's one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the NFL."

Ben Johnson doesn’t want the Bears to trade QB Tyson Bagent but acknowledges that they have to do what’s best for the team

He believes Bagent is one of the best 32 QBs in the NFL pic.twitter.com/OwGJVVYr8M
— Lorin Cox (@CoxSports1) February 24, 2026

The Bottom Line

I'd love to be proven wrong here. No one would be happier if the Bears trade Bagent, he wins a starting job, and becomes a franchise quarterback. The kid from Martinsburg, West Virginia who never played Division I football would then be one of the greatest underdog stories in the history of football.

However, we have to look at this realistically. The Bears are going to want a decent return in a trade for Bagent, but I doubt any team will be willing to meet their price. Unless Poles decides to do his young QB2 a solid favor and trade him for next to nothing, I don't see a deal materializing. The most likely course sees Bagent play out his two-year contract extension with Chicago, then test free agency in 2028.