The Chicago Bears are reportedly open to trading away their No. 1 overall pick. There is now a new team in the Top 5 willing to move down the NFL Draft board.
It is no secret that the Chicago Bears are open for business in regards to their No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. A Week 18 win by the Houston Texans over the Indianapolis Colts helped the 3-14 Bears earn the first selection. ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Bears have heard from multiple teams interested in the No. 1 pick, and they are “leaning towards” trading it away.
As it turns out, the Bears aren’t the only team in the Top 5 who want to move down the draft board to accumulate more picks.
NFL Network national insider Ian Rapoport mentioned the possibility of the Arizona Cardinals being open to trading their No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming draft.
Cardinals open to trading No. 3 pick in 2023 NFL Draft
“We may get quarterback bang-bang, one-two, putting the Cardinals in a perfect position,” said Rapoport. “Could they take the best position player on the board, maybe it’s Will Anderson…New general manager Monti Ossenfort also was pretty clear — he’s open for business as well. They’re going to be prepared to pick, again, they’ve got a great draft spot, but could that be for sale as well? Could we get quarterback-quarterback-quarterback, one-two-three? That is going to be fascinating to watch over the next couple of months.”
General manager Monti Ossenfort said during his media session at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday that while he is prepared to select a player, he is willing to listen to offers for the No. 3 pick. Ossenfort’s comments can be heard in Pro Football Network’s tweet below.
“It presents an opportunity that there’s going to be a good player there waiting for us to take at No. 3, so we’ll be prepared to pick a player at No. 3. Our phones will be open, and I’ll be open to hear any conversation about anybody that’s willing to come up,” said Ossenfort.
The Cardinals were one of the big underachievers in the 2022 season. One year after making the playoffs (although they were blown out in the Wild Card Round by the Los Angeles Rams), they entered a free fall in 2022. They finished the year 4-13, last in the NFC West. Steve Keim stepped down as general manager, while head coach Kliff Kingsbury was fired.
Now, they have a new general manager in Ossenfort, who was the former director of player personnel for the Tennessee Titans for the previous three seasons. Not to mention they have a new head coach in Jonathan Gannon, the former defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals.
There is a strong chance that quarterbacks get selected in the first two picks, as Rapoport mentions. The No. 1 spot is a likely destination for a quarterback-needy team, who wants to leap ahead of the Houston Texans, who sit at the No. 2 spot. There’s also the chance that the Texans could move up to No. 1, and a team tries to move up to No. 2 to get their quarterback. Either way, if two quarterbacks are off the board after the first two picks, there is going to be plenty of panic for those teams in need of a signal caller. That would allow the Cardinals to cash-in on draft capital if they so choose.
However, they could be in quite the dilemma, as moving down too far could cost them the chance of selecting a top position player, such as Alabama linebacker Will Anderson or Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson.
So there you have it, the Bears aren’t the only team to keep an eye on for a trade down. The Cardinals could do so as well.
