When the Bears-Panthers game kicked off Thursday night at Soldier Field, the Bears’ trade that sent the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft to the Panthers for wide receiver DJ Moore and four draft picks — including the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024 — already was paying dividends: Even the most disappointed, disillusioned Bears fans were rooting for the Bears to win instead of lose.
That wasn’t the case last year, when bitter fans were pulling for the Bears to lose every game and get a better chance of that No. 1 overall pick. This time, with the Panthers 1-7 and behind only the 1-8 Cardinals in the first-round draft order, Bears fans could root for the Bears to win — and still have a better chance of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
That was one benefit, but not the only one of general manager Ryan Poles’ bold trade last March that was back in the national focus Thursday night with the Panthers in town. Not much has gone right for Poles in his second season. The Bears were 2-7 going into the Panthers game and Matt Eberflus, Poles’ hand-picked coach, is the favorite to be the next NFL coach fired (+275). Quarterback Justin Fields missed his fourth consecutive game with a dislocated thumb and remains a question mark for 2024.
But “The Trade” is keeping Poles’ listing ship afloat.
Poles turned down the opportunity to take Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or any of the other highly rated quarterbacks with the No. 1 pick. Instead, he traded the pick to the Panthers for what was almost universally acclaimed as a substantial bounty. The Bears received four draft picks — in the first round (No. 9) and second round (No. 61) in 2023, the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024 and their second-round pick in 2025. And three-time 1,000-yard wide receiver in Moore.
It seemed like a masterstroke — and might still be one when the deal is fully played out. It kept the Bears in the top 10 of the 2023 draft. And in acquiring Moore, the Bears added a weapon for Fields he had been lacking, and removed a weapon for whichever rookie quarterback the Panthers likely would be starting in 2023 — in theory increasing the chances the 2024 No. 1 pick from the Panthers could be in the top 10.
Besides Moore, the Bears also acquired Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the 10th overall pick after trading down one spot with the Eagles. In the second round they traded up five spots to take Miami (Fla.) cornerback Tyrique Stevenson at No. 56.
It’s worked out well so far for Poles and the Bears. Wright has been a plug-and-play right tackle who already looks like a foundation piece with staying power. Stevenson also has been a starter since Week 1. And at this point the rookie trials he’s going through look like part of the development most talented cornerbacks go through more than a red flag. He’s fast. He’s physical. And he’s learning what he can and can’t do at the NFL level.
But it’s the Panthers’ first-round pick that looks like the marquee part of the trade. It remains to be seen if the Panthers will stay in the running for the No. 1 overall pick. But it would give Poles options to draft a quarterback — USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye — or at least be high enough to get Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison, Jr.
However that scenario plays out, “The Trade” gives Poles a little more time to see how his long game plays out. With the Bears’ spinning their wheels, the Eberflus era on tilt and fan frustration mounting, Poles needs to buy as much time as he can.