Football Night in Chicago

Rapoport: Draft a ‘franchise-altering' player, if there

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The Bears will have a slew of options to take their franchise come NFL draft day. 

Adam Schefter said on ESPN 1000's Waddle & Silvy he expects the Bears the have the opportunity to listen to some "unbelievable offers."

MORE: Schefter: Bears to get 'unbelievable offers' for No. 1 pick

Do they trade down? Do they stay at No. 1? How far would they trade down?

"Jalen Carter and Will Anderson, are those franchise-altering players? Are those once-in-a-decade players? If Will Anderson is Myles Garrett, then take him No. 1 and don't even worry about it," Ian Rapoport said on NBC Sports Chicago's Football Night in Chicago. "Don't even think twice. If you're gonna be a dominant franchise, you gotta have those guys that just disrupt everything."

Certainly, pundits have faith either Carter or Anderson, or both, can alter a franchise's ability to rush the quarterback and plug up an opponent's rushing game. And the Bears have first picks at their preference of the two. 

Another intriguing option involves trading the pick down, seeing as there are a plethora of teams looking to move up their draft position to take a quarterback. Pickings are slim for quarterbacks in this draft – if you compare the talent to a draft like 2021– raising the demand of quarterbacks this season.

But, there are things the Bears must in keep in mind if they vie for a trade-down scenario. 

"I don't mind trading back though. You gotta have someone willing to come forward though," Rapoport said. "And then it's like, how far do you go back? Are you going back to No. 2? Going back to 7? Going back to 9?

"How far are you going back and can you still get a premium player while collecting assets?"

Certainly, the Bears can try to get the best of both worlds, by trading down while staying in contention for a premium player. 

Staying within the top four would all but guarantee the Bears a shot at Carter or Williams. Should they execute that possibility, they would kickstart their offseason with a successful draft.  

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