OK, I’ll admit it. I thought the Chicago Bears-Philadelphia Eagles pick swap was weird.
And based on the reactions from Twitter, I’d say I wasn’t the only one.
Don’t get me wrong. There was always a good chance Bears GM Ryan Poles would swing a deal on draft weekend. And there was reason to believe he could trade back on Day 1. So it made sense to see the Bears were cutting a deal after they went on the clock. It even made sense that the Eagles were a trade partner. These two franchises seem to understand each other when it comes to trades. I suppose Bears Assistant GM Ian Cunningham could have something to do with that.
Even still … the trade was weird. Getting a 2024 fourth-round when teams later in the draft were getting 2023 picks as part of minor trade-back opportunities didn’t look great. There was even a segment of discourse claiming the Bears got fleeced. And while I understand that point of view, the deal — from an analytics perspective — was a net win for the Bears:
One of my initial fears about the Bears-Eagles trade was that it was made for the sake of making a deal. Those are the worst types of trades. But this wasn’t that. Instead, it was really about getting an incremental uptick in value. As someone close to me would put it: “Even the smallest steps forward are still steps forward.” In other words, even if the trade provides the smallest bit of value, it still counts as increasing value. And while it wasn’t much, Poles got some value in that trade. Ultimately, it brings the Bears up to eight picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. So if you were worrying about the Bears not having a seventh-rounder after sending it to the Patriots last summer in the N’Keal Harry trade, just know that the Bears have an additional fourth to play around with now.
In the end, my mind goes here: If the Bears were going to take Darnell Wright with the No. 9 pick anyway, then getting a 2024 fourth-round pick from the Eagles was like getting a freebie. That is a net win in my book. So hanks, Philly! We’ll order a cheesesteak in your honor.
