Peter King: ‘I suppose the Bears are going to trade the top pick’

Not all NFL insiders are the same. Some self-proclaimed insiders disguise educated guesses by claiming unnamed sources. Other actual league insiders have earned the trust of NFL fans because of decades of accurate reporting based on relationships built over time.

One of those reliable (and legendary) NFL insiders is Peter King, the longtime author of Monday Morning Quarterback and, more recently, Football Morning in America.

And that’s why it’s worth paying attention when a guy like King makes a statement about what he thinks the Chicago Bears will do with the first pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

In his latest FMIA column, King said he thinks the Bears will trade the first pick.

“I suppose the Bears are going to trade the top pick,” King wrote. “I know nothing, but that seems to be the way the wind is blowing. What I say: The Bears could keep Justin Fields (and should), and trade the first pick down once or twice, and build the kind of supporting cast a team needs to contend.

‘Suppose GM Ryan Poles traded the top pick down one spot to Washington (which would take Caleb Williams), and got the second pick, a second-round pick and a 2025 first-round pick in return. Then suppose Poles traded the second pick to Atlanta at eight, and the Falcons picked one of the other quarterbacks. In return, Chicago gets the eighth pick, Atlanta’s second-round pick, and first- and second-round picks next year.”

Let’s parse through this a bit.

King conditions his prediction on a critical point: he knows nothing. He hasn’t gathered direct intel that the Chicago Bears will trade the first pick. However, he does say that the Bears trading out is “the way the wind is blowing.”

I find that interesting. Really interesting. The general consensus has been that the Bears won’t trade out and that it will take a historic haul to Move Poles off Caleb Williams.

It appears King is hearing otherwise, and that’s an important takeaway. The people he talks to and the opinions he gathers have a lot more merit than your favorite X account that throws their best guesses against the wall.

It’s really difficult to stay grounded at this time of year. The rumors will fly from all corners of NFL media, and some of them will be intentionally misleading.

I’m holding firm in my opinion that the Chicago Bears won’t trade the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. They’ll select Williams, and instead will focus on trading the No. 9 pick to a team willing to jump up for whichever quarterback is still on the board.