In a shocking turn of events, the Chicago Bears landed the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft the final week of the 2022 season. Ending the year on a 10-game losing streak was certainly less than ideal, but the Bears at least will have one positive from that.
With the No. 1 pick, Chicago has plenty of avenues to explore. They can use it themselves, assuring they get whichever player is atop their board. But, if they want to continue stockpiling assets to rebuild the roster, they can entertain making a trade with a quarterback-needy team.
There are plenty of teams around the NFL that should be thinking about making a trade-up with the Bears for the No. 1 pick. Quarterback-needy franchises, such as the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders should be considering it so that they can jump ahead of the Houston Texans, who pick second. Even the Texans should think hard about jumping up one spot so that they can get their guy.
While a lot of the focus has been on a few teams in the top 10, there is always one team that makes a shocking move to jump up the board. One former NFL executive that spoke to NFL Analysis Network believes they have pinpointed the franchise that will do that in 2023.
“Everyone has been talking about the Colts, Texans, and Raiders are trade-up candidates. Another team to watch closely is the Buccaneers. They have contemplated the idea of an aggressive move up using Mike Evans or Chris Godwin to make it happen.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a huge void at the quarterback position. 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask is the only quarterback under contract currently and it would be shocking if the Buccaneers handed him the starting job without some competition.
Tampa Bay could look to bring in a veteran and try to contend again. The relative weakness of the NFC South could bring some false optimism about the team’s outlook. Alas, this is a franchise that needs a long-term option and if they don’t believe that to be Trask, making an aggressive move for the No. 1 pick makes some sense.
It would certainly cost multiple future picks as Tampa Bay is picking 19th in the 2023 NFL Draft. To make a move that far up the board, they will have to compensate the Bears in a major way as they would no longer be in the running for any of the top defensive prospects dropping that far down the board.
