Has the wind changed directions?
In announcing his retirement Monday in his Football Morning in America column, former SI writer Peter King mentioned Ryan Poles and the Bears and promptly turned up the intensity at this week's scouting combine.
"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."
Actually, if you asked almost nine out of 10 media people before now they would have said the opposite. As of Monday, 89% of mock drafts tracked by NFL Mock Draft Database show the Bears taking Caleb Williams No. 1.
So could King actually have wind of something? He did say he knows nothing, but you have to be skeptical when a writer of his stature and experience says so.
"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," King wrote. "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. Imagine moving from 1 to 8 and ending up with this draft haul:
The eighth and ninth (their own) overall picks in round one this year.
Second-round picks from Washington and Atlanta this year.
Three first-round picks and two second-round picks in 2025."
All of that trrading down is entirely unlikely, of course.
Still, you think something could be up with King says this in his final column.
The NFL world will miss his writing, wit and reporting whether he's right on this one or not.
There are an awful lot of Bears fans who hope he's right, though.
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