Colts trade up with Bears to select a QB No. 1 overall in latest mock draft

Buckle up, folks. For 24 teams, the NFL offseason has already materialized — for better or worse, and that means one thing: It's mock draft season.

Sure, fans of the Texans, Colts and Bears — who have the No. 1 overall pick — have probably been thinking about mocks for months now, but as every round of the playoffs approaches and the Super Bowl draws nearer, so does the 2023 NFL Draft.

Who knows how it will actually play out, but it's worth noting that the folks at CBS Sports have put together a new mock that has a very interesting scenario playing out at the top.

As mentioned, the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick, but they don't really need a quarterback as long as the front office still believes in Justin Fields. There are plenty of quarterback-hungry teams in the top 10 of the draft, though. If the Bears play their cards right, they could put together a trade for the top pick and still come away with a great draft selection (or a few) in 2023.

The trade? Per Ryan Wilson, who put together the mock, it's with the Indianapolis Colts, who have the No. 4 and No. 35 overall picks in 2023, among others. 

Wilson believes the Colts can trade up to draft a quarterback, Kentucky's Will Levis. Here's the explanation:

"That will be controversial, no doubt, and we get why. Levis had a forgettable 2022 campaign at Kentucky, but NFL teams really like him, and as the old saying goes, it only takes one. And if Colts owner Jim Irsay is convinced that Levis is the next in line after Manning and Luck, then guess what's going to happen?"

Levis threw for just 2,406 yards and 19 touchdowns with 10 interceptions this past season for Kentucky, but he's a 6-foot-3, 232-pound pro-style quarterback with a huge arm and an NFL-ready frame. 

Wilson imagines the Colts will have to trade picks No. 4, No. 36, No. 80 and a second-round pick in 2024 in order to move up with Chicago to No. 1. In this scenario, Wilson then sees the Bears picking Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, who's a 6-foot-3, 300-pound pass-rusher who could be next in the long line of elite defensive players to come from the Bulldogs.

With a quarterback already locked up in Fields and Chicago always having boasted a defensive-minded focus at its best historically, this is a trade that would make sense for both the quarterback-needy Colts as well as the Bears.