How the Bears' trade to land Keenan Allen impacts the team's plans for the 2024 NFL Draft

The Chicago Bears just pulled off a massive trade on Thursday to acquire six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers while the front office continues to load up the roster with high-end talent.

With the free agency cycle beginning to wind down, teams are beginning to turn their attention back to the 2024 NFL Draft after filling some of their pressing needs on the open market and will now determine how to fill the remaining needs on the roster.

The Bears have already filled the majority of their needs in free agency and still have top draft capital to add even more additions to the roster. Last night's trade to land the team's latest top wide receiver has complicated some of the Bears' draft plans, but in a good way, with a little over a month until the draft begins. How exactly does this trade affect the team's plans in the 2024 NFL draft?

Analyzing the Bears' free agency moves and how it affects the 2024 NFL Draft

So far in free agency, the Bears have brought in a new starting safety in Kevin Byard to replace Eddie Jackson, added running back D'Andre Swift to the backfield with Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson, and signed tight end Gerald Everett to be a complement to Cole Kmet in two tight end sets that new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron is known to run from his previous experiences.

All of those positions were heavily rumored to be addressed during the first days of free agency and the Bears held true to those rumors. The team's front office also went a step further by adding quality depth on the offensive line in Ryan Bates and Matt Pryor along with adding a potential starting center in Coleman Shelton.

The Bears, however, were not as aggressive in filling some other needs the team was expected to fill this offseason. Adding a top pass rusher to pair with Montez Sweat seemed like a top priority this offseason. Left tackle and the interior of the defensive line also could still be areas to consider upgrading. Even after adding Allen to the wide receiver position with DJ Moore, I still wouldn't rule out the Bears making another move at the position. 

These extra additions could still be made in free agency with some players still on the market at the end of the week or could easily be filled with the team's remaining draft picks, a number that continues to dwindle down barring any moves made between now and the end of April to secure more draft capital.

Will the Bears keep the 9th overall pick?

Following the trade to acquire Allen from the Chargers, the Bears parted ways with the 110th selection in the fourth round, leaving the team with *checks notes* four picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. Bears' general manager Ryan Poles has committed himself to acquire proven talent at the expense of losing nearly all of his 2024 selections to land Sweat, Allen and Bates over the past few months, that should tell you how he feels about the current state of his roster and it's depth.

Within those four selections, each of those picks are in the first four rounds of the draft. Two in the Top-10 of the first round (including the first overall pick), zero in the second round, one in the third round (#75 overall) and one in the fourth round (#122 overall).

At this point, it's all but confirmed that the Bears are aiming to take quarterback Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the draft, saying everything checks out with the front office's deep dive into his character and his fit with the team. This means quarterback Justin Fields will be more than likely playing with another team next season which will recoup some draft assets, although his market continues to plummet by the day. However, eventually the Bears will make a decision and will find a team willing to acquire Fields ahead of the draft.

If the Bears go this route and use the first overall pick plus receive little in return for Fields, the front office will only have one choice remaining to acquire more draft picks, if the front office even feels like they need to do so. That comes from trading back from the ninth overall pick. That would be a major decision and plenty of teams will be eager to move up in the Top-10 to land their guy but it all depends on who's on the board, which leads me to believe this decision won’t be made until draft day.

As it stands, my personal belief is that the Bears will target another wide receiver or a top edge rusher with their second pick in the first round. Given the top-end depth at both positions in this year's class, the front office could still slide back a few spots, receive some solid compensation, and still land a player to fill one of those two holes.

To me, this seems like the best route to go in, but again it all depends on who's available with the ninth overall pick and what offers the Bears receive to move back.

Should WR still be on the Bears' radar in the draft?

As I previously stated before, the Bears should 100 percent still be in the market to land another wide receiver between now and the end of April's draft. Outside of Moore and Allen, the Bears' wide receiver room consists of Tyler Scott, Velus Jones Jr., and Collin Johnson. With one more addition, that room will be set in my opinion.

That additional wide receiver could still be added in free agency with some decent WR2/3 level players still available but, given Allen's age and current contract structure, the Bears will be better off finding their third wide receiver in the draft.

A top name in Rome Odunze continues to be a heavy favorite for the Bears with the ninth overall pick if he's on the board and the team doesn't trade out of the spot. If that's not the case, there's still some solid options in prospects such as Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Legette, Roman Wilson, Brenden Rice, and Jacob Cowing I would personally consider looking into.