Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears walked into the draft with eight picks. Then they made a trade-up. Then they made a trade down. They walked out of the draft with that same number, eight draft picks, despite the movement.
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Trade Up
CLE sends Pick 31 to CHI for Pick 48 + Pick 82
Chicago Selects LB Suntarine Perkins With Pick 31
The first move of the night was surprisingly the only trade of the entire first round after speculations there would be movement inside the top ten as franchises sought their handpicked savior. But, it was Ben Johnson and the Bears who called for pick 30, but fumbled the phone a bit, and settled for pick 31 since the Browns passed on Perkins, who Chicago desperately wanted as the last elite linebacker talent on their draft board. It ended up only taking 2.16 and 3.18, which isn’t nothing in two top-100 picks, but did land a first round pick in a draft class that saw so much young talent stay at school for one more ride.
It was elation in the draft room as Cleveland agreed, and the Bears could bring in the lightning-fast, hard-hitting linebacker this defense desperately needs in the middle as the signal caller. If it wasn’t already a success of a move, FOUR linebackers went after pick 31, before pick 48, meaning Perkins and maybe nobody would have been left to hold down the fort in Chicago.
“We came into round one with one goal: safety or linebacker. We left with both,” Ben Johnson said at the post-draft press conference, with a smile and a belly full of sushi and cookies.
Cleveland Selects TE Kenyon Sadiq With Pick 48, QB Haynes King With Pick 82
On the flip side, the Browns were left with flops. It was a bad tight end class in general, but Sadiq’s chance to develop quickly means he might be something. However, a 65 overall this early is not great, and there were still other options viable for Cleveland.
Then, it got worse. Haynes King is a fun, flashy pick, but he’d have to develop faster than Shedeur, and he won’t. He’s not good at anything besides speed. The Browns might have had the right idea in most years, trading down inside the top-100, but it wasn’t the year for it, especially for the QB and TE position groups, the worst in the 2026 PML draft.
Trade Down
CHI sends Pick 144 to IND for Pick 194 + Pick 215
Indianapolis Selects K Garrison Smith With Pick 144
Greeny wanted a Gator, and he got a Gator. However, this Gator would have stayed in the swamp until the very last pick of the draft, so this was a very unnecessary move. Bad things happen to the Colts when they trade with the Bears.
Chicago Selects OL James Neal III With Pick 194, OL Logan Parr With Pick 215
It’s hard to call these picks hits, but they aren’t misses, and that’s a win in the seventh round in my book. Parr and Neal III both aren’t anything special physically or talent-wise, but are absolutely capable of being depth and subbing in for an injured starter without disrupting the game plan. They’ll both easily make the roster as 68 and 69 overall, respectively, as 23-year old rookies.
Not Dominant in Value, But Dominant in Execution
CHI Sends Pick 48 + Pick 82 + Pick 144
CHI Receives Pick 31 + Pick 194 + Pick 215
Pretty even when you look at the complete pick-for-pick assets. I’d even argue that Chicago lost value when you see the big picture.
CHI Sends TE Sadiq, QB King, K Smith
CHI Receives LB Perkins, OL Neal III, OL Parr
However, the Bears absolutely did not lose when all was said and done, and the phone lines were dead. Sadiq, King, and Smith have no place in Chicago. Cole Kmet and Colston Loveland are key pieces in Ben Johnson’s offense, along with Leroy Watson and Josh Whyle being on two-year-deals with a clear plan to involve them, however minimally. Caleb Williams is the franchise, future, and everything else, although the Bears did miss on a backup of their own with their original seventh-round-pick in Robby Ashford. Cairo Santos is 34 years old, but Madden came through with some great comedic timing and gave him star dev after I complained in gen chat about not getting a training camp dev. My logic was to do the devs I’d want most first, but I guess that was wrong and I’ll do Kicker and Punter first next offseason. Back off the tangent, Chicago absolutely destroyed their trade partners in terms of the players they got in the draft and were able to sign to cheap four-year deals.
Obviously, that’s not how the draft works, and different teams make different picks in the same spot, but the Bears undoubtedly would have lost out on the 20-year-old phenom linebacker Suntarine Perkins, and may have only moderately had better rookie offensive linemen to show for it.
