There’s a funny quirk behind the Chicago Bears’ owning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, which gives them the first crack at generational quarterback prospect Caleb Williams. (It’s odd they won’t be able to sell his jersey yet, though.)
Because usually, the team with the top pick had the league’s worst record the previous season. By no means were the 2023 Bears a good team. But rather than completely bottoming out, they went a middling 7-10, and without further investigation, it’s very easy to wonder why they have a chance to draft Williams in the first place.
Dearest readers, let me explain every step because it is not simple at all.
It started at the end of the 2022 NFL season. In the regular-season finale, the Houston Texans — who were in line for the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft — defeated the Indianapolis Colts thanks to a 4th and 20 Hail Mary. That Houston victory gave Chicago the No. 1 pick in last spring’s draft, a pick it actually owned the entire time thanks to a 3-14 record.
But rather than use that draft selection, the Bears opted to trade it to the Carolina Panthers for a king’s ransom draft haul that included Carolina’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft. After the Panthers finished with the league’s worst record this past season, that meant the Bears now owned the top pick … again.
This is also particularly wild because, according to Pro Football Talk, Chicago is the first NFL team in over four decades to net the No. 1 overall pick in a draft thanks to a trade from the previous year. I mean, c’mon.
What a roll of the dice.
The Bears are the first team in 45 years to get the first overall pick via trade from the prior year. In 1979, the Bills secured the 49ers' pick as part of the 1978 O.J. Simpson trade. The Bills drafted LB Tom Cousineau, who never played for Buffalo. https://t.co/9CbIYYyMJi
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) April 25, 2024
Count your lucky stars, Bears fans. Because every single step that led you to Caleb Williams over the year and a half sure feels like divine intervention played a role.
