The Chicago Bears are heading into what may be their most critical test of the 2025 preseason with a tilt against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2. However, the Bears team that takes the field could have looked different in some interesting ways had one of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ trades gone through.
The Bears ultimately landed at their end goal, but the path could have helped them along the way and into this pivotal season.
Failed Trade Details Lead Bears News & Updates Roundup
Bears Had Panthers & Texans on Line
In 2023, the Bears owned the No. 1 overall pick of the draft. Instead of using that pick to select one of the top two quarterbacks – Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud – the Bears traded with the Carolina Panthers, landing the ninth overall pick, wide receiver DJ Moore, and more.
Young and Stroud went Nos. 1 and 2 to the Panthers and Houston Texans, respectively.
The order of the QBs would have remained the same, but the Bears were nearly part of a pseudo-three-team deal that would have likely swapped their landing spots. Houston “nixed” the deal.
“At one point, the Texans, Panthers and Bears had the framework of a deal in place for Houston to trade up from No. 2 to acquire the No. 1 pick from Chicago, which would then trade down to No. 9 with Carolina, two sources told the Chronicle,” the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan M. Alexander wrote on August 16. “But the Texans backed out of the deal and stayed put at No. 2.”
Alexander pointed to Panthers owner David Tepper’s comments from November 2023, in which he said that he expected to land Stroud at No. 2 overall had that trade gone down.
Instead, the Panthers paid up to land No. 1 and selected Young.
The Bears traded out of that No. 9 slot, picking Darnell Wright 10th overall. They also acquired the first-round pick that became No. 1 overall in 2024 and used it to select quarterback Caleb Williams.
The deal was finalized this season, when the Bears used a second-rounder from it on wide receiver Luther Burden III.
They may have yielded more volume but less per-pick value if they had made the initial deals.
A Familiar Face Offers Sound Advice to Caleb Williams
Former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky returned to Halas Hall on Friday as a member of the Buffalo Bills, the Bears’ preseason Week 2 opponent.
The Bears traded up from No. 3 to No. 2 in 2017 to select Trubisky, surrendering a haul in one of the most polarizing deals in recent history. Trubisky, who is in Year 2 of his second stint with the Bills after a two-year run with the Pittsburgh Steelers, reflected on his time in Chicago.
He spoke of feeling invincible during the team’s 2018 playoff season, their last with a postseason victory.
Trubisky also offered sage advice for his successor, Williams.
The Bears replaced Trubisky with Justin Fields, whom they traded up to select 11th overall in 2021 and then traded away during the 2024 offseason amid their plans to draft Williams. It will take more than embracing the moment for Williams and the Bears to buck that trend.
Roster Move Update
The Bears waived former undrafted free agent and converted offensive lineman, tight end Jordan Murray, with an injury designation on August 6. They officially waived him with an injury settlement on Friday.
On Saturday, the team made an additional move to finalize that decision.
Murray was listed as “terminated via waivers, all contracts” by the Bears on the NFL transaction wire on August 16.
The Bears replaced Murray with fellow former UDFA Thomas Gordon. They have had to make a flurry of roster moves to address their depth concerns amid injury issues. The Bears are also still missing multiple first-string players and rookie draft picks.