CHICAGO (WGN) — Amid naming the Chicago Bears’ yearly Piccolo Award winners, General Manager Ryan Poles and Assistant General Manager Ian Cunningham did little to quell the flames foretelling that an unpredictable NFL draft is about to unfold.
“I think this one’s going to be a little wild, but we’re prepared for all the different scenarios that pop up,” Poles said at Halas Hall Tuesday.
When the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs mentioned Poles’ comments to Cunningham moments later, Biggs mentioned a first-round pick has yet to be traded and asked him if the Bears had a real sense of when NFL draft pandemonium could break loose, to which Cunningham echoed Poles’ sentiments.
“It could get wild Brad,” Cunningham said, with a smile.
The two functional heads of Chicago’s football operations predicting a “wild” draft this year falls right in line with what other prognosticators around the NFL have predicted ahead of the event, which kicks off this Thursday in Green Bay.
NFL Network Insider Brian Baldinger tweeted he was “having premonitions” of a trade happening within the Top 5 picks in the next 48 hours, while some invested in the Bears are hoping for the franchise to trade into the Top 5, perhaps for a player like Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
Whatever the situation is, Poles said he feels his front office and coaching staff are ready for whatever’s thrown at them.
“The time working with Ben [Johnson] throughout this has been great,” Poles said. “[We’ve had] some really good communication, some great discussions as we set the board and get prepared for the draft in a couple days.”
When it comes to the layout of their big board and how Chicago plans to attack the draft, Poles and Cunningham both predictably played their cards close to the vest, but they did drop a number of bread crumbs.
When asked what made him think this draft is “going to be a little wild,” Poles pointed toward depth at different positions expanding past the early rounds, which may lead to movement from teams during the draft.
“I think it’s deeper in certain areas than others,” Poles said. “Usually, the cutoff is a little quicker once you kind of get into [rounds] two-three, and this one’s going to be a little bit different so, I think there’s going to be a lot more movement than there has been in the past.”
Conversations Poles and Cunningham have with coaches like Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen at this point in the offseason are centered around scheme and how the team is built.
At this point, Poles said what’s important leading into the draft is figuring out what the Bears are trying to be good at, and how they can best take advantage of that through the draft.
“I think it’s important to understand the scheme and how we’re built, and I think it’s going to take time figuring that out—what we’re going to be good at,” Poles said. “But what do we certainly want to have to create an advantage for our team and get off to a good start?”
Poles described the number of players Chicago is considering at pick ten as being “a large pool of very good football players,” but what he said right after may hint toward the Bears being a willing trade partner to move further back in the first round.
“I think you can do some different things to get more players that are going to be able to come in and help our team quickly,” Poles said.
When asked, Cunningham danced around the idea of going the other direction and trading up in the draft. He instead offered factors that could sway the team either way.
“Good question, you know, it depends,” Cunningham said of what could influence the Bears to trade up. “It depends what the cost is, the player is, the value on those sorts of things. We’re weighing those right now, but we’ll see come draft night.”
Though, when it comes to his draft philosophy and identifying talent, Cunningham seemed less gun-shy about being willing to draft a talented player, regardless of how important their position is considered when it comes to impact and longevity.
“I think the value is if he’s a playmaker and a really good player, you take a really good player,” Cunningham said. “That’s the beauty of our process. Our philosophy is the best player available. Yeah, we weigh premium position versus non-premium position, but at the end of the day, he’s a playmaker, right?
“If we see him in that role, I think you can go take a playmaker that’s not a premium position.”
Round 1 of the 2025 NFL draft will begin at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday, with coverage taking place on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.