2024 NFL Draft: Here’s where the Bears pick in the 1st round entering Week 14

The Chicago Bears’ hopes for the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft improved on Sunday with the Carolina Panthers’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Arizona Cardinals’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Panthers remain the only one-win team in the NFL, and the Cardinals’ victory improved their record to 3-10, making it unlikely they’ll catch Carolina for the first pick.

The New England Patriots now feel like the lone threat to the Panthers, and therefore the Bears, for the first pick. They lost to the Los Angeles Chargers 6-0 in Week 13, and there’s a legitimate argument to be made that they’re the worst team in the NFL. New England’s offense simply doesn’t exist. Their defense may keep them in games (as it did on Sunday), but there’s almost no hope for the Patriots to score enough points to win another game this season.

That means the Panthers must lose out for the Bears to clinch the No. 1 pick.

Even if Carolina sneaks in another win and loses the top pick to the Patriots, the odds Chicago will have one of the top two picks in the 2024 NFL draft are incredibly high.

Chance to earn No. 1 or No. 2 pick, through late afternoon window. Per ESPN Analytics.

Bears via Panthers 93%
Patriots 60%
Cardinals 22%
Giants 9%
Commanders 8%
Bears 3%
Jets 3%
Titans 1%

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) December 4, 2023

If you’re among the Bears fans who want GM Ryan Poles to move on from Justin Fields and select either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye, that’s great news. If you’re in the other group, the one that would love to see Marvin Harrison Jr. in a Bears uniform? That’s also great news. If the Patriots pick first, they’re taking a quarterback. Harrison will be on the clock at No. 2, and if there’s only one quarterback in this year’s class that Poles rates higher than Fields, and he goes first overall, then Harrison is coming to Chicago.

We also got a better idea of where Chicago’s own first-rounder currently ranks. With their bye week now over, the Bears enter Week 14 with the fifth overall pick.

Chicago’s first-round pick could drop much further than that. They’re one of five teams with four wins, and six other clubs have five wins. If the Bears rip off another win or two, they could drop out of the top 10.

All eyes will be on the Carolina Panthers over the final month of the season. Chicago Bears fans want to win games, if they go on a Lions-type winning streak to end the 2023 season, they’ll be “in the hunt” deep into December. That’s fun. And they can go on a run like that while also chasing the first overall pick.

Buckle up, Bears fans. There’s a lot to pay attention to in the final four games of what felt like an otherwise lost season just a few weeks ago.