2024 NFL Draft: Chicago Bears may have just received a boost in trade value for the ninth pick

The 2024 NFL draft is less than two weeks away, and what makes this year’s draft especially fun for Chicago Bears fans is the combination of what we know and what we don’t know.

What we do know is that general manager Ryan Poles will select Caleb Williams with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Bears will welcome a new (and first?) franchise quarterback to Chicago who has the physical and mental makeup to handle the pressure that comes along with the job description, both on and off the field.

What we don’t know is who will join Williams as part of the Chicago Bears’ 2024 NFL Draft class. The Bears own the ninth overall pick as well, and while the recent narrative indicates Poles will keep the pick and select a “blue player” to be an instant impact starter, there’s a chance he’ll decide to trade back and acquire more 2024 and 2025 NFL draft capital.

To strike a great deal, though, teams must want to move up. In fact, they have to be nearly desperate to do so. Those teams tend to be ones searching for quarterbacks, and there’s a chance four will get selected in the top 10 this year.

MORE: Grading Mel Kiper’s Chicago Bears 2024 Mock Draft

Those four quarterbacks are Williams, Drake Maye (UNC), Jayden Daniels (LSU), and JJ McCarthy (Michigan).

Some mock drafts have the 2024 first round beginning with four straight quarterback selections. Others have a quarterback sliding closer to (if not to) the Bears’ pick, which makes the ninth pick incredibly valuable. It’s even more valuable now that we have a sneak peek into what the NFL thinks of the quarterbacks who are generally ranked after the top four:

: Bo Nix (QB, Oregon) and Michael Penix (QB, Washington) were among the #NFLDraft prospects invited to Detroit for the first round, per @ProFootballTalk. The reason? The NFL does not project them as top 15-20 picks. pic.twitter.com/0n2mT0EonT

— FanTalk Network (@FanTalkSites) April 12, 2024

Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. are usually the next two quarterbacks to get selected in the first round of NFL mock drafts, but there’s a growing sense that the league doesn’t view either quarterback as highly as the media. And if that’s true, those QB-needy teams could mortgage the future to move up for a chance to draft the last of the “big four.”

If one of them is on the clock at No. 9, the Chicago Bears will be big winners in the 2024 NFL Draft (again).