By not making a needless move up in the first round of the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears were somewhat spared.
On Friday, June 14, Ari Meirov of 33rd Team and the AM Show revealed that the Bears were willing to deal the Atlanta Falcons a future Day 2 selection in order to guarantee that they signed wide receiver Rome Odunze, formerly of Washington.
Meirov stated, “To secure Rome Odunze, the Bears were open to trading a future fourth to the #Falcons to move from [pick No.] 9 to 8.” It appears that Atlanta was uninterested. Odunze is still with the Bears. However, this seems significant given that Atlanta lost a potential fifth this week due to tampering.
The Bears ended up using a future fourth-rounder to trade back into the fifth round and select defensive end Austin Booker the following day.
The team may still have traded a valuable asset to get Booker on the roster, but flipping a second fourth-round pick in the same draft would have been a tougher decision for Chicago’s war room after moving up for Odunze. As it happened out, the Bears liked Booker enough — and felt the rest of the league had undervalued him enough — to swap a full round of value for the pass rusher out of Kansas.
“The Bears used a 2025 fourth-round pick to trade back into this draft (at No. 144) and scoop up Booker,” Dane Brugler of The Athletic wrote on April 29. “Although he isn’t ready for a meaningful role as a rookie, Booker has the promising pass-rush savvy to be a steal when we look back at this selection in two or three years.”
