2025 NFL Draft: The 5 draft decisions that can most affect the Chicago Bears
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The Chicago Bears will have some decisions to make come the 2025 NFL Draft in April.
The Bears gave themselves some flexibility with their moves in the past two weeks since free agency began.
"This really opens the whole board for us," Bears general manager Ryan Poles said on March 12. "We're going to be able to sit back and look and say what's the best thing to do for the Chicago Bears? Who's the best player that can impact? We got some tough decisions and a lot of film to watch between now and the draft."
Plenty of other teams have tough decisions, too. Those choices will impact the Bears.
These are the five biggest decisions other teams will make inside the top 10 that will affect the Chicago Bears the most.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans own the No. 1 overall pick. The Bears understand what that means. They've held the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 and 2024 drafts, trading the 2023 first pick and using the 2024 first pick on Caleb Williams.
This means the Titans can set the tone for the draft. If they select a quarterback, they might cause the phone lines to become more active as teams vying to trade up for whoever is left after No. 1.
If they select a skill position, that might make the phone lines get even wilder for a quarterback needy team.
Either way, it all starts with Tennessee. Cam Ward and Sheduer Sanders are both in play here for the Titans, as many expect them to select a quarterback.
Cleveland Browns
The No. 2 pick in the draft decides what happens with New York and New England.
Will the Browns stick with Deshaun Watson and select a quarterback later – maybe even next year? – or will they select one of the two best players in the draft in Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter?
If they opt for a quarterback, the better chance one of the top players in the draft falls to the Bears. If they don't one of those top players comes off the board.
New England Patriots
If two quarterbacks go in the top three, and plenty expect Ward and Sanders to go in the top four, it means the Patriots will choose from Carter, Hunter or another prospect.
This could be a spot where one of the top offensive linemen comes off the board. Will Campbell, the consensus top offensive lineman in this draft, will most likely be available.
For all that's made of the Bears' struggles protecting the quarterback, the Patriots also need help there, too. Campbell would be an easy pick to make for New England, taking a player at a position of need off the board for the Bears.
It depends on how comfortable New England is in passing up a potential perennial Pro Bowler in Hunter.
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Las Vegas Raiders
If the Bears want to take the best player available, the Raiders might stand to take one of those top players.
FOX 32's first 2025 NFL mock draft had the Raiders taking Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, a player plenty thing the Bears could select at No. 10 overall if he's available.
New Raiders head coach Pete Carroll's best days in Seattle came with a rugged run game. Marshawn Lynch, Kenneth Walker and Chris Carson thrived under Carroll. Giving him Jeanty in Las Vegas makes sense.
It would also take a potential pick off the board for the Bears, who could choose a running back after acquiring offensive linemen via trade.
New Orleans Saints
There are a handful of directions the Saints could go here.
They could choose a receiver, an offensive lineman, a defensive lineman, a linebacker, a pass rusher or, maybe, even a quarterback. It all depends on who's available here at No. 9 overall.
New Orleans has a terrible cap situation, sitting well over the cap. Cap cuts might guide who the Saints select, but they also need an infusion of talent. Going the "best player available" route isn't out of the question.
If the Saints opt for the best football player they can get, it might encroach on the Bears' draft board one pick later.