Giants’ and Bears’ rebuilds take different trajectories with Chicago No. 1 pick blockbuster trade
Ryan Poles was a finalist for the Giants’ GM job a year ago and got hired by the Chicago Bears. Joe Schoen interviewed for the Bears’ GM vacancy and landed the Giants gig.
Schoen’s Giants surprisingly made the playoffs in year one, gave incumbent quarterback Daniel Jones a four-year, $160 million extension, and now hold the No. 25 pick in April’s draft.
Poles’ Bears sold off pieces and slipped to the NFL’s worst record in 2022, landed the No. 1 pick, but still saw some promise in incumbent quarterback Justin Fields — a player selected by the previous Chicago regime after a 2021 draft-day trade-up with the old Giants guard.
On Friday night, Poles traded the No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a boatload of assets: the No. 9 overall pick, No. 61 in the second, a 2024 first-rounder, a 2025 second-rounder and stud wide receiver D.J. Moore.
The Panthers, with GM Scott Fitterer and new head coach Frank Reich, now take center stage. They could draft Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis or Florida’s Anthony Richardson.
Carolina has a strong roster; they just need a quarterback. And the NFC South is wide open.
They’re even leaving the door open to possibly trade back down the board if the Houston Texans at No. 2 or the Indianapolis Colts at No. 4 make it worth their while — and still keep them in play for a QB.
From a Giants perspective, though, Chicago is the more fascinating case study.
Poles shed two of his top defensive players, linebacker Roquan Smith and edge Robert Quinn, in a midseason teardown last fall, while also acquiring young wideout Chase Claypool from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears embraced a 3-14 tank.
Now Poles has Fields, 24, with three years remaining on his rookie contract, including the fifth-year option if the Bears pick it up, plus 10 draft picks this April and two firsts in 2024.
The Giants have 11 picks in April with Jones on a contract worth a minimum $37.5 million per year, looking to supplement their upstart but needy roster with some badly needed cap space.
Which rebuild would you choose to be on track two years from now?
It is interesting to compare the two franchises, especially because both GMs appear to be proceeding with quarterbacks they inherited and initially seemed prepared to dump.
Poles and Schoen easily could have ended up in each other’s seats a year ago, too.
What will turn out better for their respective rebuilds: the Giants’ 2022 success or the Bears’ year one skid?
Time will tell, but Chicago’s addition of D.J. Moore and acquisition of additional premium assets looks promising to fortify their Windy City foundation — provided, of course, they’re right about the quarterback.
In New York, in Chicago, in the NFL, that’s what it’s all about.
That’s why Carolina paid so much to draft their own.
