LAKE FOREST – Ryan Poles got some more good news on Thursday when it comes to a very important weekend in April.
On Thursday, the NFL awarded the Bears a compensatory pick for the upcoming 2023 draft that will take place from April 27-29 in Kansas City.
Poles will now have an extra seventh round selection as the Bears will have the 41st pick in that round and the 258th overall. The awarding of the selection is based on the number of compensatory free agents lost compared to the number that were signed by a team the previous year.
In order to determine that, the NFL uses a formula that includes average salary per year, snap count, and postseason awards per player.
With this added selection, Poles now had nine draft picks to work with this April as he looks to build up the Bears’ roster ahead of the 2023 season. Thanks to a 3-14 record in 2022, he holds the No. 1 overall selection, which figures to net a hefty return from a team in need of a quarterback to draft at that position.
The odds remain likely that Poles will deal the pick since he’s twice said publicly that Justin Fields is his starting signal caller moving forward. With so many positions on the roster to fill, the Bears could even trade down twice in the first round to build up their arsenal of selections.
Here are the Bears’ current selections for the 2023 NFL Draft.
- 1st Round – 1st overall
- 2nd Round – 53rd overall (From Ravens)
- 3rd Round – 65th overall
- 4th Round – 103rd overall
- 4th Round – 134th overall (From Eagles)
- 5th Round – 136th overall
- 5th Round – 151st overall
- 7th Round – 220th overall
- 7th Round – 258th overall
