Will the Washington Commanders make the Chicago Bears a Godfather offer for the #1 pick in the NFL Draft?

There was once a little boy who ventured through the forrest, asking various animals a very important question — how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop? I don’t know that the little boy ever got his answer. It seems like most of the animals were either totally clueless or just a little too eager to bite into the tootsie pop. Here’s the reason I bring this up: new Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters finds himself venturing through a metaphorical forest, and along the way he’s sure to encounter various members of the Chicago Bears front office, and he’ll likely have just one important question for them — how many picks does it take to get the number one pick in the 2024 NFL Draft?

The answer to that question may be unprecedented, as it’s been reported that the Bears will be looking for a historic amount of draft compensation in order to drop just one spot, from #1 to #2, in the 2024 NFL Draft. Even still, the Commanders are viewed around the league as the most likely candidate to be able to wow the Bears with a trade offer, presumably to take USC quarterback Caleb Williams in order to team him up with newly hired offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who coached Williams in Southern California.

“Plenty of teams view Peters’ Commanders as a possible trade-up team to No. 1, with the belief that offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury could be paired once again with Williams,” per Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com. “And the Commanders likely will place a call to the Bears to gauge the market and see if a trade is possible.”

Ryan Poles and the Bears were able to get a pretty hefty return for the 1st overall pick in last years draft. That trade is the reason why they have the #1 pick in 2024, and why they have a bonafide #1 receiver on the roster already in DJ Moore. One would assume that with Caleb Williams being considered one of the greatest quarterback prospects in NFL Draft history, the Bears would be able to get even more in return if they opted to trade out of the #1 pick for the second consecutive year.

My gut tells me that Chicago is pretty locked in on Caleb Williams, and if a trade is going to be made in the next couple of months, it’ll be one that sends Justin Fields to a team that’s in need of a quarterback. Could that team be Atlanta? Las Vegas? Or, could the Commanders swoop in, trade their 2nd round pick for Fields, and opt to go a different direction at #2?

There are so many ways that this could all play out, but if I had to offer one single prediction, it’s that I don’t think Adam Peters and the Commanders will get the answer to the question “How many picks does it take?” because the actual answer may be too many for the Commanders to part ways with.