The Chicago Bears let wide receiver Keenan Allen walk in free agency, but their priority may be to replace him with a different sort of offensive weapon for QB Caleb Williams.
Chicago went hard after interior offensive lineman this offseason, using the trade market and free agency to acquire two new starting guards and a new starting center. The No. 10 pick in April’s NFL draft is a position from which the Bears could decide to either trade up or down, depending on their top priority in the first round.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell authored a trade proposal on Monday, March 31, in which the Bears flip the 10th selection and a third-round pick (No. 72 overall) to the New York Jets in order to move up to No. 7 and draft tight end Tyler Warren out of Penn State.
Could this be the spot in which the Bears veer off-script and get another playmaker for Caleb Williams? For all the talk of how much new coach Ben Johnson loves and cherishes offensive linemen, the [Detroit] Lions repeatedly drafted playmakers early over the past few years, landing Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs.
With the [Carolina] Panthers in an endless hunt for receivers, the Bears could jump ahead of Carolina and grab tight end Tyler Warren. Cole Kmet’s deal has no guaranteed money remaining after 2025, and Durham Smythe is on a one-year deal. Johnson’s Lions lined up in 12 personnel (two tight ends) more than 32% of the time last season, which means taking Warren would make sense.
Tyler Warren Profiles as Favored Pick of Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson
Warren finished last season with 104 catches for 1,233 receiving yards and 8 TDs.
Field Yates, Barnwell’s colleague at ESPN, predicted that the Bears select Warren in the first round back on March 10.
“Is tight end a primary need for Chicago? No. Is it easy to imagine new coach Ben Johnson dialing up some incredible concepts and play designs revolving around Warren? Oh, yes,” Yates wrote. “Offensive line would have been the clear priority for the Bears, but they totally revamped their interior by trading for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and then also signing center Drew Dalman. The trenches already look much better on paper.”
Tyler Warren Fits Timelines of Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze in Chicago
Whether the Bears will keep Kmet around long-term if they decide to draft Warren makes for an interesting debate. One thing that isn’t debatable, though, is how well Warren fits in with what Chicago is building on offense.
Williams is under contract for the next three years with a fifth-year team option in 2028. The same is true for wide receiver Rome Odunze, the No. 9 pick in last year’s draft, as he was also a first-round selection.
Odunze started slow but came on strong in his rookie year. He is among the most likely members of the Bears’ roster to make a leap in 2025 given the departure of Allen, the improved offensive line, another year of experience for Williams and Johnson’s presence running both the team and the offense.
As a first-rounder in Barnwell’s scenario, Warren would be on almost the exact same timeline as Williams and Odunze, and together the three could be a star trio in Chicago for the next decade.
