The biggest day on the NFL’s offseason calendar is almost here. The NFL draft begins Thursday.
Below is everything Chicago Bears fans need to know ahead of the 2025 draft, including how to watch, where the Bears are picking, which local prospects to look out for and more. Make sure to follow the Tribune’s Brad Biggs, Sean Hammond and Dan Wiederer for the latest news throughout the weekend.
When is the draft and how can I watch it?
The event is heading to Green Bay this year. The draft will take place on a stage set up just outside Lambeau Field.
The first round begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. Rounds 2 and 3 begin at 6 p.m. Friday. Rounds 4-7 begin at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The draft will be broadcast on ABC-7, ESPN, ESPN Deportes and NFL Network. It can be streamed on the ABC, ESPN and NFL apps. ESPN Radio, Sirius XM and Westwood One Sports will provide live radio coverage.
When do the Bears pick?
The Bears hold the No. 10 selection in Thursday’s first round. For Bears fans who might be tuning in late, last year’s 10th pick was announced just after 8:20 p.m. Central time.
Here are all of the Bears selections in this year’s draft:
- Round 1: No. 10
- Round 2: No. 39 (from Carolina Panthers)
- Round 2: No. 41
- Round 3: No. 72
- Round 5: No. 148
- Round 7: No. 233 (from Cincinnati Bengals)
- Round 7: No. 240 (from Minnesota Vikings through Cleveland Browns)
The Bears have an extra second-round pick at No. 39 thanks to the March 2023 trade that sent that year’s No. 1 pick to the Panthers. It’s the final pick remaining from that blockbuster trade.
The Bears traded their 2025 fourth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills during last year’s draft in exchange for a 2024 fifth-rounder, which they used to select Kansas edge rusher Austin Booker. The Bears traded their original sixth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in August for edge rusher Darrell Taylor.
General manager Ryan Poles sent his original seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in the October 2023 pick-swap deal that included wide receiver Chase Claypool. The Bears received a 2025 sixth-rounder in that deal. That was the same sixth-round pick the Bears traded to the Browns in August in exchange for defensive tackle Chris Williams and a seventh-rounder (No. 240).
No. 233 is the seventh-round pick the Bears received in exchange for running back Khalil Herbert at the trade deadline in November.
What is the complete first-round order?
This feels destined to change come draft night, but as of yet no team has traded its 2025 first-round pick. This is the first time in the common draft era (since 1967) that the new league year began with all 32 teams still holding their first-round selections in the upcoming draft, according to the NFL.
Here’s a look at the first-round order.
- Tennessee Titans
- Cleveland Browns
- New York Giants
- New England Patriots
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Las Vegas Raiders
- New York Jets
- Carolina Panthers
- New Orleans Saints
- Chicago Bears
- San Francisco 49ers
- Dallas Cowboys
- Miami Dolphins
- Indianapolis Colts
- Atlanta Falcons
- Arizona Cardinals
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Seattle Seahawks
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Denver Broncos
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Green Bay Packers
- Minnesota Vikings
- Houston Texans
- Los Angeles Rams
- Baltimore Ravens
- Detroit Lions
- Washington Commanders
- Buffalo Bills
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Philadelphia Eagles
Who will the Bears select at No. 10?
That’s the question, isn’t it? In his latest mock draft, the Tribune’s Brad Biggs had the Bears selecting Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks. Biggs’ final mock draft will be out Wednesday.
The draft is unpredictable and it will depend on what happens ahead of the Bears with the first nine picks. Some popular names throughout the predraft process have been LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, among others.
The team’s biggest positions of need continue to be the offensive and defensive lines. At the NFL combine in February, Poles suggested Braxton Jones would have competition at left tackle, but that didn’t materialize during free agency. The search for an edge rusher to pair with Montez Sweat continues. The team probably needs another running back and another tight end. Arguments could be made for a safety or cornerback.
At No. 10, the Bears can feel pretty confident that a good player will be available, even if he doesn’t necessarily address their No. 1 position of need.
The Bears also could be a candidate to trade down in the first round, but that would depend on how things shake out ahead of them and if a player at a premium position (perhaps Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders) goes unselected in the first nine picks.
A recent history of Bears first-round picks
Here are the first-round selections the Bears have made over the last 10 years.
- 2024: Caleb Williams, QB, USC, No. 1; Rome Odunze, WR, Washington, No. 9
- 2023: Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee, No. 10
- 2022: No pick (traded for Justin Fields)
- 2021: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State, No. 11
- 2020: No pick (traded for Khalil Mack)
- 2019: No pick (traded for Khalil Mack)
- 2018: Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia, No. 8
- 2017: Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina, No. 2
- 2016: Leonard Floyd, Edge, Georgia, No. 9
- 2015: Kevin White, WR, West Virginia, No. 7
Who have the Bears drafted at No. 10?
The Bears have selected a player with the 10th pick eight times:
- 2023: Darnell Wright, OT, Tennessee
- 1967: Loyd Phillips, DE, Arkansas
- 1956: Menan Schriewer, end, Texas
- 1951: Billy Stone, back, Bradley (redrafted from Colts)
- 1950: Fred Morrison, FB, Ohio State
- 1948: Max Bumgardner, DE, Texas
- 1942: Frankie Albert, QB, Stanford
- 1938: Joe Gray, back, Oregon State
The most recent was Wright, who started 33 games at right tackle over the last two seasons. The Bears originally held the No. 1 pick in 2023 before trading it to the Panthers in exchange for the No. 9 pick, wide receiver DJ Moore and a handful of additional picks.
When the Bears were on the clock at No. 9, they traded back one spot with the Philadelphia Eagles, who took Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Months earlier, Carter had been charged with reckless driving and racing in conjunction with a crash that killed one of his Georgia teammates and a Georgia staffer. Once thought to be a candidate to go No. 1, Carter’s draft stock dipped. The Bears took a pass and went with Wright instead.
Nearly two years later, Carter had seven QB hits in four playoff games for an Eagles team that rolled to a Super Bowl title. Carter earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2024.
Wright has been a solid contributor for the Bears at right tackle. He earned All-Rookie honors from the Pro Football Writers of America in 2023 and remains a key piece of the line.
Among the Bears’ No. 10 picks, Albert saw the most pro football action, appearing in 90 career games, but he never played a snap for the Bears. The 1942 draft was held just two weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941. The defending champion Bears landed the quarterback from Stanford with the last pick of the first round. There was, however, much uncertainty about the following season amid war.
An ominous line from Tribune reporter Edward Prell noted: “There was little doubt that the actual harvest of 1941’s outstanding college specimens would be small, inasmuch as another draft is in progress.”
Albert served four years in the Navy during World War II. Upon returning from service in 1945, he signed with the Los Angeles Bulldogs of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League. At the time, the NFL didn’t extend farther west than Chicago and Green Bay. A year later, Albert signed with the San Francisco 49ers, who played in the All-America Football Conference, a rival of the NFL in the late 1940s. The 49ers, Browns and Colts later merged into the NFL in 1949.
Among the other No. 10 picks, Gray, Bumgardner and Schriewer never played for the Bears. Gray elected not to play pro football. The Bears traded Bumgardner to the Detroit Lions before the 1948 season. Schriewer elected to play in Canada because the Toronto Argonauts offered him more money than George Halas and the Bears.
Stone was one of just a dozen NFL players to come out of Bradley, which last fielded a football team in 1970. He was not, however, a rookie when the Bears selected him. The original iteration of the Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the Colts players were eligible to be selected in the draft.
Who are the local draft hopefuls?
A number of prospects from Illinois and northwest Indiana high schools, Illinois colleges and Notre Dame could hear their names called during the draft. They are listed in order of ranking on PFF’s 349-player big board as of April 15.
- Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri/East St. Louis, Ill. (15)
- Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan/Merrillville, Ind. (17)
- Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame (35)
- Xavier Watts, S, Notre Dame (37)
- CJ West, DT, Indiana/Nazareth (74)
- Sebastian Castro, CB/S, Iowa/Richards (126)
- Riley Leonard, QB, Notre Dame (128)
- Jack Kiser, LB, Notre Dame (147)
- Pat Bryant, WR, Illinois (154)
- Mitchell Evans, TE, Notre Dame (157)
- R.J. Oben, Edge, Notre Dame (180)
- Rylie Mills, DT, Notre Dame/Lake Forest (182)
- John Williams, OT, Cincinnati/Bolingbrook (203)
- Beaux Collins, WR, Notre Dame (242)
- Zakhari Franklin, WR, Illinois (281)
- Howard Cross III, DT, Notre Dame (295)
- Jordan Clark, CB, Notre Dame (NR)
- Mark Gronowski, QB, South Dakota State/Neuqua Valley (NR)
- Jermari Harris, CB, Iowa/Montini (NR)
- Keondre Jackson, S, Illinois State/Freeport, Ill. (NR)
- Dominic Lovett, WR, Georgia/East St. Louis, Ill. (NR)
- Payton Thorne, QB, Auburn/Naperville Central (NR)
What else should I know?
You can read all the Tribune’s draft coverage here. Make sure to sign up for our Bears Insider newsletter to get the latest news in your inbox.
