It’s happening, the Buffalo Bills & Chicago Bears have officially completed the first 2024 NFL offseason trade!
The Chicago Bears have completed the first NFL offseason trade, by switching out one of their picks for the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft…
CelebnSports247.com has learned that the Bears’ No. 1 overall pick has been in high demand for a while, but they still have it.
According to reports, the Buffalo Bills announced on Monday night that they’ve made a trade for the Bears’ fifth-round pick in exchange for veteran offensive lineman Ryan Bates.
The Bears signed Bates, a restricted free agent, to an offer sheet in 2022 but the Bills matched it and signed him to a four-year deal worth $17 million. They’re finally set to get their man, with the trade to become official when the new league year begins next Wednesday.
Bates joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2019 after a career at Penn State. He was traded to the Bills in exchange for linebacker Eli Harold that same summer.
We’ve agreed to terms on a trade that will send OL Ryan Bates to Chicago for a 5th round pick in the 2024 draft
?TRADE!! ?
We’ve agreed to terms on a trade that will send OL Ryan Bates to Chicago for a 5th round pick in the 2024 draft: https://t.co/TBCWPhUbB3 pic.twitter.com/yV2q1LDp7y
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) March 5, 2024
The 27-year-old made 24 appearances off the bench and on special teams in his first two seasons. He made four starts in 2021, playing all 17 games that campaign. He followed that up with 15 starts in 2022, making 17 appearances as a reserve in 2023.
The Bills now have 10 picks in this year’s draft, pending compensatory picks which will be announced by the NFL this month.
The Bills are locked into the 28th pick in the first round of the draft. Here is a look at their draft picks:
- First round: Own pick
- Second round: Own pick
- Fourth round: Own pick
- Fifth round: Own pick
- Fifth round: from Green Bay (2023 Rasul Douglas trade)
- Fifth round: from Chicago (2024 Ryan Bates trade pending physical)
- Sixth round: Own pick
- Sixth round: from Dallas (2023 NFL Draft trade) via Houston Texans (2023 NFL Draft trade)
- Sixth round: from Denver (2023 NFL Draft trade) via LA Rams (2021 NFL Draft trade)
- Seventh round: Own pick
This year’s draft will take place in Detroit from April 25-27.
