Chicago Bears: Carter Situation Adds More Wrinkles To Offseason

Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was projected to be a top-five pick. Many teams, including the Chicago Bears, were salivating at the chance to have him transform their defenses. Now he faces legal trouble. How does that affect the team’s offseason plans?

The Chicago Bears have the top pick of this year’s NFL Draft. The plan, as most reported, is that they will trade that pick to acquire more picks.

The NFL Combine started this week. Teams spent the first two days conducting interviews with the prospects. Those don’t attract any attention. The exciting stuff happens when the prospects start doing on-field drills.

That all changed on Wednesday, however. News broke that there was an arrest warrant out for Carter. He was allegedly involved in a fatal car accident on January 15th. The crash killed his University of Georgia teammate Devin Willock and recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy.

It is alleged that there were up to about three cars that were racing. Carter is also alleged to have misled prosecutors. He first said that he was a mile away when he was really riding alongside the car that crashed. Lecroy’s blood alcohol level was .197, more than double the legal limit.

Allegedly, Carter drove off and did not speak with authorities until more than an hour afterward.

Carter was supposed to meet with the media on Wednesday to speak about the situation but he did not show up. He did respond to the situation via Twitter, though.

pic.twitter.com/NbqNfIytBm

— Jalen Carter (@breadmanjalen) March 1, 2023

Carter claimed that when all the facts are presented he would be exonerated of the charges.

How does this situation affect the Bears’ draft plans?

Many draft analysts thought that Bears general manager Ryan Poles was looking to select defensive tackle Jalen Carter or edge rusher Will Anderson. Considering how important the defensive tackle is to head coach Matt Eberflus‘ defense, Carter was the odds-on favorite as Poles’ choice.

Now what happens with Carter’s legal problems? Well, it may change who they trade with. They could have a trade partner in the Indianapolis Colts for the fourth pick. At four, either Anderson or Carter would be available. The Arizona Cardinals sit at three and they don’t need a quarterback. Poles could have one of them.

Now, however, if Carter’s legal situation takes him off the Chicago Bears’ draft board, Anderson becomes more important. The Cardinals could pick him at three and Poles would be left with none of the two he wanted.

A lot could change between now and the start of the draft on April 27th. It is important to keep in mind that Carter is charged with reckless driving and racing. Both are misdemeanors. There is also a chance that Carter is correct and the charges could be dropped.

That situation could change which team the Bears trade with. It would make a supposed deal with the Houston Texans a more important one. The Bears would still be ahead of Arizona and pick up Anderson if that is who Poles wants.

If Anderson isn’t on Poles’ radar, he could then trade with a team lower in the first round. That would give the Bears even more picks and they could go after someone they might not have wanted at number one.

Situation also affects free agency moves

The situation could also affect what Poles and the Bears do in free agency. If they wanted to go after Carter, they might go after a veteran defensive tackle and draft one in another round and have him develop while backing up the veteran picked up.

In that case, someone like Javon Hargrave could be in place. Hargrave would come at a premium price but not require a long-term commitment. Two years could be what it takes.

This is still a free-flowing situation. A lot of things could change before a decision is made. However, the preparations have to be made now. It just means that there are more options that the Chicago Bears (and other teams) have to deal with. This will certainly be a more interesting couple of months, that’s for sure.