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Members of the Chicago Bears’ staff would be wise to work on their debating skills in the days leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft.

Regarding who they should take with the No. 9 overall pick, Bears general manager Ryan Poles recently said that he and his staff would debate which player should be selected.

“I like the numbers in terms of the talented players that can get to nine,” Poles said, via the team’s website. “We’re going to do some cool things when we get back, kind of break into teams. One team is going to talk about [why] the tackle position is the best to go after, [why] the receiver’s the best, [why] the defensive end’s the best and use factual information to spit that out — and we’ll have a debate in terms of what’s more impactful for our football team, short term and long term.”

“We’re going to look at, ‘Hey, who’s the best tackle? Who’s the best receiver? Who’s the best rusher? Who’s the best this or that?'” Bears coach Matt Eberflus added. “It’s going to be good to be able to break into that and see guys’ opinions. In order to have good communication, it’s got to be authentic and it’s got to be true, and you have to be able to speak your opinion.”

While the Bears could select a player with the pick, Poles is open to trading the pick in exchange for draft capital. Chicago currently has just four draft picks — two in the first (1, 9), one in the third (75) and one in the fourth (123). The team recently dealt a fourth-rounder to the Chargers for star wife receiver Keenan Allen.

“For sure,” Poles said. “That will kind of play out. We’ll see what the numbers look like and that’ll kind of dictate how far we can move back if we decide to do that.”

It appears that the Bears have decided what they will do with the No. 1 overall pick. After trading Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago began finalizing its evaluations of each of the top quarterback prospects and were planning to finalize its decision by the end of March, according to ESPN.

While Chicago is keeping its options open with the ninth pick, it seems like a forgone conclusion that the Bears will select between quarterbacks Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels with the No. 1 overall pick. Each of our six CBS Sports draft experts currently have the Bears using the pick to select Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.

About five months after breaking his fibula, Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean is cleared for football activities. DeJean, who is one of the top defensive prospects heading into the 2024 NFL Draft, sent a letter to all 32 teams in the league, informing them of his progress, according to ESPN.

The 21-year-old will reportedly hold an individual workout at Iowa on April 8, where he will do on-field testing and position work with no restrictions.

While he is one of the top prospects at his position set to enter the NFL, the injury caused debate on when he would be drafted. Now that he is medically cleared, his stock could go up and teams could be interested in taking him sooner than they would have if the injury lingered.

CBS Sports mock drafts have him going anywhere from No. 17 to No. 31, with teams including the Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers as possible landing spots.

He was unable to participate in the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in February, but at the time, he did predict that he would be able to do a workout before the draft took place. His prediction has come true.

Before the season-ending injury in 2023, DeJean had 41 tackles (26 solo, 15 assists), two interceptions, five pass breakups and a punt return for a touchdown. In total, he returned 21 punts for 241 yards.

In 2022, DeJean played in all 13 games, finishing with 75 tackles (56 solo, 19 assists), eight pass breakups with five interceptions, three returned for touchdowns. He received multiple awards, including unanimous consensus All-American.

The versatile player is unsure whether he will play inside or outside in the NFL, noting it is something he has spoken to teams about. DeJean took on multiple roles with Iowa, and whether he will be a cornerback or a safety going forward is something that has yet to be determined.

His strengths include his physicality and return ability, and he can make a play on the ball even if he is initially beat. DeJean sometimes struggles with too much contact when covering a receiver.

While it’ll likely be overlooked, the Cleveland Browns are making a smart signing as free agency enters its second month. The Browns have signed Cleveland native and former Jets Pro Bowler Justin Hardee.

This is a smart signing given Hardee’s special teams prowess and the NFL’s recent adjustments to the kickoff, adjustments that all but guarantee significantly more kickoff returns this season. Hardee, who recently turned 30, established himself as one of the NFL’s top special teams players during his three seasons with the Jets.

A cornerback by trade, Hardee has made special teams his calling card since entering the NFL in 2017 as a member of the New Orleans Saints. His play on special teams in 2022 earned him his first Pro Bowl selection. His forced fumble of then-Steelers returner Gunner Olszewski spearheaded a Jets come-from-behind win in Pittsburgh in Week 4 of that season.

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Hardee actually played receiver during his time at Illinois from 2012-16. After an injury wiped out his 2015 season, Hardee returned and started in each of his 12 games as a senior. He caught a career high nine passes for 125 yards against Northwestern in his final regular season game.

A proud Cleveland native, Hardee was overheard telling then-Browns quarterback Joe Flacco to bring a championship to the city following the Browns’ win over the Jets last season. Hardee will now look to do his part in helping Cleveland reach its first Super Bowl.

The Baltimore Ravens rebounded from a couple of stale years to reclaim their spot among the top offenses in the NFL last season. Baltimore checked in sixth in yards, fourth in points, fourth in the share of drives that ended in a touchdown or field goal, fifth in pass offensive efficiency (as measured by FTN’s DVOA), first in rush offense efficiency and fourth in overall offensive efficiency.

With a new coordinator in Todd Monken, new weapons in Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor, Odell Beckham Jr., and Keaton Mitchell, Lamar Jackson was able to once again have an MVP-caliber season, and the Ravens quarterback claimed the award for the second time in five years.

Fast forward to 2024 and Jackson will again have a new weapon by his side: former Tennessee Titans star Derrick Henry. And once again, the offense is going to evolve again, according to head coach John Harbaugh.

“It’ll look different, there’s no doubt about that,” Harbaugh said, via the team’s official website. “That’s the one thing we believe in — keeping it moving. You can never keep it the same.”

The Ravens don’t plan to change the way they use Jackson, but instead, to incorporate Henry and his unique skill set into what they did last year, and allow that change to evolve the offense itself.

“Lamar is going to play the way Lamar plays, and that’s what I’m for,” Harbaugh said. “I love the way he plays the game. I think he’s intuitive and intelligent, just a phenomenal football player. He sees the game in very unique ways and very smart ways, so I’m for him playing the way he plays. I think that Derrick Henry being there, plus Lamar, plus the other guys, it’s a good formula.”

Specifically, the team won’t suddenly go increasingly RPO-heavy (run-pass option) to make defenses account for the threat of Jackson and Henry on every single play. That’s something you want opponents to deal with, but leaning too heavily into it can constrain the passing game because it takes away some of the ability to throw deep down the field, which is an area where Jackson excels.

“I think we’re in the right place with our RPOs,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t think it’s something that we’re going to like go wholesale towards, because Lamar has got so many different ways he plays the game, and there are other things we like to do, to be honest with you.

“I don’t see us going towards like [a] specific offense that runs those more than anybody else. RPOs will be a part of what we’re doing, for sure, but they’re not going to be the main part of what we’re doing.”

Star running back Derrick Henry chose to part ways with the Tennessee Titans, and ultimately signed with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency last month. The four-time Pro Bowler will have a chance to chase a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens, but admits that one other scenario may have been a tremendous fit.

In an appearance on “The Pivot” podcast with former NFL stars Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, Henry acknowledged that signing with the Dallas Cowboys would’ve been a “perfect situation.”

“I knew that once free agency started, I wanted to work something out [with the Ravens] if we could,” Henry said. “Even though I’m living in Dallas and Dallas being a perfect situation as well because we lived there and wouldn’t have to move.”

However, the Cowboys never showed any real interest in talking about a potential deal, according to Henry.

Henry made it clear that he was more than happy that he ended up signing with the Ravens when the opportunity presented itself.

“I’m happy I’m going somewhere where they’re hungry for it and they’re right on the cusp,” Henry added. “They’re trying to win it. And being so close and losing that game to Kansas City, I know they’re hungry, I know they’re going to come in with the right mindset and let’s get to it.”

Henry has never made it to the Super Bowl in his NFL career. The closest that the bruising back has gotten was when the Titans fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game during the 2019 season.

Now Henry joins a Ravens group that is coming off their own AFC title game loss to the Chiefs, despite a spectacular 13-4 record in the regular season. He’ll look to help put the Ravens over the top and help the franchise win its first Super Bowl since 2012.

The NFL has already approved one major change to the kickoff, but Evan McPherson isn’t quite satisfied just yet. The Bengals kicker wants to see the league add another rule that would make it possible to score points on kickoffs.

During a recent interview with the team’s official website, McPherson shared his proposal.

“I’ve got an idea for a fun rule,” McPherson said. “If you kick it through the uprights, make that four points. And if you miss, they get it at the 30.”

Although McPherson was half-joking and it’s a proposal that the NFL owners would almost certainly never approve, it’s actually not the first time that proposal like this has come up. Back in 2016, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said that teams should get one point if their kicker puts the kickoff through the uprights.

“I’m on record advocating that should be a point,” Harbaugh said at the time. “I’m serious now, kinda. Really, how exciting would that make it, for [Justin Tucker] to make these kickoff touchbacks so valuable? Let’s do it. Let’s go for it.”

The ball is currently placed at the kicking team’s 35-yard line for a kickoff, which means a kicker would have to accurately boot the ball at least 75 yards to score any points under these two proposals. The longest field goal in NFL history is 66 yards, so it would be 9 yards farther than that. Kickers would benefit from the use of a tee on the kickoff, but it still wouldn’t be easy.

The problem with the proposal is that the NFL is trying to encourage MORE kickoff returns and awarding a point to a team every time their kicker put a kickoff through the uprights would likely cut down on returns, so it’s unlikely the NFL will never make McPherson’s rule happen.

As for the new kickoff rule, it’s likely going to be a headache for most kickers around the NFL and McPherson explained why.

“I might have to make more tackles, I’ve got to get in the tackling line now,” McPherson said of what will change for him with the rule change. “It takes away from the skills us kickers have.”

With more kickoff returns, that means kickers will likely be making more tackles this season, which most kickers probably won’t be thrilled about.