Bears Trade Up For Bills’ 213th Overall Pick
The Bears have made a move to come up 26 spots to the back of the sixth round. They are sending pick Nos. 239 and 241 in the seventh round to the Bills to move up for Georgia Tech defensive tackle Jordan Van Den Berg. Van Den Berg makes history today as the first ever South African-born player to be selected in the NFL Draft.
Chicago has had a versatile draft up to this point, addressing a different position group with each selection. With this trade up, the Bears have added depth on their defensive interior with a decent amount of potential. It’s been a long road for Van Den Berg, who began his path to the NFL through community college before landing in Happy Valley. After three years in rotation role on the defensive line at Penn State, Van Den Berg transferred to the Yellow Jackets for a starting opportunity.
Starting his time at Georgia Tech coming off the bench, Van Den Berg quickly outperformed his bench role and worked his way into the starting lineup by Week 6. In that first year in Atlanta, Van Dan Berg started to show a knack for disruption with a sack and five tackles for loss. Given the opportunity to play as a full-time starter in 2025, he expanded that production, recording career highs in total tackles (44), sacks (3.0), and tackles for loss (11.0). He comes to the league with an NFL-ready frame but will need to work through some stiffness to be effective at the next level.
The Bears return Gervon Dexter and Grady Jarrett and as likely starters on the interior defensive line and signed Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch in free agency to join last year’s second-round pick Shemar Turner and fill out the room. That’s a lot of bodies for Van Den Berg to move past on the depth chart, making it a difficult road to a spot on the 53-man roster. There may be a plan in place for Van Den Berg to end up on the practice squad to start his career, where he will be able to qualify for the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program and not count against the taxi squad’s 16-man limit.
Ely Allen contributed to this post.