Bears trade into fifth-round, draft Kansas defensive end Austin Booker originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Chicago Bears traded back into the 2024 NFL Draft, swapping a 2025 fourth-round pick with the Bills to take their No. 144 pick (fifth-round). Ironically, this pick is the exact one the Bears sent to the Bills for offensive lineman Ryan Bates.
With that pick, the Bears selected Kansas defensive end Austin Booker.
It appeared the Bears’ draft was over after they used their final pick in the draft on Iowa punter Tory Taylor in the fourth round. But Ryan Poles wasn’t satisfied with calling it quits and traded a future fourth-round pick to reacquire the pick he sent to Buffalo for Bates.
Bolstering the defensive line has been a blatant need for the Bears this offseason. They haven’t done anything to address that side of the trenches this offseason, despite trading for Montez Sweat at the previous NFL trade deadline.
Booker, a 6-foot-6 and 240-pound defensive end, played his first two collegiate seasons at Minnesota before transferring to Kansas — his only true productive college football season.
Last season, he recorded eight sacks and 12 tackles for loss in 12 games. He also forced two fumbles and deflected one pass. Booker also notched 56 total tackles, 40 of them being solo takedowns.
Before transferring to Kansas, he redshirted his freshman season at Minnesota. He played six total games between two seasons for the Gophers.
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