Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles was a popular figure at the scouting combine in Indianapolis in late February, thanks to owning the No. 1 draft pick and the most salary cap space in the NFL. He was so popular, in fact, he had to change hotels.
"With the first overall pick, everyone wants to talk," Poles told ESPN recently. "Everyone wants to try to get an idea of what we're trying to do.
"With having a ton of money, every agent wants to talk to you, and there's only so much time in the day. So I thought, for clarity, just kind of move away a little bit. The lobby's empty at the Hyatt, so it just allowed us to be efficient, to have good meetings with different teams."
Whether the setting made any difference is debatable, but the fact is Poles and Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer started to lay the groundwork for a blockbuster trade that sent the No. 1 pick to Carolina for a package of draft picks and receiver DJ Moore.
Now Fitterer is the one with the first pick when the draft begins on April 27. The pressure on him is different, because the Panthers almost assuredly are going to draft a quarterback. It's just a matter of whether it will be Ohio State's C.J. Stroud or Alabama's Bryce Young, or possibly Florida's Anthony Richardson.
Through the years, GMs with the No. 1 pick have faced unique levels of pressure. There's the internal tension about how to handle such an important opportunity, and the annoyance of unsolicited advice from colleagues, fan bases, friends, family and strangers. Suggestions on who to pick or whether to trade the selection will accompany the general manager all the way to draft night, and then the second-guessing begins.
Poles recalled one piece of unsolicited advice suggesting a trade with the Houston Texans for their No. 2 pick, and much more.
"It was like, [also] 'Get their No. 12 and their No. 33,'" Poles said. "Some of it just wasn't reasonable. ... Teams aren't going to do that to make up one spot."
While pressure is attached to every draft decision, having the top pick is escalated. It's a position to covet and to dread, as it usually follows a disappointing season. And from Fitterer all the way back to Hall of Famer Bill Parcells, who won Super Bowls with the New York Giants in 1986 and 1990, it's a position that comes with its own set of challenges.
