The Chicago Bears made a move to upgrade their defensive line in the second round of the NFL draft. And they added to their defensive secondary in the third round.
The Bears traded with the Washington Redskins on Friday night to move up from No. 62 to No. 53 and select defensive tackle Stephen Paea of Oregon State. The Redskins also got the Bears’ fourth-round pick, No. 127 overall.
The 6-foot-1, 295-pound Paea was an All-American last season for the Beavers. He had 14 sacks and nine forced fumbles in his career.
Chicago is looking for help on the defensive front after releasing former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Tommie Harris. Paea said he can play nose guard or tackle.
In the third round, the Bears took safety Christopher Conte of California with the 93rd overall pick. Conte had 72 tackles, one interception and blocked a punt that he returned for a touchdown last season.
In the first round, with the 29th overall pick on Thursday, the Bears beefed up their offensive line with Wisconsin’s Gabe Carimi after failing in an attempt to trade up three picks with the Baltimore Ravens in order to select the 2010 Outland Trophy winner.
“I had a great feeling I’d end up with the Bears,” said the 6-foot-7, 314-pound Carimi. “It’s a great organization. I can’t be happier than to play for them.”
Carimi started 49 games for Wisconsin at left tackle.
“We loved Gabe from the start,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “Picking as late as we did, we just didn’t know if we’d have an opportunity to get him.”
So they asked Baltimore about a trade. The deal never went down, and the negotiations took long enough that the Ravens’ time to pick at No. 26 expired, causing them to drop down one spot behind Kansas City.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo took the blame for the situation, calling it a “glitch” and said he apologized to the Ravens.
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