It’s Time to Have the Ryan Poles Conversation
Once again, the Chicago Bears are near the bottom of the league.
They are on a seven-game losing streak, and the season is over.
First, Shane Waldron was fired, then Matt Eberflus, and now fans have been questioning Ryan Poles’ job security.
I believe it’s time to have a difficult conversation about Poles’ future in Chicago and whether he should remain the general manager.
Best Decisions
PHOTO: David Banks/Imagn Images
During his tenure, Poles’ decision-making has been up and down. But there is no doubt that he has hit some massive home runs.
The Trade
The famous trade with the Carolina Panthers that took Chicago by storm is easily the best move Ryan Poles has made. The Bears held the number one pick in the 2023 NFL draft after finishing 3-14 that season. However, the Bears had a young Justin Fields as their quarterback, and they wanted to give him an extra year to prove he could be their quarterback of the future. Since they didn’t want to draft a quarterback at number one, they traded the pick to the Carolina Panthers (drafted quarterback Bryce Young with the first pick).
Compensation
The deal landed the Bears an absolute haul. They received the Panthers’ first-round pick of that year, the 9th overall pick, the Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024, their second-round pick in that year (#61), their second-round pick in 2025, and wide receiver DJ Moore. At face value, this trade looked incredible for Chicago, but what they acquired with those draft picks is even more mind-boggling.
With the 9th pick in the 2023 NFL draft, the Bears traded down to #10 to acquire an additional 4th-round pick. Then they selected Darnell Wright with the 10th pick, who has already proven to be a starting-caliber tackle in the NFL. With the 61st pick, they traded up to pick 56 to draft cornerback Tyrqiue Stevenson, who has been a starter for two seasons now. Then came the Panthers 2024 first-round pick, who miraculously ended up being the #1 pick in the draft. The Bears used the pick to select quarterback Caleb Williams. Caleb looks like a superstar and will be a Bear for quite some time. And you can’t forget about DJ Moore. Moore has been a great receiver and even had a career year last season.
Ryan Poles’ historic trade with the Panthers was a phenomenal move, but it wasn’t his only one.
Trading For Montez Sweat
Montez Sweat hasn’t had a great season, but he is a good player who transformed the defense. Last season, the Bears’ defensive line struggled to get to the quarterback. At the trade deadline, Ryan Poles traded the Bears 2024 second-round pick to the Commanders for defensive end Montez Sweat. A year ago, Sweat became the first player in NFL history to lead multiple teams in sacks in the same season. He led the Bears with 6 sacks and the Commanders with 6.5. His 12.5 sack season was impressive and helped elevate this defense to a new level. He helped the Bears’ defense generate 19 takeaways in their final seven games and proved to be a true difference-maker.
This season hasn’t been great for Sweat. He has tallied 4.5 sacks so far with four games to go. Sweat will likely end with around seven sacks, but his presence is still vital.
Extending Jaylon Johnson and Cole Kmet
When a team has good, homegrown talent, they should do everything possible to keep them long-term. This is exactly what Ryan Poles did when he resigned Jaylon Johnson and Cole Kmet, giving them contract extensions through 2027. Poles gave Kmet a four-year $50 million extension with $32 million guaranteed. His $12.5 million per year is tied for ninth most in the NFL, and I can confidently say Kmet has been a top-ten tight end since.
Jaylon Johnson’s contract extension was a little difficult. Johnson felt the Bears had initially “low-balled” him and weren’t offering the money he thought he deserved. In the 2023 offseason, the Bears gave Johnson the franchise tag. A couple of days later, they decided to extend his contract, giving him a four-year contract of $76 million, including a $20 million signing bonus and $51.4 million guaranteed. Johnson has been one of the best cornerbacks in the league and is worth every penny of his new contract.
Other Notable Moves
- Drafting Braxton Jones in the 5th round of the 2022 NFL draft
- Signing undrafted free agent quarterback Tyson Bagent in 2023
- Signing TJ Edwards to a 3-year $19.5 million contract in 2023
- Signing Kevin Byard to a 2-year $15 million contract in 2024
- Signing and extending Andrew Billings – Extension is a 2-year deal for $8 million
- Drafting Rome Odunze with the 9th pick in the 2024 draft
- Other late-round finds: Terrell Smith, Elijah Hicks, Roschon Johnson, Tory Taylor, and Jack Sanborn (undrafted free agent)
Worst Decisions
Mismanagement of Coaching Hires
Ryan Poles has been extremely poor in hiring coaches and managing their tenure. Poles was hired on January 22, 2022. About 48 hours later, Matt Eberflus was hired. I find it hard to believe that Poles had the final say in who should be the next head coach. Forty-eight hours is not enough time to interview candidates, conduct extensive research and background checks, and hire someone to be the leader of an NFL team. I do not blame Poles for hiring Matt Eberflus. However, he is not exempt from hiring Shane Waldron.
Ryan Poles was directly involved in who should coach Caleb Williams and the Bears’ offense. I don’t want to degrade Waldron, but it was obvious that he wasn’t fit for the job. His press conferences were awkward; it was clear he couldn’t lead and didn’t have a plan for the offense. Yet, Ryan Poles sat down with him, interviewed him, and still decided he was the right man for the job. Waldron failed in Chicago and was fired earlier this season.
While I don’t believe Poles directly hired Eberflus, he did let him hang around for far too long. Poles knew the Bears were entering this season with a rookie quarterback, but he decided to pair him with a lame-duck head coach. He should’ve cut ties with Eberflus in the offseason to have a new coach and a new quarterback on the same trajectory. With multiple blown fourth-quarter leads in 2023, it was apparent Eberflus wasn’t good enough to take the Bears to the next level.
Trading for Chase Claypool
In 2022, the Bears were desperate for wide receiver help. Ryan Poles sent the Bears’ 2023 second-round pick to the Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool. At the time, this seemed like a reasonable trade. The Bears needed help at the position, and Claypool was a talented, young receiver who had an 800-yard season under his belt.
But the trade quickly backfired.
Claypool played ten games for the Bears and had 18 catches for 191 yards and only one touchdown. He became a locker room cancer, and that second-round pick turned into Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., who has been excellent in his young career. This trade could not have gone worse for Poles and the Bears.
Failure to Address the Offensive Line
For as long as I can remember, the Bears’ offensive line has been a massive issue. It’s a unit the Bears can never seem to get right. When Ryan Poles arrived, I felt that would change, given that he’s a former offensive lineman, but I was wrong. He drafted Braxton Jones in the 5th round (good pick) to be his starting left tackle. Braxton is solid and is probably a starting-caliber player in the NFL, but he should not be their long-term answer.
Poles also drafted right tackle Darnell Wright with the 10th in the 2023 NFL draft. Wright has been a good player for the Bears and does look like a long-term tackle. However, most of Poles’ decisions surrounding the O-line haven’t panned out.
- Teven Jenkins – (Drafted by Ryan Pace in 2021) – Injured for multiple games every season
- Nate Davis – Free Agent Signing (3 years $30 million) – Injured all the time and never wanted to practice
- Coleman Shelton – Free Agent Signing (1 year $3 million) – Has been a liability for most of the season
- Ryan Bates – Trade from the Bills for a 2024 4th-round pick – Injured for most of this season
- Lucas Patrick – (Former player) – A terrible center with major issues snapping the ball
- Cody Whitehair – (Former player) – An old guard who couldn’t compete anymore
- Riley Reif – (Former Player) – A bench-level tackle who shouldn’t have started
It’s year three for Ryan Poles as the Bears’ GM, and the offensive line is still a glaring weakness. His failure to address it has been one of his biggest mistakes so far.
Other Notable Mistakes
- Drafting Velus Jones in the 3rd round of the 2022 NFL Draft as their first offensive pick that year
- Passing on Jalen Carter to draft Darnell Wright in the first round of the 2023 draft
- Signing Tremaine Edmunds to a 4-year $72 million contract (3rd highest paid linebacker in the league)
Decision
Like many Bears fans, I believe Ryan Poles should remain the team’s general manager. GMs aren’t perfect, and Poles is far from it. But most of his decisions have been logical, thorough, and have worked out. Bears’ President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Warren recently discussed Poles’ role on the team and his future.
Warren said that Ryan Poles is the general manager of this football team and will lead the head coaching search. I understand these things can change in an instant, but as of right now, Ryan Poles will be the GM next season.
Ryan Poles was hired by the Bears in 2022 and stated in his introductory press conference that the Bears would “Take the North and never give it back.” Since then, the Bears have finished last in the NFC North for three straight seasons.
Poles has made plenty of mistakes along the way and has failed to follow through on his promise. However, because of his commitment to this team, his thorough processing, and previous decisions, I hope to see Ryan Poles return as the Bears’ general manager.
PHOTO: David Banks/Imagn Images
Discover more from Chicago Sports Nation
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categorized:Bears