A New Wrinkle Has Surfaced On Ryan Poles' Contract Situation

Brad Biggs revealed last week that the Chicago Bears had done something unusual. When they hired GM Ryan Poles, they signed him a standard four-year contract. However, head coach Matt Eberflus got a five-year deal. Whatever their reasoning, this means Poles would go into 2025 with only one year left, making him a lame duck if the Bears were to keep him. That creates two scenarios. Either they sign him to an extension or they choose to part ways. This way they don't scare away a large section of potential coaching candidates who won't want to work in a situation where the GM is on the hot seat.

However, there is an unexpected twist in this situation. According to Adam Jahns on the Hoge & Jahns podcast, the Bears have a deadline to worry about. If they are to extend Poles, it must be done by the end of next week before the coaching search kicks off. That means if they don't, it could signal that a change is coming.

Ryan Poles is in the exact same spot as Ryan Pace was.

The Bears' 2017 season ended on December 31st. Just 24 hours later, news broke that the team had extended Pace through 2021. That paved the way for him to lead the coaching search, eventually landing on Matt Nagy. The regular season for Chicago ends on January 5th next month in Green Bay. If Poles' contract news doesn't break by that point, it would be a signal the organization plans to make a change. Either that, or they will have completely lost their sanity by employing a lame-duck GM in the middle of the most important coaching search in recent franchise history.

Kevin Warren stated the plan was to keep Ryan Poles in place. However, the team has only gotten worse down the stretch of this season. It just lost its 10th game in a row, the second-longest ever for the franchise. One can safely assume that number will reach 11 by the end of business next Sunday. What justification would the Bears have to keep him at that point? He would need one hell of a sale pitch. Signs are growing that his relationship with Warren is hardly harmonious. Everything points to this team needing a fresh start.