Former Exec Says Ryan Poles Has Everybody Fooled On Real QB Plans

Insiders everywhere seem to think they know how everything is about to unfold for the Chicago Bears. GM Ryan Poles will trade Justin Fields. Then he will take his quarterback of choice at #1 overall in April. That quarterback is likely going to be Caleb Williams of USC. Ian Rapoport said it. Adam Schefter said it. Local guys like Adam Jahns and Brad Biggs have said it. Yet some people can't get the nagging feeling out of their heads that Poles is carefully crafting this national story to help hide his real intentions.

One of them is Louis Riddick. The former Washington and Philadelphia personnel director spoke on ESPN's Get Up program about the Bears' situation. One thing he finds confusing about the entire situation is that if they truly think Fields was the primary issue with the offensive struggles, why would they gut the entire coaching staff on that side of the ball? If Fields were the problem, it would make more sense to keep Luke Getsy and his assistants in place for scheme continuity as they shift to another quarterback.

Instead, they fired all but two assistants, paving the way for new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and his own array of people. That has Riddick believing Poles' true intentions deviate from the widespread belief he is taking a quarterback at #1.

Ryan Poles has to accept a possibility others don't.

When an offense struggles, one of two people will shoulder the blame: the quarterback or the offensive coordinator. Here's the thing. Many don't seem willing to consider that both might've been a problem for the Bears. There is a strong possibility Fields wasn't good enough at quarterback, and Getsy wasn't good enough at getting the most out of his players. The Bears ran into the same problem a few years ago with Mitch Trubisky and Matt Nagy. Everyone was ready to blame Trubisky for all the issues. Then, after he left, they found out Nagy was a problem as well.

Maybe Ryan Poles doesn't want to fall into that same trap. He'd prefer to wipe the slate clean. Hire a new offensive staff led by a coordinator with a proven background of working with quarterbacks. Then take the best QB in the draft who you think has potential star power. It isn't a bad plan. Still, Riddick has been around the league for a long time. Maybe what he says has merit. Perhaps the offensive staff overhaul was a dead giveaway the Bears plan to retain Fields but are trying to maximize their leverage in a #1 pick trade.