Insider Illustrates Why The Bears Found A Genius In GM Ryan Poles

There are several reasons why the Chicago Bears haven't been able to field a consistently competitive team for the past 30 years. It's been the inability to find the right leader at head coach. More than anything, it has been their atrocious track record at finding quarterbacks. However, everybody says it starts at the top. The truth is the organization hasn't been great at hiring general managers ever since Jim Finks left in 1983. George McCaskey had whiffed twice on Phil Emery and Ryan Pace since 2012. He knew his third swing had to be a good one. When he met Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel Ryan Poles, something clicked. He knew this was the man the franchise had needed for years.

People were skeptical. The last executive they'd plucked from Kansas City was Emery, which was a disaster. Things didn't start well. Poles misfired on free agent Larry Ogunjobi and gave up a 2nd round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool. People thought he was another buffoon. However, time has proven otherwise. Despite an atrocious 0-4 start to the season, the Bears are now 7-9 with wins in four of their last five games. This was done through some of the savviest roster-building that Conor Orr of Sports Illustrated has seen in a long time.

He explained one key detail that makes Poles a genius at this.

"Along the way, the Bears have also displayed what I view as a sound understanding of football economics.

One example: insisting that wide receiver DJ Moore—who led all receivers in Sunday’s game with nine catches for 159 yards and a touchdown—was in the Panthers’ trade for the No. 1 pick (which I liked at the time). Moore is one catch shy of his single-season career high (93), and has already set career highs in receiving yards (1,300) and touchdowns (eight). He also costs $10 million less per season than the highest-paid receiver in the NFL...

...Another example: trading for Montez Sweat at this year’s deadline (which I also liked at the time). Sweat cost the Bears a second-round pick, and they quickly signed him to a four-year, $98 million deal. Sweat is on pace to set a career high in sacks this year, which could mean he’s rounding into his athletic prime at age 27.

However, what we’re not considering is the marketplace for pass rushers. Sweat is making about $10 million less than Nick Bosa and, while I am not arguing that Sweat is better than Bosa, I am saying that Sweat has more sacks, one fewer tackle for loss and nine fewer quarterback hits...

...Pair that with the standard trappings of what one would consider a good job by a personnel department—the Bears got T.J. Edwards for $6.5 million per season and one could argue he’s among the best linebackers in the NFL, Andrew Billings makes next to nothing and is a more than serviceable down lineman, and a handful of draft picks are playing well—and you could argue that this is developing into one of the more innovative and consistently successful front-office structures in the NFL."

Ryan Poles showed special traits.

One thing that has stood out from the jump is Poles' ability to recognize when tough decisions must be made. He understood right away the Bears' roster was too old and expensive to get back into the playoff hunt when he took over. So he shipped out everybody he could via trade, unloaded the big contracts, and committed to starting over. He even sacrificed star linebacker Roquan Smith to stick with that vision. It wasn't easy. Chicago endured a 3-14 season in 2022, one of the worst in franchise history. It didn't get better at the start of 2023. The Bears lost four straight and saw multiple locker room controversies, from Claypool calling out the coaches for misusing him to defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigning.

To his credit, Ryan Poles didn't flinch. He forged ahead. Claypool was traded. Eberflus took over defensive playcalling. The Bears even traded for Sweat to continue their pursuit of improvement. That steadiness in stormy weather has led the organization to this point. Chicago is building tons of momentum for 2024. They have two 1st round picks, including #1 overall, tons of cap space, and a young roster loaded with promising talent. All of this was possible thanks to Poles. The Bears may have finally gotten it right.