Ryan Poles Dropped Another Big Hint About Bears' Plans For 10th Pick

The thing to remember about Ryan Poles is that he won't win awards for subtlety. The Chicago Bears GM hasn't been shy about dropping clear-as-day hints about his team's draft intentions before. In 2023, he made it obvious the team intended to trade the #1 pick. Last year, he didn't even bother dismissing the Caleb Williams rumors and also let the Rome Odunze rumors persist with minimal deflection on his part. It appears Poles is doing it again. His comments from the NFL Owners Meetings reflect that.

He was asked about the overall makeup of the 2025 draft class, now just over three weeks away. In describing what he and the Bears scouts see, he pretty much telegraphed what he hopes to achieve with the 10th overall pick.

"The top blue (players), I think that's condensed pretty small in (round) 1. And then there's a wide range of really good starting level players that are going to range from probably single digits all the way to 50, 60, 70."

Translation? Poles seeks a chance to trade down. This isn't the first time he's hinted at the idea. The GM mentioned it unprompted last month at the scouting combine. It is evident that unless one of these select few blue-chip players somehow slips to #10, the Bears hope for an opportunity to stack some extra draft picks.

Ryan Poles understands both the draft and the Bears' situation.

Most experts agree with his assessment. The talent difference between guys picked in the top half of the 1st round and the bottom of the 2nd round will be far narrower than normal. That means teams holding multiple picks in that range are in great shape. Chicago already has two 2nd round picks thanks to the Carolina Panthers trade in 2023. If the Bears could somehow add another, that would be ideal.

Accomplishing this task will be the challenging part. To pull off a trade, Ryan Poles would need another team wanting to come up. That requires a GM willing to be aggressive and the right bait. Most often, it is a quarterback that drives up the price tag. Everybody knows Cam Ward will go #1 overall. The two names who might give the Bears an opportunity are Shadeur Sanders and Jaxson Dart. Unfortunately, both could be gone before they pick.

If this move does come to pass, it would mark the third time Poles has moved down in the 1st round. He dropped twice in 2023, first to #9 with Carolina and then to #10 with Philadelphia. He's not afraid to take the risk.