Ryan Poles has managed to dodge direct responsibility for the Chicago Bears' woes for a long time. It started with his need to rebuild the roster from scratch. People gave him a grace period because of it. Then it was the quarterback position. Justin Fields wasn't the guy. Poles had to find the right triggerman. When that didn't work, the head coach became the problem. Matt Eberflus, clearly out of his depth, was fired midway through 2024. Everything was supposed to be different this year. Poles had a new QB and head coach. This is when the winning finally starts.
Two games into the season, it has all unraveled. The Bears squandered a 17-6 second-half lead to Minnesota in week one and were demolished 52-21 last week in Detroit. Throughout the disaster, it became increasingly apparent how poorly constructed the roster is. The pass rush remains a problem. There is no running game, and the lack of star power remains evident.
Two sources informed SM that the situation inside Halas Hall has gotten very uncomfortable for Poles.
One described it as "Walking on eggshells."
"People are pissed," said another.
Ryan Poles has nowhere to hide anymore.
He built the vast majority of this team. It has his fingerprints everywhere. As of writing this, Ryan Poles is 15-38 as a GM, including a 3-17 record against the NFC North. He owns the longest losing streak in franchise history (14 games) and has now watched them lose 12 of their last 13, dating back to last season. You can't blame the head coach. Ben Johnson just started. The quarterback is Poles' guy, and he's also part of the losing identity. Everything about this Bears team indicates mental weakness.
Poles should be thanking his lucky stars the organization opted to give him a contract extension in the summer. It wasn't done to reward his efforts, mind you. The idea was to line his deal up with Johnson's. Had that not happened, there is a strong possibility he would be fired in the near future. Now it is feared the McCaskeys won't do it, not so soon after extending him. It would be a bad look. Then again, things can't possibly look much worse.
