This Detail Of Ryan Poles' #1 Pick Trade Is Pure 007 Stuff

Ryan Poles pulled off the biggest blockbuster trade of the off-season when he sent the #1 pick to Carolina for four draft picks, including 9th overall and wide receiver D.J. Moore. The NFL community widely praised the deal. Most believe the Chicago Bears GM did a fabulous job adding to his draft inventory while also providing his quarterback with a legitimate weapon. The best part is almost always how the trade came together. This story is no less interesting.

According to Albert Breer of the MMQB, several teams were interested in the #1 pick, but none were ready to make a serious push before free agency. Carolina was different. They wanted clarity as soon as possible. The challenge was convincing Poles to work out a deal. One thing the Bears GM wanted to do was keep teams guessing about his real intentions. He found a creative way to do so at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. It involved switching hotels so other teams couldn't try to box him in.

"Also, Poles, who’d normally stay at the JW Marriott during combine week, stayed at another hotel down Maryland Street, the Hyatt Regency, this year. The reason? The JW Marriott is a crossroads for NFL business during combine week, and, given what the Bears were trying to accomplish, it made sense to stay more out of the way of all of the noise of combine week.

Poles and Fitterer met first in Poles’s room at the Hyatt, and again later at Lucas Oil Stadium, more informally, after running into each other before prospect workouts."

Ryan Poles has displayed constant intelligence and savvy.

He seems to have a firm grasp of how the NFL landscape works from the perspective of a GM. That shouldn't be a surprise. He's had some outstanding teachers like Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and Brett Veach. He knew that by switching hotels, he would force whichever teams really wanted to talk to come to him. Sure enough, the Panthers did exactly that. Talks accelerated from there. The last hurdle to clear was the inclusion of Moore in the deal. Carolina resisted for a time. However, once the Bears stood their ground, they acquiesced.

The outcome was about as good as Bears fans could've hoped for. Ryan Poles got his team plenty of future picks and also a valuable piece to help it immediately. That kind of balance is hard to come by. One can only respect Poles for pulling it off. His ability to keep teams guessing while also hiding his intentions in plain sight can't be understated. That cloak and dagger routine at the combine was a nice window into how the man thinks. He looks at this game like a chessboard, thinking several moves ahead.