Chicago Bears Lose Season Finale, Now Begin The New Rebuild

The Chicago Bears lose their season finale and finish the season 3-14. They now turn their attention to officially starting the rebuild.

Well, after 18 weeks the Chicago Bears ended their 2022 season. They ended it much the same way they had for 13 of their previous 14 weeks — with a loss.

The loss was their tenth in a row. With former Bears head coach Lovie Smith and his Houston Texans beating the Indianapolis Colts, it meant that the Bears earned the number one overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

In spite of all the mounting losses, the idea that the Bears would end up with the top pick was inconceivable. However, it actually happened. Yes, the Texans ended up firing Smith after his win, but for Chicago Bears fans it was a great gift from an old friend.

The latest rebuild can begin in earnest

Poles came into his job with a roster filled with big contracts, The team was one of the oldest in the NFL last season. Sure, Poles could have made some tweaks and the Bears could have been a contender in 2022. That would not help the team become a consistent contender, however.

The formula of having a couple of big names on the team but not strengthening the entire roster has not worked well for the Bears. In the past 30 seasons, Chicago has only had nine winning seasons. The last time they had back-to-back winning seasons happened in 2005 and 2006.

Poles wants to end that trend. To do that, though, he had to raze the roster. Out went the veterans like Khalil Mack, Danny Trevathan, and Akiem Hicks. In their place, he signed players who hadn’t made an impact in the league. He signed other teams’ castoffs to one or two-year team-friendly contracts.

As a result, Poles has the flexibility to make an impact in free agency in 2023. With the subpar roster, the Bears are projected to have north of $100 million in effective salary cap space. The next closest team is the Atlanta Falcons, which will have only about $55 million.

The Chicago Bears will be in on a lot of free agents this offseason. This could not happen, however, if Poles didn’t show the discipline to stay with his plan in spite of the criticism he garnered, the Bears wouldn’t be in this position. Poles and the Chicago Bears sacrificed the 2022 season but are now in the position of having one of the most impactful offseasons in franchise history.

Poles wants to build through the draft

In addition, the Poles can really build the roster with his draft picks. This is where he can really build a strong team. If he and his staff can find the right prospects then those players can be impactful for a number of seasons.

Look at what Poles acquired in this year’s draft. Pole only had five picks at the start. He turned those picks into 11 while still keeping the two second-round picks he had. In the process, he found Braxton Jones, the left tackle who started every game this season. He wasn’t the greatest lineman in history but he made his case that he could be a cornerstone player for the offensive line.

Additionally, Poles found cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker, two more starters. In addition, he has some players who look to be future contributors. Many of them got valuable snaps this season and that will only make them better going forward.

Additionally, we saw how hard the Chicago Bears players worked for Eberflus. Despite all the losses, the Bears were in many of those games. Even in games they were blown out in, they kept playing hard. Eberflus is changing the attitude at Halas Hall. Changing the losing atmosphere is difficult but Eberflus did a good job with this roster of changing things. Now, with a new crop of prospects and veterans who fit that culture coming in, things should be very different going forward.

In this year’s draft, the Bears have a lot more valuable picks. The most valuable is that number one overall pick. There are a few quarterback-needy teams who would love that top pick. Poles can trade down, acquire more picks (not just for this year but also next year), and still have a first-round pick.

We don’t know what deals Poles will make and how many more picks he’ll make. We do know what he did with such few picks he had this year. He amassed many picks and found a few starters in the process. Now he has the valuable top pick and the offers can start to roll in.

Add that to the huge salary cap space and the Chicago Bears can officially start the rebuild. Then they can look back at 2022 as the needed sacrifice for a new era of winning football.