Chicago Bears: Poles’ Patient Approach Paying Off So Far

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is again showing his patient approach and it looks as if it is paying off this offseason.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has been busy signing a plethora of players this offseason. He has, however, avoided getting into any bidding war for anyone. He has been patient and kept to his plan.

It is the same formula he used in last year’s free agency period. However, his plan then was to shed salary and add as little as possible. This season, he is going after better-caliber players and looking to build a contender.

Many fans did not like what Poles did last year. They basically felt he was tanking the season. That could be one way of looking at it. Howev er, he had to tear things down before rebuilding. This is the same approach the Chicago Cubs used and it culminated in a World Series win in 2016.

Things can be quicker in football. The Bears might not be a Super Bowl contender in 2023, but they will be much more competitive. Head coach Matt Eberflus had the team competitive in many games in which they had no business doing so. Despite having the same result, a loss, the team had the fans excited. More excited than a three-win team deserved.

With the Bears having the most salary cap money available entering free agency, a lot of the fans had visions of Poles signing every big name available. They expected a trade for DeAndre Hopkins and signings of Saquon Barkley, Mike McGlinchey, Orlando Brown, and others.

Poles did not do that, though. He stuck to his plan of signing lower-cost players. This time, however, he signed better-quality players.

The Chicago Bears now have a better product taking the field in 2023. So far, Poles added D.J. Moore, T.J. Edwards, Nate Davis, Tremaine Edmunds, Travis Homer, P.J. Walker, Robert Tonyan, DeMarcus Walker, D’Onta Foreman, and Andrew Billings.

Many of these players will play a lot of meaningful snaps. Poles added quality starters and depth pieces. It will be interesting to see how Eberflus handles this new roster.

Some of the fans are still unconvinced, though. With visions of Chicago signing every top name available, there were fans who were unimpressed with the players signed. The biggest talent signed was Edmunds. He was an integral part of the tough Buffalo Bills defense. He was rewarded with $18 million per season.

Then there was the acquisition of Moore. He becomes quarterback Justin Fields‘ best target. Fields needs quality targets and with Moore and Tonyan he gets them. He’ll likely get another good target via the draft as well.

Of course, after a 3-14 2022 season, this is a team with many holes to fill. There is still some work to do. The Bears still have about $40 million to spend so there will be a couple more signings.

Now we will see what Poles does in the draft. We saw all the wheeling and dealing he did during last year’s draft. He turned five picks into 11. He already traded the top overall pick. Additionally, he talked about how he planned on making multiple trades. He came close to trading the top pick for the number two and then trade that pick for the ninth pick.

I thought there was an opportunity to do something historically pretty cool with a trade from one to two and two to nine. That had potential to add more draft capital this year, and then the possibility that you’re sitting on three ones in the following year.

We are seeing a Chicago Bears general manager who has a plan to build a complete team and is sticking to that plan. He isn’t letting public pressure affect his decisions. He wasn’t going to go ahead and sign a big name and ignore the other positions. This is what other general managers did. They had that one or two flashy and big deals but then not have much of a roster behind the big names.

We are entering a new era of Chicago Bears football. Poles is doing his part to turn things around. He still has some more work to do but then it is up to the players and coaches to do their job.