Chicago Bears: Poles Did His Job, Now Eberflus Has To Do His

This offseason Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles did a good job of filling the holes in the roster and improving the team. Now it is up to head coach Matt Eberflus and his coaching staff to get the most out of the players.

It has certainly been an impactful offseason for the Chicago Bears. General manager Ryan Poles had the tools to overhaul the roster. He owned the number one overall pick in the draft.

Poles traded that pick and received three picks in return (2023 second round, 2024 first round, and 2025 second round). Additionally, he received wide receiver D.J. Moore. As a result, Poles and the Bears had additional picks and a player to help quarterback Justin Fields in his development.

Furthermore, Poles’ moves last year resulted in the Bears having nearly $100 million in salary cap space. That was the most, by far, in the NFL.

Poles took advantage of that and signed a dozen free agents to help improve the team. He overhauled the linebackers unit by signing T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds, adding speed, athleticism, and toughness. Also, he added help to the offensive line by signing Nate Davis.

In the draft, Poles added more athleticism, speed, and toughness. He felt the Bears needed to get tougher in the trenches so he drafted a right tackle and three defensive tackles. He also made the secondary much tougher and faster. The secondary will once again be filled with athletic, hard hitters.

The job is not over, however. There are still holes in the roster. Defensive end is still a big need, for example. Poles and the Bears still have plenty of money available, though. They have about $34.6 million in cap space. That is still tops in the league. Poles can go out in the free agent market and find someone to come in and help.

Now the job is turned over to Eberflus

Poles did his job of strengthening the roster. On paper, the team looks better than the three-win team that took the field in 2022. Now it is head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff’s job to get the most out of the players.

Eberflus did a pretty good job of doing that in 2022. Yes, the team only had three wins. However, the team played hard every game. This was a team that lacked talent and despite the mounting losses (they lost their last ten games), they continued to play hard-nosed football.

The Bears were involved in eight games that ended in a one-score difference. Some of those were against the top talent in the NFL, like the NFC champions Philadelphia Eagles. Chicago lost seven of those. While they played tough football, the lack of talent ended up being the difference.

Perhaps with better talent and continued hard playing, the Bears end up winning more of those close games.

Eberflus showed last season that he is the right man for this job. He is a tough, hard-nosed coach and expects his players to play that way. Additionally, he isn’t afraid to put the best player in, even if it is a rookie.

Last season, Eberflus ended up using three rookies as starters. Braxton Jones was a surprise pick at left tackle. He ended up playing every snap of the season. Cornerback Kyler Gordon started from Week 1. While he struggled a bit early in the season, he was playing very well down the stretch. Safety Jaquan Brisker also was a starter right away and played like a veteran throughout the season.

Let’s not forget about Jack Sanborn. He was an undrafted rookie who took over when the Bears traded Roquan Smith in the middle of the season. He did a great job until an injury ended his season.

It seems that Eberflus and his staff are perfect for developing the Chicago Bears’ rebuild. Eberflus recently spoke on how his staff works hard on developing players, especially the young ones. He explained why he feels comfortable with giving those young players important snaps.

That’s why I hired these coaches as teachers. They all have a heart of service and they love to teach and they’re good teachers. We pride ourselves on developing these young guys, and we’re not afraid to put young guys in there. If guys are good enough to start, we’re going to put them in there and play them.

Poles now hands the reins over to Eberflus and his staff. It appears as if the team is in good hands with them. We will see how good soon.