Bear Digest

Bears GM Ryan Poles Due for Respect After Vikings GM Firing

The Vikings fired their GM after he had been hired the same offseason as Ryan Poles, which says something about the status of the organization.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears GM Ryan Poles is the one left standing after 2022 NFC North GM hires.
Bears GM Ryan Poles is the one left standing after 2022 NFC North GM hires. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Fortunately for the Bears, assistant GM Ian Cunningham got his job in Atlanta and is out of Dodge.

Otherwise, he might have eventually been in line for a job where he could do far more immediate damage to the Bears, as Vikings GM.

Minnesota shockingly fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Friday, according to The Athletic.

First, an apology. It was stated in the past here how the Bears had bungled by hiring Ryan Poles when they could have hired Adofo-Mensah, the supposed analytics expert of all GMs.

Apparently not.

The real stunner is they did this now, as the personnel/scouting season is already underway at the Senior Bowl instead of earlier.

The Vikings put underling Rob Brzezinski in charge through the draft and will then conduct an extensive search.

Almost certainly, if Cunningham had remained in Chicago the Vikings would have been considering him after the Bears' success this year.

It's pretty shocking how the Vikings had a 14-win season, let Sam Darnold leave and he winds up taking another NFC team to the Super Bowl right away while the new Vikings QB, J.J. McCarthy has more interceptions than touchdown passes going into Year 3.

What all of this says in relation to the Bears beyond how it's fun for their fans to see a division rival in any form of disarray is simply how fortunate they are at Halas Hall to have their own house in order.

Nothing has been reported one way or the other but it appears Kevin O'Connell emerges unscathed if there was a power struggle, or if there was blame being tossed around by ownership.

Apparently, it’s been decided Adofo-Mensah is the one to bear the blame for 9-8 and no playoff berth.

Meanwhile, the Bears can be thankful they finally have a head coach whose presence is strong enough and abilities sharp enough that he's able to assist the GM in his duties by making it perfectly clear the type of players he needs.

Likewise, they have to be thankful for a GM who is not so ego-driven that he must do things his way and accepts coaching input as a co-partner of sorts.

This worked to bring in Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, Ozzy Trapilo and Kyle Monangai in one draft class. Now they need to show they can work to bring in defensive players, too.

Meanwhile, the Vikings will be hoping they've got the right people in the draft with a backup GM and maybe they have the right coach because 9-8 with the personnel they had isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for O'Connell.

Apology given to GM Ryan Poles. He's doing a much better job working through the hazards of being GM than Adofo-Mensah has and also at finding ways to bring in winning talent and a winning coach.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.