Bear Digest

Chicago Bears moves win GM Ryan Poles rave reviews and possibly more

Opinion keeps coming back favoring Bears GM Ryan Poles and the end result if it all continues this way through the draft can only lead to one outcome.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears GM Ryan Poles is winning over critics with his offseason moves and it wouldn't be surprising if it led to a contract extension.
Bears GM Ryan Poles is winning over critics with his offseason moves and it wouldn't be surprising if it led to a contract extension. | Photo: Chicago Bears video

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Chicago Bears

The reaction coming in from analysts about the Bears' offseason has been overwhelmingly positive and if it's a trend it can't be a bad situation for GM Ryan Poles.

NFL.com's Eric Edholm moved the Bears up six spots from 22nd to 16th in his most recent power rankings.

Pro Football Focus' updated power rankings after the first wave of free agency moved them up from 24th to 15th, the biggest leap by any team.  Perhaps more telling, PFF's Mason Cameron, in an article describing the best free agency move and worst one for every team, left the Bears' worst move "n/a" because he couldn't find one he disliked.

Colin Cowherd of FS1's The Herd already vaulted them to a spot with three new NFC playoff teams for the 2025 season.

Those are all media opinions and that's fine but when someone who actually has had to do the tasks Ryan Poles does is handing out the accolades and rating the Bears highly, then it says something different.

It says Poles might even qualify for that much-debated contract extension.

Former Raiders GM Mike Mayock, a media member himself in the past for ESPN, Fox and CBS, rated the free agent moves accomplished by teams so far and Poles' moves couldn't have been much better.

"I think the team that I think did what they needed to do the most was Chicago because Caleb Williams is a big-time talent," Mayock told Rich Eisen on Eisen's show for the Roku Channel. "I had the same grade on him as I did on Jayden Daniels and there's a lot of skill position talent on that roster. But the offensive line wasn't very good.

"Ryan Poles is a former offensive lineman. Ben Johnson is coming from a place where they prioritize offensive line. So they went out and got three offensive linemen. You know, they traded. What I love is they got Drew Dalman, as a 26 year center. They got Jonah Jackson, a 28-year-old guard who I loved coming out of college and Joe Thuney, who might be 32 but Joe Thuney can still flat-out play and his veteran ability and leadership will really help Caleb Williams."

Mayock found specific reasons to think the three linemen can make Williams' Sundays more pleasant beyond the fact they're better blockers than the Bears had there last year.

"Of course the talent infusion is critical, but he's going to have three interior offensive linemen setting the edge right in front of him and even better than that the communication amongst those three guys that will then leak back to the quarterback, it's going to be unbelievable. And they're not going to have any free runners running up the middle and X-stunts from linebackers and (rushers are) not going to have free run because they're all going to be on the same page and they're going to take a huge weight off that quarterback.

"And, by the way, it also makes their tackles better because they can play from inside out and push everybody up the field."

The end result according to Mayock is the Bears are not going to be mere winners of the mythical offseason this year but winners, period.

"So those three moves I thought were critical and make Chicago an instant contender in that division," Mayock said.

Just after Poles got Ben Johnson hired and the Bears had their coordinators in place, ESPN's Courtney Cronin had reported the expectation is Poles will get a three-year contract extension.

Nothing has been forthcoming in over six weeks since the report but it's a busy season for the GM. Once the draft ends, and with continued momentum on his side, it would be no shock if the expectation becomes reality regarding that deal.

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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.