Bear Digest

Ryan Poles Details Bears' Involvement in the Great Maxx Crosby Chase

The Bears no longer seem to be pursuing the Raiders' edge, but at one time did at least look into it before settling in to upgrade their defensive speed.
Gene Chamberlain|
Defensive end Maxx Crosby takes the field prior to a game against the Denver Broncos at Allegiant Stadium.
Defensive end Maxx Crosby takes the field prior to a game against the Denver Broncos at Allegiant Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The Bears maintained a distance from the Maxx Crosby trade fiasco and it seems GM Ryan Poles has no plans to enter the fray at this point.

Speaking at Halas Hall about his free agency to date, Poles made it sound as if they inquired about the Raiders defensive end but found the situation not to be a Bears fit.

"I've said before we're always going to monitor every situation," Poles said. "Sometimes it fits and it works with what you've got going on in terms of resources (salary cap, draft pick compensation), sometimes it doesn't.

"So we were involved. I mean, we checked into it. We looked to see if it made sense, had some dialogue. I'll just leave it at that."

And they did.

Crosby was traded to the Ravens, who didn't like what they saw in his knee after meniscus surgery. They negated the deal and returned to sender.

Not the Bears' problem now

A report by Dianna Russini of The Athletic said five doctors were involved in rendering opinions, including the team's medical people, and the Ravens ultimately felt there was too much long-term risk with things like arthritis to lay down two No. 1 draft picks like they had.

So they backed out of it.

Poles made it all sound like ancient history that his team has already moved on from in anticipation of the draft and the remainder of free agency.

"I mean, it's the world we live in right now where we jump to conclusions," Poles said. "I don't know what happened (in Baltimore). I'm not in that building. So I just, I'll let those people worry about that. That's not my problem. This obviously is hard. You never have black and white, its always gray when you're making decisions

"So I'm sure there were things that they were working through that they had to make that decision, but again, that's something they've got to worry about. I'm not worried about that right now."

Instead, Poles was happy with the speed they've added on defense overall, with safety Coby Bryant and linebacker Devin Bush.

Bryant was a player the Bears coveted in the draft four years ago.

"He was the guy you got excited about," Poles said. "(Executive scout) Jeff Shiver, one of our better scouts, was on the table doing jumping jacks for him (to be drafted). He's excited today to have him on the team, now. So it's great."

Bryant's playing speed and ability to diagnose what's going on has Poles excited most, as he replaces 32-year-old All-Pro safety Kevin Byard.

Speed to burn on defense

"Play style, he plays fast, instincts jump off the tape," Poles said. "His abilty to anticipate. Like I said before, we're looking for guys that are passionate about ball. You can see that in his body language and how he moves.

"Any time you bring a player in and your phones go off—coaches, front office—on how (ticked) off Seattle was not having him back, but also how fortunate we are to have a guy like this in our building, that's what you want to hear. And that's exactly what happened. So, we're fired up."

The speed with Bush also caught Poles' attention. Bush ran a 40-yard time as fast as many receivers at the combine, a 4.43. It hasn't always been obvious in his play but in Cleveland last year it was, and they like his ability to replace lost free agent Tremaine Edmunds.

"Just, his ability to take the air out, when he trigger he goes," Poles said. "Another one, again, time goes by, I remember watching him at Michigan. The play style--he plays fast. That helps with range and coverage. And again, if you think about DA's (Dennis Allen's defensive) system, it's a perfect fit."

Poles remains true to his commitment to build the team through the draft, and supplement with free agents at times.

The potential move for Crosby would have required a drastic departure from this philosophy, but now it's on Poles to produce more edge rush help, if not defensive tackle help, through the draft.

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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.

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