Ryan Poles Betting on Himself

Bears GM Ryan Poles often speaks on levels beyond the grasp of casual fans.

He'll talk about value picks or system fits and many don't realize what he's saying.

Some are either too ensconced in baseball/basketball mentality to understand or they are stubborn fantasy football people who believe they know more than someone who does this for a living.

Football is different. System really means something. It does in other sports, but not to this extent because everything in this sport is rehearsed and much of what is rehearsed eventually actually happens. Less is left to chance.

"With free agency, we stuck to our plan," Poles said Thursday. "And that's really to marry a fit for what we're trying to do here-our culture, our scheme-with value."

The way to get in trouble with the salary cap is pay too much for a player based on need if he's not a fit for what you're trying to do, or if they simply aren't worth the money.

It's how they eventually got into trouble before with former GM Ryan Pace, along with the fact he couldn't draft. See the 2019 draft class for evidence. With David Montgomery's departure, they no longer have anyone from that class on the roster.

So when asked why he didn't sign Orlando Brown Jr., a massive 360-pound tackle, it really did make sense that the Bears wouldn't beat the $16 million a year the Bengals paid him to sign.

"I'm not going to get into the specific player, but the scheme match is a big deal there," Pace said.

Now, if you remember the scene from the old HBO series "Arliss," you've got an answer to this.

There was a scene when Robert Wuhl, the wannabe super agent Arliss, was negotiating with a team on the phone to sign his client, a quarterback and a guy nobody in the league wanted.

Arliss hollers into the phone: "He doesn't fit your system? What's your system, LOSING!?" Then Arliss slams down the phone, stands up, and goes to a chalk board in his office where all the NFL team names are listed with some crossed off. And he draws a line right through "Chicago."

I don’t like every move Ryan Poles makes. I don’t think they will all work. I like his approach to roster building. His critics are too short sighted. He’s set the Bears up for a chance at long term success.

The Emery & Pace eras are over.
— illwill (@79illwill) March 17, 2023

They were even the butt of jokes in the 1990s/early 2000s on HBO.

Of course, this bit of humor is easy to promote when you're not in charge of a team's future and are simply looking for jokes.

There really are fits, and a huge left tackle who doesn't move as well in a wide zone blocking scheme that demands all linemen move all the time to block the run all game long really doesn't fit the plan.

Pro Football Focus saw Brown fall off his game last year and rated him at the same level as Bears rookie left tackle Braxton Jones. Both had PFF grades of 75.4, tied for 19th among all tackles regardless of the side of the line they play.

On the other hand, the Bengals have a head coach who came from the Shanahan style of offense which includes the wide zone scheme, and Zac Taylor didn't mind having Brown for $16 million a year.

The real question for Poles is why he didn't simply pay what Denver did for Mike McGlinchey because there is no doubt he fits this system, and according to a report by the Tribune's Brad Biggs, they were in the running for this signing. The report said they were willing to go to just short of what McGlinchey got, which was $17.5 million the Seahawks did. So for $500,000 a year they were willing to lose his services? That's half the cost of a veteran's minimum contract and some might label this cheap.

The guaranteed money is key here, really, with $52.5 million guaranteed for McGlinchey according to the terms broken down on Spotrac.com. That's quite a bit guaranteed if a player breaks down a few times during the course of the contract.

Brown got only $31 million guaranteed from the Bengals so they, too, apparently had reservations about the player they signed.

This tackle situation was a case of Poles drawing a line where he'll go and then not budging off of it when he knows he can get a player at the position in the draft and pay practically nothing by comparison.

How does he know this? He did it last year in Round 5, so he's assuming he can do it possibly in Round 1 where there is some talent this year.

This is a position that's supposed to be his area of expertise as a former lineman. Poles would rather bet on his own ability to find and select a tackle than overpay for a player whose value isn't at a particular level.

The goal is avoiding future cap problems like Pace encountered as GM by giving away too much guaranteed to lesser talent based on need.

Coughing up that extra bonus money might be easier if he didn't see a few potential NFL tackles like Broderick Jones, Paris Johnson Jr. or Peter Skoronski available in Round 1.

Poles at one point Thursday was explaining why he went to linebacker first in free agency and value was the reason.

I HATE the Bears front office

Why do they keep making smart move after smart move and continuously get good value on even better contracts! UGH! Theyve done exactly what they said they were going to do and i HATE it!

Why are they sticking to the plan they told us about!?!! pic.twitter.com/i40LOwUpi7
— Bartholomew Willijax (@B_Willijax) March 17, 2023

"When you look at the board, we felt like those two players were at the top of their positions," he said. "We felt like the skill-set was gonna help our team. And we decided to go there. It made sense."

The key: "These guys are really good and at the top of their position," he said.

Poles did not regard Brown at the top of his position or a system fit, so what's the point of signing him?

This is the hill Poles will stand on. It's a much safer hill to defend than the one where a GM spends available cap space on players who are not fits, are starting to get older or simply are not regarded as a top talent at their position.

It's really easy to defend that hill when you believe you have the expertise at the position to find an alternative in the draft, so he better do it.

The other way Poles can really look bad is if the player he designates as their future at left tackle, Braxton Jones, fails to follow up on his strong rookie year and regresses.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

Add us as a preferred source on Google