Ryan Poles spent four years getting the Chicago Bears to this point. Despite lots of trial and error, he succeeded in the two most critical tasks of every NFL general manager. He found a quarterback and head coach. Caleb Williams looks like a budding superstar after his playoff debut. Despite his five interceptions in two games, his late-game magic almost sent the Bears to the NFC Championship. Ben Johnson instilled the team with the discipline and belief they’d been sorely lacking for years. In the end, inexperience and a more talented team did them in.
Now comes the hard part for Poles. He has his foundation. The goal moving forward is assembling a talent cast around them. A terrific first step was made in the previous NFL draft with the arrivals of Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, and Kyle Monangai. Hopefully Ozzy Trapilo recovers from his knee injury.
This upcoming offseason will be more challenging. The Bears are projected to be over the salary cap, meaning they must do lots of work to free up space. They have several key players becoming free agents, and for the first time, they won’t have the benefit of a top-10 draft pick.
Ryan Poles must decide how aggressive he wants to be.
Up until now, the Bears’ GM has avoided restructuring existing contracts. While that frees up cap space, it kicks the can down the road, creating future cap problems. Still, Poles may have no choice. His team was an overtime away from the conference title game. It feels like he’s duty-bound to be aggressive in pushing his team over the hump. Restructuring deals like Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson would give them more flexibility, allowing them to retain some key players like Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and D’Marco Jackson. Maybe enough would be left over for a significant swing in free agency.
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As for the draft, that is the tough part. Often, what undoes many aspiring contenders is their inability to adjust from picking high in the early rounds to picking later. It really puts pressure on your scouting department’s ability to evaluate talent. Few teams have mastered the ability to find talent in that range every year. Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Kansas City come to mind.
Luckily, Ryan Poles and assistant GM Ian Cunningham rose through those organizations. They know the challenge ahead and should be well-prepared.
