How The Myles Garrett Trade Confirms An Uncomfortable Truth About Ryan Poles

The NFL never sleeps. Once again, a bombshell trade struck following the June 1st contract deadlines. Myles Garrett, the superstar pass rusher and future Hall of Famer, was traded by the Cleveland Browns to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse, a 1st round pick, a 2nd round pick, and a 3rd round pick. It was the second such trade the Rams have made this offseason, joining the one made for cornerback Trent McDuffie from the Kansas City Chiefs. It is beyond evident that Los Angeles is once again making all-in moves for this year, trying to duplicate the magic they had in 2021 that led to a Super Bowl championship.

Meanwhile, Chicago Bears fans are left wondering why their team hasn’t tried making any such moves. They’d just made the playoffs and almost knocked off that same Rams team in overtime of the divisional round. They have a young, ascending quarterback still on his rookie contract. It feels like the perfect time to get aggressive. Yet they operated with limited aggression for most of the past three months. Garrett felt like a perfect target given their poor pass rush.

If nothing else, this sequence confirms some clear and perhaps uncomfortable truths about general manager Ryan Poles.

The Myles Garrett trade confirms Poles has a strict ceiling.

Since taking over in 2022, the Bears’ general manager hasn’t been shy about making trades for veteran players. However, there is a caveat. He has consistently passed on any possibility of giving up a 1st round pick in any of those opportunities. The highest Poles has ever gone is a 2nd rounder, which occured in the Montez Sweat and Chase Claypool trades. Every time a player’s price tag reached the 1st round range, the Bears backed out.

This goes back to his time with the Chiefs. From 2009 to 2016, Kansas City never gave up a 1st-round pick for anyone. That finally changed in 2017 when they traded up for Patrick Mahomes. It wasn’t until 2019 that the streak truly broke when the Chiefs sent a package around a 1st rounder for pass rusher Frank Clark. Keep in mind, this was shortly after Brett Veach replaced John Dorsey as general manager. Dorsey, one of Poles’ biggest mentors, only traded a 1st round pick for a player once in seven years. That was the Odell Beckham trade in Cleveland in 2019, which didn’t pan out well.

In fairness, Poles did warn us.

Some of the first words out of his mouth four years ago was he was going to build through the draft. That meant free agency and trades were avenues he would use only selectively. This was because he believed that building a roster that way came at a cost. Sustaining a winner is incredibly difficult if the big free-agent signing or blockbuster trade acquisition doesn’t pan out. Hell, even if they do, it remains difficult. Julius Peppers was outstanding in his stint with the Bears. They still only had one winning season with him. The same was true of Khalil Mack.

However, there is one point that must be made. In both of those previous instances, the Bears didn’t have a quarterback. Jay Cutler was solid. Mitch Trubisky was okay. Neither were franchise guys. Poles has Caleb Williams, who just carried the Bears to their first division title in seven years. Seven 4th quarter comebacks. Beating the Packers in the playoffs. He’s not a finished product, but he is legit. Imagine what putting Myles Garrett on that defense could’ve done.

Poles, for better or worse, stuck to his principles.