Ryan Poles sent a message when he claimed an unprecedented seven players off the waiver wire last week. The Chicago Bears aren’t going to sit on their hands. If they sense any opportunities to make the team better, they will seize them. Nobody on the bottom of the roster should feel safe about their jobs. If they want to stay, they need to earn it daily. This philosophy isn’t something Poles himself created, though.
It is something he learned from some of his biggest mentors over the past decade. Poles got his start with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009. During his tenure there, he worked under three different general managers. The only that left the biggest mark on him when it came to the waiver wire was John Dorsey. He explained to Larry Mayer of Chicagobears.com that the philosophy of attacking the wire early as a GM was something that got started with a Hall of Famer back in the 1990s.
“This process was introduced to me back to Kansas City by John Dorsey, and it’s really kind of like a Ron Wolf philosophical thing. What we do is we start in the beginning of training camp, and once the preseason games get started, different scouts are assigned to different teams and you almost become the GM of that team. You’re going to go ahead and look at the 53 and what guys are on the bubble, cap casualties, all those different things. You watch it through preseason and then what starts to happen is some of the guys start to pop”
Ron Wolf is one of the most respected executives in NFL history.
He was the one who brought the Green Bay Packers back to prominence in the ’90s. Most of the time that involved good drafting, calculated free agency swings, and crafty trades. However, he also had some early success on the waiver wire—none bigger (literally and figuratively) than Gilbert Brown. The giant nose tackle got cut by Minnesota in 1993. Green Bay claimed him and became the catalyst for a run defense that finished in the top 10 five times over a six-year period.
Ryan Poles knows he only needs one good hit.
That will make the moves worth it. Waivers aren’t about precision. They’re about throwing darts at a board to see if something sticks. Dorsey did the same thing in his first year with Kansas City. He ended up landing safety Ron Parker who collected 11 interceptions, five forced fumbles, and eight sacks over six seasons with the Chiefs. A great piece to help their defense that barely cost anything to acquire. That is football business done right.
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Maybe the same will happen for Ryan Poles. Alex Leatherwood is a former 1st round pick. He could realize his potential as an offensive tackle. Armon Watts may become a quality interior pass rusher after notching five sacks last year. Sterling Weatherford looks like a strong addition at linebacker. Or there is Ihmir Smith-Marsette with his athletic upside at wide receiver. If even one emerges as a quality starter, Poles will have done his job.
Don’t fall in love with your own guys. If somebody is a tiny bit better or has more potential and you can grab him, do it. Look at Pace right now banging the table for all the Bears castoffs. He’s probably a great husband because he falls deeply in love and stays loyal but it makes for a crappy GM long term.
He actually hit on all of these.
Many people don't approve of what Poles has done thus far. I love his calculated approach that he's taking. He had an enormous task at hand when taking this job, and he cleaned most of it up. He's taking the 1 step back approach to eventually go 2 or 3 steps forward. While not a ton of stars on the roster right now, he's got smart guys that want to play hard. Year 1 will be a prove it year for many of these players. If they prove it they will be back and if not they will be shown… Read more »