The Chicago Bears’ losing streak reached ten games on Thursday night after the Chicago Bears lost to the Seattle Seahawks 6-3 in the final home contest of 2024. With the season finale against the Packers in Green Bay next Sunday, the team is one game away from ending one of the worst seasons in franchise history. Despite having immense resources to help overhaul the roster in the upcoming offseason, it has become abundantly clear that general manager Ryan Poles can’t be trusted execute another offseason for a franchise that needs a drastic turnaround.
Ryan Poles has glaring mistakes over the past three off seasons serving as the Bears’ general manager
Poles has been Chicago’s general manager since being hired in January of 2022 and has a gaff in each of his three off seasons overseeing the roster rebuild. In the 2022 offseason, Ryan Poles failed to successfully sign defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi after the team announced the signed only for Ogunjobi to not pass the physical nullifying the contract. Additionally, the Bears’ general manager missed out on signing restricted free agent offensive lineman Ryan Bates as the Bills matched the offer, only to trade Bates to the Bears two years later for draft compensation.
The following offseason, the Bears’ general manager chose to sign lineman Nate Davis, who came with a checkered background and commitment issues from Tennessee. Davis only lasted a season and a half before being released earlier this season. This past offseason, there were several instances in which Poles made notably poor decisions with trade executions when he took a lesser offer to trade quarterback Justin Fields to appease Fields while also deciding not to trade wide receiver Velus Jones Jr for a draft selection only for Jones to be released a month later.
Heading into the offseason, the Bears will have to overhaul a good portion of their roster depending on who they hire as their head coach. If Poles remains the general manager, he will have a lot of draft stock, including three selections in the top 50 picks of the 2025 NFL Draft and having the fifth most salary cap space to work with. Given Ryan Poles’ inability to have consistent success during the offseason to rebuild the roster, it is too much of a risk to trust him to successfully utilize the resources Chicago will have in free agency and next year’s draft.
With the how disappointing the 2024 season will conclude next Sunday and the fact that rookie quarterback Caleb Williams will finish as the most sacked quarterback in the NFL being taken down 67 times, Poles shouldn’t be trusted to fix an offensive line that hadn’t been fixed in the three years prior. Ryan Poles’ struggles with finding quality linemen over the past three years is highlighted by the fact that Chicago’s has the second-lowest salary cap money allocated to the offensive line. Additionally, six of the draft selections the Bears’ general manager has used on offensive linemen, only two remain with the team in tackles Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones.
It isn’t just the offensive line that needs to be fixed, as the defensive line has been a significant issue also as Poles has failed to find a successful pass-rusher over the past three years via the draft. Defensive ends Dominique Robinson and Austin Booker have failed to record any sacks this year despite playing on the other side of Pro Bowl pass-rusher Montez Sweat. With a new defensive scheme likely coming with a new head coach, there will likely be a need for four to five new starters to be added to the roster, which may be too much for Ryan Poles to handle.
Ryan Poles’ general manager position would be a highly sought after opening if made available
Given the failure of the 2024 season with the poor roster decisions and the failure to identify quality coaches, especially on offense, it may be in Chicago’s best interest to move on from Poles. The Bears’ head coaching position is being viewed as the most alluring job opening because of the chance to work with Williams as a quarterback. If there are head coaching candidates wanting to interview for the head coaching vacancy like former Super Bowl coach Pete Carroll and Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, a general manager vacancy could be even more attractive.
A potential executive that could replace Ryan Poles could not only be enticed by WIlliams at the quarterback position, but also the immense resources that would help fast track a roster reset that the team has heading into this offseason. Top five cap space and multiple valuable selections that don’t need to be used on a quarterback will enable an executive to focus intensely on the trenches, which is Chicago’s most glaring weakness. Any executive would job at the chance to rebuild the Bears’ roster as a successful turnaround would bring significant praise and accolades.
Imagine a scenario where team president Kevin Warren hires a former executive that has had prior success as a general manager or is able to hire the next best up and coming mind as a first-time general manager because of the cap space and draft stock to work with. If John Dorsey or Rick Spielman were hired and instantly turned the Bears into a playoff contender next season, they would be considered a hero to Bears’ fans and likely be a favorite to win Executive of the year. the general manager position in Chicago, if available, would be an easy one for Warren to fill.
It is unfortunate that Poles was unable to have any consistent success with his coaching or roster decisions over the past three seasons, which only amplifies why he can’t be trusted with a fourth offseason. Chicago’s current general manager failed to protect his quarterback and provide him the coaching resources that would help develop him during his rookie season. The failures of 2024 paired with other incorrect decisions proves that Ryan Poles can’t be trusted with the resource the Bears have this offseason to rebuild the team.
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