NEWSLETTER
Ryan Poles did a ton of heavy lifting this offseason in re-tooling a roster that entered the 2024 year needing more than a touch-up.
And in an interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears general manager pulled back the curtain on what went down this offseason. It is a wide-ranging conversation between the two, but one that I found to be informative and entertaining. I’ll encourage you to give it a full listen here. But in the meantime, I want to highlight this exchange, which truly caught my attention.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter: When you look back at your offseason, how would you assess how it’s gone?
Bears General Manager Ryan Poles: I’m really happy about it. I know our entire organization is, our scouting staff is, our coaching staff they’re fired up. We put a plan together to improve and it went really well. It went as planned. I’m so used to having to adapt and adjust. And there’s always a little bit of that, but when things fall in place the way you would like them it’s always really positive. So we’re fired up.
Schefter: What fell into place that made this offseason go the way that you and your organization had hoped?
Ryan Poles: If you go back to free agency, there was things that were expected and things that weren’t expected at all that were a little bit of a surprise. We wanted to continue to add weapons on the offensive side.
We were able to do that with (D’Andre) Swift pretty quickly in free agency and then Keenan (Allen) was a surprise. And we said ‘wow, what an opportunity to bring in a guy’ … understanding that there was a good chance he would be paired with a young quarterback. Kevin Byard was a surprise. Again, another leader that has played a lot and has been very productive that I knew could help our back end with communication as well as increasing the amount of turnovers. So that went really well. We knew we got better there.
I try not to think about how the previous regime operated. After all, there are ample reasons that group is no longer here. However, I can’t help but think about how different Ryan Poles when compared to his predecessor. I feel as if Poles does a remarkable job in opening a window to his line of thinking, provides depth and perspective to his transactions, and communicates clearly while doing so.
As a result of that openness, we get some quality anecdotes in the quote above about adding to the offense with running back D’Andre Swift and prioritizing bringing in a quarterback-friendly receiver in Keenan Allen (in a move that seems like as much of a surprise to Poles as it was to us when the news broke).
Even Poles’ anecdotes about what Kevin Byard brings to the table were interesting. The idea of adding a free agent safety was going to be on our radar this offseason. But underscoring Byard’s strengths as a leader and someone who can be a ballhawk on a defense that stresses the importance of creating turnovers gives us perspective on the specific type of player Poles was looking to add to this defensive unit this past offseason.
Don’t you just love it when a team has a plan, then executes it?
There is so much more good stuff in this episode. Fantasy football chatter. Hard Knocks discussion (let the record show that Adam Schefter points out that his conversation with Bears GM Ryan Poles came before the Hard Knocks announcement came out). And so much more. But I wanted to share this first before I dug into some other stuff. For more from the Bears general manager on Adam Schefter’s podcast:
Ryan Poles had a tremendous offseason for the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears fans spent copious amounts of time this offseason drawing up dream scenarios for free agency and the NFL Draft. But I’m not sure anyone could’ve realistically topped what Ryan Poles and his front office did this offseason. Think about the wide array of changes throughout the organization — particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
And yet, Ryan Poles might not be done.
At the start of his interview with Schefty, Poles says the Bears are having a good offseason “so far.” Those two words shouldn’t be overlooked by anyone. Frankly, I don’t think that “so far” caveat is inconsequential. Not with the team yet to properly address the three-technique defensive tackle that Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus’ defense needs to really get the engine revving. And while finding that guy might be a tough task to ask a GM to pull off in the summer months, I can see Ryan Poles angling to add a defensive end to boost the D-line’s profile and bolster the depth.
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In the end, yes, I’d agree it has been a productive offseason for Ryan Poles. But there could still be more coming. So stay tuned…
