It was clear from the start of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ tenure that he was prioritizing the 2023 season over the current one, and that made perfect sense. There was little to cling to from the team that careened to 6-11 last season, and it was going to take time to sweep away some of Ryan Pace’s bad decisions.
An ambitious timeline would’ve been for the Bears to absorb the ramifications of salary cap cleanup this season, be legitimately competitive next season and push to contend in 2024. Poles wasn’t in a rush, but that was plausible if everything went right.
