Bears general manager Ryan Poles was so popular at the start of the NFL offseason — he held the first overall pick, and the fate of the top of the draft, in his hands — that his team set up shop at a relatively out-of-the-way hotel during the NFL Scouting Combine. The Indianapolis Hyatt Regency wasn’t as fancy as the J.W. Marriott, but Poles was less likely to get cornered in the hotel lobby by rival executives wanting to talk trade.
When Poles traded the pick to the Panthers for the ninth selection — and more — in March, he was no longer the fulcrum upon which the draft teetered.
