Bears general manager Ryan Poles didn’t have to think long — or default to a generic answer — when asked what he was most proud of in executing his offseason plan.
“The ability to really help our team right now, but also continue to set ourself up for the future,” Poles said Tuesday at Halas Hall. “Being able to do both exceeded my expectations, which was really cool.”
It’s highly unlikely Poles could have done that without the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. The bounty from trading that pick to the Panthers epitomizes the short- and long-term benefit Poles is talking about. Wide receiver DJ Moore helps the Bears immediately. The Panthers’ No. 1 draft pick in the 2024 draft helps in the future. And rookie offensive tackle Darnell Wright, the 10th overall pick in the draft, could do both if he’s as good as advertised.
In January, Poles was chagrined to have that pick after the Bears’ season-ending loss to the Vikings saddled them with a 10-game losing streak to finish 3-14. “I got home and one of my buddies from the neighborhood drove by, like, ‘Hey, congratulations on the first overall pick,’” Poles said at the time. “I’m still not in that mindset right now. It hurts. It hurts to be in that position.”
Poles wasn’t exactly doing handstands about having that pick when asked about it Tuesday. But he seemed to acknowledge the possibility at least that the benefits of having the No. 1 overall pick could outweigh the ignominy of finishing 3-14 with a team that found ways to lose instead of ways to win.
“It’s hard to tell,” Poles said. “I know that the opportunity that presented itself allowed us to do some really good things to help our team get in position to be successful for a long period of time.
‘I don’t know what would have happened if we didn’t [get the No. 1 pick], but I’m happy with where we’re at right now and where we’re going.”
In his own understated manner, Poles was understandably pleased in general as he opens his second season as the Bears’ GM. One season after he took over, this roster is mostly his — just 15 of the 77 players he inherited remain. Every position player on the 90-man roster is 29 or younger except 31-year-old center Cody Whitehair.
Poles has a quarterback other NFL offensive coaches would love to get their hands on. He has a core of young players he drafted who have legitimate opportunities to become the “elite” players coach Matt Eberflus is looking for — safety Jaquan Brisker, cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson, left tackle Braxton Jones, left guard Teven Jenkins and defensive tackles Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens among them.
He opens the 2024 training camp with no holdouts. And he has no injured players — a credit to the “performance team” and athletic trainers, he said — the football gods be damned.
So heading into Year 2, Poles is in a twilight zone — his rebuild is on target, but he hasn’t accomplished anything yet. In his first year he rode the wave of not being Ryan Pace — where anything different is better. Now the results have to start coming in.
And for Poles — coming off a 3-14 season — that involved virtually every move he’s made, including the biggest ones: hiring Matt Eberflus; the affirmation of Fields as his franchise quarterback; trading Roquan Smith and signing Tremaine Edmunds; and trading a second-round draft pick that turned into No. 32 for Chase Claypool.
With those four decisions in the balance, this is an early huge year for Ryan Poles. If the Bears’ pick is in the top 10 this year, not even his neighbor will be offering congratulations.
