General manager Ryan Poles planned on a gradual rebuild when he took over the Bears in January 2022, preferring to take the long-term view of someone who would be running the team for a decade rather than looking for a quick burst of success that fizzled quickly.
That’s a responsible approach, though Poles might have underestimated everyone’s patience. The Bears have asked for it for decades, most recently in retaining Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy in 2021 when hardly anyone outside Halas Hall supported that, and it’s exhausting.
But even for a deliberate, incremental builder like Poles, the Bears’ climb — if they’re making one — is going too slowly. They were the worst team in the NFL last season at 3-14 and are near the bottom again at 3-8 going into their game Monday against the Vikings.
The Vikings, who also cleaned house in 2022, are one of the work-in-progress teams outpacing them, along with the Lions, Texans, Browns and Jaguars at minimum. And then there are the teams whose recent rebuilds are complete, putting them in title contention, like the Eagles and Dolphins.
Poles knew he was walking into a tense environment as the Bears meandered to a 22-27 record over the three seasons preceding his hiring. He had to sweep Pace and Nagy’s empty promises out of Halas Hall just to be able to walk to his new desk.
Ahead of his first draft, he didn’t want to use a “super sensitive” term like rebuild that would signal this was going to take a while. He didn’t want a never-ending endeavor and knew that no one outside the building did, either. Instead, he made an analogy to renovating a home.
“You might have to redo some countertops over here, some fresh paint over there, [but] some rooms are good,” Poles said. “That’s kind of the thought process. That’s not a rebuild.”
It’s hard to keep pushing back on the term “rebuild” after going 3-14 and getting the No. 1 pick in the draft, but even then, Poles was bullish on the Bears after the recent offseason. He parlayed the top pick into an array of assets, including top wide receiver DJ Moore, and signed free agents to contracts totaling $178 million.
When pressed for a progress report on the rebuild shortly before the season, Poles estimated he had filled 75% to 80% of the roster’s holes “on paper,” but wouldn’t truly know until he saw it in action. The 0-4 start immediately alerted him he’d been overly optimistic.
Various mistakes and misfortunes that have slowed his work.
The Bears’ medical staff wouldn’t clear coveted defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, yet he went on to be a full-time starter for the Steelers. Drafting wide receiver and return man Velus Jones, who hasn’t been capable of playing either of those positions, at No. 71 overall was an error. The 48-hour span in which Poles traded away linebacker Roquan Smith and traded for wide receiver Chase Claypool, was highly regrettable.
But those are secondary issues. Quick turnarounds typically hinge on getting the coach and quarterback right. The Jaguars and Texans were bottom-five teams in 2021 but are pressing toward the playoffs now because they checked those two enormous boxes.
Poles came up as a scout and executive with the Chiefs, who had Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. The Bears have Matt Eberflus and Justin Fields. Perhaps those two will surprise everyone, but Eberflus is 6-22 and Fields has the ninth-lowest passer rating of any quarterback with 500 passes over the last two seasons.
Ancillary moves matter, so it’s important that Poles has built a strong secondary and upgraded the offensive line. He needs to target the pass rush and wide receivers next. But those details, or even the sum of them, aren’t enough to vault the Bears into legitimacy — and Poles into job security — if they don’t solve coach and quarterback.
