Bear Digest

Did Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles reveal his offseason priority at the 2025 NFL Combine?

Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles had a lot to say when he met with the media at the 2025 NFL Combine, and he may have revealed his top offseason priority as free agency approaches.

Bryan Perez

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Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles comes across as a pretty genuine guy. By all accounts, he means what he says, which is why his comments from the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine warrant serious attention.

Poles stopped short of revealing his detailed 2025 free agency and NFL Draft plan, but he gave some insight into one position group expected to be a priority for the Bears during both roster-building exercises.

Chicago must find a complement for edge rusher Montez Sweat this offseason. While most of the mainstream attention has been on the team's plan to rebuild the offensive line, Poles hinted that the edge rusher is his top goal.

“You can't have enough good ones,” Poles said when asked if the Bears would spend big money on a free-agent pass rusher and select one in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

“I think we all watched that last game of the season, and that proves to be true. You want to see how you could put the puzzle together where you can kind of fill all the needs perfectly.”

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Josh Sweat (19) against the Jacksonville Jaguars
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Bears will use 2025 NFL offseason to upgrade the trenches

The Chicago Bears will have no shortage of options to upgrade their pass rush, both in free agency and the NFL Draft. Josh Sweat (Eagles) will command top dollar on the open market, and a blistering edge rusher like Tennessee's James Pearce will be available at No. 10 overall when Poles is on the clock.

Most of the offseason speculation surrounding the Bears has focused on Chicago spending big money on interior offensive linemen in free agency and using the 10th pick on a prospect like Will Campbell (LSU) or Kelvin Banks (Texas). And if that can be true, why can't the same theory be applied to the pass rush?

I'm a strong supporter of the "all-in on the offensive line" approach, but if Poles believes the best players available, who can help the team win games sooner, are on the other side of the ball? So be it. He just better hope coach Ben Johnson has a plan to protect Caleb Williams.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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