Bear Digest

Why the Bears Need to Fire GM Ryan Poles

Analysis: In three years, GM Ryan Poles has made the Bears even worse than they were before he was hired and he deserves to be dismissed next week.

Gene Chamberlain

The best decision the Bears can make now is to show Ryan Poles the exit.
The best decision the Bears can make now is to show Ryan Poles the exit. / Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images
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Unless the Bear do something totally unexpected but warranted, it would seem Black Monday at Halas Hall will be limited to coach Thomas Brown talking to players during exit interviews.

GM Ryan Poles is slated to do exit interviews with players at the same time Brown will, but separately.

If public sentiment via social media is an indication, Bears fans generally think the GM should be joining the coaching staff in going out the door.

There has been no indication of any type from Halas Hall sources suggesting Poles will be out of work but the logic for dismissal is beyond sound.

Poles' Coaching Fiasco

Matt Eberflus already was fired with a 14-32 record and Poles hired him. They are 14-36 since Poles became general manager.

In fact, Poles was put in the position of leading a hunt for the next coach, of doing president Kevin Warren's legwork.

Poles couldn't pick the right coach from among the three candidates he was given after being hired, selecting Matt Eberflus over Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell. Quinn is in the playoffs but coaching the Commanders.

The list of Poles' accomplishments in three years is very small compared to the failures or missed opportunities.

Perhaps the biggest mistake was Poles wanted Eberflus back this year when they could have taken it all in a different direction. They even could have brought 1987 draft pick Jim Harbaugh back into the fold as their head coach but took another route. Whether this was Poles' fault or Warren's isn't entirely  clear but Poles could have pushed harder for this and they let Harbaugh get hired. And like Quinn, he'll be in the playoffs.

The Bears won't be in them for the fourth straight season.

Poles' famous quote virtually echoes, especially on this day when they are playing the Green Bay Packers.

"...and the last plece, the most important piece is we're going to take the North and never give it back," Poles proclaimed upon his hiring.

They have finished last all three of his years, they haven't beaten Green Bay since 2018 and they have finished last or tied for it in the NFC North in seven of the last 11 seasons.

The Bears have given up 50, 56 and 67 sacks in three years. They have dropped to 27th in rushing. And Poles' strength is supposed to be drafting offensive linemen.

Draft Day Mediocrity

Poles professed belief in the draft as the key. His record here has been fairly mediocre. At least he isn't trading away first-round picks the way Ryan Pace did, but the players he has chosen haven't developed into the real stars teams need to ascend. It's been three years for some, others might develop in time. Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Gervon Dexter, Darnell Wright and Kyler Gordon have skills

Poles made 26 picks and Braxton Jones is a productive overachiever as a fifth-round starter at a vital position.

Tyrique Stevenson at times makes plays very well and, at other times, is a disaster. More than any other player, he'll be associated with the 2024 Bears collapse because of his antics on the Hail Mary pass.

Beyond those players, specialist Tory Taylor is a hit, and there are some backups types like Elijah Hicks, Terell Smith, Roschon Johnson and Tyler Scott. Players who have done what those players have can be found about anywhere, though.

Austin Booker and Kiran Amegadjie had somewhat disappointing rookie seasons

The rest of Poles' picks either failed, wound up with other teams or out of the league. Three drafts and not a superstar among them, and far too many misses.

Zacch Pickens was a third-round draft pick and last week he was inactive, sitting while journeymen Chris Williams and Byron Cowart play.

Free Agency Waste

Poles had tremendous amounts of salary cap space the last two years, the most in 2023, after he reset their terrible cap situation, and he used it to pay Tremaine Edmunds like a star player but he hasn't produced star numbers. They signed T.J. Edwards, a huge plus for Poles because he overproduces for a lower-paid linebacker. Yet, the others they added in free agency have been stop-gap types or total failures.

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Kevin Byard might be the most successful of them in 2024 and he's a player in his 30s. Andrew Billings was a real find as a highly productive player at a bargain rate but then he suffered a season-ending injury. D'Andre Swift has too many games when he fails to make an impact. Coleman Shelton and DeMarcus Walker are average players, but remember, Poles had tremendous amounts of cash at his disposal and these are the players he acquired.

He signed Nate Davis for $30 million. This, alone, should raise eyebrows.

Poles did extend players they needed to retain, like Jaylon Johnson and Cole Kmet, but had other free agency debacles like Roquan Smith and Larry Ogunjobi.

Mixed Trading Results

Poles did make trades. He made the famous trade back with Carolina to acquire a handful of draft picks and it helped them to land D.J. Moore and draft Williams, Wright, Stevenson and Taylor, with a pick still to come. Yet, they took Wright over the best defensive tackle to come along in the draft in years, Jalen Carter.

They traded and acquired Montez Sweat, who hasn't had a good second year but has still been their best pass rusher and a second-round pick for a player of his impact is not a bad decision. There have been complaints about how much they paid him, but the amount Sweat got within a year will look like a bargain rate because of how much edge rushers get, and he'll be under contract through 2027.

He also made trades for Keenan Allen, who might be a one-and-done player, for Chase Claypool, N'Keal Harry and Ryan Bates. Poles got only a sixth-rounder back for Justin Fields.    

Coaching Candidates Want Alignment

In recent days, the topic of alignment between coaches and GMs has come up at Halas Hall. Alignment can mean a couple of different things. In terms of contracts, it can mean having their deals set to expire at a point that makes it easy for the team to fire one or the other.

It an also mean similarity of thought between the GM and the coach.

"Obviously, the head coach and GM spent a lot of time together," Brown said this week. "They have to collaborate as far as building a roster, the vision for the team, handling everything from a football business standpoint."

Some of the candidates for coach might need a coach they are in total alignment with, and it's been reported Ben Johnson wants this before he jumps from a winning situation to a possible nightmare.

The best way to have alignment for a coach is to bring him in with a new GM he knows and respects already, and may even have worked with in the past.

The Obvious Decision

For all of these reasons—the failed draft picks, the mediocre draft record, the mix of good trades and terrible ones, the losing, the support of a losing coach he hired over a competent one, and for Nate Davis—Poles deserves to be fired.

It might mean Kevin Warren going back on what he said a month ago about Poles being his GM. He did say this and it was not simply in relation to the search for a new coach, although this was part of his comment.   

"The next item I want to make sure we are clear about is Ryan Poles is the general manager of the Chicago Bears and he will remain the general manager of the Chicago Bears," Warren said. "Ryan is young, he is talented, he is bright, he is hard-working, he has done everything in his power on a daily basis to bring a winner to Chicago.

"I am confident in Ryan; my faith remains strong in Ryan."

Then he went on to tell everyone how the hunt for a coach would work.

Warren needs to go back and reflect on what he said about Poles.

It hasn't worked out. The Bears are on the verge of their longest losing streak for any single season in history and Poles helped make this possible.

Warren needs to fire Poles or he could be next on the list of those who made bad decisions at Halas Hall.

George McCaskey fired Jerry Angelo, who got the Bears to a Super Bowl. He fired Phil Emery after three years and he actually made some nice draft picks like Kyle Long and Kyle Fuller, but made a nightmare decision on signing Jay Cutler to a long contract extension and hired Marc Trestman over Bruce Arians.

They kept around GM Ryan Pace too long considering his failures with the salary cap, free agency and the draft.

Poles is already in this class of failure, if not worse.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.