Ryan Poles delivers a reality check to Bears fans, signaling a clear and calculated vision ahead of a pivotal offseason
The Chicago Bears aren’t going to be making any rash decisions this upcoming offseason.
The Chicago Bears made some massive strides over the last calendar year under general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson by establishing a winning culture and finally putting this organization on the path toward becoming a Super Bowl contender.
The Bears’ 12-7 overall record was way above what anyone expected out of the team this season and the overall message from Poles and Johnson is that it still wasn’t enough. This team has Super Bowl aspirations and no one in the building will be complacent with what the team showed this year.
At the same time, the Bears will have a clear and calculated vision for this upcoming pivotal offseason to make sure that level of success can be sustained. And part of that includes not making any rash decisions that parts of the fan base might be calling for.
Ryan Poles discusses roster building approach in 2026 and avoiding any “panic” decisions
“You just have more constraints,” Poles said. “But, at the same time, I don’t think the process changes. We’re going to identify the guys that fit what we want on our football team and you just keep trying to acquire those players. We know what they look like, we know how they act, we know how they talk and we’ll continue to do that. That’s part of the thing is, one can you self evaluate and be critical of yourself and your team to make sure that you know what you have in the building and then can you just keep pounding away and sticking to your process of bringing in the right types of people.”
Since taking over as the team’s general manager in 2022, Poles has done a solid job bringing in the right talent to Chicago and building a strong foundation for this team. You think of the young standouts such as Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, Darnell Wright, Luther Burden III, and Kyler Gordon. And then you think of the veteran leaders such as Joe Thuney, Montez Sweat, Kevin Byard, Grady Jarrett. The list goes on and on.
Poles has gotten some flack from the fanbase in the past for some of his decisions and the players he’s brought in or not brought in. That’s part of the job, no general manager can bat a thousand. Truthfully, Poles had developed a strong nucleus of players and going into a pivotal offseason with a Super Bowl window open, he’s aware of what’s needed for this team to get over the hump but also isn’t going to make any rash decision.
“I think when you – and we see it across the league – you panic and you want to do crazy things, that everyone else wants you to do, it leads to some situations that you can’t get out of,” Poles added. “We want to stay flexible, we want to stay open-minded, we want to stay committed to building this team the right way, because I think that’s the best way to sustain success. We’re always going to be opportunistic, we’re going to go through opportunities that pop up and talk through them and [decide] is this best for us short-term and is this best for us long-term and then we move from there.”
Bears fans might want to read that again before begging for a blockbuster trade
That last quote speaks directly to the fans begging for a blockbuster trade to land Maxx Crosby or some other star-caliber player around the league.
In rare instances, such a move can pay off and be the best thing for a team’s short and long-term future. Instances such as Micah Parsons going to the Green Bay Packers or Matthew Stafford going to the Los Angeles Rams, but those cases are few and far between.
The Bears aren’t going to make any rash decision that can negatively impact the future for this team and it’s something Chicago fans should’ve learned when the team threw away the future for Khalil Mack and failed to sustain the level of success after the 2018 season.
It’s fun to theorize those kinds of trades but Poles is right, it’s a panic decision that the Bears need to shy away from if they want to sustain this success for years to come. Sorry Bears fans, but it’s probably not going to happen.
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