Chicago Bears make bold and risky move in effort to prove their organization is finally heading down a different path in 2025
The Chicago Bears are entering a bit of a new era on the gridiron. They've got an offensive guru as their head coach, with young quarterback Caleb Williams leading the charge on that side of the ball. Meanwhile on defense, they have an incredibly talented secondary alongside an improve front seven for 2025 and beyond. […]
The Chicago Bears are entering a bit of a new era on the gridiron. They've got an offensive guru as their head coach, with young quarterback Caleb Williams leading the charge on that side of the ball. Meanwhile on defense, they have an incredibly talented secondary alongside an improve front seven for 2025 and beyond.
The Bears just made a massive move official with a recent decision on the future of their front office. It correlates expectedly with their additions to the coaching staff, too.
Bears extend Ryan Poles' contract
According to Adam Schefter, the Bears have agreed to a contract extension with general manager Ryan Poles. The new deal is set to keep him in Chicago through the 2029 season, directly linking him to new head coach Ben Johnson.
Poles' tenure with the Bears has been a bit of a mixed bag. At times, he's made some free agency and NFL Draft moves that fans have been enamored with and paid off. At other times, some aggressive decisions have backfired in both the short and long-term for Chicago.
Since being hired in 2022, Ryan Poles has overseen a full-scale rebuild in Chicago — highlighted by the blockbuster trade of the No. 1 pick in 2023 to Carolina, which helped position the Bears to land Caleb Williams the following year. Poles also hired Ben Johnson this offseason, signaling a new era of Bears football built around its franchise quarterback. — Adam Schefter
He's been the GM in Chicago for three years now. The Bears haven't been able to escape the cellar in a highly-competitive NFC North as of yet, but there's confidence and expectations that they will do that with their new regime beneath Poles and the front office.
Regardless, this move by the Bears places both the head coach and general manager on the same timeline. In today's NFL, that can mean a lot because we've seen other teams get lost in a whirlwind of moves that do not align between their front office and coaching staff. Chicago won't have to worry about that for now, but that also doesn't mean a change cannot be made when it comes to Poles' leadership at some point during this deal.
The pressure is on, but the Bears have faith in the GM/HC combo they've put together with a strong roster to boot.
Trusting the process for the future in Chicago
I discussed the choice by the Bears organization with A to Z's Bears beat writer Kole Noble. It was the move that simply made the most sense when looking ahead for the Bears as a whole. Check out his thoughts below.
Keeping Poles in the picture throughout this window is what's best for an organization in need of some consistency and stability. While it hasn't been the most successful process as a general manager, the impact Poles has made to this team is evident throughout both sides of the roster.
Every general manager has some major misses at some point. For Poles, it was striking out on Chase Claypool, overpaying for Nate Davis, and multiple others.
On the flip side, look at the players he's brought in and continued to keep in Chicago, even before joining forces with Ben Johnson. Players like Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, T.J. Edwards, Kyler Gordon, Rome Odunze, and Darnell Wright are the future for this franchise. Most importantly, he's started developing a strong locker room culture with like minded guys with a coaching staff that preaches that same mindset.
Not every general manager is perfect, and Poles certainly hasn't been since being hired in 2022. Yet, it's clear his actions over the past two years and inspired some confidence inside the organization and the team is eager to see what kind of fruition it will bring to the city of Chicago. — Kole Noble, A to Z Sports Chicago
“The assessment, we’ve made it clear. I trust him,” Warren said. “And he’s a hard worker, he’s young, he’s talented, he’s curious. I think his greatest attribute, he’s willing as he did just in the press conference to raise his hand and say here’s something things where he fell short. He’s as hard on himself more than anyone could be hard on him.
“…he will continually grow to be a great leader. And he’s passionate about it. He cares. He’s not here just for all the accoutrements of being a general manager in the league. He wants to win. He loves this franchise. He’s passionate about the Chicago Bears and he’s going to do everything he can.”
— Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren on Poles in January
100 thoughts on the Bears 2025 season exactly 100 days from Week 1: Will Caleb Williams eclipse 4,000 yards under Ben Johnson?
The season will be here before we know it.
