Why it's fair to have some questions about Bears GM Ryan Poles after recent news
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles still has a lot to prove as a front office executive. Poles is a first-time general manager. He has to prove he can effectively build a team. So far we've seen that he can tear a roster down, but can he build it from the ground up into a […]
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles still has a lot to prove as a front office executive.
Poles is a first-time general manager. He has to prove he can effectively build a team. So far we've seen that he can tear a roster down, but can he build it from the ground up into a championship-caliber franchise?
That's the big question surrounding Poles as we near the end of the 2022 season.
And thanks to a recent story from The Athletic, there's now another big question that Poles has to answer.
Is he a man of his word?
Some might balk at that question, but after hearing comments from former Bears linebacker Roquan Smith this week, I think it's not only a fair question but a question that has to be asked.
Smith, who was traded to the Baltimore Ravens earlier this season, told The Athletic that Poles told him that he wasn't being traded.
According to Smith, after negotiations didn't go well in the offseason, Poles told him that they'd talk after the season.
“I took him at his word,” said Smith of Poles. “But life happens.”
“I thought Poles would ship me out, but he told me numerous times, ‘I don’t plan to trade you at all,'” Smith says. “So I was like, ‘I guess I won’t be going anywhere.’ He said we’d talk at the end of the season.”
Smith had a great reputation with the Bears. His teammates in Chicago loved him and spoke on the record to the media about how important he was to the Bears' defense.
Poles is still building his reputation in Chicago. We're still learning who he is as a general manager and as a person.
We're just hearing Smith's side of the story here, but because of his reputation, I think we have to treat his side of the story as likely.
We all know that the NFL is a business and hard decisions have to be made. But when a general manager tells a player something and then does the opposite, it creates a reputation for that general manager that he can't be trusted.
And those reputations quickly made their way through the rest of the league.
Could that hurt the Bears in free agency? Possibly. Ultimately, money talks. But if the money in a deal is similar to what another team is offering, it's easy to see how a player would choose another franchise over the Bears.
Right or wrong, Poles has some work to do when it comes to how he's viewed across the league. Because I have no doubt most NFL players are going to side with Smith in his saga.
Featured image via Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
