KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The last time the Bears were at Arrowhead Stadium, their world was falling apart. Entering their third game of last season, the Bears had lost 12 games in a row. Defensive coordinator Alan Williams had just resigned after inappropriate activity. Coach Matt Eberflus had the worst career winning percentage in franchise history.
With Taylor Swift looking on for the first time in person, the Chiefs held quarterback Justin Fields under 100 passing yards and walloped the Bears 41-10.
General manager Ryan Poles returned to his former employer Thursday night with his franchise in far better shape. Since playing the Chiefs last time, Poles has drafted quarterback Caleb Williams first overall and receiver Rome Odunze ninth; traded for defensive end Montez Sweat and receiver Keenan Allen; and signed running back D’Andre Swift and tight end Gerald Everett. Poles re-signed receiver DJ Moore and cornerback Jaylon Johnson, too, after they posted the best seasons of their careers.
Poles’ Bears are built to win now — and into the future.
That’s poignant in the home of the Chiefs, who have built their franchise around such stability.
The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the last four years. They finished with the worst record in the NFL in 2012 and haven’t had a losing season since, averaging 11.6 wins per season. It’s been nine years since they’ve finished anywhere but first in the AFC West.
Even before they drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs had accomplished a rarity in the NFL, prying open a window of contention for half a decade. Mahomes’ acquisition was the spark that sent the team into the stratosphere.
The Bears have tried to copy the Chiefs’ success ever since they hired Kansas City assistant Matt Nagy to be their head coach in 2018. They took another swing in 2022, when they hired Poles, who had worked in the Chiefs front office since 2009.
It remains to be seen if Williams will provide the same spark for the Bears that Mahomes did. But entering his third season as GM, Poles seems to have laid the foundation.
What’s so compelling about the Bears’ roster after their final preseason game isn’t that it’s a hard one to make, finally — though that’s true, too. It’s that it could remain the same for years to come.
Amazingly, only three of the Bears’ projected Week 1 starters have contracts that expire at the end of this season — Allen, who is open to an extension; left guard Teven Jenkins, with whom the Bears won’t negotiate until the bye week in October; and center Coleman Shelton. Backups who can say the same are running back Khalil Herbert, linebacker Jack Sanborn and tight end Marcedes Lewis.
That leaves the Bears two full seasons to find out whether the core roster that Poles has assembled is built to last.
When Poles debated whether or not to trade for the Patriots’ Matthew Judon, he tried to stick to the financial guardrails he and his staff had established — he wants to win now but protect the financial flexibility to keep the Bears’ window open as long as possible.
Williams playing on a rookie contract will allow them to keep adding salary. The Chiefs did just that until giving Mahomes a 10-year, $450 million deal in July 2020, just before the start of his fourth season.
The resulting financial squeeze led to the Chiefs having to choose between all-world receiver Tyreek Hill and all-universe tight end Travis Kelce. They traded Hill to the Dolphins after the 2021 season, which made Mahomes winning Super Bowls in the two years since all that much more impressive.
That was a good problem for Poles’ former boss, Brett Veach, to have.
Poles can only hope to have the same in three years.
