Ryan Poles may have been offered a public assurance that the plan was for him to lead the search for a new head coach last month. However, things change fast in the NFL, especially when the team keeps losing. The Chicago Bears just dropped their 10th in a row on Thursday night in a 6-3 clunker to the Seattle Seahawks. Caleb Williams was sacked seven times again, marking the third time that has happened this season. It has become impossible to defend the GM. He hired the coaching staff. He assembled this roster and now holds the two longest losing streaks in franchise history.
Yes, the team has looked competitive at times this season, but that isn’t what Poles was hired to do. He was hired to win. With his third season almost over, the Bears have only done that 14 times. Since the GM position came into being in 1974, nobody has had a worse three-year stretch in franchise history. Mark Hatley also had 14 from 1997 through 1999. Ryan Pace had 14 from 2015 through 2017. Not exactly great company to keep. Even so, is it possible Poles will survive anyway? Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron, who’s known for having strong team sources, dropped a not-so-subtle hint.
By all accounts, there isn’t much unity behind the scenes at Halas Hall. Most believe team president Kevin Warren is in the midst of a power grab, unsatisfied with the organization’s direction. He’s fine with keeping Poles, but indications have been that the Bears have no qualms about firing the GM if the head coach they want isn’t excited about working with him. Throw in that Poles enters the last year of his contract and it’s hard not to see the team simply parting ways with him.
The bad far outweighs the good at this point. Ryan Poles’ biggest claim to fame is his blockbuster trade with Carolina that landed D.J. Moore, Darnell Wright, and Williams. It was a good decision. Unfortunately, its luster is wearing off as other moves have cropped up like weeds. You have the Chase Claypool trade, signing Nate Davis, trading for Ryan Bates, and drafting Velus Jones, Zacch Pickens, and Kiran Amegadjie in the 3rd round. To say nothing of the Eberflus hire. Every GM makes mistakes, but his feel too egregious to overlook.
