It isn’t clear yet if Ryan Poles is truly the great GM he appears to be. Based on available information, all people can say is that he knows how to assemble a talented roster. The 2024 Chicago Bears, on paper, might be the best team this city has seen since 2018. A key difference is Poles managed to do it without mortgaging the team’s future. Ryan Pace gave up multiple future high draft choices to secure Mitch Trubisky and Khalil Mack. Poles just took two players in the 1st round this year and has three picks in the first two rounds next year. He also hasn’t settled the team with too many bloated contracts.
One question that hasn’t come up too often is why. Why did Poles take the job? We know why the Bears wanted him. Team chairman George McCaskey loved his interview and felt he was the type of leader the organization desperately needed. Many felt Poles was compelled to take the job because Chicago gave him his first opportunity in the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2008. That was part of it, but the GM admitted to Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times that there was also another element to the decision.
His ego.
“It was going to be a huge challenge, but there’s a legacy part of this,” he told the Sun-Times. “To get the Chicago Bears back on top, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a lot of pressure. There’s a lot of noise. But if you get that right, that’s legendary stuff.”
Two other teams, the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants, were interested in his services. Minnesota has been a regular contender for decades. Pushing them back into the Super Bowl mix wouldn’t have meant much. New York won championships in 2007 and 2011. While that was long ago, it wouldn’t have earned him true star status. Returning the Bears to the top of the NFL, a team that has three playoff wins in 29 years, is something historians would write books about.
It is easy to forget that general managers are just as competitive as coaches and players. They’re obsessed with winning. They think about legacy, too. Ryan Poles may act calm and dignified for the cameras, but don’t be fooled. The guy has grand aspirations. He wants to be great. Since he wasn’t able to achieve that as a player, he made it his mission to do so as a GM. There is a long way to go, but nobody can deny he seems to have the Bears pointed in the right direction.
