Ryan Poles may not have gotten the same treatment as Matt Eberflus during the season, but many feel the Chicago Bears GM deserves the same fate. He built this team over the past three years, and it doesn’t appear any better than when it started. It’s still weak in the trenches, poorly coached, undisciplined, and lacking any sense of identity or direction. Poles deserves blame for that. He is the one who put it all together. Why does he deserve to keep his job while others get sacrificed? This is the topic many Bears fans are wrestling with.
Adam Schefter of ESPN is as plugged-in as anybody in the business. He appeared on Waddle & Silvy where he was asked point blank what he’s hearing about Poles’ job security. Schefter made it pretty clear that based on what he’s gathered, Poles will remain the GM in Chicago.
Albert Breer alluded to that earlier in the day with his latest column. The McCaskey remain firmly behind the GM, wanting him to lead the search for the next coach. This shouldn’t be a surprise. George McCaskey was the one who personally hired Poles. The chairman picked him up from the airport in his own car. To think he would pivot away is not remembering history. Don’t forget Ryan Pace got a second crack at hiring a coach in 2018 despite winning only 14 games from 2015 to 2017, the same number as Poles.
Pace ended up landing on Matt Nagy with his second swing. While that led to a division title, the team plateaued after that. Ryan Poles seems to be in a better position by comparison. He still has tons of cap space to work with and eight draft choices. Most importantly, he seems to have landed on a viable franchise-caliber quarterback with Caleb Williams. If he can hit on the next coach and retool the offensive line, this team isn’t far away from competing in the NFC.
At least, that is the likely pitch for Poles’ safety.
