Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles might need a new contract to assure head coaching candidates not to worry about their job security
It’s already been reported that there is a chance the top coaching candidates the Chicago Bears might pursue this offseason could be scared away by Ryan Poles’ lack of job security. No coach wants to be brought into a new situation leading a franchise without knowing how their general manager is seen by those above him. In today’s NFL, the head coach and general manager are usually tied at the hip. The last thing the Chicago Bears’ next head coach needs is for his tenure to be cut short because of Poles.
Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that there is a world where giving Poles a new contract helps the Chicago Bears just as much as if they were to let him walk this offseason.
But extending Poles could be a solution to the Bears’ problems as much as firing him. He has upgraded the roster, has a franchise quarterback in place and still has plenty of draft capital and salary-cap space. Arguably, he deserves a chance to hire a second coach and prove he can learn from his mistake.
The big question is all centered around if Poles deserves another shot at hiring a head coach based on the massive hits he’s had, or if he should be restrained from doing so because of his notable misses.
The Carolina Panthers trade for the top pick of the 2023 NFL draft with forever go down as one of the best trades in franchise history. However, the Chase Claypool trade and draft selection of Velus Jones Jr. are major blunders for the young general manager.
Mistakes are all a part of the job when it comes to making decisions in professional sports. Nobody is perfect and even the best executives will balk at a move from time to time. The Chicago Bears management just needs to be firm on their decision to either reward Poles or hold him back from making big decisions this offseason based on his track record thus far.
The alternatives for Ryan Poles not getting a new deal could result in a second search for the Chicago Bears this offseason.
Potash added in his writing that if Poles doesn’t get a new deal, the other options are not pretty. The first choice the Chicago Bears higher-ups (led by Kevin Warren), could do if they don’t extend the third-year general manager is to remove him from the position altogether.
Warren fires Poles and aligns himself with his own GM, and a head coach that he endorses, if not hires, through his own evaluation process. That still leaves the new GM and coach with an inherited franchise quarterback, but with Caleb Williams, that’s an upgrade over Matt Nagy inheriting Mitch Trubisky and Poles and Eberflus inheriting Justin Fields.
While the fanbase is split on if they want Poles around or not, firing him might not be the best course of action. If there is still a chance that he can help them attract any of their top head coaching candidates, he would definitely be worth keeping around. That aforementioned new contract would help his case in that regard.
The final option Potash lists is one that would have left Chicago Bears fans stunned a year ago. If Poles doesn’t get a new contract and is truly not a fan of having to report to Warren for too much, he could leave Chicago entirely.
With his authority diminished and the original working dynamic altered, Poles resigns to better position himself for a second shot that fired general managers rarely get.
Conversations that one could never have imagined the Chicago Bears having are ones that will go down over the next few weeks. Whether Poles sticks around or not, the vision remains crystal clear. Warren has been given the authority to spend whatever is necessary on the next coach. That combined with doing everything possible in the offseason to set Caleb Williams up for success in his second season are all Bears fans need to worry about moving forward.
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