Ryan Poles has pieces in place for Bears' next step

The Ryan Poles Makeover of the Bears’ roster is just about complete.

After cutting guard Cody Whitehair, trading quarterback Justin Fields and letting wide receiver Darnell Mooney and safety Eddie Jackson go in free agency, just three starting position players and eight overall remain from the 77 players Poles inherited from Ryan Pace in 2022 (on the active roster, practice squad and injured reserve).

Three of the Pace players have signed multi-year contract extensions: cornerback Jaylon Johnson (four years, $76 million through 2027), tight end Cole Kmet (four years, $50 million through 2027) and place-kicker Cairo Santos (four years, $15.6 million through 2027). Guard Teven Jenkins is in line for an extension — perhaps sooner than later, and almost certainly if he stays healthy in 2024.

The others are reserve offensive lineman Larry Borom, running back Khalil Herbert (both on the final year of rookie contracts), wide receiver Nsimba Webster (who spent last season on the practice squad) and long-snapper Patrick Scales, who signed his annual one-year contract in the offseason.

It was a transformation that began virtually from the moment Poles was hired — a tacit rebuke of the roster he inherited. In fact, of the Bears’ top 10 players in salary cap numbers under Pace in 2021 (Allen Robinson, Akiem Hicks, Robert Quinn, Eddie Goldman, Nick Foles, Roquan Smith, Jimmy Graham, Whitehair, Jackson and Andy Dalton), only four were even on the team in 2022 (Smith, Quinn, Whitehair and Jackson) And Smith and Quinn were gone by midseason.

The key upgrades — some actual, others presumed — are on offense.

• In 2021, Poles inherited a wide receiver room that included Mooney coming off a breakout season (81 receptions, 1,455 yards, four touchdowns), but also Robinson on the downside of his career after a disappointing season (38-410, one touchdown) in 2021, plus Damiere Byrd, Marquise Goodwin, Jakeem Grant and sixth-round rookie Dazz Newsome. Now he has DJ Moore and Keenan Allen (who have a combined nine 1,000-yard seasons in the last seven years), plus first-round rookie Rome Odunze (the No. 9 overall pick) and 2023 fourth-round rookie Tyler Scott.
• In 2021, Poles inherited Fields at quarterback. Now he has rookie Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, considered by many as one of the best quarterback prospects to enter the NFL since Andrew Luck in 2012.
• In 2021, Poles inherited a patchwork offensive line that included 39-year-old future Hall of Famer Jason Peters at left tackle, fifth-round rookie Borom at right tackle and undrafted center Sam Mustipher with proven guards Cody Whitehair and James Daniels. The offensive line in 2024 is still a work in progress, but with a much more legitimate prospect for a perennial Pro Bowl-caliber anchor in right tackle Darnell Wright, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 draft who made every all-rookie team last season.

Entering his third full season as general manager, Poles has a roster he can call his own more than he ever could. And he made it clear he not only likes the upgrades in talent, but the make-up of the players he has acquired.

“I think it’s really rare to have the skill level be improved so much, but the culture and the people be top-notch as well,” Poles said after the draft in April. “To bring really good people and really talented players, and for that to be the same — I think that’s really hard.”

Of course, Bears fans have heard the “culture” thing before, only to end up with disappointing results. But Poles sells it with a passion that is convincing. And with his roster upgrades — including the masterstroke that turned last year’s No. 1 overall pick into Moore, Wright, Williams and more — he’s earned the benefit of the doubt for now.

“You don’t have to worry about having a bad locker room, bad culture or things going bad and it starts eating at itself,” Poles said. “These guys love being around each other. They love football and that’s coming up through scouting — those are kind of the staples.

“You want to make sure guys are passionate about football, they’re good teammates and you lean into that, and you have to have faith that when you put a bunch of people together, they can be special. So I’m just proud of the people that we brought in on top of [their] talent as well.”

Now the real work begins.

The Bears aren’t quite a team on the cusp of Super Bowl contention heading into Poles’ third season — they were 3-14 in 2022 and 7-10 in 2023. But Poles for the most part has a roster of starting and rotational players he expects to be a part of the Bears’ next playoff team.

The Bears enter Matt Eberflus’ third training camp with most positions set. The only real position battle where the loser is not expected to play (as opposed to being part of a rotation) is at center, with Ryan Bates and Coleman Shelton competing to start.

There are still plenty of question marks. Safety Kevin Byard and running back D’Andre Swift have to be as effective with the Bears as they were with the Titans and Eagles, respectively. Nate Davis has to solidify the right guard position. Left tackle Braxton Jones has to take another step forward. If the Bears don’t re-sign Yannick Ngakoue, incumbent DeMarcus Walker has to fill the pass-rushing hole opposite Montez Sweat.

And growth from within likely will be a factor in any Bears’ surge to playoff contention — young starters are going to have to keep improving. But even there, the Bears at least are counting on second-round draft picks to emerge as difference-makers instead of counting on overachieving later-round picks who more often hit the wall after showing some early promise — cornerbacks Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson, safety Jaquan Brisker and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter.

The Bears still have a long way to go. And they’ll need their share of good fortune from the football gods, as every team does. But even with so much to prove, Poles has built a roster where success is more of an expectation than hope. That alone is progress in these parts.