Ryan Poles Applauded For Dodging The Mistake That Ruined Washington
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles had every reason to celebrate in January. After four long years of days and nights spent trying to build this team into a winner, he finally saw success in 2025. Chicago went 11-6, won the NFC North, and beat the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round. It was a massive step in the right direction for an organization that had been a laughingstock for too long. People wanted to know what came next. Poles watched his team come an overtime away from the NFC Championship. Surely he’d come out aggressive this offseason to get them over the hump.
In truth, that hasn’t happened. The Bears were surprisingly calm during the opening days of free agency, making safety Coby Bryant and linebacker Devin Bush their only two significant signings while everyone else came in on modest backup deals. Meanwhile, key starters like Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Nahshon Wright, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed with other teams. D.J. Moore was traded, and Tremaine Edmunds was cut. People can’t help but feel the team has downgraded. However, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic has heard praise for this approach.
Ben Johnson’s first season as the Bears’ head coach was a blast, and led to an appearance in the divisional round. Sustaining success means not getting lost in the light. So far, good job by the Bears — who made moves to shore up their interior defensive line and add to a secondary that also lost five players, and did what they could to mitigate the damage along an offensive line dealing with injury questions at tackle and the surprise retirement of starting center Drew Dalman. Meat-and-potatoes moves for a team that could have been high on its own supply, but stayed disciplined and self-aware and basically set up its intentions for the draft: Offensive and interior defensive linemen, and pass rushers.
Ryan Poles avoided the trap Washington walked into last year.
Most Bears fans will remember the Washington Commanders in 2024. Riding the wave of a hot rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels, the team went 12-5 and reached the NFC Championship. Though they lost to the eventual champion Philadelphia Eagles, it’s clear many in the building felt their timeline had been accelerated. They had the pieces to win now. All they needed was one more push. This was despite apparent warning signs that the team had an aging roster that was in danger of running out of gas. Even so, they came out swinging in free agency and the trade market last spring.
| Player | Position | Acquisition Type | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laremy Tunsil | LT | Trade (HOU) | Acquired for a 2025 3rd and 7th, and 2026 2nd and 4th picks; later extended for 2 years for $60.2M. |
| Deebo Samuel | WR | Trade (SF) | Acquired from the 49ers for a 2025 5th-round pick. |
| Javon Kinlaw | DT | Free Agency | Signed a 3-year, $45 million contract ($30M guaranteed). |
| Will Harris | S | Free Agency | Signed a 2-year, $8 million contract (max value $10M). |
Washington gave up four current and future draft picks for veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil and another pick for wide receiver Deebo Samuel. Sure enough, injuries slammed the team almost immediately. Star wide receiver Terry McLaurin missed seven games. Daniels missed ten games with knee and elbow injuries. Pass rusher Dorance Armstrong missed half the season. Unsurprisingly, the team’s age and lack of depth couldn’t compensate for such setbacks, and they finished 5-12. Now, some fear the organization doesn’t have the necessary draft stock to avoid a significant rebuild.
The hardest part of being a GM is self-reflection.
Ryan Poles’ responsibility is to make the Bears a good team. Part of that process is being realistic about where the team is at. Yes, Chicago made the playoffs last year. Yes, they have an exciting young core headlined by Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright, Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden. They also had the league’s 29th-ranked defense last year, which barely avoided criticism because of the many turnovers they forced. That can’t be expected to repeat in 2026. Keeping the roster together wouldn’t have made the Bears better.
Washington didn’t have that same moment. Despite having one of the softest defenses in the league during their miracle run in 2024, their three biggest moves of 2025 were a trade for a left tackle, a trade for a wide receiver, and drafting a tackle in the 1st round. Poles’ two biggest moves so far? Signing an ascending safety and signing a fast linebacker coming off a career year. He is attacking the primary issue with the roster while sticking to the original plan of building through the draft.