The Chicago Bears are in an extremely envious spot. If common supervisor Ryan Poles handles his belongings nicely, look out in future years.
Biggest winner of Week 18? Ryan Poles.
Poles took the Chicago Bears common supervisor job final offseason, understanding this system wouldn’t actually start till 2023. The final 9 months have been about wanting to see important growth from quarterback Justin Fields, amassing draft capital and preserving cap house.
Check. Check. Check.
Then, Sunday occurred. The Houston Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts, proper because the Bears have been shedding their finale to the Minnesota Vikings.
Incredibly, Chicago owns the No. 1 total choose within the 2023 NFL Draft.
Poles now has the last word situation. The Bears have a league-high $118 million in projected cap space, greater than $45 million than anyone else. Chicago can be ready to fill myriad holes alongside the roster, all whereas holding the first-overall choose.
This brings us to the choice Poles will face within the coming months. Does he maintain onto the selection and draft an elite defensive expertise comparable to Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson, or store the choice to a quarterback-needy workforce to land a haul?
Consider what latest quarterback-centric trades involving top-three picks have netted.
In 2016, the Los Angeles Rams moved up from No. 15 to the best choice, sending a pair of first, second, and third-round picks to the Tennessee Titans for Jared Goff.
That identical 12 months, the Philadelphia Eagles went from No. 8 to the second-overall choose, relinquishing two first-rounders, together with second, third and fourth-round selections to the Cleveland Browns, ultimately touchdown Carson Wentz.
Finally, in 2020, the San Francisco 49ers moved up 9 spots from the No. 12 total selection for Trey Lance, giving the Miami Dolphins three first-round alternatives and a third-rounder.
If Poles can get something resembling these packages — and they need to be the opening asking worth — the Bears can be sensible to settle for.
Additionally, whereas there can be a temptation to go wild in free company, Chicago ought to train discretion. The free-agent class is weak compared to most classes, with the highest non-quarterback targets together with defensive tackles Da’Ron Payne and Javon Hargrave, and defensive backs James Bradberry and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Regardless, this is a second for Poles and the Bears’ franchise. They can resurrect a workforce that, since 2018, has been outlined by the whiff of Mitchell Trubisky. Now, Chicago has its quarterback in a approach it hasn’t for the reason that halcyon days of Jim McMahon within the mid-’80s.
For Poles, the job begins in earnest. Soldier Field could fall quiet for the following eight months, however the work of paramount significance begins at Halas Hall.
There, the Bears will make strikes defining them for years to come.
