Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has suddenly found himself in the unenviable position as the last guy left to blame for everything that's gone wrong with the team over the last three years. Former offensive coordinators Luke Getsy and Shane Waldron can't be the scapegoats anymore. Neither can Justin Fields or Matt Eberflus. They're all gone, but losses continue to pile up, all while Poles remains in control of the entire operation.
Sure, Poles has done some good things in Chicago. He worked a masterful series of trades that resulted in the Bears drafting Caleb Williams. That's a home run. The deal for Montez Sweat? Yep, that was a good one, too. But he's had his fair share of misses, with one of the biggest being the 2023 free-agent signing of guard Nate Davis.
The Bears targeted Davis in free agency to be a plug-and-play starter and paid him accordingly. He signed a three-year, $30 million contract that aged worse than a sunbathing gallon of milk.
Davis rewarded the Bears by starting only 13 games in two years. And even when he did play, he was anything but plug-and-play. Instead, Davis looked more like an overpaid swingman.
The worst part of the Davis signing is that Poles should've known better. In fact, he did know better.
According to the Chicago Tribune's Dan Wiederer, Poles was warned against signing Davis, whose reputation with the Tennessee Titans was less than big-money worthy.
"The Bears released Davis last month, a few days after what multiple sources said was a squabble with the coaching staff over his role for the Week 10 game against the New England Patriots," Wiederer wrote. "After practicing in full that entire week, Davis reported back tightness to the team medical staff on the morning of the game, was declared out and sent home on a day when offensive line depth was an issue.
That was the final straw for Davis, who had been known around the building for more than a year as an “always something” guy and a poor teammate. It didn’t help that Poles signed Davis despite in-house warnings from the coaching staff that he had a reputation for being apathetic and lacking the kind of football passion Poles normally gravitates toward."
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An 'always something' guy? A poor teammate? A player with a reputation for not having a passion for football? And you pay him $30 million?
It's a bad look for Ryan Poles, who has lost his aura ever since the joint press conference with Bears team president Kevin Warren to announce the firing of Eberflus.
Maybe Poles can get his mojo back if the Chicago Bears win a game or two to end the 2024 season. Maybe if he hires a big-name head coach, the dysfunction of 2024 will be forgiven and even forgotten. But make no mistake, Ryan Poles is on the hot seat, and if he has another miss like Davis in the near future, the Bears' GM seat won't be his for long.