Chicago Bears: 3 more moves Ryan Poles still has to make this offseason
By Todd Welter
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles inherited a mess of a roster and spent his first offseason trying to clean it up.
He chose to completely gut the team in hopes of building it back up for sustained success. Poles went into this offseason armed with the most salary cap space in the league and the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
He needed to upgrade just about every position group except quarterback and the secondary. He used the assets he had to improve the talent of a 3-14 team.
I don’t think its talked about enough how Ryan Poles just pulled off the most blatant tank in NFL History😂
— DeeksView (@DeeksViewOG) May 26, 2023
I dont think I’ve ever seen a GM strip a team bare while also believing he has his future QB already, and getting the #1 pick to build around him
Ballsy… but it worked😅
Poles traded the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver D.J. Moore and additional draft picks. He signed veteran guard Nate Davis and drafted right tackle Darnell Wright to bolster the offensive line. Poles added tight end Robert Tonyan and running back D’Onta Freeman to provide more weapons for quarterback Justin Fields.
Poles also used free agency to upgrade the linebacker group when he brought in Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. He also added defensive linemen Andrew Billings and DeMarcus Walker. He also drafted a potential starting cornerback in Tyrique Stevenson and added future starters at defensive tackle in Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens.
The upgrades should be good enough to at least get the Chicago Bears seven to nine wins. The current victory projection is set at 7.5. Although getting the first win will be welcome sight considering the Chicago Bears have not won since October of 2022.
There is still some work to be done by Ryan Poles before training camp if he wants to beat that forecast and have a team that could sneak into the playoffs.