Dayo Odeyingbo's first season with the Chicago Bears came to a premature end after he suffered an Achilles injury in Week 9. This leaves the Bears shorthanded at an already underwhelming position.
Even before Odeyingbo suffered a season-ending injury, however, his performance raised a ton of eyebrows in Chicago. He signed a three-year, $48 million contract in the offseason, but has looked nowhere near worth that deal with his play. He was arguably the Bears' most disappointing signing, as he had one sack, one tackle for loss, and two QB hits in eight games, while playing 75% of the defensive snaps.
To make matters worse, GM Ryan Poles tried to save face on Wednesday in his attempt to defend the signing. Not only do these comments sound like a hollow excuse, though. The more you think about them, the worse they make Poles — not only for the Odeyingbo situation, but also for the Grady Jarrett free agency whiff.
Poles Tries to Save Face After Whiffing on the Odeyingbo Signing
Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times noted on X on Wednesday that Poles said the team liked Odeyingbo "as a pass-rusher more from DT than DE," and that they weren't "able to move him there as often as they'd like." The attempt here to justify his biggest offseason signing being a total dud is understandable, but that doesn't make it coherent.
Odeyingbo's versatility may have been part of what made him appealing, but you don't spend $48 million on an edge rusher who can't rush from the edge. You also don't make that move while also adding Grady Jarrett to a crowded defensive tackle room.
But even if we take Poles at face value, things don't make any more sense. Why the Bears wouldn't have been able to get Odeyingbo pass-rush reps at defensive tackle is a difficult question to answer.
Poles' Odeyingbo Excuse Not Grounded in Reality
It's not like Chicago has a strong interior defensive line that would have prevented the team from giving Odeyingbo those DT pass-rusher reps if the team truly believed that was going to be the best move.
Grady Jarrett missed three games this season already, and the Bears barely utilized Odeyingbo at defensive tackle. In the three games Jarrett missed, Odeyingbo played a total of 16 defensive snaps at DT.
With Andrew Billings being the worst-graded Bears defender for the season per Pro Football Focus, how could the Bears not find more opportunities to use Odeyingbo there if that is, in fact, his better position?
Plus, if the Bears thought Odeyingbo was a better pass rusher from DT than the edge, then why did they also give a three-year, $43.5 million contract to Jarrett in the offseason? Jarrett's best role as a defender is as a situational pass rusher from DT, and he has played most of his snaps this season as a pass rusher. When you had already significantly invested in Jarrett to play that role, did it really make sense to also break the bank for Odeyingbo?
Poles is obviously trying to justify his questionable decision that he has been so heavily criticized for. A deeper look into his explanation, however, reveals how badly he has missed the mark here.