Ryan Poles has had a fascinating start to his tenure as GM. In the space of a couple of weeks, their two most prominent free agency pursuits fell through. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi agreed to a deal with the team but failed his physical. Guard Ryan Bates agreed to an offer sheet with them, but the Buffalo Bills matched that. Their only other notable deal was Lucas Patrick signing on to become their new center. Needless to say, not everything has gone as the Chicago Bears hoped.
Yet Poles understands he can’t afford to lament those missed opportunities. He must move to contingency plans, always looking for different ways to improve his roster. Any GM caught flat-footed will end up a failure. During his interview with Bears media down in Florida for the NFL owners meetings, he admitted the Bates news (which had gone public during the presser) was unfortunate. That said, it meant the money he’d set aside for that deal could be put to use elsewhere.
He even had a specific position group in mind, according to Adam Hoge.
We got a live, raw reaction to Ryan Poles finding out the #Bills were matching the Ryan Bates offer: “It stinks.”
He mentioned that money/cap space could potentially be used on a CB now.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) March 28, 2022
This isn’t all that surprising. Cornerback was a source of frustration for the Bears last season. Outside of Jaylon Johnson, they didn’t have anybody they could call reliable. Artie Burns, Duke Shelley, and Kindle Vildor each took turns being either inconsistent or plain bad. Rookie Thomas Graham Jr. showed some flashes, but he’s an unknown quantity. It makes sense Poles, and head coach Matt Eberflus would prefer some veteran experience added to the mix.
There is no shortage of that on the market despite free agency being weeks old now. Several notable names remain available.
- Steven Nelson
- Janoris Jenkins
- Patrick Peterson
- Chris Harris Jr.
- Kyle Fuller
- Bryce Callahan
- Xavier Rhodes
- Tavon Young
Fuller and Callahan have previous Bears ties of course. Rhodes revitalized his career under Eberflus in Indianapolis. Jenkins, Peterson, and Harris are former Pro Bowlers. Young might quietly be one of the better nickel corners in the league.
Tavon Young will be missed in Baltimore pic.twitter.com/53pOGvehV3
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) March 10, 2022
Steven Nelson getting started early😳
pic.twitter.com/xPoLf6p94E— PFF (@PFF) December 2, 2020
Ryan Poles is walking a careful line right now
He wants to improve the roster but isn’t willing to break the bank. He’s been disciplined in his approach thus far. Many are calling it conservative. Either way, the GM isn’t done making additions to the roster, provided the price is right. Of the names mentioned above, the two that might make the most sense are Jenkins and Young. Not necessarily because they’re the best but because they’re street free agents. That means their former teams cut them, so they wouldn’t count against the Bears’ compensatory draft pick formula.
Jenkins was okay last season with the Tennessee Titans but did show signs of his age, allowing a 100.2 passer rating. He turns 34-years old in October, an advanced number for that position especially. Young is a far more palatable 28 and played in every game last season. He also allowed a far better 85.4 passer rating. The key issue with him is takeaways. Young has only two interceptions in 50 games. That might not sit well with Eberflus and his defensive staff.
It will be interesting to see which way they go.
Ryan Poles tends not to care much for deception. What he said is likely true. That means it’s a safe bet the Bears will add another cornerback sometime before the NFL draft next month.
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