GM Ryan Poles continues to bolster Bears' defense in free agency

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles continues to flex his fat wallet. He made another signing, adding another likely starter to the roster this offseason.

Last year, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles took some heat for not making some big-name signings. He shipped out popular starters and replaced them with low-cost deals.

Many of the fans did not like that and, as the season progressed and the losses piled up, the anger grew.

Poles continued with his plan. Now, as the new NFL league year begins, He is showing how sticking to the plan has worked. He entered the offseason with the biggest wallet in the league. With all the losses, he finished owning the top overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Then, in the last few days, he flexed the power of having all that money and draft capital. Last week Friday, he traded away the top picks and received a top-ten pick and an extra second-round pick this year. Additionally, he received an extra first-round pick in 2024 and an extra second-round pick in 2025. Oh, and he also received D.J. Moore, probably the top wide receiver available this offseason.

Poles had no trouble adding Moore’s $20+ million cap hit for this season.

Poles goes on a disciplined spending spree

Even with spending all that money on Moore this season, Poles and the Chicago Bears still had over $75 million to spend in free agency. He still had the flexibility of signing good players to overhaul the roster.

Early on in free agency, Poles has done exactly that. On the first day of free agency, he signed linebackers T.J. Edwards (3 years, $19.5 million) and Tremaine Edmunds (4 years, $72 million). He also signed offensive lineman Nate Davis for 3 years, $30 million. While the signing of Edmunds was a big splash, the other signings were still considered good, cost-effective deals.

Take what Poles did with the linebackers unit. Roquan Smith wanted to receive a deal that paid him at least $20 million per year. Poles balked at that. However, even spending $18 million per year on Edmunds, he now has a linebacker trio of Edmunds, Edwards, and Jack Sanborn (for now), at a total of $25 million. That is some smart spending.

Poles continues his sharp signings

Now Poles continues with his sensible signings. He agreed to terms with defensive end DeMarcus Walker. The deal was reportedly three years for $21 million. Walker was the Denver Broncos’ second-round pick in the 2017 draft. He played for the Tennessee Titans in 2022.

Walker had career highs in tackles (32) tackles for loss (10) quarterback hits (16), and sacks (7).

This is probably the shakiest signing so far. Walker is getting starter money but he only has 13 starts in his 66 career games. Still, his numbers last season were better than anyone else on the defensive line in Chicago.

The move could signal that Poles will go after another pass rusher in the draft with his ninth overall pick. He could have a top-notch pass rusher on one side and have Walker on the other side. Additionally, he’ll have Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson as backups. That would give the Bears a young, athletic group at defensive end.

With the five players that Poles picked up so far this offseason, he spent about $53.2 million in salaries for this season. However, he started out with almost $100 million. According to Over the Cap, the Bears still have almost $45 million in cap space available.

Poles has already done a good job of improving the roster. He still has plenty of money to improve it even more. Then, in the draft in April, he’ll add some of the best prospects with his valuable picks.

It’s been a fun offseason so far. Poles did a great job of putting the Chicago Bears in this position. Now he’s doing the even harder work to field a competitive team in 2023.