Vikings GM gets his extension but for Ryan Poles it's crickets

Talent acquisitions

It's often said the major role of the GM is drafting players. Poles has drafted more starters, 10 of the 22. Adofo-Mensah has just five starters he drafted.

Poles gutted the franchise to correct the salary cap while Adofo-Mensah didn't really see the need to do this because of the Vikings' cap situation. So he had a bit of a head start and worked quickly through those problems.

The Vikings GM took over after two straight losing seasons and the firing of both GM Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer and Minnesota is 34-17 since Adofo-Mensah's hiring. That includes two playoff berths, and one division title. The only Vikings losing season under Adofo-Mensah came when quarterback Kirk Cousins suffered a torn Achilles.

Meanwhile, the Bears have gone 15-36 since Poles took over with three straight last-place finishes.

One big difference is Poles' free agents haven't been successful the way Adofo-Mensah's have. The Vikings will have 11 free agent starters this year and the Bears seven, although the Bears also have a handful they obtained through trades and not free agency. Trading for starters is a tricky and even more costly business because it costs draft picks and the ensuring big contract.

The Vikings have fought through their quarterback issues and the Bears constantly struggle at this position, and to win even when they think they've gotten it right. They had a 20-touchdown, six-interception performance from Caleb Williams as a rookie and still won five games, while the Vikings went 14-3 with a recycled quarterback who they discarded after the season.

Coach counts most

The big difference is the matter of a head coach. The Bears love Ben Johnson now, but went through three years of Matt Eberflus' HITS principle with a 14-32 record. Then they fired a coach during the season for the first time ever.

Poles had his hand in hiring Eberflus, although it was a situation where he was given three candidates from the five-person screen committee that hired him. The Bears hired the one who had the same agent as Poles, while Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell were the finalists who were turned away. Quinn took the Falcons to the Super Bowl, then made the NFC championship game in his first year with the Commanders.

Meanwhile, the Vikings hired Kevin O'Connell, a quarterback guru, and he hired defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Flores' defense has eight veteran free agent acquisitions in it and six players who made the Pro Bowl last season.

It's all in the coaching, and with Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen the Bears think they have the same type of mix the Vikings have had for the past three seasons.

The apple and orange

The other reason Poles has no announced extension is probably the main one: His current contract expires after the 2026 season, according to a report by the Tribune's Brad Biggs. He was originally signed to a longer deal than Adofo-Mensah, whose last year before the extension occurred was this year.

The Bears are under no pressure to lock up Poles as a result. They can wait to see how this mix all works, and if the draft picks and free agents acquired really perform better than some in the past, then the Poles-Johnson marriage can be confirmed.

If not, maybe they're looking for another GM in the future, although this seems rather unlikely after the way team president Kevin Warren has spoken glowingly of his GM in the past.