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PALM BEACH, Fla. – Ryan Poles’ first offseason as general manager of the Chicago Bears has been rife with tough decisions and disappointment.
Within the last three weeks, Poles traded Chicago’s top pass-rusher in Khalil Mack, a move – backed by head coach Matt Eberflus and ownership – that was both difficult but necessary, given the team’s long-term goals.
The splash free-agent signing the Bears thought they were going to make with Larry Ogunjobi ended up null and void when the defensive tackle’s surgically repaired right foot caused him to fail his physical. Poles said delivering that news to Ogunjobi “tore me to pieces.”
The process of pursuing Ogunjobi and then having to pivot caused Chicago to miss out on signing other big-name free agents as Poles began to fill the vacancies of more than 30 players whose contracts had expired or were released by the team.
And the bad news kept coming when Poles was informed that Ryan Bates, the restricted free-agent guard the Bears had planned to sign, was returning to Buffalo after the Bills matched Chicago’s offer sheet.
The rookie general manager has every right to be frustrated, but that’s not the vibe he’s given off. Other than lamenting that “it stinks” to lose a player the Bears hoped would compete for a starting job on the offensive line, Poles’ level-headed demeanor has allowed him not to get caught up in the urgency to make moves solely to fill out the roster.
“It’s funny, because there’s a lot of panic, like, ‘You need receivers,’” said Poles, who will have two second-round draft picks in the draft, which starts with Round 1 on April 28 (the draft will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and the ESPN App). “I think Davante [Adams] was taken in the second, right? So there’s talent…
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Source : espn
