{"id":57907,"date":"2025-07-11T21:49:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T21:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/57907\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T21:49:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T21:49:10","slug":"gm-ryan-poles-gets-contract-extension-though-2029","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/57907\/","title":{"rendered":"GM Ryan Poles gets contract extension though 2029"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears <\/b>have rewarded general manager Ryan Poles with a contract extension that will keep him with the team for the next five seasons, per multiple reports. The news was first reported by ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter on Friday afternoon and registered as somewhat surprising timing as the Bears prepare to report to training camp later this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The extension reportedly will match the length of Poles\u2019 contract with that of new coach Ben Johnson, who was hired in January<\/a> as the successor to Matt Eberflus. Poles and Johnson will now be under contract through the 2029 season.<\/p>\n

From the top of Halas Hall, there\u2019s optimism that a 2025 resurgence is forthcoming under the guidance of the coach Poles hired and the roster he has rearranged and fortified.<\/p>\n

Still, any outside skepticism about Poles\u2019 ability to generate a breakthrough on the field remains warranted. It\u2019s fair to acknowledge that the Bears have rewarded the 39-year-old Poles more on the basis of hope and optimism than tangible achievement. Through three seasons as GM, Poles has posted a .294 winning percentage and he has overseen two seasons in which his teams lost 10 consecutive games. The Bears have finished in last place in the NFC North in all three seasons since Poles entered Halas Hall.<\/p>\n

After taking over as GM<\/a> in 2022, Poles spent the first year of his tenure trading veteran players and shedding expensive contracts while amassing young talent. He executed a blockbuster trade<\/a> for the No. 1 draft pick in 2023, a deal that \u2014 with some help from a woeful 2023 Carolina Panthers team \u2014 eventually landed the Bears quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick<\/a> a year later. They also added receiver DJ Moore and a handful of additional draft picks<\/a>, which later netted tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, punter Tory Taylor and receiver Luther Burden III.<\/p>\n

But on-field wins have been harder to come by.<\/p>\n

During last season\u2019s freefall, some around the league wondered aloud about Poles\u2019 job security<\/a>. The Bears went 84 days between their fourth and fifth victories, fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron<\/a> in Week 11 and dismissed Eberflus<\/a> 18 days later. That was hard evidence that the Bears, with Poles at the controls, had bungled Williams\u2019 rookie season badly.<\/p>\n

Such curiosity about Poles\u2019 future registered as particularly poignant with the Bears needing to hire a new coach to help relaunch Williams in Year 2. But with the backing of Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren and Chairman George McCaskey, Poles was given the authority to spearhead the coaching search that eventually landed Johnson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust him,\u201d Warren said of Poles as the coaching search began in January<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a hard worker. He\u2019s young, he\u2019s talented, he\u2019s curious. I think his greatest attribute is he\u2019s willing \u2026 to raise his hand and say here are something things where he fell short.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s as hard on himself more than anyone (else) could be hard on him, and he strives every single day to do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BearsBears general manager Ryan Poles, right, speaks as coach Ben Johnson listens at a news conference on March 13, 2025, at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. (Chris Sweda\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

When the Bears hired Johnson in January, they touted high expectations for Poles and Johnson as a pair. Both began their post-playing days as graduate assistant coaches at Boston College, working in the same cubicle just one year apart from each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some shared history there,\u201d Johnson said during his introductory news conference<\/a> in January. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of connections that may or may not have already been put together that people understand. I truly believe in the character and integrity of this man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since last season ended with a 24-22 road win<\/a> over the rival Green Bay Packers, Poles not only helped the Bears land Johnson as their new leader, but he also steered an offseason of bold trades and signings. The Bears brought in three veteran interior offensive line starters<\/a> in Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson, plus two defensive line starters in Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo.<\/p>\n

When the Bears report to training camp on July 22, they will do so with 40 new players on the 90-man roster and 17 new coaches \u2014 including Johnson, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.<\/p>\n

Asked about their partnership just hours after the 2025 NFL draft concluded, Poles said it \u201cfeels natural.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a pleasure to work with,\u201d Poles added. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for that and our relationship as we continue to build that through this journey. It\u2019s been smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pairing the length of the contracts now puts the coach and GM on equal footing moving forward. It should, in theory, bring continuity to the franchise\u2019s football operations for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears have rewarded general manager Ryan Poles with a contract extension that will keep him with…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":57908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[18264,18263,960,531,42276,5386,1818,42275,42277,42274],"class_list":{"0":"post-57907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-ben-johnson","9":"tag-caleb-williams","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bears","12":"tag-george-mccaskey","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-illinois","15":"tag-kevin-warren","16":"tag-matt-eberflus","17":"tag-ryan-poles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114836810254526494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}