During last offseason, there was ample chatter about Minnesota’s interest in Justin Fields when he was coming out in the draft. And not only did the Vikings get turned down by the Panthers in their futile attempt to trade up for Fields, the Bears’ own trade-up fully prevented their division rivals from making a run at the QB prospect.
Nine months later, history found a quirky way of repeating itself.
There was a belief in many football circles that Minnesota was lining things up to bring in Ryan Poles as their next general manager. And Vikings fans were kinda hyped about it:
If you’re not sure on new Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles, just let these Vikings fans convince you. pic.twitter.com/jPtA55Dbrn
— Max Markham (@MaxMarkhamNFL) January 25, 2022
Of course, as we know by now, then the Bears stepped in and essentially said not so fast, my friends by moving with the quickness to make Poles *THEIR* new GM. Now the Bears have the guy so many Vikings folks were hoping their team would land. Twice. OPE!
A day later, the Vikings found themselves hiring Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as their new GM. The former Browns VP of Football Operations was a candidate for Chicago’s GM opening, which adds some extra intrigue to the Bears-Vikings rivalry. Minnesota gets its man, but only after its original target goes to a rival. Chicago lands its top target, while watching another candidate it thought highly of latch on elsewhere in the division. This is fascinating stuff and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
The last time we saw the Bears and Vikings square off, we were witness to an absolute second-half butt-kicking. It marked the end of the football season, but also the end of the Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace era.
But what if Chicago’s football team gets the last laugh in this?
The Vikings might’ve won the regular-season head-to-head battles against the Bears last year. But by swiping top quarterback and general manager options from under Minnesota’s nose, Chicago might very well have set themselves up to win bigger battles down the road.