NEWSLETTER
When I saw them pop up, RGIII’s comments suggesting Caleb Williams pull an Eli Manning and refuse to play for the Chicago Bears were met with an eye-roll, audible groan, and immediate dismissal before moving onto more pertinent topics.
But Bears General Manager Ryan Poles had a different tact. He addressed them head-on while appearing on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday. And he did so in a way that made me feel as if Poles had a full grasp of what it means to run this team:
“It pisses me off a little bit, to be honest with you because we were hired to break the cycle. The same thing when I was in Kansas City. Coach Reid, all of us were brought there to break a cycle and we did. No one talks about those days anymore. It’s all about what they are right now. I really believe we’re about to break this cycle and get this city in a really good situation and win a lot of games. The past is the past. I don’t worry about that at all. It’s about where we’re going.”
Candid commentary is always appreciated around here — especially when it comes from the Chicago Bears general manager.
Bears GM Ryan Poles has a refreshing moment of honesty on The Pat McAfee Show
I get why Bears GM Ryan Poles would be pissed off. Poles has spent the better part of his tenure in Chicago cleaning up messes he didn’t make and tearing things down at Halas Hall with the intent to build something better. And in doing so, he has set up a quarterback (presumably Caleb Williams with the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft) to succeed in a way that no other Bears general manager has done for any other Bears quarterback our lifetimes. Hearing someone spout off with old tropes despite working to escape that past is a bit of a punch to the gut.
With that being said, this is why I am digging how Poles hit all the right notes in addressing the quote. And he did it in such a crafty way. I’m glad the Bears GM acknowledged RG3’s statement and made it known that they pissed him off. Firstly, because they pissed me off too. RGIII dropping a needle-moving hot take that was an awful way to start my Monday. That angle was never worthy of being shared or spread in the first place. Caleb Williams put an end to it back in February. That should’ve been the end of the story. It wasn’t, but it should’ve been.
Also, Poles nails it in laying it out the way he did in discussing that he was brought in to “break the cycle” of the same old Bears. Countless front office types have tried, but none have succeeded for an extended amount of time. The closest thing resembling sustained success for the Bears since wining Super Bowl XX came during the Lovie Smith era. And even then, that came with two general managers and a whole mess of starting quarterbacks. Now, it is Poles’ turn to try his hand at change.
There are going to be questions about what breaking the cycle actually means. And many more debate about what it actually looks like. Let us keep in mind there is still plenty of work to do with this Bears rebuilding project. Plus, there are still traps that Poles could fall down that has us thinking “here we go again.” So while I want to be cognizant of them because Poles and friends aren’t out of the woods yet.
But I also want to be fair and point out Ryan Poles has done enough for me to say that this isn’t the same-old-Bears routine. This isn’t to say that the results will be different. But the process has been different. And that feels like an important first step for someone who was hired to “break the cycle” as Poles put it.
