HEADLINES

Ryan Poles

Bears Clinch No. 1 Pick In 2023 NFL Draft

January 8th, 2023 at 4:52pm CST by Adam La Rose

Most of the NFL’s attention was on the AFC playoff picture during the early slate of Sunday’s Week 18 games, but another important development took place along the way. The results of the Bears’ and Texans’ respective contests has left Chicago with the top pick in the upcoming draft.

The Bears, facing no need to win their season finale against the Vikings, sat starting quarterback Justin Fields. That move ended his opportunity to break the all-time single-season rushing record at the position, but also helped lessen the chances of an upset which would have taken them out of contention for the No. 1 slot. In his place, Chicago used both Nathan Peterman and Tim Boyle under center en route to a 29-13 loss.

That left the door open to Houston taking themselves out of the top spot, something which would take place only in the event they won against the Colts – a team which has cratered under interim head coach Jeff Saturday. In a back-and-forth game, Houston was able to score a Hail Mary touchdown on fourth-and-20 inside the final minute to bring them within one of Indianapolis. They successfully executed a two-point conversion to seal the win, one which knocked them down to the second overall pick in the process.

While it remains to be seen what effect (if any) that result has on Houston head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Nick Caserio with respect to their job security, it marks a considerable shake-up in the draft order. The Texans appeared to be on track to secure the top slot for most of the season, but the Bears’ struggles left them within striking distance as well. Now, the Bears will have the opportunity to make the draft’s first selection for only the third time in franchise history and the first since 1947.

It should be noted, of course, that there is a very real possibility that today’s reversal at the top of the board does not end up having a dramatic effect on the way things play out. Presuming both teams keep their picks, Chicago will likely be inclined to add to their defense, given Fields’ improvement shown during the season, as well as his age (23) and contract status (two more years on his rookie contract, and the potential of a fifth-year option). That could point them towards Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. or Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter with the No. 1 pick.

Houston, meanwhile, is widely expected to target a quarterback in April with one of their two first-rounders. That has led to plenty of connections between the Texans and Alabama’s Bryce Young, the highest-rated passer in the 2023 class. Chicago selecting a defender (or at least a different signal-caller) first overall would still all-but assuredly leave the Texans with their top target on the board; their extra Day 1 pick could also help them outbid other suitors for the top slot should the Bears make it available.

In any event, Bears GM Ryan Poles and Caserio (or his replacement) will each be well-positioned to add significantly to their respective teams in the spring given today’s events.

More On Bears, Robert Quinn Trade

October 26th, 2022 at 9:47pm CST by Ben Levine

The Eagles made a splash earlier today when they acquired defensive end Robert Quinn from the Bears, and it sounds like Chicago is picking up most of the player’s tab. According to Albert Breer of TheMMQB (on Twitter), the Bears are picking up $7.1MM of Quinn’s remaining 2022 salary. This means Philly will only be responsible for around $700K, which is the veteran’s minimum.

[RELATED: Bears To Trade DE Robert Quinn To Eagles]

It was speculated that the Bears were able to garner a fourth-round pick because they would be covering much of Quinn’s 2022 salary. The lineman is in the middle of a five-year, $70MM deal, but he has non-guaranteed base salaries of $14MM in 2023 and $13MM in 2024.

Quinn was rumored to be on the block for the rebuilding Bears, but considering the player’s salary, it presumably took a bit to find a trade partner. When the team was ultimately offered a fourth-round pick from the Eagles, GM Ryan Poles said he jumped at the opportunity.

“It just made too much sense in what we are trying to do here in building a championship team,” Poles said of his trade haul (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “I know the Eagles are really fortunate to have him. Part of the tough part about this job is having to make tough decisions. You also know that you are tweaking the fibers of your locker room.

“That’s really where you have to compartmentalize those two different areas,” Poles added (via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin on Twitter). “You know, for the future I think it’s going to give us the ability to continue to grow and build our foundation that we’re trying to build. That is the exciting part.”

Poles provided more insight into trade negotiations, noting that assistant GM Ian Cunningham, who previously worked in the Eagles front office, “was instrumental” in getting the trade done, per Cronin. The general manager also wouldn’t commit to any more trades taking place, adding that “it’s hard to tell” if trades will materialize and “there’s not a ton going on right now.”

The NFL’s Longest-Tenured GMs

June 30th, 2022 at 10:48am CST by Sam Robinson

Wednesday, we took a look at how the 2022 offseason changed the HC landscape. While 10 new sideline leaders are in place for 2022, not quite as much turnover transpired on the general manager front. Five new decision-makers, however, have moved to the top of teams’ front office hierarchies over the past six months.

The Bears, Giants, Raiders and Vikings rebooted their entire operations, hiring new HC-GM combos. The Minnesota move bumped out one of the previous top-10 longest-tenured GMs, with 16-year Vikings exec Rick Spielman no longer in power in the Twin Cities. The Steelers’ shakeup took the NFL’s longest-tenured pure GM out of the mix. Kevin Colbert was with the Steelers since 2000, and although he is still expected to remain with the team in a reduced capacity, the 22-year decision-maker stepped down shortly after Ben Roethlisberger wrapped his career.

Twelve teams have now hired a new GM in the past two offseasons, though a bit more staying power exists here compared to the HC ranks. Two GMs (the Cardinals’ Steve Keim and Chargers’ Tom Telesco) have begun their 10th years at the helms of their respective front offices. They have hired three HCs apiece. The Buccaneers’ Jason Licht is closing in on a decade in power in Tampa Bay; Licht will now work with his fourth HC in Todd Bowles. Beyond that, a bit of a gap exists. But a handful of other executives have been in power for at least five seasons.

Here is how long every GM or de facto GM has been in place with his respective franchise:

  1. Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys): April 18, 1989[1]
  2. Mike Brown (Cincinnati Bengals): August 5, 1991[2]
  3. Bill Belichick (New England Patriots): January 27, 2000[3]
  4. Mickey Loomis (New Orleans Saints): May 14, 2002
  5. John Schneider (Seattle Seahawks): January 19, 2010; signed extension in 2021
  6. Howie Roseman (Philadelphia Eagles): January 29, 2010; signed extension in 2022
  7. Les Snead (Los Angeles Rams): February 10, 2012; signed extension in 2019
  8. Steve Keim (Arizona Cardinals): January 8, 2013; signed extension in 2022
  9. Tom Telesco (Los Angeles Chargers): January 9, 2013; signed extension in 2018
  10. Jason Licht (Tampa Bay Buccaneers): January 21, 2014; signed extension in 2021
  11. Chris Grier (Miami Dolphins): January 4, 2016[4]
  12. Jon Robinson (Tennessee Titans): January 14, 2016; signed extension in 2022
  13. John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers): January 29, 2017; signed extension in 2020
  14. Chris Ballard (Indianapolis Colts): January 30, 2017; signed extension in 2021
  15. Brandon Beane (Buffalo Bills): May 9, 2017; signed extension in 2020
  16. Brett Veach (Kansas City Chiefs): July 11, 2017; signed extension in 2020
  17. Brian Gutekunst (Green Bay Packers): January 7, 2018
  18. Eric DeCosta (Baltimore Ravens): January 7, 2019
  19. Joe Douglas (New York Jets): June 7, 2019
  20. Andrew Berry (Cleveland Browns): January 27, 2020
  21. Nick Caserio (Houston Texans): January 5, 2021
  22. George Paton (Denver Broncos): January 13, 2021
  23. Scott Fitterer (Carolina Panthers): January 14, 2021
  24. Brad Holmes (Detroit Lions): January 14, 2021
  25. Terry Fontenot (Atlanta Falcons): January 19, 2021
  26. Trent Baalke (Jacksonville Jaguars): January 21, 2021
  27. Martin Mayhew (Washington Commanders): January 22, 2021
  28. Joe Schoen (New York Giants): January 21, 2022
  29. Ryan Poles (Chicago Bears): January 25, 2022
  30. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (Minnesota Vikings): January 26, 2022
  31. Dave Ziegler (Las Vegas Raiders): January 30, 2022
  32. Omar Khan (Pittsburgh Steelers): May 24, 2022

Footnotes:

  1. Jones has been the Cowboys’ de facto general manager since former GM Tex Schramm resigned in April 1989.
  2. Brown has been the Bengals’ de facto GM since taking over as the team’s owner in August 1991.
  3. Belichick has been the Patriots’ de facto GM since shortly after being hired as the team’s head coach in January 2000.
  4. Although Grier was hired in 2016, he became the Dolphins’ top football exec on Dec. 31, 2018

NFL Staff Notes: Bears, Jaguars, 49ers, Raiders

May 21st, 2022 at 9:48pm CST by Ely Allen

New Bears general manager Ryan Poles announced several promotions and additions to the team’s scouting and football administration departments this week.

Breck Ackley has been promoted from area scout to assistant director of college scouting. Former pro scout Chris White is now assistant director of pro scouting. Former national scouts Sam Summerville and Francis Saint Paul have added “senior” to the their titles. Ashton Washington made a large leap going from a scouting assistant to player personnel coordinator. Fellow former scouting assistant Charles Love has been made a pro scout. In terms of area scouts, John Syty will now cover the Southwest area, Brendan Rehor will cover the Southeast area, Tom Bradway comes from the Raiders to cover the Northeast area, and former long-time Texans scout Ryan Cavanaugh comes from Ohio State to cover the Midwest area. Finally, Ryan Weese joins the staff from Montana State as a scouting assistant.

Mike Santarelli has been promoted from director of football systems to executive director of football technology. Former salary cap/pro scouting analyst James Cosh has been promoted to manager of football administration/pro scout.

Here are a few other staff hires from around the NFL:

  • According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, former 49ers vice president Ethan Waugh has been hired by Jacksonville in the role of assistant general manager, rejoining Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, whom he worked with from 2005-16. With Waugh out of the picture, San Francisco’s player personnel hierarchy is much clearer with assistant general manager Adam Peters and director of player personnel Ran Carthon directly under general manager John Lynch.
  • The Raiders have made an addition to their football analytics department, according to ESPN’s Seth Walder, hiring Brad Goldsberry away from Chicago to serve as director of football systems.

2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker

May 18th, 2022 at 5:03pm CST by Sam Robinson

Along with the head coaches being fired, a few NFL teams are looking for new general managers. Listed below are the GM candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status.

If and when other teams decide to make GM changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 5-24-22 (9:03pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

NFL Front Office Notes: Ventrelle, Raiders, Patriots, Giants, Bears

May 7th, 2022 at 11:02pm CST by Ely Allen

Headlines were made yesterday when the Raiders released a statement from owner Mark Davis that team president Dan Ventrelle was “no longer with the Raiders organization.” Ventrelle had been promoted from executive vice president and interim president, after the resignation of Marc Badain, following the conclusion of the 2021 NFL season.

In an article from The Athletic, we learned that Ventrelle alleged he had been fired in retaliation for telling the NFL about concerns over a hostile workplace environment. Ventrelle’s statement was as follows:

“I have committed almost 18 years of my life to the success of the Raiders as General Counsel and President. I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that (Davis) created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern.

“When Mark was confronted about these issues, he was dismissive and did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern. Given this, I informed the NFL of these issues of Mark’s unacceptable response. Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns.”

Here are a few more notes from around the NFL, starting with another note from Sin City:

  • Despite the loss of the team president, Las Vegas has been busy filling out their front office staff. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer tweeted out that Las Vegas was working towards bringing in Patriots national scout Brandon Yeargan to replace Jim Abrams as the team’s new college scouting director. Also, Pete Thamel of ESPN reported the addition of Dolphins college scout Lenny McGill to serve as the new Raiders west coast national scout. Yeargan follows new Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler and new head coach Josh McDaniels from New England after making the leap to the NFL back in 2013. McGill has spent 21 years scouting in the NFL for the Packers, Broncos, and Dolphins. He’ll add the Raiders to his list.
  • The Patriots are looking to restock their losses with the addition of Buccaneers area scout Tony Kinkela, according to Neil Stratton of Inside the League. Kinkela made the move to the NFL after working with Tulane and Washington State at the college level. He’s spent 13 years in Tampa Bay’s front office, earning a Super Bowl ring during his tenure. Kinkela will be headed towards a more senior role in New England.
  • New Giants general manager Joe Schoen is changing things up in an effort to make the front office his own, according to tweets from Jordan Raanan of ESPN and Dan Duggan of The Athletic, with credit to Stratton from above. Following the 2022 NFL Draft, the Giants have announced that four high level staff members will not be returning: director of college scouting Chris Pettit, senior personnel executive Kyle O’Brien, senior pro scouting executive Ken Sternfeld, and senior pro scout/football systems analyst Matt Schauger. Pettit, Sternfeld, and Schauger are all long-time New York employees. Pettit has been with the team since 2004, Sternfeld since 2002, and Schauger since 2005. O’Brien had joined the team for the 2021 season. One move, first reported by Stratton, that will address the departures is the addition of Bears area scout Scott Hamel, who is expected to play a role similar to what O’Brien had held, according to Art Stapleton of USA Today.
  • New Bears general manager Ryan Poles is making adjustments to his staff, as well. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, director of college scouting Mark Sadowski will not return. Sadowski has been with the Bears since 2005. Not everyone from the existing staff will be headed out, though, as former-director of pro scouting Jeff King has been promoted to co-director of player personnel, a role he’ll share with Trey Koziol. King started with the Bears as a scouting intern in 2015, rising quickly through the ranks in the past seven years. He was instrumental in many of the Bears’ 13 unrestricted free agents signings from other teams this offseason. Koziol broke into the NFL as an intern with the Titans in 2008. He spent the last nine years in Kansas City, starting as an area scout before working up to assistant director of college scouting this past season. It’s a smart move from Poles to have two co-directors of player personnel: one, King, specialized in pro scouting and one, Koziol, specialized in college scouting.

NFC Notes: Poles, Eagles, Garoppolo

April 24th, 2022 at 7:33pm CST by Ely Allen

It has been a slow offseason for the Bears with plenty of losses and misses, but new general manager Ryan Poles isn’t panicking. According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, Poles is preaching patience to the franchise. Patience is something of which Chicago-fans have likely run plum out, but, with the current state of the Bears’ roster, it’s a wise path to take.

We’ve seen other rebuilding franchises take wild stabs through trades and free agency, making expensive, headline-grabbing moves that leave them little room to work with when addressing other roster holes. The Rams won a Super Bowl making flashy moves, but did so when those moves were the difference between winning or losing a Super Bowl. Teams like the Bears and Jaguars currently have too many holes on their roster for one offseason-worth of moves to elevate them to a Super Bowl-level.

Poles won’t let moving star pass-rusher Khalil Mack or losing defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi to a failed physical or watching the Bills match the offer sheet on guard Ryan Bates force him into desperately grasping at whatever other players are available. He’ll continue to stick to his plan and his assessments. He’ll wait for an appropriate time, like the Draft or the post-June 1 period, to utilize the team’s accumulated cap space. Poles may just have the patience and demeanor to lead Chicago out of the NFC North basement.

Here are a few other notes from around the NFC, starting in the city of brotherly love:

  • The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia enlisted the help of salary cap and contract expert Jason Fitzgerald, who operates OverTheCap.com, to help her analyze confusing offseason moves from each franchise. When they got to the Eagles, Fitzgerald had some interesting things to say. Fitzgerald asserted that Philadelphia is doing something no other NFL team is. The Eagles have been employing void years in contracts to push salary cap charges to future years. Essentially, if a player holds a $10MM cap charge, the team will eventually pay the $10MM cap charge. By using the void years, the team can take part of that $10MM and move it to later years. Say they take $5MM of that cap hit and move it to the following year. They’ll still be applying that $5MM to their cap space, but, after the league raises the salary cap (as they do every year), that $5MM will represent a smaller percentage of the total cap space in the following year than it would in the current year. The Eagles’ manipulation of the constantly inflating salary cap is nothing short of genius and soon other teams will likely catch on and follow their lead.
  • Earlier this month, Mike Sando of The Athletic went over some of the moves each franchise made this offseason. His take on the 49ers was centered on their handling of the future of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo’s shoulder rehabilitation, combined with a 2022 base salary of $24.6MM, made it hard for San Francisco to move the former starting quarterback. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Garoppolo and the 49ers mutually agreed to have him rehabilitate his shoulder off-site, away from the team, so, at this point, second-year quarterback Trey Lance has effectively taken over as the team’s first-string passer. Sando asserts that the best solution would be a compromise wherein Garoppolo would stay for the time-being on a guaranteed deal with some “dummy years” added onto it, either until San Francisco knows for a fact that they can move forward with Lance or until they know they can get a better value out of moving Garoppolo than they’re getting right now. This would provide the opportunity for the 49ers to reinsert Garoppolo back into the starting job they know he can handle if it turns out that Lance can’t.

Bears To Hire Ryan Poles As GM

January 25th, 2022 at 12:06pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bears are in the process of hiring Chiefs assistant director of player personnel Ryan Poles as their next general manager (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). The former player in Chicago is coming back, this time to lead the franchise’s front office.

Poles had gotten a request from the Bears for a second interview earlier this week. The fact that he was a finalist for the job wasn’t a surprise, given the interest he was also receiving from the Vikings and Giants. The 37-year-old was also a finalist for the GM job in Carolina last year.

Widely seen as one of the top-up-and-coming executives in the league, Poles has worked his way up the ladder in Kansas City very quickly. After starting out on the college scouting side of the franchise, he has recently worked alongside GM Brett Veach on a much wider scale. Still, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes that Poles will face “a learning curve”, given that he has yet to handle player contracts, among other things, directly. Overall, though, this is being viewed as a very smart hire, leading to optimism that the Bears can move forward from the previous Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace regime and return to playoff contention. As The Draft Scout’s Matt Miller points out (via Twitter), the Chiefs will receive one third-round compensatory pick this year and next as a result of the hire.

This news represents the second GM hire so far, after the Giants brought in Joe Schoen. With Poles hired, that leaves Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the vice president of football operations for the Browns, as the only remaining finalist for the Vikings’ GM vacancy. He is now the favorite to take over in Minnesota. Be sure to keep up to date with all the latest using our GM Search Tracker.

Bears Request Second GM Interview With Ryan Poles

January 22nd, 2022 at 12:42pm CST by Ben Levine

Ryan Poles is getting a second interview in Chicago. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel has been asked to interview a second time for the Bears GM job.

Poles is already a finalist for the Vikings GM job. He will meet with the Bears on Tuesday and the Vikings on Wednesday, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). The other finalist for the Minnesota job, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, will meet with the organization again on Tuesday (per Albert Breer on Twitter).

Poles has spent much of his career with the Chiefs, working his way up from director of college scouting to executive director of player personnel, where he works alongside GM Brett Veach and assistant GM Mike Borgonzi.

Last offseason, the Chiefs executive was considered for the Panthers GM job. Besides interest from the Vikings and Bears, Poles was also a finalist for the Giants GM gig (a job that ultimately went to Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen).

Vikings Request Second GM Interviews With Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Ryan Poles

January 21st, 2022 at 2:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Vikings are moving toward a GM decision. They have identified Browns vice president of football operations Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles as finalists.

While another finalist may emerge, Minnesota has thus far only requested second interviews with these two candidates, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Adofo-Mensah is expected to interview Tuesday, with Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeting Poles’ second Vikings meeting is likely to take place Wednesday.

Should Poles take the interview, it would be his second run as a GM finalist during this cycle. The Giants brought him in for a second interview, though Big Blue hired Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen earlier Friday. Just 36, Poles has interviewed with three of the four teams looking for a GM. The Bears also met with the rising exec.

Poles also took part in a second interview with the Panthers last year. On the cusp of a major rise, Poles would follow former Chiefs staffers Chris Ballard and Brett Veach were he to land a GM gig.

Adofo-Mensah joined Poles in interviewing with the Panthers last year, though he was not a finalist for that position. This marks the third-year Browns exec’s first time as a GM finalist. Before joining Cleveland’s front office in 2020 under Andrew Berry, Adofo-Mensah spent seven years with the 49ers. The Stanford grad worked in the business sector until 2013. Adofo-Mensah joined Poles in interviewing for the Bears’ GM gig as well. Chicago has not made its finalists known just yet, so Minnesota’s rival could have a say in this pursuit as well.

Here is how the Vikings’ GM search has shaped up thus far:

  • Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, vice president of football operations (Browns): Second interview requested
  • Brandon Brown, director of player personnel (Eagles): Interviewed 1/18
  • Glenn Cook, vice president of player personnel (Browns): Interviewed 1/20
  • Monti Ossenfort, director of player personnel (Titans): Interviewed 1/16
  • Ryan Poles, director of player personnel (Chiefs): Second interview requested
  • Catherine Raiche, vice president of football operations (Eagles): Interviewed 1/17
  • John Spytek, vice president of player personnel (Buccaneers): Interviewed 1/17
  • Eliot Wolf, senior consultant (Patriots): Interviewed 1/20
Load More Posts