One thing Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles tasked his staff with this summer was diving into “The Wisdom of the Bullfrog,” a book by retired Adm. William McRaven, a longtime Navy Seal.
Poles routinely seeks learning and growth opportunities and thought McRaven’s message — billed as “Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)” — would be a plus.
One chapter, Poles said, introduced the concept that “the only easy day was yesterday,” and he’s hopeful the Bears staff, coaches and players can live by that mantra as veterans reported to Halas Hall on Friday for the opening of training camp.
“A daily approach, a daily effort,” Poles said. “The work ethic has to go in in training camp this year for us to reach our ceiling and really find who we’re going to be in 2024.”
A little more than 30 months after being hired, Poles could feel like he truly had a clean slate on the eve of the first practice of his third season. The vision he outlined when hired was to build a team capable of sustained success, a process that required patience — perhaps more than some imagined at the time — and shrewd decisions.
With No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams in place at quarterback, the Bears are hopeful a decades-long problem will turn into a strength that’s required to be a perennial contender. You simply don’t find teams with quarterback quandaries in the playoffs year in and year out.
In weighing the big picture, Poles has balanced patience with being prepared for aggressive, calculated moves. Some have blown up. The Chase Claypool trade in 2022 was a disaster, but 12 months later it didn’t deter Poles’ pursuit of Montez Sweat.
Another GM, perhaps still feeling scars from the first move, might have sat out last year’s trade deadline while overseeing a roster headed nowhere fast — or perhaps opted for a more affordable option such as Sweat’s then-teammate Chase Young. Poles was undaunted, by either the trade compensation or the contract he knew he had to write, and the Sweat acquisition helped transform the defense.
There has been some luck along the way. Who could have predicted the Carolina Panthers, in acquiring the No. 1 pick from the Bears in 2023, were making what might go down as one of the worst trades in the last five or 10 seasons, barring a dramatic turnaround by quarterback Bryce Young in the near future.
Again, that move required patience from Poles in waiting for his handpicked quarterback at a time when the Bears knew coming out of the 2022 season the odds were long that Justin Fields would pan out for them.
Poles has strengthened his position despite consecutive last-place finishes with a roster the Bears knew required serious work. Of the 22 projected starters this year, only three — tight end Cole Kmet, left guard Teven Jenkins and cornerback Jaylon Johnson — were in place before he arrived, and he and his staff have created a strong salary-cap position.
“We’ve acquired and drafted well over the last few years,” coach Matt Eberflus said Friday. “And our roster is better now, so there’s more competition. And we welcome that (to) really get our depth set.”
We’ve heard the Bears discuss depth at this time of year in the past. It’s a process for every team. What they’ve lacked in recent years is frontline talent, and they’ve closed that gap between their roster and those of their division rivals. How the Bears stack up in the NFC North will depend, like everything else, in large part on how the offense comes together with Williams.
Bypassing C.J. Stroud, who went to the Houston Texans at No. 2 in 2023 after the Panthers drafted Young with the pick from the Bears, remains a valid storyline. Stroud had one of the greatest seasons for a rookie quarterback in NFL history with a supporting cast inferior to what the Bears have surrounded Williams with.
But no one needs to play the “what if” game in terms of Stroud — not now anyway. The Bears weren’t forced into drafting their second or third pick of quarterbacks (or fourth, as was the case with Fields in 2021). In Williams they landed the presumptive top pick in 2024 for 18 months, and they’ve assembled a roster that appears ready to compete.
Eberflus began his speech to players at the outset of organized team activities this spring by announcing the “time is now for us.” There were questions about his future after last season. Meetings were held. He made some staff changes and now appears far more comfortable and at ease in his role than he did at the midpoint of last season, when he had a 5-21 career record.
He talked about evaluating Williams this summer in short chunks, with the schedule calling for a day off after three or four consecutive days of practice.
“I just texted him a couple minutes ago: ‘Looking for improvement from the first practice to the fourth practice,’” Eberflus said. “We’ll take a day off and then we’ll assess where he is.”
Eberflus and Poles have grown into their roles, and the roster appears ready to blossom after a busy offseason included the addition of wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, running back D’Andre Swift, tight end Gerald Everett and free safety Kevin Byard.
Enthusiasm surrounding the organization is understandable. There will be a ton of attention on the Bears throughout camp. Sustained success has been fleeting. The Bears haven’t had consecutive winning seasons since 2005-06, and before that it was 1994-95. Before that, you’re all the way back to the days when Mike Ditka was patrolling the sideline.
Poles had the conviction required to play the long game in overhauling the team, and if camp creates the type of competition and growth the Bears are hoping for, this season could be the first time they begin to achieve some of the success they’ve been chasing.
“I like that we start training camp and have the ability to define that, in terms of what our ceiling is,” Poles said. “Our goal — I’ve never backed away from it — is always to win the Super Bowl and take the division, and I feel like we’re continuing to get closer and closer to that.”
