The Chicago Bears wrapped their first season under general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. While the result wasn’t pretty — a 3-14 record and a 10-game losing streak — there’s hope for the future. And this season certainly won’t define Poles and Eberflus’ tenures in Chicago.
You’ve got to respect Poles for coming in here and tearing the whole roster down, which had to be done to start rebuilding. He parted ways with aging veterans (Eddie Goldman, Danny Trevathan) and traded players that weren’t part of the plan moving forward (Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, Robert Quinn). While it gave Chicago the most dead money in the NFL this year, it also helped pave the way for north of $100 million in salary cap space in 2023.
Eberflus inherited a less-than-ideal situation with a young and inexperienced roster that wasn’t built for success this season. Still, Eberflus got the most out of a talent-deficient roster, where his team was competitive with even the league’s best squads.
On the latest episode of our Bears Wire Podcast, host Ryan O’Leary (@RyanO_Leary) and myself (@AlyssaBarbieri) share our final Year 1 grades for Poles and Eberflus, as well as discuss which players are deserving of contract extensions this offseason.
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