Bears GM Ryan Poles eyes a strong draft in Year 1 of his new partnership (2025)

Last year’s draft might prove to be the most consequential of Bears general manager Ryan Poles’ career — that’s what happens when you take a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick. This year’s draft, though, might be the most important.

When the Bears make their first-round pick April 24, it will mark the first draft collaboration between Poles, the GM of the last three seasons, and new head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears could have decided to part with Poles after he fired Matt Eberflus in November; instead, they decided to pair him with their next coach with hopes they’d work well together.

“Everything that we hoped that we would have from a working relationship, we’ve seen it,” president/CEO Kevin Warren said last month. “Coach is exactly who we had hoped that he would be. Their relationship is exactly, and I would say it has far exceeded, what we could imagine. They work well together.”

We’ll see. An offseason spent trying to firm up the team’s offensive line has produced a roster that’s expected to win right away. After going 5-12 last year, the Bears need to add more young talent in the draft.

Improving quarterback Caleb Williams is the team’s top priority. Drafting a skill position player or offensive lineman with the No. 10 overall would increase the odds of him taking the next step.

The Bears are looking at the draft’s first three rounds, though, as the place to strike. Poles holds four of the draft’s top 72 picks — the Bears’ own choices in the first three rounds plus the Panthers’ second-round choice, the last cog of his 2023 trade of the No. 1 overall pick.

The Bears believe the number of blue-chip, can’t-miss prospects is less than 10. But there’s a wide range of starter-level players, Poles believes, that could stretch all the way to 72.

The Bears will hope a blue-chipper falls to them at 10 — Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders going in the top nine would help — and then play their chess board with hopes of landing three more starters.

“Really trying to pair where the depth is and where you can get certain guys …” Poles said at the NFL’s annual meeting. “The collection of those guys, I think, are going to be important in terms of moving the needle for us.”

And for Poles, who needs to continue the momentum of the free-agent period.

The first three rounds are where GMs should expect to draft starters. Poles’ hit rate in the first three rounds of his first Bears drafts has been mixed, though, even while acknowledging the dangers of judging a draft class so soon.

Williams, who was drafted first overall last year, finished third among 2024 draftees in Pro Football Reference’s Weighted Career Approximate Value rankings, which attempts to put a value on each season in a player’s career. Only the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels and the Broncos’ Bo Nix finished higher.

Receiver Rome Odunze, drafted ninth, finished 24^th. Yale tackle Kiran Amegadjie, who spent last offseason rehabbing after surgery, was picked 75^th but finished 127^th in WCAV among draft picks.

Poles’ 10^th overall pick in 2023, tackle Darnell Wright, ranks 19^th in WCAV. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson of “Fail Mary” fame was picked 56^th but ranks 32^nd, while tackles Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens were picked 53^rd and 64^th and rank 49^th and 121^st, respectively.

Poles didn’t have a first-round pick in 2022. He took cornerback Kyler Gordon 39^th and he ranks 74^th in WCAV. Safety Jaquan Brisker, the 48^th pick, ranks 85^th.

Returner Velus Jones is the biggest flop among Poles’ Day 1 and 2 picks, though; the former 71^st overall pick, whom the Bears cut last year, ranks 157^th in that draft class in WCAV.

With four picks in the top 72, Poles could be tempted to swing a trade to move either up or down. He’s traded picks in Rounds 1, 2 and 3 in six different deals during his Bears career. His blockbuster with the Panthers has the makings of an all-timer: the 2023 No. 1 overall pick, used to pick quarterback Bryce Young, for selections that produced Williams, Wright, Stevenson, punter Tory Taylor and whomever the Bears take with the Panthers’ second-round pick.

Poles’ first trade came in 2022, when he dealt Khalil Mack to the Chargers for, among others, a second-round pick he’d use on Brisker. To eventually replace Mack, Poles traded the 2024 No. 40 pick to the Commanders for edge rusher Montez Sweat. Washington eventually flipped it to the Eagles, who drafted Super Bowl hero Cooper DeJean.

Poles traded down a spot before drafting Wright so the Eagles could move up and take defensive lineman Jalen Carter. The Bears had character concerns about Carter, who became a AP second-team all-pro last year and a key piece of a Super Bowl champion.

Then there are the absolute flops: within two days in 2022, Poles traded linebacker Roquan Smith to the Ravens for picks he’d use on Dexter and backup linebacker Noah Sewell and then moved the No. 32 overall pick, which the Steelers used to pick cornerback Joey Porter Jr., for Chase Claypool, who caught only 18 passes with the Bears.

Poles has grown in the three years since. Now he’ll need to show that his pairing with Johnson is the right one for the franchise. He needs a strong draft.

“I’m just glad they’re two type-A, alpha, strong men who have strong opinions but are collaborative and work well together,” Warren said. “I’m looking forward, No. 1, to see it pay dividends in the draft, but No. 2, for it to pay dividends in the season.”