Ryan Poles’ Top Free Agent Signing Has Been A Disaster
The Chicago Bears had a problem with their pass rush last year. GM Ryan Poles knew this. If he wanted the defense to take a step forward in 2025, he’d have to find it some help. There were plenty of options in both free agency and the draft. Ultimately, the Bears opted to sign veteran defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to a three-year contract worth $48 million. That works out to $16 million per year. It felt like a lot of money considering Odeyingbo had never really been known as a sack artist, even during his high points in Indianapolis.
Sure enough, that investment appears to be another colossal whiff for Poles. Going into Baltimore on Sunday, the defensive end had nine pressures and one sack in six games. For context, Josh Sweat signed with Arizona, and he has 22 pressures and five sacks. By the end of the game against the Ravens, the Bears defense had three pressures total. Odeyingbo was all but invisible. Keep in mind the team gave up a pretty solid player in DeMarcus Walker to make this move. At some point, you have to wonder what compelled Chicago to let Poles keep his job.
Ryan Poles’ free agency track record is brutal.
There are some high points, to be fair. T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, and Kevin Byard have all made quality contributions to the team. However, that is outweighed by some ugly misses. Lucas Patrick in 2022. Nate Davis in 2023. Gerald Everett last year. Now Odeyingbo. It is beyond obvious that Ryan Poles is not great at scouting veteran talent. This also extends to trade acquisitions, such as Chase Claypool and Ryan Bates.
The fact is, this roster is not well-constructed in too many areas. Yes, injuries have played a part, but Ryan Poles has too many misses, such as Odeyingbo, on his resume. It doesn’t help that his hand-picked quarterback is still struggling with basic things halfway through his second season. The Bears extended the GM this offseason because they wanted to keep him in lockstep with Ben Johnson.
It is time to wonder if that was a mistake. Nothing he’s done to this point has justified such a move. If anything, the longer this season goes on, the worse it looks.