How Ryan Poles' masterclass management and Lovie Smith's parting gift are turning the Bears into real contenders

The Chicago Bears just executed a monumental deal with the Los Angeles Chargers after already having a solid start to the offseason in free agency, which begs the question: Are the Bears starting to become a legitimate contender?

It's still too early to make such a bold declaration but general manager Ryan Poles has been handling this offseason, and really the last two offseasons, like a mastermind to completely overhaul the entire Bears' roster.

So far, the Bears have already addressed nearly all of their major needs in free agency with outstanding talent while bringing in major depth pieces at key positions. Oh yeah, and by the way, the Bears did all of this while still retaining two picks in the Top-10 of the 2024 NFL Draft, including the first overall selection.

When former Houston Texans' head coach Lovie Smith won a meaningless Week 18 game against the Indianapolis Colts to conclude the 2022 season, he didn’t just sign away his job as the team's head coach, he also gave one final gift to his former team in Chicago that caused a domino effect altering the team's entire future.

By winning that meaningless game against the Colts, the Bears ended up with the number one pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with the Texans falling to the second overall pick. On March 10, 2023, the Bears agreed to trade the first overall pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for wide receiver DJ Moore, a 2023 first- and second-round picks, a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick. The Panthers went on to take quarterback Bryce Young with the first overall pick.

By the time the draft came around last April, the Bears moved back from the Panthers' ninth overall pick to the tenth overall pick with the Philadelphia Eagles, acquiring a 2024 fourth round pick in the process. The Bears then drafted right tackle Darnell Wright, who went on to be the team's only offensive lineman to start all 17 games during the 2023 season.

After moving around the board with the Panthers' second-round pick in last year's draft, the Bears landed cornerback Tyrique Stevenson who went on to have four interceptions during his rookie year, the most interceptions in his entire draft class and tied for the most on his entire team.

Let's not forget about DJ Moore who, during his first season in Chicago, set career-highs in receptions (96), receiving yards (1,364), and receiving touchdowns (8). Even after all that success, the work was just getting started.

Flash forward to this offseason, the Bears are now armed with the first overall pick once again (from the Panthers) and the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. As for the Bears' extra 2024 fourth round pick, Poles just recently shipped that pick off to the Los Angeles Chargers to land six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen.

To make things even sweeter, Poles' masterclass chess movements also led to the Bears trading their 2024 second round pick to the Washington Commanders at the 2023 NFL trade deadline to acquire 27-year-old Montez Sweat, who went on to set a new career-high himself while leading the team with 6.5 sacks.

None of these decisions even factor in the Bears' free agent signings that Poles has made over the past few days to load the team up with top talent and key depth pieces.

The Bears have already landed a former All-Pro safety in Kevin Byard to replace Eddie Jackson, signed running back D'Andre Swift to become the offense's new lead back, added Gerald Everett to the tight end room with Cole Kmet, acquired two key depth pieces on the offensive line in Ryan Bates and Matt Pryor, and brought in a potentially new starting center in Coleman Shelton.

The Bears also agreed to a long-term extension with Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson, which is perhaps Poles' biggest success of the offseason, making Johnson one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league after a season where he finally proved he deserves to be in that conversation.

Poles has been making some phenomenal roster decisions heading into next season to completely revamp the Bears' roster and yet his biggest decision still awaits him. The team's top executive will soon have to make a decision on the most important position in the football after successfully building up the rest of the roster.

The choice ultimately comes down to keeping quarterback Justin Fields as the starter and allowing him to finally prove himself to the city of Chicago or drafting Caleb Williams with the first overall pick to become the Bears' next franchise quarterback.

The decision will be a crucial one to soon decide on but so far, Poles has done nothing but prove he has the ability to make best decisions for the future of his team.