George McCaskey Fully Supports Ryan Poles’ Approach To Offseason
After living through an entire decade of Phil Emery and Ryan Pace, one can imagine George McCaskey has grown used to his GMs being aggressive in free agency. It became part of the Chicago Bears’ identity. Every March, they’d pull off at least one notable move to get the fans juiced up for the summer. Yet, with over two weeks gone since the market opened, Ryan Poles has not adhered to that same approach.
Outside of the Larry Ogunjobi signing that fell through due to a failed physical, the Bears GM has remained careful with his money. Every deal handed out has been mid-tier or lower for younger free agents that may have considerable upside to offer. Byron Pringle and Lucas Patrick headline this group. While it’s possible they can become strong contributors; nobody is buying them as serious difference-makers.
Justin Fields needs more help.
McCaskey understands that as well as anybody. He’s said several times that he is more of a fan than an executive regarding this side of the job. He has tried to work on it since taking over as team chairman in 2011. Though he admitted it could be difficult to watch other teams make aggressive moves trying to get better, he made one thing clear to the Bears media. Poles has nothing less than his full support.
“Well, that’s where I’ve been impressed with (Poles’) discipline because he was very calculated in how he assessed various players that were available as unrestricted free agents and the limit financially that he was willing to go to with each player. He stuck to his plan and I was impressed with that.
“That’s where I come back to his quality of being self-possessed. There’s something about him. It’s really difficult for me to put my finger on, but he’s very confident and exudes that, and I think the other people on the staff pick up on it.”
This is the correct mindset to take. The last thing McCaskey wants to do is undercut his new GM. Especially when Poles has far more experience with team-building than him. He must learn to trust the process. There is a plan in place. One that is aimed at making Chicago a contender in the long-term, not for just one or two seasons. To do that, he must build through the draft. That takes time. Asking a fanbase to stay patient, especially in this era of sports, is difficult.
Poles has laid out his thinking to George McCaskey
This was something he wanted from the moment he took over as GM. One of the big changes to the Bears front office structure was that the GM would no longer go through team president Ted Phillips to communicate with ownership. From now on, Poles can go directly to McCaskey whenever they need to discuss something. Doing this lowers the risk of miscommunication and allows Poles to illustrate better why each decision is being made.
While Phillips might mean well, he’s not a football guy in terms of background. He is a business expert. Money is his thing. Sometimes he might not be able to convey football-related things to George McCaskey. Not like Poles could. The chairman has spent considerable time with the GM in the previous two months. During that time, he is learning why this new approach is sound. Poles explained it himself.
Overpaying for non-great players (which most free agents are) is not a recipe for success.
The bulk of a successful NFL roster should be homegrown talent. Free agents should be viewed as sprinkles on the cake after it’s done baking. The Bears are nowhere near that point yet. So until then, he must fight those urges of reckless spending.