In Retrospect: Was the tear down really necessary?

[truthbedamned]

I haven't smoked a bowl in ages, and I have an insane tolerance for edibles.
Mostly joints and vapes for me, and when I partake in gummies, it's bags at a time.

Mighty Vape. Best vape made.

 

[DefNextYear]

It isn’t ever necessary to tear it down in the way that the Bears did. Basically every good team today didn’t do it to the degree that the Bears did.

That said, it’s a fine strategy, but the wrong one for anyone who wants to keep their job. If you take too long to rebuild from the bones… you put yourself in the line of fire. Flus was already on the hot seat even before he even got a real chance to see a good roster. Poles is now catching a lot of heat and it stems from people tired of seeing garbage for 3 years.

I’m not saying they don’t suck, but you build a resume of trash by ripping it apart and it’s a massive career risk. And ultimately, you can build a winner without top picks if you have the right structure in place.

 

[jive]

Mighty Vape. Best vape made.

I'm waiting for my Venty to arrive. Hoping it's at least as good as the Mighty, or even better. I use a Volcano at home, and seriously considering getting a ball vape.

 

[jive]

It isn’t ever necessary to tear it down in the way that the Bears did. Basically every good team today didn’t do it to the degree that the Bears did.

That said, it’s a fine strategy, but the wrong one for anyone who wants to keep their job. If you take too long to rebuild from the bones… you put yourself in the line of fire. Flus was already on the hot seat even before he even got a real chance to see a good roster. Poles is now catching a lot of heat and it stems from people tired of seeing garbage for 3 years.

I’m not saying they don’t suck, but you build a resume of trash by ripping it apart and it’s a massive career risk. And ultimately, you can build a winner without top picks if you have the right structure in place.

Baltimore hasn't had a top 10 pick in ages, yet they still seem to be in the running for the playoffs annually.
Tearing down a team is easy. Literally, any of us can do that.
Building it up is hard, especially when you don't have much experience and got rid of things you could build upon.

I think one thing where Poles really underestimated the impact of his moves were in morale. His 3 years of losing has taken a toll on the players and the fans.

 

[Moses Moreno]

I'll say this - I liked the 2022 team much more than I like this team.

This group has been one of the most disappointing teams of my lifetime. Wildly unlikable - talking too much in the media, terrible coaching, a GM who sniffs his own farts but couldn't wait to get rid of the young talent from the previous regime for whatever fucking reason.

I'm glad Mooney, Roquan, Monty and Justin are either in the playoffs or fighting for them. **** Poles.

 

[DaaBears]

Baltimore hasn't had a top 10 pick in ages, yet they still seem to be in the running for the playoffs annually.
Tearing down a team is easy. Literally, any of us can do that.
Building it up is hard, especially when you don't have much experience and got rid of things you could build upon.

I think one thing where Poles really underestimated the impact of his moves were in morale. His 3 years of losing has taken a toll on the players and the fans.

Because they concentrate on defense and running the ball. They drafted like the 6th QB of the draft and it worked out. Now that everyone concentrates on stopping their run, it opens the door for passing, which Jackson has improved on, and mostly to the tight end. They are what I want the Bears to be, year after year.

 

[Myk]

Mack's pay check was too big, but Poles did nothing with it so there probably was no need to take any cap hit for him. Time would've taken care of it.

Smith yes, he was a cancer.

Other than that, no, I can't think of any. It was just a GM putting his stamp on the team and they all could've been like Fields and played out their time.

 

[legendxofxlink]

Not sure if it was necessary to get the record they’re having this year, but for long term, sustainable success, yes it was necessary. If Poles cut Flus and hired the Quinn/Kingsbury combo, this team is looking at a playoff push.

 

[bamainatlanta]

The 2022 tank job has zero effect on this team’s “morale.” lol there are only 7(?) guys left from that team. Who the **** cares about the fans morale? Lol

 

[hyatt151]

It was required but, as of right now, Poles just fucked it up.

when you draft guys like Kiran and Pickens, you need to hire coaches that excel in developement, something the bears have lacked for years

 

[Discus fish salesman]

The 2022 tank job has zero effect on this team’s “morale.” lol there are only 7(?) guys left from that team. Who the **** cares about the fans morale? Lol

I dont think people realize that what changes morale and culture is winning. What was the morale like in Detroit Campbell's first year and a half when he was on the hot seat?

 

[TexasBearfan]

NARDFLO has 8.5 sacks I wonder how much he makes

we were projected to take Verse he has like 4.5 sacks but 11 TFL

Sweat has 4.5

Demarcus has 3.5 and Jacob Martin has like 3 with a lot less playing time.....

the thing with Poles is.....he's not an amazing drafter, and he's not a good FA signer....he has missed on expensive free agents.....Jerry Angelo was pretty good at finding quality free agents, Ogunleye was good for years...he found tommy harris and machine gun tank johnson....alex brown didnt have a ton of sacks but had a tone of pressure, add to that Urlacher/Briggs .......I would honestly take Angelo over Poles rn.

Now if Caleb works it all out he has helped immensely at the most important position, but we clearly need a diff pro personnel person.....and the Claypool trade was inexcusable....an early 2nd should be a solid starter at minimum....we got NOTHING...well...a 4th rounder, we traded Claypool (an early 2nd) for a punter?

Even if George pushed eberlose, adding all of the assistants who ended up being kicked from the program is a giant egg on the face of this once great franchise.

It's like Chrysler in the late 80s 90s where they really deteriorated and hired Lee Iacoca to fix the joint, except the Bears keep hiring schmucks after schmucks....they should change the name to the Chicago Parade of Schmucks....although the unis would be problematic

 

[TexasBearfan]

when you draft guys like Kiran and Pickens, you need to hire coaches that excel in developement, something the bears have lacked for years

Kiran is like a AA baseball player who needs live reps, except where is he going to get them? getting your shiny new QB killed? It reminds me of them drafting that dude who had the video jumping out of the swimming pool, maybe Kiran is an amazing athlete, but we need a solid LT, not a 3rd round project.

 

[jive]

the thing with Poles is.....he's not an amazing drafter, and he's not a good FA signer....he has missed on expensive free agents.....Jerry Angelo was pretty good at finding quality free agents, Ogunleye was good for years...he found tommy harris and machine gun tank johnson....alex brown didnt have a ton of sacks but had a tone of pressure, add to that Urlacher/Briggs .......I would honestly take Angelo over Poles rn.

Ogunleye was acquired in a trade for Marty Booker. Urlacher was drafted by Angelo's predecessor Hatley.
In any case, Angelo was light years ahead of Poles

 

[TexasBearfan]

Ogunleye was acquired in a trade for Marty Booker. Urlacher was drafted by Angelo's predecessor Hatley.
In any case, Angelo was light years ahead of Poles

Angelo's best move was signing John Tait imo, but he also got Ruben Brown who was solid as hell, even no cartilage Roberto Garza was solid...Thomas Jones was a huge help....but let's not forget Julius Peppers, it was a pleasure to watch a guy like that kick ass even on the backside of his career

 

[Les Grossman]

Angelo's best move was signing John Tait imo, but he also got Ruben Brown who was solid as hell, even no cartilage Roberto Garza was solid...Thomas Jones was a huge help....but let's not forget Julius Peppers, it was a pleasure to watch a guy like that kick ass even on the backside of his career

Yeah that was a good OL.

 

[Bearly]

Looking at the sorry state of the Bears 3 years into Poles' tenure, I'm wondering if the teardown of 2022 was really necessary. Especially considering how ineffective Poles has been in replacing players.

Even with their short comings, I thought that Mack still had gas in the tank and that Roquan was still someone you could build a defense around. Mack was a huge cap hit, and it made sense to lose the contract and gain draft capital. However, he never drafted a premium pass rusher and instead spent a 2nd round pick on Sweat and signed him to a 90 mil deal only for him to perform worse than Mack. Roquan isn't perfect, but he's more effective than Edmunds for around the same price and was a locker room leader for the Bears. Quinn was long in the tooth and expensive, so I could see why he'd be traded, but he may have had another season or two of effectiveness after a record breaking season.

Poles also failed to resign Mooney, Monty, and Daniels. At the time it made sense to let them find greener pastures. But looking back Keenan Allen isn't any better than Mooney for the cost of a 4th and probably a more expensive contract to extend him. Mooney was definitely more effective than Claypool and didn't cost a 2nd. Poles still hasn't found a G as good as Daniels, and Daniels wasn't a world beater. Swift doesn't run well between the tackles and can't overcome a bad line any better than Monty. He does have better big play ability though.

We can see that the 3 years of rebuilding has taken a toll on the locker room. You can see how demoralized they were in 2022, energized a little in 2023, and how it's all fallen apart in 2024.

In retrospect, it looks like Poles was eager to recreate the Bears in his image, but he just wasn't experienced or knowledgeable to do it effectively. Instead of keeping leaders of the locker room and building around them, he wanted new pieces to build around. Maybe the Bears needed a tear down and rebuild, but Poles wasn't the guy to do it. We're just as bad or worse than when Poles took the job.

If Caleb turns out to be THE guy, whether Poles is still here or not, it was worth it.

 

[DanielCCSBears]

We can see that the 3 years of rebuilding has taken a toll on the locker room. You can see how demoralized they were in 2022, energized a little in 2023, and how it's all fallen apart in 2024.

Listening to Jaylon Johnson the last three weeks explicitly says it all about this team.

Ryan Poles got rid of good players with high character guys he preached about needing to build the Bears in Chicago. Now it's evident by Johnson's comments that the new guys aren't what Poles demanded they be.

 

[remydat]

Listening to Jaylon Johnson the last three weeks explicitly says it all about this team.

Ryan Poles got rid of good players with high character guys he preached about needing to build the Bears in Chicago. Now it's evident by Johnson's comments that the new guys aren't what Poles demanded they be.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1867273311958286438

Johnson isnt what he demands others to be. He is part of the problem.

 

[TexasBearfan]

BTW i found something on the Steelers message board that was posted weeks before Poles trading the 2nd for Claypool regarding Claypool being a problem in the Steelers locker room and they weren't sad to see him go, why can I find this fairly easily, but NOBODY in the Bears org could bother to find this, also watching a couple steelers games prior to that trade, one in which Tony Romo said about Claypool "let's face it, he's a small TE or a big slow WR"

anyway IMO the tear down was more about bad contracts than talent, although I don't think he backfilled the talent that left with equivalent talent. The Oline in particular, it's like he has this belief he can run a thrift store line and they can coach backups into serviceable starters