Four takeaways from Ryan Poles, Matt Eberflus this week

For the first time since NFL free agency began, Bears general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus met with the media and answered questions this week at the NFL owners meetings.

Hub Arkush, the Senior Bears Analyst for Shaw Media and shawlocal.com, has been in Palm Beach, Florida, for the meetings. Read Hub’s thoughts here on Ryan Poles’ first offseason in charge of the team.

Here are four key takeaways from this week’s sessions with Poles and Eberflus.

1. Fallout from the Khalil Mack trade

Trading Pro Bowl linebacker Khalil Mack to the Chargers in exchange for two draft picks was “best for the club,” Poles said.

Mack’s trade made the Bears worse in the immediate future, but created ample salary cap space for 2023 and beyond. Trading him signaled that Poles is looking at his team through a long lens. Every move he has made since then has only solidified that thought. The team hasn’t signed any free agents to more than a two-year contract. The one player they gave a three-year deal, defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, failed his physical and did not sign.

Eberflus and ownership were on board with trading Mack.

“[It’s a] win-win for Khalil, the Chargers and the Bears in terms of the direction that we’re all going,” Poles said. “So, again, that was a hard thing to do, to move on from a guy like that.”

Added Eberflus: “It will be good for us in the long run.”

2. Poles is open to trading QB Nick Foles

The Bears officially signed backup quarterback Trevor Siemian on Tuesday, a move that was widely reported last week. Siemian has experience backing up the likes of Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. He can step in and start if needed, as he did last year with New Orleans when Saints QB Jameis Winston tore his ACL.

The move leaves veteran Bears quarterback Nick Foles, who is under contract for one more season, in an awkward spot yet again. Poles on Monday indicated that Foles doesn’t fit what they’re trying to do on offense.

“In this offense, I think [Siemian is] a better fit,” Poles said. “And I also just, in terms of a guy who has been behind Peyton and Brees, there’s also a wealth of knowledge he can bring to Justin.”

Asked if the team was looking to trade Foles, Poles didn’t flat out say yes, but it sounds like that’s the direction things are heading.

“Nothing has popped up right now,” Poles said. “But we’re working on it. Hopefully something pops up.”

The problem is the market for Foles might not be great. At this point, if the Bears could land a seventh-round pick in return, that’s probably a deal they would take.

3. Justin Fields’ lack of new weapons

The Bears have thus far surrounded second-year quarterback Justin Fields with limited weapons on offense. The offensive line has a hole at right guard and has arguably gotten worse after losing James Daniels to free agency. At best, it’s about the same as it was in 2021.

At receiver, the Bears have added Equanimeous St. Brown, who couldn’t consistently stay on the field in Green Bay, and Byron Pringle, who was Kansas City’s fourth-leading receiver. Fans hoping for a splash signing at receiver have largely resigned themselves to the fact that it’s not going to happen.

Poles called surrounding Fields with weapons “a difficult challenge.”

“I want to give him everything I possibly can, but you still have to construct an entire team,” Poles said. “You can’t go blank in one area and then just load up in one area. So we’re always going to be aggressive to get him the tools he needs to be successful. It’s just the timing, and the talent level and the cap situation, all of those are going to dictate when we can go and when we can’t go.”

Eberflus said the expectation is that Fields should make “a big jump” in year two.

“That’s what we’re looking for,” Eberflus said. “We’re looking for better technique, better fundamentals, better decision-making, better timing, everything. He’s all onboard on that.”

Fields has been posting videos to Instagram from Atlanta in recent weeks, where he is working with receiver Darnell Mooney.

4. Who is managing the salary cap right now?

The Bears have begun restructuring their front office under Poles. They hired assistant GM Ian Cunningham away from the Eagles and director of football administration Matt Feinstein away from the league office. But neither of those hires has experience handling the salary cap for a team.

Under former GM Ryan Pace, Joey Laine was the lead contract negotiator and salary cap expert. Laine is no longer with the team. Poles said this week that Bears senior vice president and general counsel Cliff Stein is in charge of managing the salary cap. It sounds like that is temporary until Feinstein is comfortable doing it.

“Matt hasn’t done it from the team perspective, but he knows the ins and outs of all the rules,” Poles said. “And so Cliff is taking the cap for the Bears right now and then we’re going to transition over time. But yeah, it’s Cliff’s duty right now.”

Stein has been with the Bears since 2002. He managed the team’s cap prior to Pace’s arrival in 2015. Stein was a player agent from 1994 until 2001.