Ryan Poles has options to improve the Bears, starting with learning from the Eagles: Silvy

And that’s a wrap on the 2024 football season.

Yet, there never is an offseason for the omni-present beast known as the NFL.

Pitchers and catchers reporting? The new-look NBA with LA Luka and Warrior Jimmy Diva? College basketball on the brink of madness? The Bulls in their lack-of-direction slumber?

All cool stuff, except of course for the usual Reinsdorf master class in misery, but that’s a story for another day.

The point is, anything in sports these days is dwarfed in comparison to the NFL. Free agency begins in less than a month and the combine gets underway in less than two weeks – mock drafts are flowing and rumors are rumbling.

You don’t have to have your ear to the ground to know that the Bears are going to be active once again. Let the Super Bowl be a lesson to Ryan Poles on team building. The Eagles are the champs for two big reasons, they protect their quarterback and pressure the opposition’s. It doesn’t matter if you’re an all-time great like Patrick Mahomes or a rookie trying to find his way like Caleb Williams. If your line cannot protect you, good luck finding any sort of success.

Sports Illustrated football insider Albert Breer was on ESPN 1000 this week and reminded everyone that one of the Eagles core philosophies over the past 25 years is “Big people beat up little people.” It doesn’t matter how much the game has evolved or how many rules changes have occurred, football is still won up front. No wonder the Bears continue to lose.

In 2022, the Eagles won the NFC championship and recorded 70 sacks. For comparison sake, the Bears have 70 total sacks over the past two years combined.

And since that 2022 season, Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman flipped his entire defensive line into a younger unit that never needed to blitz to pressure Mahomes countless times and sack him. On one pressure, Mahomes literally got punched in the face.

The two Super Bowls the Chiefs have lost, it was because the offensive line was exposed. KC’s reign has less to do with who their wide receivers and running backs are and more to do with their offensive line and defense. That helps Mahomes and Andy Reid more than anything.

As I pointed out a few weeks ago, it’s hard to believe Poles came from the Chiefs and assistant GM Ian Cunningham from the Eagles and neither adopted their building models. Do you really have to come from one of those organizations to understand common sense? Hopefully, Ben Johnson’s influence will help as the Lions success is also due to what they’ve done upfront.

Over the past several weeks, Poles must come up with creative ways to build on both lines with more than just average players.

• Do you call Cleveland and offer the 10th overall pick and a second rounder next year for Myles Garrett? Then you use picks 39, 41 and 72 to attack the offensive line?

• Do you call Dallas about the younger but costlier Micah Parsons and offer them a package starting with two first round picks? You then must break the bank on a new Parsons’ contract and will have less cap room. You then follow the above game plan on the offensive line.

• Do you simply pay top dollar for guard Trey Smith in free agency and try to sign another impact player on either line and keep all of your picks for the future?

Whatever the formula, this can’t be the offseason for Poles yet again. Whatever choice he’s made, he’s been off. It’s time to simply be correct whichever adventure you choose.

Let the on season begin.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.