Poles confirms Bears are still exploring roster upgrades

Dustin Riese · Senior Writer · 13 hours ago

In case you missed it, the Chicago Bears have added another tight end to their tight end group as Cole Kmet left practice the other day with a minor injury. Although the injury doesn't appear serious and will most likely be a day-to-day situation, Kmet is too valuable to the Bears' offense, and they are going to be as cautious as possible to prevent things from getting worse.

You could say that for a lot of teams right now, as several starting players are dealing with early camp injuries and have thus been shut down for the time being. Not only did Ryan Poles find a way to bring in tight end help, but according to reports, that may only be the start as Poles has confirmed he is continuing to make calls to add to the Bears roster.

This wouldn't have been a surprise a month or so ago, but to hear those comments coming this close to the Bears' first preseason game. That alone tells you that, as much as the Bears roster has improved, Poles may not be satisfied with it yet and wants to continue to add pieces to it.

The best vantage point to know what Poles is going through is his most recent interview with ESPN Chicago.

"I feel pressure every day," Poles said.

He also went on to say that he is making calls every day to try to improve this roster. Give the man a ton of credit. This is what a winning mindset looks like, and he won't sleep until he feels this roster is as good as it possibly can be. Many fans wish more GMs in Chicago would have this type of approach, but that is a topic for another day.

Adding to a roster this late in the offseason doesn't seem ideal, but it's something that every team does. The Bears have especially been great at that over the past few seasons as they added Darrell Taylor and Chris Williams around this time last season via the trade market. Taylor had several strong showings with the Bears last season before inking a free agent deal with the Texans this offseason, while Williams remains on the team as a backup defensive piece.

Poles also previously engineered the summer signing of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in 2023, as well as offensive linemen Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield in 2022. Had Ngakoue not gotten hurt in 2023, he was expected to play a massive role on the defensive front, which is the main reason why they went out and traded for Montez Sweat that season.

Knowing the deals Poles has made the past few seasons around this time, it has to make you wonder what tricks he could have up his sleeve this offseason as potential late camp pickups. If you had to guess as to what he could be looking for, you would have to think running back depth is near the top of his list, although rookie Kyle Monangai has been turning heads.

Jamaal Williams remains a free agent, and given his relationship with Ben Johnson, one could wonder if the Bears may look to pick him up in the coming days. You also wouldn't be surprised if Poles added another body on defense, in particular someone who could help the pass rush, which has been an issue in Chicago for a while now.

Granted, the Bears have already upgraded their defensive front seven this offseason, but apart from Sweat, do you trust anyone to get after the quarterback consistently? The only problem is who is available at an EDGE rush position, and what it would cost to get one of those guys.

Matthew Judon remains at the top of the list, as do Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith. Any one of those three would instantly improve the Bears' defense and give them another body for the opposing offense to account for. Some lesser quality players that would cost less for that position include former Bear Demarcus Walker, Kyzir White, Jaylen Reeves-Maybin, Trevis Gipson, and Shaquil Barrett.

Any of them would give the Bears some added talent to their defense, which is one area this team still needs to address. Don't sleep on Poles and the Bears' offseason just yet, as he could have something more up his sleeve before the 2025 NFL season officially kicks off.