Bears overreactions: Did Ryan Poles make big mistake with offseason moves?

Bears overreactions: Did Poles fail with offseason moves? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

After months of talk about salary cap space and the No. 1 pick, Bears general manager Ryan Poles finally showed his cards and made his moves.

The Bears traded the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver DJ Moore, the No. 9 overall pick, No. 61, a 2024 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick.

Poles then invested heavily in the linebacker position in free agency, signing Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. The Bears also added guard Nate Davis, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, running back D'Onta Foreman, and tight end Robert Tonyan, among others.

Now all the attention shifts to the draft, where the Bears have to nail their evaluations to fill out a roster that still has several sinkholes at critical positions.

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Let's sift through the rubble from a hectic three weeks of offseason moves for Poles and the Bears:

Overreaction? Yes.

I understand the desire to be greedy. Poles said he thought he could have done something "historic" by trading with the Houston Texans at No. 2 and then the Carolina Panthers at No. 9.

That's good in theory, and there's probably a universe where the Bears' general manager is able to pull off both trades.

But the Arizona Cardinals' presence at No. 3 and willingness to move down threatened to box the Bears out of a deal they really liked. Poles knew that Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer was also talking to Arizona. By waiting, Poles risked the Panthers and Cardinals agreeing on a deal and losing the trade partner that had the draft capital and premium player he wanted.

Could Poles have waited and perhaps found a similar deal with the Tennessee Titans, who sit at No. 11? It's possible. But with three top-60 picks and a 26-year-old star receiver on the table, the Bears were wise to pull the trigger and not let that deal slip away.

Overreaction? No.

I think it's fair to say two things: The Bears got better in free agency, and Poles didn't do enough to address the biggest holes on the roster.

The Bears entered the offseason with significant needs along both lines of scrimmage. Poles took a run at right tackle Mike McGlinchey but elected not to get in a bidding war with the Denver Broncos, who gave McGlincey a massive $87.5 million deal.

Poles didn't go after Orlando Brown Jr. due to scheme-fit issues.

The only offensive lineman the Bears added was Davis. Davis has only played right guard in his NFL career, and his arrival appears to signal that Teven Jenkins will be shifting to left guard in 2023.

As for the defensive line, the Bears only added edge rusher DeMarcus Walker and nose tackle Andrew Billings. Both are solid veterans but not needle-movers.

As such, the Bears enter the 2023 NFL Draft with needs at offensive tackle, edge rusher, and defensive tackle. In my opinion, they still have enough needs to take a "best player available" approach as long as they use it on the trenches.

I do think it's risky to enter the draft with a hole at right tackle, defensive tackle, and edge rusher, The Bears are almost certainly going to have to use three of their top four picks on the trenches, and those players have to be able to contribute/start on Day 1.

It's not a great spot to be in, but it's the road Poles chose by not overpaying for McGlinchey or defensive tackles Javon Hargrave or Dre'Mont Jones.

Overreaction? No.

This is where I also landed after Poles' opening flurry of moves.

I thought the Bears had to address at least one side of the line of scrimmage in free agency. Whether that was a big-money deal for McGlinchey or Brown, a top defensive tackle, or a couple of mid-level additions on the edge, the Bears had to check one of those boxes.

They didn't.

In a vacuum, Poles' disciplined approach is great and will likely serve the Bears well in the long run. But with the way you can front-load contracts, the Bears could have given Brown the same contract the Bengals did and been able to get out of it after two years if the scheme fit was an issue.