Bears president Kevin Warren, who staunchly has supported general manager Ryan Poles even during turbulent times, is reaffirming that loyalty with a substantial commitment.
The Bears agreed to a contract extension with Poles on Friday, a source said. He and new coach Ben Johnson are on matching timelines through the 2029 season. Poles was widely believed to be nearing the end of his contract just as Johnson was beginning a five-year deal, creating potential instability that Warren sought to snuff out.
Poles’ extension is based on Warren’s faith in where the Bears are headed more so than on results. They went 15-36 in Poles’ first three seasons, the NFL’s second-worst record during that period, and finished last in the NFC North each time.
Nonetheless, as is often the case, Halas Hall is bursting with optimism.
Poles made a huge splash in January by hiring Johnson, the league’s most coveted candidate. The Bears believe the Johnson-Caleb Williams pairing can carry them for a decade.
Warren repeatedly has declined to get into the specifics of Poles’ contract but said after the Johnson hire that Poles “is very comfortable” and “has done an outstanding job.” He added that he looked forward to working with him for many years.
Johnson, who already has sizable sway in the organization, also has spoken up for Poles since coming aboard. He shot down the perception that he wanted control over personnel, saying instead that he wanted a general manager he could trust and thinks he has found that in Poles.
Poles, 39, has filled both sides of the ledger. The Bears’ overall talent is better than it was under predecessor Ryan Pace, but that improvement hasn’t translated to results in the standings, and there have been major misfires on the coaching staff.
He raised eyebrows by hiring coach Matt Eberflus shortly after joining the Bears in 2022, choosing him over Dan Quinn, and erred by hanging on to him at the end of the ’23 season after Eberflus had made numerous mistakes in games and at the podium.
Poles reached his breaking point as the Bears stumbled to 5-12 last season at a time when he thought the roster was built for a playoff push. He fired Eberflus in November after a string of embarrassing losses.
His dismissal followed that of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Poles was heavily involved in hiring Waldron, as well.
There have been hits and misses in personnel, too, ranging from whiffs on acquisitions such as Chase Claypool and Velus Jones to picking up such core players as Williams, DJ Moore and Kyler Gordon. Poles landed Williams with the No. 1 pick last year after getting a haul in his 2023 trade with the Panthers.
It has been a long climb for Poles after inheriting a mess from Pace, who left the team so dangerously low on talent, draft capital and salary-cap space that there was no choice but to burn the roster to the ground and start over. That’s quite a project, and if the Bears are right that the team is indeed about to take flight in Year 4 under Poles, it will have been worth the wait.