7 free agents who might follow Ryan Poles to the Chicago Bears

Free Agent Ryan Poles Could Bring to the Chicago Bears: Reggie Ragland, ILB

This is a bit of a fun one. Reggie Ragland was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. However, it was a trade with the Chicago Bears in that draft that led to him being selected. Ryan Pace moved up in the second round by swapping seconds and then giving a 2016 fourth-round pick and a 2017 fourth-round pick to Buffalo. Yep, one of those classic Ryan Pace draft moves.

The Bills drafted Reggie Ragland with their second-round pick, but he ended up going on injured reserve and never played a down for the Bills. Instead, the Bills traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017 for a conditional 2019 fourth-round pick.

Once with the Chiefs, Ragland played in a base 4-3 to start and started 10 games that first year. He finished with 44 combined tackles (31) and a forced fumble. Ragland started for the Chiefs in 2018 too and started 15 games. He finished with 86 combined tackles (46 solos), half a sack and an interception. This was his best season. He didn’t start very much in his final season with the Chiefs and moved around the league for the next two years.

In 2020, Ragland started six games as the middle linebacker in a base 4-3 defense for the Lions, and then he started nine games in the same position for the Giants last year. If Ryan Poles brings Ragland to Chicago, it would be a depth signing as well, but the linebacker group could use some depth. Ragland would be a solid signing since he has experience as an inside linebacker in both a 4-3 and a 3-4 base defense.