5 best decisions Ryan Poles made in year one as Chicago Bears GM

3. Chicago Bears did great with UDFAs and on the waiver wire

Ryan Poles inherited a mess and had to clean things up before he started to build things. So, it left him a bit shorthanded in free agency and the NFL draft. That will not be the case this off-season. Still, this helped give us a strong glance into the ability Poles and his team have to scout.

It is easy to debate number one vs. number two, but how about number 295 vs 296 on your board? Poles and his crew did a strong job during the UDFA process.

Jack Sanborn started six games, and Jaylon Jones started in four while playing in even more. The team also added Jake Tonges, who made the initial roster and has been active, and Chase Allen, who stayed on the PS all season.

If he can find four guys who stick around in some way every year, the depth of this team would be phenomenal.

Beyond that, Poles and his crew were scouring the back end of other teams’ rosters during cut down. An unprecedented seven waiver claims were made on the last weekend of the offseason.

Ihmir Smth-Marsette and Kinglsey Jonathan highlight the misses of the group, and Alex Leatherwood showed little. Still, Armon Watts became a starter by the end of the season. Sterling Weatherford was a special teams stud, Trevon Wesco won the tight end two jobs, and Josh Blackwell was a special team ace who got to start in the slot to finish the season.

So, Ryan Poles found four gems via UDFAs and then added four more solid contributors by scraping other teams’ rosters. That is darn impressive no matter how you look at it, and the hope is that he will remain as prudent with big-money signings.