For this year’s pre-draft press conference, there was a single podium inside the PNC Center. A change from 2024, which featured a table for general manager Ryan Poles and assistant GM Ian Cunningham to simultaneously answer questions days before the NFL Draft.
This year, Poles started with his media availability and then Cunningham followed.
Getting access to the two most important decision makers for the Bears is always welcomed, but it isn’t always the most helpful. The Bears have been working for months to set their draft board and devise their plan, so there was no way Poles or Cunningham were going to reveal any information that would be detrimental to them.
Who could blame them? There’s still an opportunity, though, to read between the lines and dissect what the two said on Tuesday afternoon.
During Poles’ opening statement, he mentioned that this draft could get “a little wild.” The first question to Poles was why he believes that to be the case.
“I think it's deeper in certain areas than others,” Poles said. “Usually, the cutoff is a little bit quicker once you kind of get into (rounds) two and three. This one's going to be a little bit different. I think there's going to be a lot more movement than there has been in the past.”
It’s interesting that Poles believes there’s going “to be a lot more movement,” especially when there hasn't been any pre-draft trades up to this point. Everything has been stagnant, but things can start to materialize in the next day or hours before the draft. And it's possible a majority of that movement occurs on Day 2, when the “cutoff” of talent hasn't quite happened yet.
Poles did mention there have been “phone calls going on right now,” meaning teams are interested in moving (and that could include the Bears), but of course, there is no telling what teams or where in the draft that movement can happen.
Trades have been slow so far, but it seems that will change soon.
Poles’ answer to the question of how big the pool of players is for pick 10 probably received the widest array of interpretations among Bears fans.
“Yeah, um, it’s, it’s a, this is a large pool,” Poles said. “Um, of very good football players. Um, and then I think you can do some different things to get more players that are going to be able to come in and help your team quickly.”
Now, I wanted to make sure I included the “ums” to highlight the pauses that Poles had when answering this question. He wasn’t ever going to give a detailed answer, but his response has me asking a series of questions.
What is a large pool? How many players does that consist of? Is it enough for Poles to feel comfortable sticking and picking at 10? Or potentially looking for a trade-back partner that would give the Bears more draft capital, but at the same time put them in a position to still select a player they value in the first round?
Or is Poles eyeing an opportunity to trade up? (Eyes emoji, but I think that is the most unlikely scenario.)
So many questions, and those answers will surface on Thursday night.
One of the questions was about Darnell Wright, specifically whether Poles views the former top-10 pick exclusively as a right tackle.
“I think that's a conversation, we'll see how everything goes,” Poles said. “He clearly has the ability to play left and right. We saw that in college. That was part of the value in taking Darnell, so if he had to play left, I think he could play left. I think we're all excited about his stuff going right.”
If you’re taking Poles’ answer at surface value, then it sounds like the team is at least open to the possibility of moving Wright to left tackle if the right player is available at right tackle. The first player that comes to mind is Missouri’s Armand Membou, who played right tackle in college.
But I don’t know how much I buy Poles’ response. Ben Johnson’s comparison between Wright and Penei Sewell wasn't too long, so switching Wright to the left side doesn’t add up.
Also, Poles and Johnson praised Braxton Jones during the NFL Owners' Meetings. Poles reminded everyone not to forget about Kiran Amegadjie. Moving Wright to play left tackle would tell everyone how the Bears actually felt about Jones and Amegadjie.
Maybe Poles just wanted other NFL teams to think Chicago could be in play for a right tackle.
Mind games.
The last answer to go over is from Cunningham when asked about running back prospects and weighing their potential longevity versus their instant impact.
“I think the value is if he’s a playmaker and a really good player, you take a really good player,” Cunningham said. “That’s the beauty of our process. Our philosophy is best player available. Yeah, we weigh premium position versus non-premium position, but at the end of the day, it’s a playmaker, and if we see him in that role, I think you can go take a playmaker that’s not a premium position.”
The Bears’ assistant general manager provided a fairly straightforward answer here. If there is a good player at pick 10 when the Bears select and he happens to play a non-premium position like running back, the Bears would consider taking him, especially, I believe, if that player is Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty.
Cunningham mentioning the playmaker aspect is also important because the goal should be to add more playmakers around Caleb Williams. It doesn’t sound like the Bears would hesitate to take the right running back at No. 10, and it’s hard to fault them for that thinking.
Poles and Cunningham did their jobs, not revealing much, if any, information but instead giving us more questions to consider while we all wait for the 2025 NFL Draft to start. Kudos to them, but it’s about time to change the discussion from hypotheticals to confirmed results.
Latest messaging from Bears will only add to fans' questions ahead of 2025 NFL Draft
