3 initial takeaways from the Chicago Bears extending Montez Sweat
1. The Chicago Bears are invested in Ryan Poles beyond this year
Ryan Poles has made his mistakes, but if anything was clear this week, it was that Ryan Poles has control of the Chicago Bears' destiny moving forward. This is massive news because the Bears will have two very high draft picks, and it has been confirmed that Poles will be the one making them.
The Chicago Bears traded a second-round pick that may end up being top-40. Last year, the Bears lost out on Joey Porter Jr., who was shadowing DeAndre Hopkins on Thursday Night Football as a rookie. The Steelers now have that type of cornerback playing for four years on a cheap contract. This is a serious investment opportunity that the Chicago Bears gave up on.
They gave Montez Sweat $72.5M in guaranteed money. That may be the most shocking news from the contract. They cannot get out of this deal if it does not go well. Essentially, ownership just gave Ryan Poles the right to dig into free agency for the 2024 season already, and they made their big splash of the offseason.
dark. Next. 3 strikes against Matt Eberflus as head coach. 3 strikes against Matt Eberflus as head coach
There is no way you can see Poles trade a future pick that is going to have value and then seal up salary cap space for three more years and think that his seat is the slightest bit hot.