Ranking what the Chicago Bears need to be successful in 2024 and beyond
The Chicago Bears are not and never were ready to be truly competitive in 2023. However, what do they need to turn things around and sustain success in 2024 and beyond?
Chicago Bears fans need to be patient. Ryan Poles told everyone this when he took over as the Bears' general manager in 2022. He told everyone he was going to build this thing right, take the NFC North, and never give it back. Well, he's doing exactly that, yet many Bears fans want to see him fired already.
No general manager is perfect. Every one of them will make bad decisions and have misses in both free agency and the NFL Draft. Right now, there are two big blunders on Poles' resume. Hiring Matt Eberflus looks to be a mistake — possibly his biggest to date. I still have to wonder if Poles truly had the ability to hire a different coach seeing he was given three candidates to choose from who were already interviewed by George McCaskey and Ted Phillips. Worst-run ownership in the NFL?
What do the Chicago Bears need to be successful in 2024 and beyond?
His second mistake was trading a second-round pick for Chase Claypool. He found a way to somewhat come back from that though and didn't let the move sway him from doing something similar this year when he traded for Montez Sweat.
If you look at the overall makeup of the roster, this team is trending up. In fact, should Ryan Poles move on from Matt Eberflus this offseason, the Chicago Bears would be one of the best situations for a new coach. The team is made up of young talent who are developing nicely. The team has a great amount of salary cap to work with in free agency. The team has solid draft capital over the next two years and could gain even more depending on what Poles does with the team's two first-rounders this upcoming offseason. The team could even end up with the top pick in the draft.
Let's take a look at what the Chicago Bears need to succeed in 2024 and beyond.