After standing pat at the NFL Trade Deadline, it seems that Ryan Poles made a statement that the Chicago Bears' roster is not ready to to contend for a playoff spot.
After trading Roquan Smith and acquiring Chase Claypool in 2022 and Montez Sweat last season, the only move the Bears made was trading little-used Khalil Herbert to the Cincinnati Bengals for a 2025 7th-round pick while adding no one this year.
Some are probably flummoxed as to why Poles did not do more to help with protecting Caleb Williams given the injuries to their starting offensive line while others are glad Poles did not trade for a veteran who is likely gone after this season as a free agent anyways.
The Bears' injury report this week suggests the team is going through it. The offensive line, which has contributed to Williams' recent regression, has suffered the most.
Remember when Poles touted the depth of the offensive line prior to the start of this season? It is being put to the test, and so far, it has not looked good at all. Yet Poles passed on the opportunity to add another lineman at the trade deadline.
For Poles, even morw worrisome is the lack of accountability displayed by Matt Eberflus and how star players openly spoke out about it the day after the Hail Mary loss to Washington in their regular radio appearances. The decision to bring Eberflus back this season is starting to backfire. Even worse is how the offense under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has looked bad since their win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.
Rather than carrying the momentum from their win in London, the bye week took all the momentum. And now they look like the same team, who struggled to score points in the first three weeks of the season. Now Eberflus' lack of accountability and leadership skills are being exposed and are no longer resonating with the players. The players have had enough.
How Eberflus displayed a lack of awareness and accountability after the Washington game and his unacceptable decision to keep Williams until the end of the game against Arizona, when Williams came up limping with an ankle injury, should be a huge warning sign even for Poles. He better be upset over how Eberflus disregarded Williams's health. The decision to bring back Eberflus and the hiring of Shane Waldron, who played an extensive role in his hiring, has to anger Poles, right?
That may not be the case with the latest speculation surrounding Eberflus' contract and status with the team.
The Bears are about to enter a very difficult stretch of their schedule. So much is riding on how competitive they are in the NFC North. If the Bears' record is the same or even worse than last year, then Poles need to have the gumption to move on from Eberflus.
He did not draft Williams and Odunze and acquired Keenan Allen, only to be dragged down by substandard coaching. Yes, he could have done more to help the offensive line. But keeping Eberflus because the organization made a mistake by firing the head coach a year later after drafting Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields for the sake of continuity makes no sense. What good is continuity if the players are no longer listening to what your head coach is trying to sell?
MUST READ: The Bears' offense is just as bad as it was last season.
Firing Waldron may quell some anger. But that means Eberflus made a mistake once again within a year after firing Luke Getsy 10 months ago. And with both Alan Williams and David Walker being let go after both men were accused of HR violations last year, how can you keep allowing Eberflus to keep hiring bad coaches again and again?
More importantly, can team president Kevin Warren, who was hired after the 2022 season and did not hire either man, afford to watch this team continue to play poorly while he is trying to secure a new stadium deal? What leverage does he have when the team stinks and is not supported by the fans? Three years is more than enough time to see tangible results. Again, this team is 14-28. Is that even acceptable for Warren? He must start demanding results from both men just like he needs to deliver results for the new stadium deal.
If Poles is bringing Eberflus back next season, then both men deserve to be escorted out of Halas Hall together in the following offseason.