Reports: Chiefs’ personnel man Ryan Poles to become Bears’ next general manager

According to several reports, the Chicago Bears are hiring now-former Kansas City Chiefs executive director of player personnel Ryan Poles to become their next general manager.

Poles, 36, had been a finalist for the New York Giants’ general manager job before New York went in another direction, hiring Joe Schoen. Then came other interested teams like the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. The Bears decided to lock Poles up before what was to be a second interview with the Vikings.

Poles had been a member of the Chiefs personnel department for nearly 13 years, starting as a scouting assistant in 2009 and working his way up to his current position. He was a finalist for the Carolina Panthers’ GM job last season.

As mentioned in our initial article, Poles was previously the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. He played a significant role in Kansas City’s draft strategy, having served as general manager Brett Veach’s right-hand man during draft season. Considering the team’s wildly successful 2021 draft class — one that included three key contributors like linebacker Nick Bolton and starting offensive linemen Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith — the interest from three separate teams made sense.

With Poles’ hiring, the Chiefs will receive compensatory third-round draft picks in each of the next two NFL Drafts — 2022 and 2023. The league enacted a resolution in 2020 to encourage the hiring of minority candidates for assistant coaching and front office positions, thereby increasing the size of the minority talent pool for head coach and general manager jobs.