The Green Bay Packers NFC North rival went 3-14 last season. Their general manager, Ryan Poles, recently admitted to losing sleep in his first season with the Chicago Bears.
Poles was brought into Chicago from the Kansas City Chiefs, where he worked his way up to the executive director of player personnel to replace Ryan Pace. Poles had worked with most of Pace’s scouting team to prepare for a 2022 NFL Draft where the team had no first-round picks. Poles needed to hit several future starters in the draft after inheriting a lack of draft capital and bad contracts he had cut in his first season.
Green Bay Packers rival GM slept at work
According to a report by Courtney Cronin with ESPN, Poles slept at Halas Hall while rebuilding the roster and preparing for his first-ever draft as an NFL general manager:
Three months after he was hired as the Bears GM on Jan. 25, Poles was sleeping at Halas Hall during his first draft.
“That was not healthy doing that last year,” Poles said. “I don’t ever want to go through that again.
“But it was necessary to get the job done, so a little bit different approach.”
Poles began revamping the roster almost immediately, trading Mack for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 sixth-round selection. He was an active trader during his first draft, making four moves that netted five players, including fifth-round offensive tackle Braxton Jones, who earned offensive All-Rookie honors.
One doesn’t blame Poles for not wanting to repeat that kind of sacrifice. His hard work paid off in finding a gem in the draft with Braxton Jones and two solid starters in safety Jaquon Briser and cornerback Kyler Gordon. The Packers might have benefited from Poles’ fatigued brain when he chose the Bears version of Amari Rodgers by drafting Velus Jones Jr. in the third round.
General managers don’t have it easy. Poles dealt with a lot of stress watching the Bears lose in his first season. He admitted to breaking trash cans during games. We’ll see if the grind pays off the Bears in year two.
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