Ryan Poles has taken plenty of heat during his run as Bears general manager, but the salary-cap side of the job is one area where he’s earned a much stronger grade than he usually gets.
The easiest way to see it is in the dead-money rankings. When Poles arrived in 2022, Chicago was stuck at No. 1 in the NFL in dead cap hits.
That was the cost of years of bad contracts and a front office trying to claw its way out of its own mistakes. Poles didn’t try to paper over the problem.
He tore it down and absorbed the pain early.
That reset showed up fast. By 2023, the Bears had already moved all the way down to 14th in dead cap hits. The roster was still being rebuilt, but the worst of the financial damage had started to clear.
The next step was even more important. As more of the team’s core came through the draft, Chicago gained the kind of flexibility that makes roster building easier.
The Bears could spend in free agency without carrying the same weight from the previous regime. In 2024, they were 26th in dead money, and in 2025 they were last in the NFL in dead money.
That’s a dramatic turnaround in just three offseasons.
The 2026 number sits at 22nd in dead cap space, which still looks manageable. Some of that comes from Ben Johnson choosing a different direction with certain veterans already on the roster, including D.J.
Moore. But that isn’t a sign of bad cap work from Poles.
It’s a reflection of the Bears adjusting the roster to fit Johnson’s plans.
And that’s the real payoff here: Chicago is now in position to extend its young core over the next few seasons without having to dig out of another salary-cap mess.
In Other News...
Bears May Have Quietly Fixed A Few 2026 Trouble Spots
A few of the Bears quieter offseason additions may end up mattering more in 2026 than they do right now. Chicago brought in cornerback Cam Lewis, used a fourth-round pick on Malik Muhammad and added some needed stability on the coaching staff by hiring Eric Studesville as the new running backs coach, all moves aimed at giving the roster a little more depth before the next season arrives.
The secondary is still the clearest place where those decisions could pay off, especially with roles not fully settled yet and camp still ahead to sort out the pecking order. The backfield has a similar feel, with another running back in the mix to challenge for the RB3 job and a few uncertain futures hanging over that competition, which makes these low-key moves worth watching once the pads come on. [Read more 🡒]
Bears Made A Secondary Gamble That Could Decide Everything
The Bears spent the 2026 offseason remaking the back end of their defense, parting with Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, Nahshon Wright and C.J. Gardner-Johnson in a sweeping reset that left the secondary looking very different from the one they carried into last season. In their place, Chicago brought in Coby Bryant and rookie Dillon Thieneman, while also hoping Kyler Gordon can finally stay on the field long enough to give the unit some continuity.
Now the burden falls on Dennis Allen to stitch the group together quickly enough to matter. The good news for Chicago is that Ben Johnsons offense should help keep the defense from being asked to carry too much too soon, but the real question is whether this gamble in the secondary can hold up once the games start counting and the rotation gets tested. [Read more 🡒]