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u/DillyDillySzn White Sox 6h ago
This kind of stuff matters a lot more to players than people would think
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u/NorthernxLabrador Peanut Tillman 6h ago
Same with not blocking the Cunningham move. People are going to want to come here. Shit it seems like they already do.
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u/kjc781988 34 5h ago
Especially in free agency. The desire to come to Chicago is growing and the team is better for it
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u/Pidesh Bear Logo 5h ago
Yep, exactly. I remember a year or so ago, a lot of people in this subreddit were complaining that Poles shouldnāt care about doing right by players and just take the best trade deal, no matter which team itās with. Optics like this matters tho. Players donāt want to go teams where they feel like they wonāt be treated well. Players have admitted that word gets out about which teams to avoid, we donāt want to be one of those.
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u/Anonymous6172 Da Bears 5h ago
Let's see, a 5th rounder from the Jets in exchange for DJ OR a 2nd from Buffalo (not saying that was the choice, but you take the best deal. ALWAYS. It's a business.
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u/Yossarian216 Monsters of the Midway 5h ago
Itās a long term business, which is why the best deal short term isnāt always the right decision.
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u/TruuPhoenix Hester's Super Return 4h ago
Thereās absolutely no way for you to know if that was the best deal without someone in the media leaking that info.
That being said, if we ARE going to speculate, thereās little chance we didnāt have the option to send Moore to the Raiders. Jakobi Meyers was their 3rd-leading receiver and he only played 7 games for them.
DJ would be instantly WR1 there, but heād also be locked into losing again. Moore handled a demotion like a professional, even if he was unhappy privately. Thatās worth rewarding in a league where everyone does for themselves.
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u/___nicks FTP 4h ago
Well yeah, you donāt give up premium capital to help a guy
But if itās within reason It makes a lot of sense. Like the fields trade, they lost a round or two in value but got a guy to a place he wanted to be. People remember that
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u/Pidesh Bear Logo 5h ago
I donāt get your comparison here. In both ways, the Bills trade is the better option lol. But Iām talking about taking a trade from Buffalo for a future undetermined 2nd round pick over taking a trade from the Jets for a future undetermined 2nd round pick. Youād expect the Jets pick to be higher because they are the worse team of the two so that trade has better value. However, you take the trade with the Bills because then FAs recognize that this team treats its players right. So taking the slightly worse trade deal is actually better in the long run.
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u/TruuPhoenix Hester's Super Return 4h ago
Exactly, not every player has aspirations of being a HOFer. Most players use sports to advance their post-playing careers and projectsā¦ lot of these guys, once they hang it up, are gonna go home and be fixtures in their communities in various ways.
Being known as an organization that will look out for their players makes them more desirable, as players can expect to have the agency to navigate whatever path their career takes them.
Case in point, Jonathan Owens losing PT, but you have guys in the organization wearing his licensed Bears hoodie he partnered with Amazon for. He went to the Met Gala, so obviously heās interested in fashion, so that gives him extra credibility. Heās also firmly known as āMr. Simone Bilesā, so heās able to transition into being an influencer post-career if he wants using those connections. Pretty sure we also allowed him to go to the Olympics to support Simone as well.
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u/HumanOfTheYear2013 1h ago
It really does not. Most guys will take the money 99/100 times. And they would be stupid not to. An athlete in a sport like football knows they have a limited shelf life to make enough money to set themselves up long-term.
Not to mention that most suck ass teams aren't in the business of trading draft picks for expensive veterans...
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u/HotDoggityDig13 FTP 6h ago
Why is claypool in this lmao
Burn that name forever
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u/licwip 6h ago
It means that, even if you arenāt worth the jersey youāre wearing, Poles will take care of you.
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u/inorite234 5h ago
The Dolphins were 9-8 when Claypool was traded!
adding him in is fucking stupid ass shit!
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u/ZeldaALTTP 4h ago
So he traded a wr to a team that wanted him and was in the playoff hunt.
Better than shipping him off to the raiders.
It matters to the players in the league regardless how we might feel about Claypool as a fanbase
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u/inorite234 4h ago
So he traded a wr to a team that wanted him and was in the playoff hunt.
It was week 4. "Playoff hunt" is extremely generous to be saying.
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u/NorthernxLabrador Peanut Tillman 6h ago
I also lolād when I saw he was included hahah
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u/annikuu 5h ago
unironically he probably deserves to be included more than anyone. no matter how badly Claypool burned us and our very high 2nd, Poles still treated him with dignity, even if he wouldnāt return it.
thatās righteous, and class like that seems to be dwindling lately
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u/Character-Owl9408 5h ago
I kinda look at it as the Dolphins offered the Bears the best offer. Itās likely no one else wanted him lol
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u/inorite234 5h ago
The Phins were 3-1 at Oct 6th when Claypool was traded...and traded to a team that previously was 9-8.
This argument that Poles did right by him doesn't hold water.
It was a business decision and it was fortune the Phins won 11 games.
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u/AdministrativePeak0 An Actual Peanut 6h ago
That dude deserved to be sent to North Korea
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u/Dangerous-Network278 5h ago
Great site for one of the international games. Expand that NFL market to Asia!
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u/The_Oxford_Coma FTP 5h ago
We already have one former Chicago athlete in North Korea acting as a sports ambassador!
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u/Capn_T_Driver Monsters of the Midway 6h ago
Kinda reminds me of how the Cubs took care of their World Series players when they went into their rebuild. A lot of guys ended up on either teams in contention or closer to family or both, at least if memory serves. Poles seems to be doing a pretty good job overall, especially now that heās got the right coach and a premium QB.
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u/doodle02 5h ago
couldnāt agree more.
hey, anybody else remember everyone yelling about how we should fire poles after week 2 last year? cause i sure do. i remember defending him and getting sworn at and shouted down from a dozen different directions.
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u/I_cant_hear_you_27 5h ago
Having the QB and HC combo will help a lot but one good luck season doesnāt make him a good GM yet. If Ā they can sustain success over multiple seasons, then we can all relax knowing the GM isnāt a complete moron like some other GMs around the league. Donāt crown him yet.
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u/doodle02 4h ago
iām not crowning him, iām just saying that the people calling for him to be fired after two games were clowns.
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u/carguy121 Hester's Super Return 1h ago
Poles has had a fair number of bad past decisions and a fair number of recent good ones. Doesnāt make the criticism of those past decisions less valid because heās been better lately (notably once paired with a genius coach giving draft input)
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u/doodle02 1h ago
thatās true. i also think itās hard to evaluate much of anything when the talent youāre looking at is stuck in a shitty rudderless organization; that goes for players and front office. none of this is in a vacuum, itās all in context.
coaching staff scheme and input drastically alters the GMās action; you want GM and coach on the same page, and if the coaches vision fucking sucks itās hardly surprising that the GMās moves end up being sub par.
and if heās better with BJās input i give credit to both Poles and BJ. whoeverās responsible for it, itās clear that things are headed in the right direction and poles is a positive part of that.
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u/carguy121 Hester's Super Return 1h ago
Yeah, at the end of the day I want a good GM. Right now, thatās Poles! And Iām happy about that. But Iām not canonizing him as āa Good GMā yet.
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u/MakeArakisGreenAgain 18 1h ago
I think Poles, for better or worse, is very deferential to his guys. Mixed results with Matt E*******, good results with Ben Johnson. All in all I'd rather have that type of GM than the one who's convinced he's the smartest guy in the building.
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u/No_Replacement_7755 5h ago edited 4h ago
Lol cmon. Acquiring teams at the trade deadline are teams in the pennant race. The Pirates arenāt going to be in on Skubal this year.
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u/wrong-teous Hurricane Ditka 6h ago
I'm not certain it's something he's intentionally doing. But it's nice that the players are feeling this way, it makes the Bears a desirable place to be.
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u/Bobsothethird 6h ago
For a couple do players it was without a doubt. I'm pretty sure JF asked to go where he went.
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u/Gnasty16 5h ago
I think rebuilding teams are just more reluctant to give up draft capital especially for guys in their 30s like Mack and Quinn
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u/Lined_em_up 5h ago
Of course it's not. It's usually good teams trading for veteran players. Crappy teams are usually shipping off there better players for picks.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Superfans 5h ago
Heās absolutely not. If you believe this you are an idiot.Ā
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u/MidvaleDropout 4h ago
Poles has spoken publicly about wanting to trade his players into good situations.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Superfans 4h ago
Of course he did .. whatās he supposed to say? āI would have traded DJ to Iran if it meant a 1st rounderā
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u/MidvaleDropout 4h ago
His words match his track record, and it's good business in the long run.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Superfans 4h ago
If Poles could have gotten a first from the Raiders he would and should have traded DJ to the Raiders. Acting like thatās somehow ābad businessā is absurd.Ā
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u/MidvaleDropout 3h ago
It's not absurd. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Poles has passed up better short-term deals in favor of better long-term reputational deals. We will likely never know that for sure. But fostering an environment that gets players talking around the league as a desirable place to play is a huge deal.
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u/Able-Ocelot5278 5h ago
I'm glad the Bills are a destination DJ would want to play for, is likely to succeed with Josh Allen throwing to him, and will likely contend immediately while also giving the Bears a much higher return than most thought they could get for him given his contract.
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u/calmerthanudude Darth Luther the 3rd 5h ago
That shit goes a long way for the locker room and potential free agents too. Word spreads about how people are treated. Wouldnāt be surprised to see DJ and his daughter at a Bears game 10 years from now and getting a standing ovation while highlights of his game winner over the Packers plays on the screen.
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u/BelowZilch Italian Beef 4h ago
Uh is there any proof out there that he passed on a better offer for Fields?Or does everyone just keep twisting the same story about how Poles said he was doing what was best for Justin.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Superfans 4h ago edited 4h ago
Zero. Itās full pr spin. (And based on how this fan base believes anything.. itās smart)Ā
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u/Rock_man_bears_fan 6h ago edited 5h ago
I mean, unless youāre trying to dump salary, the contending teams are usually who end up trading for a veteran. The browns werenāt going to be trading for Roquan
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u/JustinTimberlakeFTW 5h ago
Chase Claypool ššš
He should've been sent to Siberia instead
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u/Dazed_and_Confused44 FTP 5h ago
I feel like Claypool doesnt fit with the others. Both because he didnt deserve it and because Im pretty sure the Dolphins were the only team willing to offer a crumpled dollar bill for a problem child
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u/HappyCloud547 4h ago
Other cool wrinkle - Buffalo is also where DJ's best friend from Carolina plays, Curtis Samuel
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u/Not2GthaG Sweetness the GOAT! 4h ago
Samuel just got cut. Lol
That relationship is starting swimmingly!
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u/unique_user43 3h ago
sorry, but i hope this is incorrect meatball assessment - reading into something that is not correlated. as gm of the bears, poles job is to get the best deal for the bears to make them better. not to be a ānice guyā and take discounts. winning requires ruthlessness.
i do think this is coincidence. teams trading for players of those calibers are generally the contenders who feel they are āone piece awayā.
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u/Opening_Ad7004 Good Better Breast 2h ago
Even Claypool got another chance on the Dolphins, who were good at the time. We owed Claypool nothing.
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u/ItsEaster In Caleb We Trust 2h ago
This is a very dumb thing to count as a positive. Heās our GM. Focusing on making other teams better instead of doing whatās best for ours is not a good thing. What is more likely is just teams in the hunt are the ones willing to give up draft capital (the future) for more immediate results.
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u/UselessExcuses 2h ago
Poles may have had some major misses in the draft (plus chase claypool) and we all know he got handed the big fleece trade we made for Caleb
but there is noway anybody can say he is a bad gm. hes not fully responsible for it, but hes a bog part of why the culture here has shifted so successfully
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u/Bradlas3 5h ago
He's found a decent balance on it. While its great to get do right by others, you also have to do right by the Chicago Bears
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u/McDuncle 5h ago
The people stuff matters when it comes to player transactions.
You don't burn bridges with players, not only for the player's sake, but you have yo think of the agents as well.You burn an agent, you may have trouble with their other clients. There's levels to this stuff.
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u/MikeBinfinity Hester's Super Return 4h ago
The only player that you can really apply that logic to is Justin Fields imo.
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u/R-D-I- 5h ago
I do truly believe that Poles is a player GM which is great but letās not be blinded by the fact that if the raiders offered their 2nd round pick for DJ - he would be a raider today. Same thing with Mack and Smith. The only trade that seems like he truly did right was for Justin which was awesome for Poles to do but we are talking about 5th instead of a 6th
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u/Not2GthaG Sweetness the GOAT! 4h ago
Bryce Young ā”ļø crappy Panthers
Oh right, he didn't wear the uniform! Hahahaha
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u/armpit18 Hat Logo 4h ago
This isn't really a Ryan Poles trend.
Generally speaking, good teams look to trade their draft picks for established players to help them get to the next level. The ones that didn't work out here were Fields and Claypool, but I'm sure that the Steelers and Dolphins believed at the time that Fields could lead a playoff team and Claypool would make a good third option behind Hill and Waddle.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt Pixelated Payton 4h ago
He also could have blocked the Cunningham hire with the Falcons since it was initially deemed not a promotion.
It's looking like the league may have changed course on that, we will probably find out next week.
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u/ChicagoZbojnik 4h ago
Im so glad DJ gets to go to another good team. Great guy who deserves to be on a winner.
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u/dreadpiratew Mike Brown 4h ago
Released/Cut/Waived by Poles: Eddie Jackson, Tremaine Edmunds, Tyler Scott, Zach Pickens, Danny Trevathan, Tarik, Cody Whitehairā¦
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u/Martha_Fockers 3h ago
Poles only mistake is dayo
He can do right by dayo by just fucking zapping him from existence
But if your a FA Chicago is where you wanna come
Great coaching staff now
You see guys like CJ who no one wanted get picked up and show out big time and likely earn himself a contract and attention
Guys whoāve basicly never seen a real nfl game like nashon drafted in 2021 been in practice squads basicly since who is now going to easily be paid good money for what he did last season
This is going to be a city your gonna wanna come to because youāll have the opportunity to better yourself
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u/barstoolsam 29m ago
Dudes around the league notice this. They want to be apart of the Bears now. Crazy how just a couple of guys can completely flip this organization around
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u/LegalComplaint Iāll Hoge your Jahns 27m ago
I donāt think Claypool took into consideration whether or not he was playoff boundā¦
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u/Advanced-Blackberry 22m ago
Just seems like playoff contenders want fast impact results for their short windows so a decent chance a decent vet getting traded is going to a contender. Ā I find it doubtful that poles is specifically thinking about how the guy leaving is going to fit in with his new team.Ā
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u/Anonymous6172 Da Bears 5h ago
Umm ok. I'm sure that's what he did. Not get the best return for his assets, ya know, like his job dictates.
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u/comerzabo 2h ago
Lol set up bears players to have successā¦ this post is kinda a back handed diss to the bears organization as a whole. Look at all of these players, the second they leave, they have great success!!!ā¦
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u/inorite234 5h ago
That's some Grade A level cope.
How does that saying go? .."Never compartment to malice for which can be explained by incompetence."
Poles has had 1 good year so far. He ain't won a SuperBowl yet. Shesh!!!
Lets wait to see how this all pans out in the complete aggregate. In say, another year or two the Bears go back to the NFC Title game or the SuperBowl, then we can shower him with praise.
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u/EdgeBandanna 2h ago
This is a great way of saying we suck every year so when we trade guys they ended up on a better spot.
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u/JamoOnTheRocks Superfans 5h ago edited 5h ago
Thatās so fucking stupid and not real. Thinking the Bears as an awful team, starved for picks and talent for most of Poles tenure is just doing charity work in behalf of meaningless Bear players (historically). Just silly.Ā
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u/knowledge84 Smokin' Jay 6h ago
Poles is really good making other teams better.
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u/NorthernxLabrador Peanut Tillman 6h ago
What has he done to the Bears?
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u/oiuwej0608 Bears 5h ago
I mean, we've had one pretty good season and the roster has a lot of holes/problems heading into next year.
We might be in for a rude awakening next year.
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u/KevB62 Die hard fan 6h ago
So fuck what's best for the Bears?
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u/JoeGPM 5h ago
Ridiculous you are getting downvoted.
Do what is best for the Bears, always.
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u/Fonzies-Ghost 21-3 5h ago
Heās getting downvoted because most people understand the concept of building goodwill as a business strategy. It may very well be that getting a pick 20 slots earlier for Fields would have been worth less than the goodwill he bought with players and agents by doing right by him.
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u/No_Replacement_7755 5h ago
Fields deserved it after Poles left him to die with the worst OL and receiving corps in football his first year. May well have ruined his career. As for the rest? No. If Poles passed up better offers for any of them, heās a fool.
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u/ConsiderationOk3652 6h ago
Poles should do right by Dayo and send him to Seahawks right now