It’s too early to ascertain whether general manager Ryan Poles will be a hit — not only by building the Bears into a winner, but also by resonating with a restless fan base — but he’s off to a good start by keeping expectations realistic.
Unlike predecessor Ryan Pace, Poles isn’t trying to sell anyone on something he can’t deliver. Pace kept insisting the Bears were close right up until they imploded, and the empty sales pitches only made things worse. While Poles shares every other GM’s allergy to transparency, he has been reasonably honest about the scale of the rebuild he undertook.