{"id":464085,"date":"2026-02-12T11:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464085\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:29:08","slug":"adam-schefters-latest-2026-warning-could-be-exactly-what-ryan-poles-wants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464085\/","title":{"rendered":"Adam Schefter\u2019s Latest 2026 Warning Could Be Exactly What Ryan Poles Wants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bears<\/a> are preparing for an important offseason. They\u2019ve finally cracked the postseason for the first time in years. Now comes the hard part: maintaining their grip on the division and making a run at the Super Bowl. To do that, they must try to keep the roster they have intact as much as possible while also adding to it. The issue is they\u2019ll have to do it with limited salary cap space and draft picks sitting in the back end of every round. Unfortunately, there is also another problem for Bears general manager Ryan Poles to tackle.<\/p>\n

ESPN insider Adam Schefter recently revealed some telling information on his podcast. From what he\u2019s hearing, the opinions of both the free agent and draft classes for the upcoming offseason inside the NFL are lukewarm at best. He believes this will result in teams being more aggressive on the trade market than in other years. This could play into the Bears\u2019 hands. Poles has shown a particular knack for wheeling and dealing since he took over the Bears in 2022.<\/p>\n

Ryan Poles isn\u2019t afraid to churn the roster via trades before the draft.<\/p>\n

Since taking over, he has conducted seven trades in March. Some of them have had a significant impact on the Bears\u2019 fortunes, often for the better. One of them took place just last year.<\/p>\n

YearTrade details2022Khalil Mack to LAC for 2nd and 6th round picks2023#1 pick to CAR for #9 pick, 2nd round pick, future 1st, future 2nd, and WR D.J. Moore20245th round pick to BUF for OG Ryan Bates20244th round pick to LAC for WR Keenan Allen2024QB Justin Fields to PIT for 6th round pick20256th round pick to LAR for OG Jonah Jackson20254th round pick to KC for OG Joe Thuney<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t uncommon for Poles to target players who may fill a specific need for his team without risking them getting to free agency. Other times, he takes advantage of teams facing salary cap problems or a lack of leadership at the top. That is how he fleeced Carolina in 2023 and then got Thuney from Kansas City. He\u2019s also not afraid to trade players if he feels it is necessary for the franchise\u2019s long-term stability.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 Subscribe to the Untold Chicago YouTube channel<\/a> to hear Chicago legends tell stories you\u2019ve never seen in headlines \u2014 real moments, real experiences, straight from the athletes themselves.<\/p>\n

Chicago has a few names on the payroll that they may consider shipping elsewhere due to cap issues of their own. D.J. Moore, Cole Kmet, Tremaine Edmunds, and De\u2019Andre Swift stand out as possibilities. Then there is the possibility of plugging a need with a player from another team. Here, it becomes about who is or isn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n

The Bears could have some intriguing options at the right price.<\/p>\n

Players are often traded for specific reasons. Some become too expensive to keep due to cap constraints (Thuney). Others were supplanted on the depth chart by someone else (Jackson). Then there are some who just want out because of a toxic situation. Ryan Poles\u2019 job is to find players who meet those criteria and make the necessary calls to see if they\u2019re available. An initial look at the current landscape indicates a few interesting names.<\/p>\n

Need positionNameWhy available?Edge rusherKayvon ThibodeauxContract coming up and Giants may not wish to payLeft tackleWalker LittleBenched for Cole Van LanenDefensive tackleKenny ClarkBecame a luxury after Cowboys trade for Quinnen WilliamsSafetyBudda BakerDoesn\u2019t want to endure another rebuildLinebackerPete WernerSnaps declined under new coaching staff in New Orleans<\/p>\n

Much of this depends on how big a risk the Bears are prepared to take. Thibodeaux only played ten games and had 2.5 sacks last season. Little gave up 50 pressures this past season, which was a considerable regression. Clark turns 31 in October. Baker has two years left on the $54 million extension he signed in December of 2024. Werner would be the cheapest, but also the least impactful. It\u2019s a tough decision for Poles to sort through, not just with them but with other options as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bears are preparing for an important offseason. They\u2019ve finally cracked the postseason for the first time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464086,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-464085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}