Ryan Poles, Bears Reportedly Agree to Contract Extension Through 2029 NFL Season

The Chicago Bears are reportedly creating more franchise alignment and have agreed to a new five-year contract extension with general manager Ryan Poles.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Poles signed an extension that runs through the 2029 season.

His new deal aligns with Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who is also signed through 2029.

There were questions about Poles' job security near the end of the 2024 season, especially since the Bears were about to embark on a search for their next head coach. Yet he was a central piece of Chicago's decision-making process that brought in Johnson and is now more aligned than ever with the new coach following this deal.

On Feb. 3, ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported "Poles' deal runs through the 2026 season, and the expectation is he will receive an extension to align him with Johnson, who signed a five-year contract with Chicago, a term that is common for first-time head coaches."

Cronin also reported "Johnson never requested a change at general manager" as part of his agreement with the Bears.

"I truly believe in the character and integrity of this man," Johnson previously said of Poles, per Cronin. "... We are going to be locked at the hip and connected every step of the way with all the decisions that are made."

Chicago surely hopes this goes better than the last time when it hired head coach Matt Eberflus just two days after hiring Poles in January 2022.

Eberflus went 14-32 across three seasons before he was fired after 12 games in 2024. He became the first head coach in franchise history to be fired during an ongoing season, but it was a necessary change after struggles with clock management and late-game execution.

The Johnson hiring comes with plenty of reasons for optimism, as he helped lead the Detroit Lions to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator. They reached the NFC Championship during the 2023 campaign and finished with the NFC's best record at 15-2 in 2024 in large part because of his innovative offense.

And Poles has given him plenty of offensive firepower to work with in Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet, among others.

Fixing the offensive line was a major priority before the 2025 season, and Poles' ability to do so figured to go a long way toward determining how successful he is with this new contract. After all, he will be under no shortage of pressure after the Bears went 15-36 during his first three seasons as general manager.

He wasted no time getting started on that offensive line by adding Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson to bolster the group in front of Williams as the quarterback looks to make a leap in his second season.

Poles now has his new head coach, a franchise quarterback, a revamped offensive line and a new contract.

Now it is time to win in Chicago.