Ryan Poles has been active enough in late October and early November that as long as he remains the Chicago Bears general manager, questions will come annually.
Will the Bears be active at the trade deadline?
‘Tis the season, and it was even a question a veteran player posed during the week at Halas Hall.
“Think we make a move?” he asked.
Poles traded Robert Quinn in 2022, a year after the defensive end had 18½ sacks, getting a fourth-round pick from the Philadelphia Eagles for an aging veteran who didn’t fit into rebuilding plans. Five days later, he shipped out linebacker Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens for second- and fifth-round picks and followed that up by sending a second-round selection to the Pittsburgh Steelers for wide receiver Chase Claypool.
That was all in Poles’ first season and, of course, he didn’t let the sting of the Claypool deal deter him when he sent a second-round pick to Washington for defensive end Montez Sweat at the deadline in 2023.
Poles has been an aggressive dealmaker at other times during the year, but it’s his in-season moves involving name players that will make the Bears fodder for rumors around the trade deadline, which comes at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Intuition says the Bears, 4-3 as they prepare to face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday at Paycor Stadium, will be observers this time around.
If there’s a move, it will probably would not be one that has your cellphone buzzing with alerts. It might look more like the one Poles made at the deadline a year ago when he sent running back Khalil Herbert to the Bengals for a seventh-round pick that turned into running back Kyle Monangai.
In the first season for coach Ben Johnson, this isn’t the time for the Bears to bundle future assets for what might amount to a role player. It’s unlikely there’s an edge rusher who can solve the team’s pass-rush dilemma, certainly not one available at a price the team is willing to meet. Franchise left tackles are not traded. With the linemen and backs finally syncing up, there’s no longer clamoring for the Bears to trade for a running back, and it’s not as if a bell-cow option is available.
Texans safety CJ. Gardner-Johnson (8) leaps over Jaguars running back Travis Etienne after an incomplete pass on Sept. 21, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)
The Bears were down their top three cornerbacks last week, but Tyrique Stevenson (shoulder) returned to practice, and the belief is Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon will be back later this season. Plus, Poles made an interesting move Wednesday, signing veteran defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson off the street, making the Bears his fourth team this calendar year.
Push back on the notion this isn’t the season for Poles to be aggressive if you like. The Bears have a winning record, and if they play well, it’s easy to envision them in the hunt for a wild-card bid in December. They were 2-6 and going nowhere fast in 2023 when they acquired Sweat. In retrospect, an element of that move had job preservation written on it — the team was 5-20 under Poles and coach Matt Eberflus at the time of the trade.
There’s constant pressure to win in the NFL, but Poles received a contract extension over the offseason to pair him up with Ben Johnson in Year 1, and this season is all about determining how the players the Bears have fit into the plan moving forward. That and the development of quarterback Caleb Williams are the most important elements to this season. Whatever success the franchise achieves along the way is a nice bonus.
Players — like fans — have at least a little curiosity if anything is happening on the second floor at Halas Hall, where the football administration offices are.
“You see rumors and you never really know where they come from,” said safety Kevin Byard, who was traded from the Tennessee Titans to the Eagles in the middle of the 2023 season. “Whether it’s from an agent, somebody upstairs, anywhere. It’s like fantasy football with, ‘Hey, we possibly could bring in a guy.’ You can’t get too caught up in it because you don’t know what’s smoke and mirrors.”
The Bears have a host of needs for 2026 that will come into greater focus as this season plays out, and it’s unlikely and/or cost prohibitive that they would be able to fill one via a trade at the deadline. Poles would be best off maintaining his collection of draft picks. Hitting on those picks next spring is a topic for another day. Perhaps the Bears could be a seller, but it’s unknown if they have any spare parts who would be attractive.
It could be the addition of Gardner-Johnson is the only significant move around the deadline, and it’s interesting when considering the baggage — it’s checked luggage, not a carry-on — he’s toting. He signed a three-year, $27 million contract with the Eagles in March 2024 and won a Super Bowl with them last season when he had six interceptions playing safety.
Ravens safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson participates during practice on Oct. 8, 2025. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)
Gardner-Johnson was traded to the Houston Texans in March, was critical of Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on social media over the summer and was cut by the Texans after three games even though they restructured his contract and gave him a $6.6 million signing bonus he took with him. The Ravens signed him to their practice squad Oct. 7 and released him a week later.
Credit to Gardner-Johnson, or whomever he trusts advising him, for having some self-awareness.
“I just want to take a moment to thank all the teams I’ve been a part of coaches, teammates, and everyone who’s supported me along the way,” he wrote on X after exiting Baltimore. “Every experience has helped me grow both on and off the field. I’m truly grateful for all the opportunities and memories. Football has always been a big part of who I am, and my passion for the game is still strong. I’m excited to keep working, improving, and continuing to play the sport I love.”
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It’s a low-risk move for the Bears. and they’re relying on the fact Gardner-Johnson had a short stint in Detroit when Johnson was the offensive coordinator and most importantly, they’re leaning into Dennis Allen’s history with the player. Gardner-Johnson was primarily a slot cornerback for the New Orleans Saints for three seasons playing under Allen, which is where the Bears have a need with Gordon on injured reserve for at least three more games.
“We’ve got a very strong locker room,” Johnson said when asked about whether Gardner-Johnson might negatively affect that ecosystem. “We’ve got a positive veteran influence in there. I feel very strongly about that group, and nothing is more important than our locker to be clear with you. That’s certainly first and foremost of any decision we make of who we bring in or who we let go. And so, I think we’re all aware of how important that is and the fit that he has with this locker room.”
A veteran defensive coordinator with another team was skeptical Gardner-Johnson can function as a nickel cornerback at this point, but what matters is Allen believes he can squeeze some productivity out of the player who in his career against the Bears is best remembered for drawing unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties against wide receivers Javon Wims and Anthony Miller in 2020.
The Bears even had a team meeting before the rematch — a wild-card playoff game in New Orleans — to emphasize that under no circumstances were they to allow Gardner-Johnson to provoke them. Then, Miller hauled off and punched Gardner-Johnson in the game and was ejected.
He’s that much of a pain in the, well, you know where. The Bears are taking a calculated bet he’s not a pain in theirs anymore, and Gardner-Johnson might be the biggest help the team adds around the deadline.
But never count out the possibility that Poles will strike. He has done it multiple times.
Scouting report
Bengals running back Chase Brown carries the ball against the Jets on Oct. 26, 2025, in Cincinnati. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Chase Brown, Bengals running back
Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Brown, 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, is in his third season in the league after the Bengals selected him in the fifth round in 2023 out of Illinois. He took over as their primary running back during the middle of last season and had six games with more than 100 combined rushing and receiving yards.
Brown had a season-high 108 yards in a Week 7 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers and enters the game with 383 yards and a per-carry average of 3.9 as the running game really struggled in the immediate aftermath of Joe Burrow’s injury. It has come back to life in the last two weeks with Joe Flacco replacing Jake Browning at quarterback.
“He went in the fifth round because he’s not a home run hitter,” the scout said. “He’s more of a grinder. He’s got a compact frame and runs with really good pad level. He has excellent short-area speed and lateral foot quickness. He’s the kind of guy that can drop his pads and push the pile because of his lower-body strength and the pad level he plays with. But he also can make people miss in tight quarters. That’s one of his best traits. He can shake a linebacker at the point of attack and get extra yards.
“He’s a very capable pass catcher and he plays in an offense that is sporadic featuring the run game. He can be a closer in the fourth quarter but he’s not a dynamic runner and he doesn’t have dynamic traits. If you are going to comp him to someone in the league, Kyren Williams. Kyren is a little more rugged between the tackles, but they play a similar role where they can catch the ball out of the backfield and they’re volume runners.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/31/chicago-bears-ryan-poles-trade-deadline/
