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Ryan Poles is keeping some pretty impressive company these days.
The Chicago Bears general manager has been hanging with New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, Marly Rivera of ESPN reported on May 12.
The Yankees came to Chicago for a four-game series against the White Sox from May 12-15, but Cashman also took the time to meet with Chicago’s first-year GM.
“Yankees GM Brian Cashman is actually in Chicago not only for the White Sox series, but also because he spent time with the new general manager of the Chicago Bears, 36-year-old Ryan Poles,” Rivera noted.
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Poles Made Friends With Yankees Brass Before Becoming Bears’ GM
Cashman took over as senior vice president and general manager of the Yankees in 1998 and became the second-youngest GM in major league history a few months shy of his 31st birthday. Since he took over as general manager, the Yanks have won six American League championships and four World Series titles — and he’s set to become the longest-tenured GM in Yankees history after the 2022 season.
Poles isn’t the youngest general manager in the NFL, but the first-time GM could still learn a great deal from the likes of Cashman.
NFL insider Peter King reported in March 2022 that Poles had met with some significant figures in the Yankees organization back when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, so it sounds as though he and Cashman have met before.
“I believe what you’re going to see with Ryan Poles is a little bit of a new way of thinking,” King told Mike Florio on the March 11 episode of Pro Football Talk.
“He wasn’t a general manager at the time, he was in the Chiefs’ front office, he went to New York and he made a friend atop the New York Yankees,” King said, adding: “He wanted to see how a storied franchise like the Yankees handles personnel, handles its salary structure, everything like that.”
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Poles Has Also Worked With Several Impressive NFL Minds
Poles has also worked under several respected NFL minds, including former Chiefs general managers Scott Pioli and John Dorsey, along with K.C.’s current GM, Brett Veach.
“I never feel rattled,” Poles told The Athletic in April. “I just adjust and adapt. I try not to get overly emotional about things, and I think that’s important in this job. Some of the leaders that I’ve seen and grown up with, that’s how they operated, and it allows you to be disciplined and not do crazy things under pressure. It allows you to pivot when you get hit with something unexpected.”
“I know Chicago’s been through one of those deals where it’s a real quick burst of wins and then it goes back to average or below average, and that’s not acceptable,” Poles added. “What’s acceptable is sustaining success over a long period of time.”
Time will tell whether he’s able to build a team capable of that type of success.
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