Matt Eberflus’ influence essential as Bears GM Ryan Poles begins roster construction

INDIANAPOLIS — Bears coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles have said from the start of their partnership that they’d maintain absolute cohesion as they rebuilt the team, and that’s been evident so far.

Eberflus didn’t flinch as Poles gradually stripped his defense to hoard future draft picks and offloaded stars Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn. But they both joined the Bears knowing demolition would be the first step. Construction is about to begin, as free agency opens March 13 and the draft follows in April, and it’s vital that Poles and Eberflus are unified in their decisions.

This has long been touted as a pivotal offseason for Poles, but everything is crucial for Eberflus after starting his coaching career 3-14. New general managers get a limited time to rebuild, but new coaches get even less. Eberflus, who has taken a CEO-style approach to his job, surely sees that and is heavily involved in scouting free agents and draft prospects.

“I evaluated over 60 guys in free agency — wrote reports on every one of them — and same thing in the draft,” Eberflus said. “I want to get in there, know the players, look at their tape, study their season and then when I have conversations, be on the same page when we pick.”

On the surface, this relationship seems sturdier than the ones former general manager Ryan Pace had with coaches John Fox and Matt Nagy. The Pace-Fox dysfunction was well documented, beginning with the murky circumstances of Fox’s hiring and ending with their implosion heading into the 2017 draft. And the Bears were rudderless as the Pace-Nagy era ended.

There was concern that the Bears were repeating their mistake last year by interviewing coaches before hiring Poles rather than secure Poles first and let him run the coaching search. There’s little disputing that the latter course is more sensible, but this seems to have worked out for the Bears nonetheless.

Poles made clear the day they were jointly introduced that he chose Eberflus and has reiterated throughout the year-plus since that they’re totally aligned when it comes to roster building.

There was a trace of proof when the Bears veered from their teardown to offer defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi $40.5 million over three years. It fell through on a failed physical, but it showed Poles wouldn’t hesitate to add a player Eberflus coveted.

Now he must trust his coach’s view on four starters entering the final year of their rookie contracts. If Eberflus is sold on cornerback Jaylon Johnson, for example, Poles needs to pay up to secure him on an extension.

And if Eberflus has fully vetted pending free agents like Eagles defensive tackle Javon Hargrave or Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown, Poles should listen to him.

In the draft, that means staying high enough — no lower than No. 4 — in the first round to land a game-changer like Alabama defensive end Will Anderson or, if the Bears are comfortable with his off-field situation, Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

The Bears need almost everything, and no one has more of a handle on that than the man who had to coach this roster last season. With budget-friendly offensive linemen and wide receivers, they were the worst passing team in the pass-happy NFL. With no big acquisitions up front defensively, they had the league’s worst pass rush, too.

There’s so much uncertainty about who will actually be on the team next season that Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said they can’t do much planning yet.

“We have to wait a little bit,” Eberflus said. “Certainly [the personnel is] gonna adjust through the offseason.”

That’s because there isn’t even much of a core. The Bears are still building it. And keeping Eberflus at the center of that project is essential.