General manager Ryan Poles spoke with Jeff Joniak Sunday on the Bears pregame radio show on ESPN 1000 AM and 100.3 HD2 FM.
Poles spoke about the 4-year extension kicker Cairo Santos signed on Dec. 23 ahead of the Bears' Christmas Eve win against the Cardinals. He expressed his excitement in keeping the 10-year pro.
"He's just a pro's pro," Poles said. "Dependable, consistent — those are the things you look for in your kicker. I shot him a text and said, 'I heard you accepted my Christmas gift.' And he said he's gonna tell his kids that I'm Santa Claus. So that made me happy. Really wanted to get it done around the holidays too. We started our career together in Kansas City so it's kinda cool to be the one to help get him an extension this year."
With just two regular-season games left in Poles' second season as the Bears' general manager, he's looking for the team to continue ascending and carry momentum into 2024.
"I'll go back to what I've mentioned the last few weeks, it's the finish. You want to finish this season on a high note. We only can control what we can control in terms of playoffs, but we're gonna take it one game at a time and play really good football and look to win games down the stretch here. So if we have the opportunity to get in we'll be hot and if not, we're gonna ride this momentum into the following season and get ready to do special things around here."
Listen to the full interview below.
