The Chicago Bears organization made a significant move on July 11, extending general manager Ryan Poles with a three-year contract extension after he had just two years remaining. This move aligned Poles with first-year head coach Ben Johnson through the 2029 season.

In Poles’ first three years as the Bears’ general manager, the team has finished last in the NFC North in each of those seasons and has a 15-36 record. But Poles has revamped the roster he initially inherited in 2022, and has used the No. 1 overall picks in back-to-back seasons to provide this Bears team with key building blocks. This past offseason, Poles landed Johnson to bring in a new era of Bears football.

Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren has nothing but appreciation for Poles and believes he was deserving on the contract extension.

[WATCH: Watch Kevin Warren and George McCaskey’s press conference]

“We made it very clear how we feel about Ryan,” Warren said. “He is a world-class leader. He’s talented. He’s hard-working. He has a transformative thought process, which is critically important. I’m thankful to the support of George McCaskey and the entire ownership group to be able to allow us to work that out with Ryan.

“And now to see the relationship that Ryan and Coach Johnson have built allows us to have a chance to build a really good football team and a football program with two young leaders. I’m grateful that Ryan is here as our general manager.”

Chairman George McCaskey echoed those words and expressed excitement about the potential that Poles and Johnson have in Chicago. One of the reasons for that excitement is how Johnson conducts practice. He’s intense and demands attention to detail from everyone on the roster.

“As Kevin said, you can see the respect that the players have for him,” McCaskey said. “They know he knows ball, and they know that he can make them better.”

This past week, the Bears have elevated the intensity in practice, starting with Tuesday’s session that included many live tackling periods. Three days later, the Bears hosted the Miami Dolphins at Halas Hall for a joint practice. The Dolphins failed to match the energy and physicality from the Bears’ defense, which was the most consistent and dominant unit of the day.

“Coach Johnson is everything we had hoped for, everything we had planned for and then some,” Warren said. “His leadership, his work ethic, his positivity but being realistic. His capabilities and he’s an excellent planner, speaker, he’s diligent, he has a creative mind as you’ve seen from practice. And one of the greatest attributes is that he epitomizes what the Chicago Bears stand for. Just toughness and grit and attention to detail to carry forth the legacy that George Halas started and has carried through the McCaskey family.

“I mean, these practices are intense. That’s one thing you’ve noticed – that intensity level. And when you’re able to have intense practices at this time in training camp, what it says is that the players respect the coaches and especially the head coach. So Coach Johnson has done an excellent job. And also, I’m pleased to see the working relationship that has occurred between Coach Johnson and Ryan Poles. I know that is something that has been positive for everyone in the organization.”

At this point in the NFL calendar, it’s expected that there are positives vibes throughout Halas Hall. However, there is plenty of work to be done for Poles and Johnson.

Poles has given Johnson as roster he can compete with in Year 1. Now it will be up to Johnson and his staff to maximize each player’s potential.

“Everyone is very hopeful; everyone is very excited,” McCaskey said. “Talking to the fans coming into practices, we’re in the honeymoon period. We’re undefeated, so I think people are very excited that we got the guy (Johnson) that they wanted us to get, but now we need to take care of business.”