Ryan Poles gives Chris Finke a place to land with Bears

Following the activity of the last several days for the Kansas City Chiefs, there was a need to start to create some room on the offseason 90-man roster. After all, the Chiefs had just traded for Lonnie Johnson, drafted 10 rookies, and signed a few more undrafted talents to free agent deals. As we said, they needed room.

In the wake of the busy week, the Chiefs started to clear space with the release of wide receiver Chris Finke. The team had clearly been intrigued by his long-term potential as a receiver and returner and had signed him for two separate stints in 2021 and 2022, but when push came to shove, Finke had never been able to separate himself from his competitors.

The good news for Finke is that the Chicago Bears are run by a familiar face, and it’s clear that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach wasn’t the only one at Arrowhead who liked him.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has given former Chiefs wide receiver Chris Finke a place to land after his release.

On Wednesday, the Bears were announced as the team that won a waiver claim for Finke after he was cut by Kansas City. Ryan Poles, the Bears new GM, knows a thing or two about Finke already and hopes the former Notre Dame receiver known as the “slippery fox” can provide some competition and depth on offense and special teams.

It’s very likely that Finke was already on the Bears’ radar over time given their proximity to South Bend, Ind., where Finke played his college career, but Poles made the connection official this week. Now Poles has given Finke a chance to join former Chiefs wide receiver Byron Pringle in the Windy City as part of a remade offense around Justin Fields, but if he can’t make a dent there, he should also add some competition for Dazz Newsome and Khalil Herbert as returners (although the drafting of Velus Jones might impact this as well).