Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Bears won't get compensatory draft picks as Ian Cunningham heads to Falcons (Hour 1)

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

Marshall Harris and Mark Grote opened their show by reacting to Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham leaving Chicago to become the new Falcons general manager. After that, they discussed which free agents the Bears could pursue to bolster their pass rusher this offseason. Later, they pondered whether the Bulls should keep or move guard Ayo Dosunmu as the NBA trade deadline looms next Thursday.

This hour is being brought to you by vasectomy clinics of Chicago. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harris and Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Okay, thanks.

Bye. Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2. On 670. Can we get a little more now, please? Can you get to the, can you win two playoff games? Can you get to the Super Bowl because that Marshall Harris will be the expectation for the Chicago Bears next year. Guarantee.

I am expecting big things from you, young man. Big things! Have you ever played Super Mario Brothers? Like the original Super Mario Brothers, the game that came stock with the Nintendo Entertainment System. I played outside. A certain member. We all played outside, Brody. No, most people don't.

I have a friend. Now you sound like a boomer. Hey, Dean, you thought you'd bring the kid, huh? Yeah, we couldn't get anyone to watch him. Don't worry, he has an iPad. I'll just sit there with that dumb look on his face. I don't care if I sound like a boomer right now. Oh, goodness.

I have a very close friend of mine's child was just hurt, and he said he got hurt playing a video game, and he's on crutches. Still waiting for more details. I'm like, wait, what? Video games are too violent anyway. Video games are violent? There's 32 levels. Okay.

Four chapters in each level. There's eight worlds you go. through and there's four stages in each world. You beat the game and it sends you back to the beginning of the game. This is what the bears are doing now. They have beaten the game and they're going back to the beginning. It's a brand new season. It's going to be more difficult. You got to first

place schedule. And you understand, you've got to do it all over again with more difficult conditions. Now we're going to have to start all over again. Fire off a few text messages here in a row. The Bears didn't beat the game. Okay. The princess is in another castle. Another video game thing? That is specific to Super Mario Brothers. Okay. I was out playing

wiffle ball and shooting baskets. We were all doing that, but we also, on a rainy day, what were you doing? Mark? What were you doing? We were trying to find a gym. Try to find a gym and see if we could break in there. We have breaking news. A man named Mark Groot has broken into a gym.

And all we know is that he does not play video games. Bumer Grody. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670, The Score. Brahimi Harrison Grotie Onescore Live from the Odyssey Performance Studio today

so we can make way for FM baby. We're out of our natural habitat. We really are. Shout out to the Butte. Nice job, Tyler Butterbaugh. You are a beaut. You emphasized everything perfectly and correctly.

Now I'm just really glad. Not that it wasn't before, that we will be doing during our five on its segment, Boomer will come back. I'll even tease it. We're going to give you our best Boomer takes later on in five on it today, just to keep this old talk cooking. We got a boomer. Approprily just, you know, boomeranging back at us. Yeah. Yeah, booming away. That is exactly what is. You're going to bring your boombox? This is all just in time for our debut on FM, 104.3 FM on Monday. Boomer takes. That's right. That's right. That's what the world is waiting for. We're loaded today

with Bears talk and we've got some great guests that we just told you about that we'll continue to tell you about today. But one thing, too, that I need to update since it was in the open and I alluded to my friend whose child. We have an explanation? Well, I have the details here and I also can name names. I'm naming names. It's my guy, Dan Levy, and his son DJ. I've never seen somebody in my life so proud of the fact that his son was hurt. I'm hurt. It's all over Instagram. It's everywhere. The son of the voice. The son of the voice. I am told that he has a fractured foot and an ankle sprain.

He scored a touchdown, apparently, with a place kicker, jumped out of his seat, landed funny out four to six weeks. It's a badge of honor for my guy Levy. I don't know. Maybe this toughens him up. I'm not sure why, but he seems to be loving the toughness of his child right now. You're saying he was so excited after making a play in a video game that he jumped up, landed funny, and broke his foot. That is correct. That is why if you're going to get hurt, you might as well be outside getting yourself hurt. Much better story. That is very true.

At least he didn't get hurt, like losing the game and then in a fit of rage, you know, breaking hurt himself. At least it was. Kicking the television or something. At least it was after a good play after a touchdown. Yeah. So get better, DJ. I'm rooting for you, Dan, hang in there. But we have some interesting things cooking right here,

and that is that if you haven't heard, Ian Cunningham, the now former assistant general manager of the Chicago Bears, was named the general manager of the Atlanta Falcons after, again, four years with the Bears. It's very interesting because congratulations to Ian Cunningham. By all accounts, every interaction that I had with him before games when I was doing sidelines and just intermittently seeing him through the years at Hallis Hall. It seems like a terrific guy, a guy that likes to talk.

It sounds like he did play a big part along with Ryan Poles in terms of pushing polls and being that extra voice that he needed and not just hugging every single decision that he made. So I say congratulations to Ian Cunningham. The one thing about it, like from my perspective, again, having been a reporter out there, it felt like from the second Ian Cunningham walked into the building, they were trying to push him out of the building. And I mean that only in the best of ways, as in they thought that this man was qualified to become a real GM, which he is on this day. And that's the name of the game. But it was just weird to me that every year, did he get a job?

Did he get a job? Last year he almost had a job. Then he came back to the Bears. And it was kind of like, okay, what's going on now? You're still here and you didn't necessarily want to be here. and now he's gone. So just a way to say, kind of the way I perceived Ian Cunningham, the job that he did, which seemed good.

You never really know when it comes to that interaction with the actual GM, Ryan Poles, but he's been trying to get out of here, and he did. Not only has he been trying to get out of here, but Bears fans have been trying to get him out of here forever, because they understood that if Ian Cunningham got a job as a GM, this was their understanding, that the Bears would receive to,

third round compensatory picks, and that's what got people always wondering, is he going to get a job? Is he going to get a job? Yeah, that should be part of it. Yeah. If you haven't heard, the Bears will not receive compensative Tory picks for Ian Cunningham. And let me just read some of this. Just so people, just a couple of graphs. And in this case, I'm using my guy, Brendan Segru, does a great job with Bears Wire.

But he put it pretty succinctly and pretty well in terms of weaving through the rules and the importance of this. Beginning in 2021, the league began rewarding teams that developed minority front office and coaching candidates who received general manager and head coach promotions or the organizations with a pair of third round compensatory draft picks. Since Cunningham is a minority, the Bears normally would receive picks with him leaving for a general manager role. However, because the general manager position Cunningham is taking is not the primary football executive position, The league will not reward the bears with those compensatory picks. That's according to CBS Sports as Jonathan Jones. The league views the Falcons general manager position as the secondary football executive under Matt Ryan,

who was hired earlier in January, if you remember, as the team's president of football operations. This isn't something the team can appeal to the league, according to reports, as well. feels like it's all for not. If you are strictly from a fan's lens, and maybe from a bear's lens to a certain degree, expecting to get compensation because the title changes from assistant general manager to general manager,

obviously he got a raise to go there, and it's a promotion. Like any way you want to chop it up, this man has elevated his status in the football world. But because Matt Ryan is the team's president of football operations, that's not how they're going to, the NFL sees it. He's second in command football-wise in Chicago, and now he's second-in-command football-wise in Atlanta, despite what the Falcons themselves would tell you.

Who's this tall drink of Sun-Tee? That is Jim Halpert. He is the co-regional manager of this office. I thought this guy was the manager. Oh, he is. He's the co-manager. That's the other co-manager. Two guys doing one job? We've got to do something about that. That's hilarious. Yes, let's go through the haggling over that. So is this... Okay. Does Atlanta know what they're doing?

I mean, did they understand the technicality of it? Or are they looking at it as like we're going to do, we're going to manipulate this just a little bit? Do you think that they're playing in foul? Well, it's not Atlanta. It's the NFL. Atlanta's not giving up any picks. This is compensatory.

These are picks that are created out of thin air for the teams that go by the rule and get their guys who are minorities, guys or women, promoted elsewhere. And that's where I think the confusion lies for a lot of people. But I understand it. I don't like it. But I understand what the NFL is saying here. That doesn't mean you have to like it.

I do not like it. I feel like the Bears, and if they wanted to, they could have blocked this move. I think that's bad, though. That's short-sighted. You want to have a guy who people want to work with. You want to have a boss who you believe has your best interest. Have you ever managed people in any job, whether, you know, fast food? I don't know what jobs you did before you got into radio.

Very little. Very little. I've managed people. And my whole thing is, and I learned this from other leaders who have managed me, is you always want to see people that you manage go on to do bigger and better, because that is a reflection on you as a manager. And I think for Ryan Poles, this is certainly a reflection on not only himself, but just understand. He has a relationship with Ian Cunningham that predates, you know, him being hired as assistant general manager.

of the Chicago Bears. And for your friends, you want them to see, you want to see them go on and do bigger and better. Right. Right. It does make for a complicated situation for sure and letter of the law is being followed. We have Matt Ryan, right?

I can't get into the Google Doc here, but let's listen. We do. Okay. Let's listen to what? The president of football operations. Matt Ryan has to say about Ian Cunningham. The difference is I'm not doing the scouting.

I'm not, you know, doing, running those meetings. Our general manager would do that. The general manager role is going to be exactly the same as what it's been here before. And that's something we've made clear to everybody on the coaching side that we've met with up until this point. And we'll make clear, you know, through that process to the general managers that we're going to look at in that process as well. That's Matt Ryan explaining to you that he doesn't do that. He has not done that. He has no experience doing that. He's just, I don't want to say just a figurehead, but let's face it. He's a former Atlanta Falcons quarterback who's now in charge of quote-unquote football.

And to hear him explain it that way, Grotie, tells me that he has more power, more of a position of influence in that organization than he did with the Bears because that, what he just described, that was and is Ryan Poles job in Chicago. That further tells you maybe the third round pick should have been coming this way. Yeah. Yeah, no. And I think the part that I think about is, like, it's a great conversation. But, God, it would be nice to have with what's going on with the Bears right now in this regime. And I get it. Ryan Poles has had problems through the years in the draft, notwithstanding this past year because it's pretty good.

And I'm willing to feel like that, like giving Ryan Poles, I don't even know how to put it, a second chance, I suppose. Oh, he's been given a second chance. He's very clear. Yes, but I think it's also fair. for us to admit, maybe you think differently. I'd love to hear what Layla has to say about this, because she's been tough on Ryan Poles. Can you look at it and give him a blank page again

and say going forward, okay, this was a pretty good draft class. We're not going to forget about Valas Jones. We're not going to forget about the past and some of the moves that were made in the organization. But doesn't Ryan Poles deserve a new look, a fresh look? Dare I say? Ready? I'm about to say it. a non-jaded look?

There's a lot of things I want to say to this. But I'm going to keep it pretty simple. You got time, pal. Well, I got a few minutes before we have to go to break. Yeah, actually not much time. Yeah, not as much time as you just made it out to be. Because I'm thinking about a specific song right now.

Aretha Franklin has this song. Great Hook. Well, I'm willing to forgive you, but I can't forgive you. because you really, really hurt me this time. There's been a whole lot of hurt that I'm not willing to. He's not irreparable harm is what you're saying. Not irreparable because he's been given a chance to repair it,

whereas most executives would not be given the chance. But you made it, the Aretha Franklin quote made it sound like there's a scar there. Is there not a scar? I'm sorry, let me ask you a simple question. Let's fade the scar. What do these names have in common? Lessoritha Franklin. What do these names have in common?

Okay. Karen Amagagaji, Zach Pickens, Valus Jones Jr. What are those names have in common? They are Ryan Pohl's draft picks. When did they happen? When did they happen? What round? Oh, I get second or...

Wait, Vailas was third. They were all third round picks. They were all third round picks. I thought Turner was a second round pick. I didn't say Shamar Turner. Oh. I said, Kieran-Omoggi, Zach Pickett, and Valus Jones. Oh, yeah, yeah, okay. Third rounders, okay.

So if they had the third round pick, the extra one this year, you sure they would know what to do with That's what Layla would say, by the way. Do we trust that man with third-round picks? Here's why we're trusting them further because it seems like. While I think it's been overstated how much, say, Ben Johnson might have in this, I do think that one of the good things that Kevin Warren has done with the organization has said, yes, we're keeping you. We like you, Ryan Poles.

That's exactly how he did it by the gruff of his neck. That's exactly how he did it. And saying to him, we like you, we're even giving you an extension. and I want you to continue to grow in this role, but we're going to give you a little extra help now. I think that that's what's going on. And I think that's why I'm feeling less cynicism or jaded about the job that Ryan Poles can be doing for,

because I feel like they've turned a page in terms of their draft process. Just to be clear, you have full trust in Ryan Poles now? I don't think full trust, not like a blind trust. I mean, I'm not going to, I keep the past in mind, of course. Exactly. Aretha Franklin taught us that. But, but, I mean, I think it's fair to say at some point in time, don't you have to look at it for what it is that this was a successful draft for Ryan Poles, right?

This year, in terms of the contributors, I know it wasn't perfect. Ruben Hippolyte, Zay Frazier. I get it. That's the way drafts go. But isn't it okay to objectively look at Ryan Poles and say, okay, that was pretty good. Let's see if you could build on this instead of saying, we know he sucks because look at what he's done in the third round in the past. Yes, the draft appears to be good after one year.

You know, it takes a few years before you can really measure up an NFL draft. And also, last year's draft, would you call that a good draft? Yeah. The year before? Caleb Williams, Roma Dunezay, Karana Maggi, Tori Taylor, and Austin Booker. Pretty good. I'd say good, yeah? Yeah?

But not as good maybe as it was the year before. This time last year, you probably thought Roma Dunezay is better than what you think about him right now. now. Absolutely, but that doesn't. And Tori Taylor may be the same thing. Because I think most people evaluated Roma Dunesay the same way Ryan Poles did. And I get it. He's the GM. He should know better. Can't you look at it and say, yeah, if Roma Dunesay turns out to be a miss, it's not one of those where you get all over the GM, I don't think. Like if he's a, let's just say, crazy alternative, he becomes, let's say he's a bust. Let's say Roma Dunezay's a bust. Will you be pissed off at Ryan Poles for having made that pick?

Yeah, because ultimately that's his job. Even though we all were like, yay, yay, yay. His job. We're not as informed as Ryan Poles. That's the point. He's got a job to do. And our job is to criticize when the job does not go well. And our job is to praise when the job does go well.

All right, well, I tell you what, let's continue doing his job for him. Let's do that because the defense needs fixing. What's realistic about it? And specifically, let's get into the edge rushers. the ones that are available. Max Crosby. Not Max Crosby. We can talk about Max Crosby, but let's leave him out of the fray.

Or maybe not. We haven't done that yet. We'll see. I'm excited about that. We'll see how it flows. We've got some ideas for the Bears on defense and at edge rusher as well. It's Rahimi Harris and Grody on the score. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670, the score.

SMXCROD isn't company. I don't know. Trahimi Harrison Grody on the score. Marshall and I are broadcasting from our Odyssey performance studio. Well, the real studio is being fit right now. We're about to get a great fit at the score. That is an FM signal. It's all going down on Monday as the drama continues to build.

Who will be here on Monday? where will I be today and what will happen? I don't know. So we are in the performance studio. It is odd to be in here and not seeing faces in the audience because usually we have events in here. We see bands in here. Some cool acts have come through here.

We had an audience for a second in the way of. Shout out. Shout out to Mike Mulligan, our very own Mully, who has already put his time in today, came into the performance studio to say hi, shook our hands, sat down, and then left. You know what? I appreciate his presence. I forgot that there's a bunch of empty chairs until he sat down and I realized there's a bunch of empty chairs.

Yeah, I felt supported, is what I felt by Molly. Now it's just us and Ray Diaz and Connor O'Donnell hanging out. Right, so we're getting into the flow here because we're out of our natural habitat. But Bear's defense is hugely important that there are, I don't know, substantial is the right word. but certainly shrewd changes need to be made for the Bears on defense. And it starts with, and it has started with this position for quite some time now, edge rusher, defense event in this 4-3 defense has been a bugaboo for the Bears and has not been substantial, although Montez Sweat did get to 10 and a half sacks,

but you just don't feel him as that tyrannical presence at the edge on every play like you do with guys like Max Crosby, who of course is circled, who of course we have discussed, who of course should be on the bear's radar. But I think we have to marshal. We have to go beyond Max Crosby because everybody wants Max Crosby, and we know that you would have to give up a ton to get Max. That's a jackpot. That's huge.

That's winning the lottery if you're able to get that guy. And I don't rule it out. But we do have to take a look at the list of the rest of the first of the field and some players that may make sense for the Chicago Bears to slide in at that position. We talked about some of them yesterday, but I guess, Marshall, you have to start the top of the list is if we are not keeping this name. We know who's at the top of the list. Well, yeah, when we talk about people who are not under contract currently, who are just out here as free agents? Yeah, that is?

You start in Cincinnati. That's right. Trey Hendrickson, who is vacating Cincinnati at last check. And he didn't play that much last year, but it's still. tantalizing to think of what a guy who has his type of production in years past could do. He's 31 years old, so not over the hill yet, maybe at the peak right now. You've seen the best of Trey Hendrickson. You're banking on whether or not you think Trey Hendrickson can keep this up for another three to four years.

Yeah, and he did. Look, he was injured last year for most of the season, as it turned out. He had four sacks over seven games. it is those massive numbers in the two previous years that you circle and you say, can he get back to that, the 17 and a half sacks in consecutive seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals? And I've done enough poking around and listening to people that I really respect about Trey Hendrickson. And of course, I always go to dark places. Of course, when I think about 31-year-old defensive ends that join the Bears towards the end of their careers,

I keep bringing up Jared Allen, I have been assured that that is not. not what this is, that this man has a motor, that you're not going to, I mean, you can't predict injuries, but that it doesn't feel like he is going to be prone to anything further. So, of course, Trey Hendrickson, it would be a plus in this defense. I wonder how much he'll cost, though, because we already know that the bears are in restructure slash slash mode, like the double slash that, the actual symbol, and then, of course, slashing as in cutting prices and cutting what they owe them. their players. I just wonder if that is something that is the most amenable to a guy like

Ryan Poles right now. I am very adamant that whatever they're going to do to address the pass rush, they need to do it now and it needs to be, I don't even know if Shrewd is the right way to put it because I think it does have to be a big move, a big move to say we're going to make the most out of this rookie contract that our quarterback, our franchise quarterback for the next 10 plus years, Caleb Williams is on. And so, because, because, Because of that, there's just other guys that you can go down the list. We talked a little bit about Khalil Mack yesterday, and Matt Bowen has just freshly released his top 50 free agents who are available.

And it's interesting because you're wondering, okay, where are the guys? Hendrickson is at the top of that list, number one. And you're like, well, how far down do I have to go to get to another edge player? Jalen Phillips is number five on the list from the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a guy who knows how to win, because all the Eagles do is win, as far as regular season goes. He has a Super Bowl championship. And let me read you the description of Phillips, according to Matt Bowen. With his long 6-foot-5 frame, I heard that Dennis Allen likes a little length in his players.

Phillips can play as both an edge-setter and pocket disruptor. After being traded to the Eagles on November 3rd, he had two sacks and 27 pressures and coordinator Vic Fangio system flashing improved range to the ball over his five-year career. Phillips has accounted for 28 sacks and 150 pressures. It's a lot of pressures. It's pretty good. I will counter that with that pros. And now just one thing.

And it's a big deal to me. In four of his seven seasons, Jalen Phillips, very good player, has played in single-digit games, as in the health. The health. That's a real factor. And you just had, you just signed, dieo dangbo to this big deal and what happened right away it just sucks you know what i mean like you got to think about that and that that is pretty much that's truth right there that if you've had

single digits in four of your seven seasons there that is something you have to zero in on but absolutely love the player i just like i would i would stay on that injury thing and be a little bit skeptical on that how about we do another while you're naming guys um let me raise you a Matt Bowen to a Clay Harbor. Okay. Who was on with us yesterday here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie. And he was thinking, he had a couple names for you, but he was thinking a little bit outside of the box, I would say,

on one of the names who maybe you've heard of, maybe you haven't. Here's Clay Harbor. Two guys I do like, I know it's been a lot of him thrown around here. Trey Hendrickson, obviously the history with Dennis Allen. You go back two years, lean the league in sacks, fourth in pressures, fourth and hits. you go back to last year, only played in seven games, but a top five pass rush win rate when he did play in those games. If the medicals check out, bring me him.

And then the other guy, I just watched tape on him yesterday. Adafi Oway, I was looking up edge rushers. He was in a three-four defense, but this guy can play some defense events of edge rusher. He got traded from the Ravens to the Chargers. In the playoff loss to the Patriots, he had three sacks in two fours fumbles. And you look in the year, he was 11th among edge rushers in pass-rush, win rate after arriving in Los Angeles. This guy can move. He can play against the run.

He can play against the pressure the quarterback. I really like Adolfi Owe. And he's big. He's one of those guys that Dennis Allen likes Marshall Harris. 27 years old. And I know he mentioned about Adafi Owey about the, and by the way, I don't know if he mentioned, but he was traded from the Ravens to the Chargers last year in the game against New England to which he referenced.

He had three sacks and two force fumbles again in the playoff game, a loss against the New England Patriots. So yeah, it's like shiny object right there. He is very now. He is right now. Well, the question is, what have you done for me lately? He's like, well, did you see what I did the last time I was on a football field? Yeah.

It reminds me of DeQuan Brisker. We're going to bears it. It's like, whoa. I don't know how great Brisker season was, but you leave that on tape in a playoff game, you could probably make some money off of that. Well, here's the thing about Addafi O.A. It's like a tale of two seasons, really. Because, you know, he plays 17 games. As you mentioned, he was traded. In his first five games, he didn't have a sack. And then the 12 games after that, seven and a half sacks is a lot.

It's a lot. That's production. And you wonder, when you get a guy like this on the opposite side of Montes Sweat, how much would that open up Montes? Montes Sweat and himself to get well into double-digit sack territory because that's part of the issue. Well, and I hate that we have to go to that because we thought that Montes Sweat was going to be the multiplier, that he was going to be the sweat effect, the Montez effect, the Tez effect. I'll get there. That's what we thought. We were like, he's going to make everybody else better. But you're right. Like, you still need somebody thought it was going to be Montes Sweat and maybe he got closer to it again. He had a strong second half of the season. But unfortunately, even with Diodangbo here, you are looking for that anchor at edge still to make everybody else fall into their proper spots. Like, sweat is a legitimate starting edge rusher, I think, in the NFL.

No doubt about it. If you really dug into the numbers, he's just not the top guy on that. Like, if you're really getting greedy, he's not your top edge rusher. Well, and I think the lack of pressure coming from the other side might have something to do with it. So you're talking about like multipliers. I don't even think they both have to be multipliers, but I think just having two really good guys, two double-digit sack guys, one on each side,

that creates so much chaos for an opposing passing attack that you can say the 10-and-a-half sacks from Montes-Swatt last year and then what O-A would bring to this defense, that now you have more than one guy you have to account for. Because outside of Montes-S-Swett, who are offensive coordinators accounting for in the passing game? Well, I guess one guy that I've heard through the years is it's because you always got to think of the guys that are the most physical. Like just really answering this question, maybe not quite in the spirit of it, but Joaquin Brisker, actually,

because you have to be aware of a guy who likes to lay the lumber. And that guy might not even be on your roster. And he may not be. I mean, there's a good chance he won't be on the roster. I mean, that is just a conundrum that you go through, you look at the same. safeties and as effective as they were together this year, it could be gonzo. And really, if we're talking about making a signing of an edge rush or really improving that part, the opportunity cost might be two new starting safeties next year. Yeah, that's why when we talk about who should

they move on from in an effort to clear some cap space, the list is long of options. And you've got to hit the right buttons. Otherwise, guess what? We'll be right here criticizing Ryan Poles again for making the wrong move. That's just the nature of the game. Ryan Poles understands that. Don't make me scribble on this blank page I've given Ryan Poles. Don't make me have to mark it all up. Yeah, you gave me, you, you tore off the bad stuff and you're like, oh, blank. You're like, you're like Ben Johnson. Oh, new season. We're starting from scratch. I just think like he had a, I think it's fair to not just stay in the, in the bad of what Ryan Poles did if things are on the, like, let's go with what the story is. And that has gotten better

for Ryan Poles in the last two years. Yes, things have gotten better. You know why? They were absolutely bad. So I refuse to just grade him on a bell curve. Or just not a bill curve. A curve. I refuse to grade him on a curve.

That's the thing. You want to grade him on a curve. You want to grade him on a curve for two reasons. His tenure started off awful, but also the bears have been awful for a long time. And I'm like, if we're wiping away all of that and saying fresh... You're wiping it away. Because you know me, I will reference Bears history on the day. selectively. So, well, I guess you could say that. Because you're trying to, I mean, I'm not, I'm not saying you're cowtowing to Ryan Poles. I'm just saying, I think you have to acknowledge the pros and the cons of how we got here. And what is it that you need to avoid to not go back to that dark place that you're talking about. Right, right. Yeah, I just try to stay with what is in front of me and what is right now. But that's a great debate. I mean, we can continue to talk about the job of Ryan Poles. One other guy I wanted to ask about, well, I'll go through a couple more free agents and I know we've got to take a break. But I've asked.

this question before. I may have asked you this question. I know I've asked Dan Weeder of this. I don't know if I've ever gotten the proper answer. Is Austin Booker good? Yes. You think so? Awesome. Okay, what does that mean, though? Seven to ten sacks a year? I don't think Austin Booker is a finished product. I think Austin Booker is going to get bigger and stronger and be better. I think in this defense, where they are right now, he is progressing positively. Hey, look, let me give Ryan Pohl some credit. they drafted him later and he has come up with some big plays. He's had games where he's been the best lineman.

And again, some people would say, oh, yeah, he's the tallest little guy. Like, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying he's actually made plays of impact in the regular season and the way we saw him to do it in the preseason of his rookie year. I remember that's when all the buzz was, oh, this guy, Austin Booker, gets his backups. Oh, yeah. Where is it for real? And we started to see it this year.

I am happy with the level of trend because it's, trending in the right direction. And that's why if you get a front line edge that he's playing behind both of those guys, now he's rotating and he's in on path, I can see it being a positive thing for the Bears to have it. He plays with the motor, plays with the motion, those

things never go out of style. When we return here, Honorehemi Harris and Grotie, talk about the Bulls, a loss to the heat last night. Moreover, there is a player, like with all the trades that we are discussing right now, there is a player,

that Marshall Harris believes the Bulls should not trade at the deadline. There is somebody who should stay per Marshall, and I will tell you how Marshall, Mr. Bulls, got in my head last night while I was watching the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 116 to 113. It's all coming up next on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score. Listen to Rahimi Harrison Grody on the Odyssey and IHart Radio apps. Over the mid-court line, I-O-Dosumu driving on Fon-Tecchio high off the window and scoring Ildo-Sumu. And the books is first bucket nine minutes.

And he did that about five times in the fourth quarter of the other night. I was good last night. Chuck and Bill, Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington on the Bulls Radio Network. I heard it's Chuck Swerski's birthday today. Happy birthday to the great Chuck Swersky. I hope you are having a beautiful and wonderful day today. date, Chuck. Yeah, it's a beautiful day. It's Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score, and the Bulls, they lost. They lost all of a sudden. Now it's going back the other way. They've lost three in a row.

Heat 116, Bulls 113, which hopefully you did here on the score last night. The Bulls in this game instead of the previous night where they blew a 14.4th quarter lead and lost to the Pacers. The Bulls decided in this case that they were going to go ahead and trail by 13 in the 4th. fourth quarter. Come close at the end, a nice little 2112. Oh, that's got a nice ring to it. 2112, anyone, boomers. Run to make it close,

but no. Do you even know what I'm talking about? I don't expect you to when I say 2112. What are you talking about? 2112. Textors, help me out. Or maybe not. Maybe it'll go crickets. When I say 2112, what a boomer reference would I be making?

It's a musical reference, folks. 312, 644, 67, 67. Is this your version? of 6-7-6-7? Is that what this is? No, no, no. No, it's not. I-O-Dusumu, though, he was good in this game. Somebody's got to be going strong. He had 23 points. He was strong at the end of the game. He was not the one losing it for them yesterday. That's for sure. Kobe White had 14. We'll get to him in a second as well.

But Marshall, you have me very excited and interested to know that there is somebody on the Chicago Bulls who you feel is untouchable on a team that's 26, excuse me, 23 and 25, you've got an untouchable? Not untouchable. Let's be very clear. Not untouchable. You know how I do.

So we know there's seven guys whose contracts come to an end at the end of the season and the Bulls need to be getting some things back for some of these contracts and not waiting too late, even though on some players, Fooch, they've waited too late to recoup what they could recruit in terms of first-round draft picks. But I was watching last night, and this isn't something that happened last night, it's just something that I've noticed over the course, really, of the season. And that is, I believe, Ayo Dosumu, for what the Bulls are trying, what they say they're trying to build,

which is two-way players, young guys. I-O, of course, is from Chicago, and he played all 12 minutes. And maybe if he played all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter of the previous game against the Pacers, they would have won the game. Because you remember, he came out, and that's when everything fell apart in the fourth quarter of that game. and they blew that lead. In this game, he plays all 12 minutes. He scores 15 points, four rebounds to assist in the fourth quarter.

The 15 points, that's the most he's ever had in any quarter in his career. Really? Yeah. And so I would implore if they're trying to make a decision about keeping either or Kobe White or Iodosumu, unless someone's offering you a first round pick for Iodosumu, do not trade Iodosumu. Instead, keep him, resign him. He's going to be cheaper to keep. than Kobe White, and now you've got another piece that you can move in the future, because again,

it's all about having players and draft capital that you can move when you need to make your move for a superstar, and he can just help you along the way. I love it. I actually love it. Like, I really, as I was saying this about, I would assume I don't remember if it was on the air or off the air, but it sure feels like this is a guy that's going to get awards down the road. And I mean, like, as a sixth man award type of guy, like, I know he could be a star. starter and all of that. But I just feel like

his value in this league could last a long time because of what you're saying, that he's a two-way player and that he can blow by guy, he can create his own shots with some of the ferocious drives that he has had. It's not what you want, him having the ball in his hands all

the time, but that is what you call a really good rank and file good. If that makes sense, NBA player. Certainly a complimentary player that could be on a contender as a complimentary player. And those are, they have value. And so if you can sign him for maybe, I don't know, 15 million a year, that's a guy that you would sign to that, I think. And he would, because of the way

the cap is escalating and everything else, I think he could just be a Chicago bull. Now, if someone wants to offer you a first round pick for Iyo Dosumu, you take the first round pick. Right. But I don't want to hear this I.O for a second round pick or I owe for two seconds. No, no, no. Get a first round pick for I.O. No doubt. And look, we act like he's our dirty little secret here that Iodosu. Like the rest of the league knows too. So when time comes up, he very well could be garnering big time interest

from other teams as well. But I agree with you that that's a guy who, if you can, if it makes sense, if you're not crazy for passing something up, of course you want Iodosumu on your team. That's a guy that you want as part of it. By the way, I don't

know if you've been watching the text line. We're going like 50 text deep. Thanks to everybody who had my back on 2112, which is a famous, famous Rush album. So it's just, it's all over the place. I can't even keep up with the tech. So thank you. Thank you for playing along. Thank you for having my back. Thank you for understanding. And there's, you know, you don't have to be old to love Rush. By the way, Rush reuniting this summer. Sure like to get my hands on a few tickets sure would.

262 says 2112 Rush. My mother thought Rush was devil music and Slayer came along. All right. I will counter that with I'm only 21 and I know that that was Rush. Oh, okay. So I'm telling

you. All right. You got me, Grotie. You got me. That's all I needed in the ear. And if you, the guy who works at a cluster of radio stations can't find tickets to rush, you got problems. I'm just saying, you know, at a cluster of radio. I'm just putting it out there. I'm just putting it out. I sure that would really be a fun concert to go to this summer because they're back. And yes, 615, they could trade I-O and then

re-sign him, but you could also just keep him here. Now, because you're taking, I think you're taking, I mean, you're taking your chances either way. He's going to be an unrestricted free agent. Let's see what happens. I'm very curious as to where we are, less than a week from now at the trade time. It's going to be great. So while I was watching the Bulls game last night, I found myself thinking about you because you are. I got to admit, Marshall Harris, You are more than anybody at the score right now. You are in people's heads with your opinions about the Bulls. And that's a compliment, man, because you watch most games.

Don't tell Brandon Fryer. What time is Fryer on? I miss Friar in transition today. We need to get Brandon Friar on. Maybe I'll just let him co-host with you. I want to get, maybe next week, like on Friday at one of our segments, we can have Brandon Friar join us to have his reaction to the Bulls at the deadline. Because I think it would be so fired.

It's so fired up. You know what? He's one of those guys. It's like baby tea. It's like maybe you're underutilized. Maybe we're missing some stuff. Oh, he's definitely underutilized. But he also knows ball.

He's a former baller. I know he does. I know he does. I remember I saw him at a couple of Bulls games. They were stationed. You were there. He's been to three this year already. Already with his beautiful family.

Beautiful family. Like, beautiful family. It really is. They could be on the cover of a magazine. They could be on. I remember seeing them for the first time at a Bulls game. When we got that, was it last year? year? I think it was. We had really nice seats.

Quarter of Dreams. Yeah. Quarter Dreams Day. Yes, it was that day where we all sort of bonded. And then just looking back at Fryer, I'm like, that's the most beautiful family I've ever seen. That is just lovely. So yeah, I'm all for more Fryer, but you were in my head yesterday because you made

what was a great point about Kobe White that it looks like he's pressing and to sum up your words, because everybody's watching him. You know that he is one of those guys who very well could be traded because he's got offense and all of that last night, 14 points, 2 of 11 from the field overall. He was 2 of 8 from 3, and just fittingly enough, that last shot, which was an open 3 that

could have tied the game, he missed it badly. And he just didn't look right. So you were right about that. I was feeling that from Kobe White that he just feels like he's being watched for lack of a better way to put it. And the thing about Kobe is, look, I think he's the best player on this team. People argue Josh Giddy is the best player. I know. Josh Giddy is not as good as Kobe White, in my opinion. But the way he's been playing lately has been concerning to say the least. Understand this, Grotie. In five of his last six games, he's had three or more turnovers.

And some of those have been very costly, what we call self-checked turnovers, where it's not like someone stole the ball from you. You just made a really bad decision. And I thought at this, this stage of his career, he'd be beyond that. But I'm seeing a guy who I feel like, and I could be wrong, but I feel like he's pressing because, as you said, all those eyes are on him. And it's a contract year for him, and he's trying to prove himself to be the guy. And so far, he's had moments, but not enough consistency to be the guy. Yeah, no doubt about it.

We'll talk a little bit more Bulls later on with the Geltzzi, Brian Geltziler, from XM serious, all of that? No, XM. XM. Serious XM. That's right. They brought all that together. Serious XM. So he'll join us a little bit later on. We'll go big picture in the NBA, get his thoughts on what the Bulls are doing and perhaps not doing. But coming up next, more bears with a former bear, a former pre-in post bears host as well. And he's also the mayor of Palatine. He is Jim Schwantz. And he joins Rahimi Harris and Grotie next on the score.