Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Bears general manager Ryan Poles had a player approach him Thursday, one day after he gave tight end Cole Kmet a four-year, $50 million contract extension.
“[He] said, ‘Hey, you sent a ton of energy through the locker room because you guys are taking care of the guys in there,’” he said. “And it was really cool.”
That’s a common benefit of retaining a team’s own draft picks, something that hasn’t happened at Halas Hall very often.