Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and assistant general manager Jeff King met with reporters at Halas Hall in Lake Forest on Tuesday a couple days before the start of the NFL draft.

The Bears are in an interesting position heading into the three-day draft that will start Thursday in Pittsburgh. They won’t have a top-10 pick for the first time since 2022. But Chicago will have four draft selections in the top 89, starting with the No. 25 overall pick in the first round on Thursday.

Neither Poles nor King gave away the team’s draft plans. But they did give some insight into how they’re thinking heading into Thursday. Here are four of the most interesting things the Bears said Tuesday.

On draft Bears’ approach

Poles will enter a big draft weekend. For the first time during his tenure as Bears GM, Poles will try to supplement a playoff roster as opposed to building from the ground up.

Although he only gave an opening statement Tuesday and didn’t take any questions, Poles felt comfortable with where the team stood heading into the weekend and how prepared it was for whatever could happen starting Thursday.

“I’ve got a ton of confidence things are going to work out just the way we planned them to be,” Poles said. “If things start to shift and move, we’re agile enough to make adjustments if that’s moving up, moving back, we’ll be ready for anything that comes our way.”

The Bears will also have a set approach when it comes to a specific type of prospect.

There are more prospects who are older coming into the league out of college because of Name, Image and Likeness and extra years of eligibility. Some of the prospects that have been linked to the Bears during the draft process, like Miami edge Akheem Mesidor, will come to the NFL at 25.

King said it’s something the Bears will need to think more about in the future. But for now, they’re taking it on a case-by-case basis.

“How much tread’s on the tires?,” King said. “Like, how’d they play? What’s their journey like? Have they had injuries? I think it’s always case-to-case, but something that we’ll definitely have to deal with going forward.”

On who the Bears will target

The goal for the Bears after this weekend will be to add “competitors” to the roster. King said the best teams and players he’s been around have to compete daily, not just on Sundays. He wants to create a situation where the draft picks they add will make it hard to make roster decisions toward the start of the season.

They’ll have a good idea of how they can find those types of players.

“I think it’s the silent tape,” King said. “When you put on tape and the guys we probably get excited about the most is, you don’t have to read the character. You can see it. You can see how they compete, show up in big games, pick up their teammates, raise the level of their teammates’ games.”

Aside from competitors, the Bears have specific areas of needs. Defensive end, defensive tackle, safety and left tackle are all major needs heading into the weekend. Chicago could also look to supplement at cornerback, linebacker and the rest of the offensive line.

Poles has maintained a best-player-available approach for much of the draft process. But a position of need might beat out another position if everything else is equal.

“At the end of the day, you’re not going to go wrong by taking the best football player,” King said. “I think we all agree with that. And so if it’s somewhat on the same plane, maybe the positions come into play. But as we see it, we’re going to take the best football player for now and the future.”

On Ben Johnson’s, coaches’ impact

Bears head coach Ben Johnson’s impact was clear during last year’s draft. Poles used three of his first four selections in the first two rounds to add playmakers to the offense.

Even if the Bears don’t go with offense with most of their top picks this time around, Johnson will still have a big say with this weekend’s decisions.

“We take his opinion and weigh it heavily,” King said. “What he thinks matters. He’s the head coach of the football team. He’s an offensive play caller and he has a good feel for the team and we take that very seriously.”

The Bears scouting department has a much better understanding of what they’re looking for this year. The group knows what Johnson, along with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, are looking for more this time around compared to last year.

But that doesn’t mean that the Bears will be pigeonholed into specific players because of the Bears coaches’ styles. King said Bears coaches aren’t done evolving and being creative, which allows the scouting department to bring in players who might not specifically fit into what the Bears have right now.

“They know when to pivot,” King said. “They know when to be maybe ahead of the curve, when they feel like they’re behind the curve. And when you’re building a roster that helps, because we can now anticipate and stay ahead of some roster decisions down the road. It’s [Johnson’s] ability to adapt on the fly, both on Sunday but now when we’re going through the draft board.”

On specific positions of need

King also addressed a couple specific areas of needs Tuesday.

The Bears will most likely look for a starting safety after signing Coby Bryant this offseason but letting last year’s starters Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker leave in free agency. But King said the Bears felt comfortable with Bryant’s flexibility and versatility and that backups Cam Lewis and Elijah Hicks could start games too.

“I think that we are in a position to where we can add to the room,” King said. “Sure, just like any other room. But we feel confident in the guys we have acquired and that we’ve had in the building where, if we had to go play tomorrow, we would.”

Chicago could also look for its center of the future this weekend. Drew Dalman created a hole when he suddenly decided to retire this offseason. Poles traded for veteran Garrett Bradbury this offseason, but he’ll have one year left on his contract.

“I’ve got a ton of confidence things are going to work out just the way we planned them to be. If things start to shift and move, we’re agile enough to make adjustments if that’s moving up, moving back, we’ll be ready for anything that comes our way.”

—  Ryan Poles, Chicago Bears general manager

Finding a new center won’t be easy. There are fewer options since many are staying in school longer and it could force the Bears to select one sooner in the draft than normal depending on how things unfold.

“They’re just getting harder and harder to find,” King said. “I don’t know if they’re getting developed, cross trained as much in college as maybe they used to be but it’s definitely something that we’ve talked about. There’s a little bit of a limited supply coming out of college right now.”