INDIANAPOLIS — Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles arrived at the NFL Scouting Combine empowered. You could hear it in his answers.

He mentioned how the strengths of free agency and the draft seemingly meet his team’s needs.

He talked about being aggressive with his roster improvements.

He highlighted the brilliance of Ben Johnson, his new head coach.

“We talked about this a lot just within the (coaching) search: having a clear vision — having a clear vision of what every single position needs to have,” Poles said Tuesday. “Now, it’s never going to be perfect. You can’t have like a prototype at every single position. But as a front office, we want to be as close as possible with that.

“So (Johnson’s) ability to really give a clear vision of what he wants and needs to be successful has been really, really good. And you can just tell the high football IQ is on a totally different level than what I’ve seen and been a part of before. So it’s really good.”

In a matter of weeks, Poles has gone from being the GM of a downtrodden team that lost its way through headline-worthy blunders on the field and fired its head coach to being the GM of a re-energized organization that just hired one of the most coveted candidates in recent coaching cycles.

Poles should feel confident. He should be encouraged about everything. He hired Johnson, who wanted to join his team after running one of the best offenses in the NFL over the past three seasons for a division rival.

“I can’t speak highly enough about Ryan Poles and his staff,” Johnson said.

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The work is just beginning. What the Bears are looking for has been adjusted with Johnson in place. Poles said the Bears front office went through the roster position by position with “the criteria of what he’s looking to do.” Then they did it again when their scouts came to Halas Hall. Johnson also said the coaching staff met with the entire personnel department.

“We very clearly outlined what the ideal look would be in terms of attributes, height, weight, speed, in terms of makeup, which is of critical importance for what we’re looking for,” Johnson said. “But at the same time, if it’s a good football player, we’re going to make it work as a coaching staff. So there’s a balance going on with that and I think the dialogue’s been very, very, very healthy so far.”

This is what happens with regime changes. Different voices are heard and getting everyone on the same page becomes crucial. It affects your draft board and your plans for free agency.

“You can have philosophical beliefs in how you build a football team, how you prioritize, but the supply has to match the needs and those opportunities have to present themselves at the right time,” Poles said. “We’re starting to put that puzzle together. But what I like really about the pairing so far of free agency and the draft is I do believe that the supply of players is matching our needs, so there are going to be good opportunities.”

Poles should be aggressive when it comes to improving his roster in free agency and the draft. That process intensifies this week in Indianapolis. The Bears have the fourth-most salary-cap space in the NFL, according to Over the Cap. They also have three of the top 41 draft picks.

The Bears are poised to take the next step. Poles obviously sees the opportunity ahead of him. The best free-agent offensive lineman this year — Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith — is someone Poles knows very well. He was the Chiefs’ executive director of player personnel when Kansas City drafted Smith in the sixth round in 2021.

“I’m not going to get into players who aren’t on our roster right now,” he said. “But I’m proud to be a part of that draft process.”

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The risk in signing Smith is significantly less than adding Nate Davis, which remains one of the biggest blunders on Poles’ resume. This year, Poles can spend big on his offensive line and feel good about it. He has his quarterback in Caleb Williams and now he has to protect him. Another option could be signing 34-year-old guard Kevin Zeitler, who started 16 games for the Detroit Lions and Johnson last season.

The Bears are potentially looking at three new starters on the interior of the line, but quick overhauls happen every year. Johnson mentioned that and specifically pointed to what the Carolina Panthers did last year in free agency by signing guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis.

“You saw them clicking there in the second half of the season once they started to really jell,” Johnson said. “There’s no question that you can change the dynamic of a room just like that.”

The Bears have two weeks to determine how aggressive they’ll be in free agency. The negotiation windows open on March 10. But there was already some early buzz in Indianapolis about what’s ahead for the Bears. Poles and Johnson helped create some of that themselves.

This is an exciting time for the Bears.

“The clearer the vision, the more aggressive you can be, and that’s important,” Poles said. “You want to be selective in free agency because historically if you look at it, it can tell you and you can learn from that. But if there are certain players that kind of hit all the checked boxes that you need, there’s really no reason to hold back. I feel like you can be aggressive in those situations.”