Ex-Bears RB fires shots at Ryan Poles after David Montgomery gets $18,250,000 extension - "Stupid AF"

David Montgomery delighted Detroit Lions fans on Saturday by signing a two-year, $18.25 million extension. One of his former teammates in Chicago used this as an opportunity to condemn the Bears organization.

Former running back/return specialist Tarik Cohen took to his Instagram Stories to post a scathing message towards general manager Ryan Poles (screengrab courtesy of X user BoogCB):

"Any GM who would let bro walk is stupid af (three cry-laughing emojis)"

Montgomery and Cohen played together in 2019. They remained on the roster for two more seasons, until Cohen suffered a career-ending injury.

Montgomery eventually joined the NFC North rival Lions in 2023 for three years and $18 million. He would break out as the "thunder" in a rushing duo with Jahmyr Gibbs, helping the long-struggling franchise clinch the division and reach the conference title game; both for the first time since the days of Barry Sanders.

Did Ryan Poles let David Montgomery walk away from Bears?

In January 2023, after the Bears finished 3-14, Ryan Poles said he wanted to keep his running back for the long term.

“I love his mentality, how he plays the game.He’s part of the identity that we had this year that kept us competitive. Now, the second part of that is just the contract situation. That’s something that we’ll see how that goes and if we can find common ground.”

Shortly after, 670 The Score’s Chris Emma opined that the running back would want something in the $12-million-per-year range, comparable to what Aaron Jones and Joe Mixon were making. Jones was released by the Green Bay Packers and soon joined the Minnesota Vikings, while Mixon was traded out of the Cincinnati Bengals and extended with the Houston Texans.

But there was a logjam within the team due to the presence of Khalil Herbert, D’Onta Foreman and Roschon Johnson. So Montgomery joined the Lions to replace Jamaal Williams (D’Andre Swift would be traded later in the offseason, necessitating the drafting of Jahmyr Gibbs).

Montgomery, however, may have been motivated more by the desire to win. The Lions were in prime position to contend, having overcome a slow start to finish 9-8 the previous season, just missing the playoffs via tiebreak.