CHICAGO — At 3 p.m. sharp Wednesday, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson strode to the riser, kicking off the new NFL year by talking about some of the team’s additions.

Seated to their right were guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. The Bears traded for Thuney and Jackson, and Jarrett became available when the Atlanta Falcons terminated his contract Monday, unable to renegotiate his deal.

Poles and Johnson beamed about the additions, and Poles referenced contract negotiator Matt Feinstein multiple times as the Bears had to crunch some serious numbers to make so many significant moves. Center Drew Dalman and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo are expected to be introduced Thursday.

It looks good on paper.

Poles has put a focus on the trenches, adding three starters on the offensive line and two on the defensive line. The Bears want to be more physical, and they’ve brought in players with established NFL track records. The moves also provide more options in next month’s draft, in which the Bears own the No. 10 pick and three of the top 41 selections.

“This really opens the whole board for us,” Poles said. “We’re going to be able to sit back and kind of look and say, ‘What’s the best thing to do for the Chicago Bears and who’s the best player that can impact?'”

Banners for winning the offseason, though, can begin to look mighty tattered in the regular season as the dangers of free agency are exposed and teams sometimes discover they didn’t get exactly what they thought they were purchasing. The no-returns policy is real.

If this foray into the trenches works, as the Bears try to upgrade the roster for Johnson’s first season, one of the real benefits should be legitimately improving a previously overrated team culture. Thuney and Jarrett, specifically, profile as players who can make an impact on the field and in the locker room.

Coming off a five-win season and with quarterback Caleb Williams entering Year 2, that would be welcome. Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells is credited with saying, “You are what your record says you are.” Along those lines, your record says what your culture is.

Thuney, 32, is preparing for his 10th season. He has played for four Super Bowl winners. He has been teammates with Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes and was named first team All-Pro the last two seasons. It’s not like he was an All-Pro five years ago and has since declined.

Jarrett, who turns 32 next month, is preparing for his 11th season. For a stretch of the last decade, he was in the conversation as the NFL’s best three-technique tackle not named Aaron Donald. He was so ingrained in the Falcons organization, owner Arthur Blank released a long statement of appreciation after they let the Atlanta-area native go.

While the Bears didn’t buy Thuney in free agency, in both cases they’re paying for more than on-field traits. They’re paying for future production and they’re also paying for veteran voices in the room, the leadership that doesn’t come from the coaches — and that has a price to it.

Jarrett played 10 years for one team. That’s hard to do. That means people really appreciated him in Atlanta, what he did on the field and what he brought to the locker room every day.

Thuney has played with two of the greatest quarterbacks ever to suit up. He surely has little tips he can pass along to Williams.

The rest of the offensive line — Jackson, Dalman, Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones (or whoever winds up at left tackle ) — can learn a lot from Thuney. Watching how he studies tape, what he does in the weight room when he’s banged up, how he gets his body ready on a weekly basis. They’re simple things that aren’t talked about but are valuable.

“All three of these guys, they’ve been in the playoffs,” Johnson said, also referencing Jackson. “They’ve won playoff games. Joe in particular has won Super Bowls. Yeah, that does rub off through the rest of the locker room.

“We’re going to define what it’s going to look like in terms of our meeting process, our walk-through process, our practice habits, what it looks like off the field — because that all translates to winning on the field. All three of these guys have done that at a high level.”

Thuney comes across as the diligent lineman always concerned about the man beside him. He may not have a ton to say, but when he does, it ought to be well-received.

“I just want to do what I can to be myself, and whatever experiences or times I’ve had with other players or coaches, just try to share that with the guys,” he said. “It’s a group effort. I think it’s a special place. The coaches I’ve been meeting, our management, the owners — everything has just been unbelievable.

“The NFL is hard. But I’m excited to get going. I really believe in this.”

You have to imagine at some point this spring, the Bears will need to get an extension completed for Thuney. There’s no rush, but they didn’t make the trade thinking of only one season. And in the hierarchy of the locker room, it’s difficult to point to him as being the guy if his contract doesn’t make him such.

Jarrett has that alpha personality the defense probably has been missing, the front seven anyway. He’s hungry to keep going and he proved that a year ago. After missing only three games through his first eight seasons, Jarrett suffered a torn ACL in the eighth game in 2023. He was so diligent in his recovery, he was ready for the start of training camp last summer.

The Bears moved quickly to add Jarrett, signing him for three seasons at $43.5 million with $28.5 million guaranteed. If center — the position Dalman will fill — was the difficult spot to fill on offense, the corresponding spot on defense was the three-technique.

Jarrett doesn’t have anything to prove to the Falcons. If they announce a 60th-anniversary team next year, he’d be on it. While it stung a little to be let go, it’s not what is driving him now.

“I didn’t expect it,” he said. “I gave Atlanta my all. Everybody in that building, the organization, knows I gave Atlanta my all. I’m from Atlanta, with or without the Falcons. Atlanta is always going to show me love. I’m going to show Atlanta love. I’m so invested already in the community, and life goes on.

“But my motivation doesn’t come from trying to get back or vengeance or whatever it is. I’m focused on the next thing, and my next thing is here. I would be robbing Chicago coaches, players, fans if I was up here worried about how Atlanta made me feel. And so even to give that energy to say, ‘I’m going to get back at Atlanta,’ we don’t even play Atlanta this year.

“So whatever they’re doing ain’t got nothing to do with me. All my energy, all my focus is right here in Chicago, and that’s where it’s going and that’s where it’s going to be.”

The Bears’ focus has been on the line of scrimmage, with major moves to begin retooling the roster. Time will tell how successful they were.

In the meantime, Thuney and Jarrett have lessons they can share — and there ought to be a room full of players interested in learning.

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