Chicago Bears address

[MKEagle]

Poles end of season presser is about to start followed by the guy who loves to hear himself talk... this will be fun to watch

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Here is what Ryan Poles has done so far, outside of the Eberflus hire:

Dumped salary and replaced those players via the draft
Used that money to retain talent (Johnson)
Traded for Sweat
Traded for Allen
Parted ways with Justin Fields
Built a very good linebacker room
Built a very good secondary
Traded away the first pick for a historic return
Drafted Williams and Odunze

He's done good, he's done poorly, he's made tough decisions.

Absolutely has to get this coaching hire correct, though.

 

[NDisme]

ignoring the o line issues has been extremely puzzling

 

[MKEagle]

Dexter becoming a solid contributor on the DL has certainly helped Poles' record in the trenches. I've been pretty vocal about the lack of building a cohesive OL, but it's puzzling how much they regressed in the run game with a similar cast of characters. Is it coaching? Were the injuries a bigger issue than they led on? Lack of chemistry/effective communication with a new QB? There are just a lot of variables that may be out of Poles' control.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

ignoring the o line issues has been extremely puzzling

They haven't been ignored. The moves they've made have not hit.

That's the one area that he's totally misfired on since arriving as GM.

 

[Giddyup]

Hiring Pete Carroll would be bears best move. Let him instill a winning culture and program for a couple years then hire one of his assistants to take over. Dude knows all the good coaches.

 

[NDisme]

They haven't been ignored. The moves they've made have not hit.

That's the one area that he's totally misfired on since arriving as GM.

I mean this past offseason he did little to nothing to improve a line that was miserable the year before and thinking Braxton Jones is the long term answer at LT is ignorant imo.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I mean this past offseason he did little to nothing to improve a line that was miserable the year before and thinking Braxton Jones is the long term answer at LT is ignorant imo.

It is the major area that needs addressed via draft, trade and FA. Without question.

Hence beating Green Bay when it actually hurt their draft position kind of sucked in that respect.

 

[arahop]

Give me Ben Johnson that's it. That's the list

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Give me Ben Johnson that's it. That's the list

That seems to be the most realistic choice.

Adam Gase kept him on at Miami after Joe Philbin got fired. Who replaced Philbin in between as interim coach of the Dolphins? Dan Campbell. Johnson has been with the Lions since 2019. Patricia hired him, Bevell kept him, Campbell promoted him to OC.

If they intend to build around a franchise QB, which they are, they need an HC that comes from offense. As always, the DC hire will be paramount. They have some talent there.

 

[MKEagle]

With the Raiders now open... the price for Vrabel just got too expensive for McCaskey. It's Ben Johnson or bust now.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

With the Raiders now open... the price for Vrabel just got too expensive for McCaskey. It's Ben Johnson or bust now.

Can you expound on what one has to do with other? Vrabel was too expensive for the Bears 8 hours ago regardless of what the Raiders did. The Titans were paying him $9.5M a year before he was fired.

Flus was one of the lowest paid HC in the NFL.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Here is what Ryan Poles has done so far, outside of the Eberflus hire:

Dumped salary and replaced those players via the draft (Expected. Bears dumping salary was inevitable)
Used that money to retain talent (Johnson) (Cool.)
Traded for Sweat (Not exactly looking great right now. Sweat was bad this year.)
Traded for Allen (Allen disappointed and I don't expect him back)
Parted ways with Justin Fields (Again, inevitable if the future was Caleb)
Built a very good linebacker room (Eh. I'd say it was solid. Edwards played well this year. Edmunds was such a disappointment this year.)
Built a very good secondary (This is fair. Byard, Johnson and when healthy, Gordon have played very well)
Traded away the first pick for a historic return (We'll see. So far, that trade has materialized into Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson and a 2nd rounder. They definitely won the trade, but lucked into the #1 spot and it's TBD if the Bears made the most of that situation)
Drafted Williams and Odunze (I think they're good picks, but they were also no duh picks. Both were BPAs by a considerable margin)

He's done good, he's done poorly, he's made tough decisions.

Absolutely has to get this coaching hire correct, though.

My big issue is that he's already screwed up so much with the coaching decisions. It wasn't just hiring Flus, it wasn't just retaining him. It was hiring Waldron. It was retaining Chris Morgan instead of forcing Flus to can his worthless ass. It was the absolutely catastrophe that was Alan Williams. The Bears' coaching situation under Poles has been an unmitigated disaster and even if the circumstances surrounding him weren't ideal, he still fumbled every coaching pick in the worst way possible.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

My big issue is that he's already screwed up so much with the coaching decisions. It wasn't just hiring Flus, it wasn't just retaining him. It was hiring Waldron. It was retaining Chris Morgan instead of forcing Flus to can his worthless ass. It was the absolutely catastrophe that was Alan Williams. The Bears' coaching situation under Poles has been an unmitigated disaster and even if the circumstances surrounding him weren't ideal, he still fumbled every coaching pick in the worst way possible.

That and the OL have been the biggest disappointments.

Everything else he did at the time was solid on paper at worst. He could have stuck with Fields and decided to pull the plug. He was popular enough among the fans in Chicago that it was a tough decision for not only that but also looking at it from a football POV too.

It never made sense that he was hired and the HC (Flus) was hired immediately. He's going to have to nail this, and if it ends up being the OC of the Detroit Lions so be it. They could be bringing in the OC of the eventual Super Bowl champs if it is Ben Johnson.

 

[MKEagle]

Can you expound on what one has to do with other? Vrabel was too expensive for the Bears 8 hours ago regardless of what the Raiders did. The Titans were paying him $9.5M a year before he was fired.

Flus was one of the lowest paid HC in the NFL.

The market is making it pretty clear that Ben Johnson and Vrabel are the top choices this round of hiring. After those 2 there’s a perceived step down in profiles and there’s 6 openings already.

Add in that Ben Johnson allegedly is asking for a top dollar

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

The market is making it pretty clear that Ben Johnson and Vrabel are the top choices this round of hiring. After those 2 there’s a perceived step down in profiles and there’s 6 openings already.

Add in that Ben Johnson allegedly is asking for a top dollar

What's top dollar? Andy Reid is getting $20M. Dan Campbell makes $11M.

In between you have Payton, Tomlin, Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, Kyle Shanahan and McVay. They've all won a Super Bowl or got to one with San Fran and lost it.

Vrabel is going to want at least $10M and he's going to want a direct line to ownership. Poles reports to Warren, Warren to ownership. So if the GM can't go direct to the owners, the HC surely won't be able to either. Ownership, Warren and Poles are going to have to make concessions to Vrabel and just about anyone else. It would be a real 180 if they do that now, but they'd better hurry because the window on this team could shut quickly. Caleb had one of the better QB seasons in franchise history, which isn't saying much, but still gives you a glimmer of hope of what he can do with some structure and functionality.

McCarthy gets $4M with the Cowboys. I think there needs to be some consideration about the dollars in terms of current accomplishments to this point. I don't want the OC who is currently coaching Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson. Johnson has made Goff an MVP caliber QB1. I don't know that it means you pay him on par with Super Bowl winning HC.

But they can't hire someone who is among the lowest paid HC in the NFL again. That clearly has not worked. If someone gives Johnson crazy money, more power to them. There are a couple of teams more dysfunctional than the Bears in recent years. Raiders are certainly one of those for me.

 

[irishu]

Source: Cowboys deny Bears' McCarthy request

The Cowboys have denied permission to the Bears to interview coach Mike McCarthy, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

www.espn.com

 

[irishu]

Mike McCarthy blocked from interviewing with Bears

Pete Carroll interviewing with Bears on Thursday. He would like to return to sidelines in 2025.

Also interviewing Joe Brady, Mike Vrabel, Thomas Brown, Ben Johnson, Brian Flores, and others.

 

[zelezo vlk]

Dodging a bullet with McCarthy. Pete Carroll would be my worst-case scenario for realistic hires. Guy is in his 70s and was slipping in Seattle, who were happy to effectively fire the best coach they ever had.

 

[Giddyup]

Carroll was slipping or Russell Wilson was slipping?

 

[PNW Irishman]

Carroll was slipping or Russell Wilson was slipping?

The franchise and fans were both pretty fine, if not quite pleased, to get rid of Russ. The feelings were much more mixed last year when letting Carroll go.

 

[Southside Sully]

Dodging a bullet with McCarthy. Pete Carroll would be my worst-case scenario for realistic hires. Guy is in his 70s and was slipping in Seattle, who were happy to effectively fire the best coach they ever had.

11 double digit win seasons.. Not saying i want him, but he is much better than anything we have had since lovie

 

[zelezo vlk]

11 double digit win seasons.. Not saying i want him, but he is much better than anything we have had since lovie

So would Belichick but there’s a reason their franchises were happy to push them out the door. Best case scenario for a Pete Carroll Bear tenure is the rich man’s version of the John Fox years. The culture would be fixed but success is hard capped because the game has passed him by.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I'm not sure I'd be interested in Carroll. Some kind of front office or advisory role, sure.

If the Steelers get rolled this weekend and the Rooneys part ways with Tomlin, that's a call I think you make. I doubt the Bears would be able to meet his salary demands, but pie in the sky, I think the market would be kinder to Tomlin than to Belichick, Carroll and McCarthy.

Vrabel is the top guy on the market right now. If Tomlin get let go, that changes quick.

 

[zelezo vlk]

I'm not sure I'd be interested in Carroll. Some kind of front office or advisory role, sure.

If the Steelers get rolled this weekend and the Rooneys part ways with Tomlin, that's a call I think you make. I doubt the Bears would be able to meet his salary demands, but pie in the sky, I think the market would be kinder to Tomlin than to Belichick, Carroll and McCarthy.

Vrabel is the top guy on the market right now. If Tomlin get let go, that changes quick.

I think that's undoubtedly true. Belichick's biggest issues at the end were bad offensive rosters made worse by bad offensive coaching hires. Tomlin has the former but without the total personnel control that Belichick had. Plus like it or not, the League wants younger guys, not a couple of guys pushing 72/73.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I think that's undoubtedly true. Belichick's biggest issues at the end were bad offensive rosters made worse by bad offensive coaching hires. Tomlin has the former but without the total personnel control that Belichick had. Plus like it or not, the League wants younger guys, not a couple of guys pushing 72/73.

The Raiders reached out to Belichick. He's staying at UNC.

Doesn't sound like he's going back to the NFL. Game may have passed him by too.

Tomlin is turning 53 and I think he has a lot left in the tank. He's been with the Steelers a long time. Maybe parting ways is going to be beneficial for both. He's also never had a losing season, which is pretty remarkable from where we sit as Bears fans.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I'm just relieved to see a list of more than 3 fucking guys.

Last time, the Bears interviewed three names: Matt Eberflus, Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell. McCaskey basically plopped that list on Poles' desk on his first day and said "pick one". FFS.

This time: Carroll, Johnson, Brady, Vrabel, Flores and Brown, plus others. This indicates what we knew already. George was probably told to sit in the timeout corner while Warren and Poles played point on the coaching search.

I'm still not happy that Poles kept his job since he hasn't really done much to warrant any sort of confidence, but the process has clearly changed this time around.

 

[zelezo vlk]

The Raiders reached out to Belichick. He's staying at UNC.

Doesn't sound like he's going back to the NFL. Game may have passed him by too.

Tomlin is turning 53 and I think he has a lot left in the tank. He's been with the Steelers a long time. Maybe parting ways is going to be beneficial for both. He's also never had a losing season, which is pretty remarkable from where we sit as Bears fans.

I would gladly hire Tomlin, but I don’t think he’ll be available until he has a bad season for Pittsburgh. He does need to figure out these offensive coaching hires though.

 

[Huntr]

 

[irishu]

Ehhhh no