Covering a football team that's massively frustrating and so unbelievably inept offensively is tough. But that's the
Chicago Bears for you. I meant this when I said it on Sunday:
https://twitter.com/DhruvKoul/status/1330537724730896384?s=20
Sports are meant to be fun! But the Bears just aren't very fun right now. After starting 5-1, they've lost four straight games, each one in mind-numbing fashion, and find themselves with a tough road to the playoffs at this point. Losing to the Minnesota Vikings last Monday night, at home, was the latest touch-base with rock bottom.
https://twitter.com/DhruvKoul/status/1328678000985055244?s=20
The Bears are now preparing for the Green Bay Packers this Sunday night at Lambeau Field, and while another prime time game is not what the Bears, or America, needs right now, this is an interesting game.
Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy's futures hang in the balance. While there's an outside chance both could return, even if Chicago misses the playoffs, losing (especially badly) to Green Bay could seal their fates. Even when the Bears aren't playoff-bound, games against the Packers matter -- a lot. If Pace and Nagy want to save their jobs, beating the Packers would go a long way to convincing the McCaskeys for at least one more year/attempt to get this right.
With that, let's reach into this week's Bears Mailbag. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions. Follow me on Twitter @DhruvKoul to continue the conversation.
Bears Mailbag
https://twitter.com/DhruvKoul/status/1331293919519395840?s=20
To clarify this a little bit...
I don't actually think the Bears will move Ted Phillips anywhere -- fans should rest assured that Phillips doesn't actually have any say in football operations. However, it could be helpful, for everyone's sake, to move Phillips to a new role to run the Bears' business.
Why make Ryan Pace the new President of Football Operations? Well, he still has value and is worth keeping around! He has built an incredible defense, can clearly identify strong talent in the later rounds of the draft and the bargain bin in free agency, and has generally managed the cap well. He does a lot of things well as a GM -- it'd be worth keeping him and his input around, even if the Bears hire a new GM.
People may be concerned about seeing Dimitroff's name here, considering how things ended in Atlanta for him and Dan Quinn. But Dimitroff put together a heck of a team, talent-wise. Coaching is the biggest reason they weren't able to build on their Super Bowl loss to New England.
https://twitter.com/jtbcubs/status/1331289442041139204?s=20
It really depends on what happens in these last six games -- and frankly, more weight should be given to the games against Green Bay. The McCaskeys use the Packers games to gauge where they are as an organization. A bad showing against the Packers could seal their fates.
Since there is no reason to believe things will improve enough on offense to pull off a winning streak to qualify for the playoffs, my guess is both Pace and Nagy will be out. The new regime will have many decisions to make -- namely, should the Bears work on a soft retooling to compete one more time, or blow it all up.
I don't think it's likely that
Allen Robinson returns -- instead, he'll probably be tagged and then traded. (Yes, there should be a market for him.)
The new regime will likely be working with limited resources -- especially with an expected salary cap in the $175 million range. The Bears also have a massive discrepancy in cap dedicated to their defense vs. their offense, so they will likely have to make some difficult decisions with the defense. I'd imagine a combination of these players would be available (as painful as it is):
Kyle Fuller,
Akiem Hicks, and
Khalil Mack.
Robert Quinn should definitely be made available, but it's unlikely there will be a market for him.
Overall, expect a busy, intriguing, yet still painful offseason for the Bears.
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