Things change fast in the NFL. A few weeks ago, Matt Eberflus looked like he finally had the Chicago Bears on the winning path, claiming three straight victories going into the bye week. Then, a brutal Hail Mary loss in Washington followed by a rout in Arizona left many believing it was a mirage. This is who Eberflus is. He calls a great defense, but he is woefully inadequate when it comes to actual head coaching. Poor situational awareness. Poor late-game execution. Lacking the ability to motivate.
Barring an unexpected turnaround in the coming weeks, most believe Eberflus is staring down the likelihood of getting fired. Three losing seasons in a row will do that. Candidates are already eyeing the job with intrigue. However, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune may have poured ice water on those hopes for many fans. In his recent mailbag, he dropped a shocking update involving Eberflus’ contract. It appears next year won’t be his last, signaling the Bears may have always intended to keep him longer than expected.
“While I was under the assumption Eberflus signed a four-year contract when he was hired, I’m now led to believe he actually signed a five-year deal that runs through the 2026 season. If you think about it, when you’re selling the idea of a rebuild and preaching patience, it stands to reason Eberflus would seek a deal longer than four years, and from what I’m told, I believe he got that. You may recall I asked Eberflus directly about the length of his contract when he was hired, and he declined to say.”
The likely explanation for this Matt Eberflus decision.
GM Ryan Poles knew going into his first year in 2022 that he was going to tear the roster down. That meant a complete rebuild. It would take time. For it to work, he needed to make sure there was stability at head coach. A five-year contract would, theoretically, ensure that compared to four years. That is because Poles likely knew he would draft a quarterback at some point along the way. One of the biggest issues the Bears have had is firing head coaches a year after drafting QBs. It happened with John Fox in 2018 and Matt Nagy in 2022. Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields never panned out as a result. They may not want to repeat history with Caleb Williams.
The problem is that Matt Eberflus continues to show his lack of competence at building an offensive structure that will help a young quarterback. His first offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, was a bust, and now it appears his second, Shane Waldron, isn’t much better. Keeping that hierarchy in place for the sake of continuity is terrible logic. They tried continuity on the offensive line this year and look where that got them. Eberflus isn’t cut out for the job. The number of years left on his contract shouldn’t alter the decision.
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If true they got bamboozled by the ultimate snake oil salesman.
Flus is the real life “Summer Wheeze” salesman that invented that can of spray that would melt snow and ultimately end Frosty’s life.
We all see what Eberflus’ ceiling is as a head coach. He’s not going to cut it. The decision to replace him should have no bearing on the length of his contract. It was bad business to give a 5 year deal to someone that never was a head coach. So if they have to eat the remainder of his contract that’s on them.
That’s crazy if True and it shows how dysfunctional this organization really is. If Waldron continues to bomb out this year, are they going to allow Flus to select his 3rd OC? Also if Caleb will end up with a regime change the earlier the better. You brought him in to take advantage of his Rookie contract and to start over in his 3rd year instead of his 2nd year is just crazy and effectively wasting most of his Rookie contract. I don’t care how many years Flus has left, if they miss out on someone like Ben Johnson in… Read more »
Okay, I’ll buy into the fact that you need time to build the team up from the ground floor. But, you already have enough information from Eberflus’ body of work that he is still green as a HC. He has proven that he is not good a managing the games and making adjustments on the fly as the really good HC often do. So with that said, I don’t think the Bears need to give him another year because of the length of the contract. He has had three years to prove that he can manage the games and more… Read more »
You mean to tell me the Bears organization signed off on the idea of a 5 year rebuild?? In an era where every team other than the Bears are rebuilt for the most part, and winning games by year 2 or 3. Hopefully this is not true. If so, that’s very bad business.