Changes are coming to Halas Hall, one way or another. That much is obvious after this season. You can’t start 4-2 and then lose every remaining game and expect things to stay the same. The only uncertainty right now for the Chicago Bears is how deep the changes go. The coaching staff will be overhauled. Every sign indicates as much. What isn’t known is whether the front office will see a similar outcome. GM Ryan Poles is on the hot seat, at least in the eyes of fans and media. However, that may not be the departure many expect.
It appears another key executive office member could be on his way out. According to Albert Breer, there is a chance assistant GM Ian Cunningham may finally depart for his own GM position this offseason. The team to watch is the Indianapolis Colts, who seem ready to move on from Chris Ballard. Head coach Shane Steichen worked together with Cunningham in Philadelphia during the 2021 season. A reunion in Indianapolis sounds like a possibility.
The Chicago Bears would benefit from this outcome.
Any time a minority executive gets hired as GM of another organization, his original team receives draft compensation. In this case, it would be two 3rd round picks, one in 2025 and another in 2026. Such an outcome would give the Chicago Bears nine picks in the upcoming draft, including five in the first three rounds. That would present a great opportunity to infuse the roster with more talent. Cunningham has been in demand over the past couple of cycles. He reportedly had a clear shot at the Arizona Cardinals job last year but chose to pass on it. Indianapolis is a much more stable organization. Pairing with a coach he’s familiar with is certainly a bonus. The question is how much leash Cunningham would have regarding the coaching staff and organizational structure. If he likes what he hears, things could come together.
So the assistant GM is worth twice as much as Justin Fields? Welcome to bizarro-world!
@Sam As for who hired Eberflus, reality is, no one really knows for sure, at least not outside of Halas Hall. What you may choose to believe probably depends on how likely you think it is that a guy who gets his dream job of being a GM in the NFL after a decade or so of working his way up would make his single most important hiring decision in less than 48 hours, choosing a guy he had never really known or worked with other than occasionally crossing paths at NFL events and having the same agent. As for… Read more »
Arnie, you aren’t mentioning that Claypools issues and Davis’s issues were known when Poles signed them. It wasn’t new. They both severely lacked the same work ethic in their previous spots. And as a guy who is from Pgh, yea, Poles bid against himself for Claypool. Nobody else was really giving up a 2nd for him. Pgh just made Poles their bitch like they always do. I know u are a guy who always 100% blames coaching. U have always been that guy in these comments. While I dont discount the value in good coaching, it doesn’t change the fact… Read more »
@Sam The point isn’t to just look at players and how they performed after being signed, acquired or drafted by the Bears. It’s to compare that to how they played prior to joining the Bears. Even Nate Davis and Chase Claypool put up plenty of good performances. Davis was an above average 4 year starter on a mostly good team, and rarely missed games. Claypool was good enough, even when Pittsburgh wanted to unload him that Green Bay was offering up their 2nd round pick for him too. The only reason Pittsburgh made the deal with the Bears is they… Read more »
These comments are fun lol. King Poles!!! 😂😂 either Poles is the worst GM in NFL history or the coaches are the worst. No middle ground people!! One or the other!! Couldn’t possibly be below average players selected by King Poles that are coached by below average coaches, that collectively created a bad product on the field. That’s not an option. You have to just assume that every single coach the Bears employ (which Poles had a strong hand in choosing) are not NFL quality coaches. Ignore the fact that they’ve all had some level of success in the NFL… Read more »