The Chicago Bears have two games left to play in the 2021 season. Whether they win both or lose both doesn’t matter at this point. They’re out of the playoff picture. It’s all about cosmetics and draft position now. The questions people are asking have to do with what changes will be made once the offseason begins. A team doesn’t lose 10 or more games and expect things to stay the same.
This is where it has become quite messy. George McCaskey elected to keep the pairing of GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy together last offseason. He believed the two were the best leaders for the job at the time despite the disappointing finish to 2020. As things have gone off the rails this year though, it sounds like that united front has begun to fracture. According to a source, there is an “undeniable strong dissension” inside the organization.
People are picking sides.
Pace has his supporters. Nagy has his. Both are pushing the top brass to keep one or the other. McCaskey is caught in the middle trying to sort things out. This is why no announcements have been made yet. The team chairman has so many different voices in his ear telling him different things. That would explain why the source also added he is getting advice from people outside the organization as well.
Where things stand is a bit difficult to determine. The belief remains that Nagy will be out as head coach. It is Pace that is the harder decision to make. He has strong backers in the organization but not enough to make his return any sort of guarantee. Some are warning McCaskey that keeping the GM will limit the number of top head coach candidates that will want to come to Chicago. Even with the allure of Justin Fields.
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Shouldn’t be a surprise the Chicago Bears are in this spot
When it becomes clear changes are a necessity to an organization trending in the wrong direction, unity is one of the first things to go. Survival mode kicks in. Guys start doing everything they can to ensure they don’t lose their jobs. If that means having to sell the other down the river, then so be it. The same thing happened back in 2014. Marc Trestman and Phil Emery both tried pleading their cases to McCaskey. Trying to convince him they could get things fixed.
In the end, the chairman decided to clean house. It feels like the same could be happening again. Nagy is all but gone. Pace isn’t decided yet but the recent rumors that the Chicago Bears are researching possible GM candidates can’t bode well for his chances. Also, the fact that McCaskey doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to take advantage of the new NFL rule that allows teams to interview head coach candidates two weeks early suggests changes will go higher than that spot.
One must find a GM first before securing a head coach.
There is no other way to describe this situation than an absolute mess. Not surprising given how the season has gone. McCaskey tried to give Nagy and Pace one more chance. They did everything possible to make it work. Sadly a mix of bad luck and bad decisions has led to their worst season since 2017. Changes were made after that year too. This time around, they may go all the way.
