Jason La Canfora surprised a number of Chicago Bears fans on Sunday when he released a column for CBS Sports suggesting a major front office shakeup is looming. One that could see former defensive end and current agent Trace Armstrong take over football operations. Armstrong denied this on Twitter a few hours later, but this wasn’t the only bit of information in the article that was noteworthy. There was also Dwayne Joseph.
Apparently, the team has an interest in bringing the Las Vegas Raiders director of pro personnel director to Chicago.
“Raiders director of pro personnel Dwayne Joseph, a former teammate of his in Chicago, would also be a top candidate to join a restructured front office with the Bears should ownership opt to go in this direction, sources said.”
For those who don’t know Joseph, here is a rundown. He signed with the Bears in 1994 as an undrafted free agent out of Syracuse. After three seasons with the team, he was out of the league. Then in 1998, he rejoined the Bears as part of their player developmental program. A role he would thrive in until 2003 when he had an opportunity to become a scout for the first time with the Miami Dolphins.
It was there that his career really began to take off.
Joseph climbed the ladder for the next eight seasons in South Beach. Then in 2012, the Bears brought him home to become their new assistant director of college scouting. However, it soon became apparent that his biggest strength was pro scouting. So they moved him to assistant director of pro personnel in 2013. The same year they signed Martellus Bennett, Jermon Bushrod, and Matt Slauson. This helped the Bears field their best offense of the 2010s.
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Sadly, he was phased out by 2015 when GM Ryan Pace took over. It didn’t take long to land on his feet though. Philadelphia made him their director of pro personnel that same year. What followed was the best work of his career as the Eagles landed Rodney McLeod, Brandon Brooks, Alshon Jeffery, Ronald Darby, Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and Nick Foles. All of whom would play central roles in their 2017 Super Bowl title run.
Dwayne Joseph has since worked with the Raiders
They added him in 2019 as their director of pro scouting. While their draft work has been highly questionable since then, Joseph has done a tremendous job. Trent Brown, Richie Incognito, Nick Kwiatkoski, Corey Littleton, Yannick Ngakoue, and Casey Heyward have all made strong contributions to the team as free agent signings. If the Bears were looking for somebody to run the pro personnel department? This is definitely a guy to call.
His Bears background only makes it an easier decision. So is the Dwayne Joseph rumor at all true? With La Canfora involved, it is never easy to tell. According to a source, the interest in the veteran executive is “very real.” Whether they can get him is the big question. Nobody knows what is going to happen with the Raiders front office after this season. The coaching staff will be replaced, but what about GM Mike Mayock. Some think he might stick around. If not? That means Joseph could soon be available.
Bringing him home would be an easy decision at that point.
As always, situations like this are fluid and can change fast. With the Bears having now lost seven of their last eight games, it is a fair assumption that things aren’t going to stay the same next year. Nagy and Pace could both be gone by January 10th. Then people will see what George McCaskey has in mind. If Joseph is indeed part of those plans? More power to him.
