George McCaskey has to decide whether to bring back the Bears' current coach and GM duoGETTY IMAGES
The Bears lost to the Saints in the Wild Card round and this season's outcome begs the question of how many opportunities Bears GM Ryan Pace can get to "fix the franchise's problem, which was a problem when he was hired" in '15, according to Brad Biggs of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Maybe Bears Chair George McCaskey decides Pace and coach Matt Nagy are a "package deal at this point and gives them another season." The Bears have "qualified for the playoffs in two of the last three years, and it's easy to see them as a partnership." Or maybe McCaskey "decides Pace and Nagy are a package deal and he's unhappy with the trajectory of the franchise and fires both of them." Biggs: "That seems unlikely to me because a rough estimate of the cost to completely reboot things would be $20 million; because the Bears, like every other team, are facing revenue losses this year." Or maybe McCaskey "decides to retain Nagy and replace Pace." If so, he "likely would move quickly as six other teams are in the hunt for a GM (or similar-level personnel hire)" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/11).
WORK CUT OUT? In Chicago, Jason Lieser notes the Bears' 42-56 record over six seasons, including 0-2 in the playoffs, "can't possibly be good enough for Pace to keep his job." The "staggering disarray and impotence" on offense over the last two seasons "leaves Nagy on shaky ground at best." What this destruction by the Saints does is "eliminate any justification" for McCaskey "to keep his team intact." He would be "inviting future failure, and there would be no excuse for the delusion that the Bears are headed the right way" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 1/11). THE ATHLETIC's Jon Greenberg wondered if McCaskey fires Pace, "who hires his replacement?" If he fires or reassigns President & CEO Ted Phillips, "who hires his replacement?" Greenberg: "Who makes the decisions on Nagy or [QB Mitch] Trubisky? What about the rest of this roster?" Nagy was "rightfully credited last year for keeping the team together during a potentially fractious season, but he should also be judged on how sloppy this year's team was." He should "certainly be graded on the state of his offense" (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/10).
