With fans more interested in what changes are coming on Monday than the Chicago Bears’ final game on Sunday, the speculation on the fate of the people in charge of the team is heating up this weekend.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio added his take to the pot on Saturday, saying that the team could be looking at more than just firing the coaching staff:
“(Jay) Cutler recently acknowledged that 'everyone could get axed.' There’s chatter in league circles that that could indeed be the case.
“By 'everyone,' the scuttlebutt includes everyone. From coach Marc Trestman to G.M. Phil Emery to team president Ted Phillips, who has held the position for nearly 16 years.”
If that is the route that the McCaskey family chooses to go, it would be an expensive and painful exorcism, but it would show that the team means business after one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory. The offense has taken huge steps backward under Trestman’s guidance, and some of Emery’s biggest signings (Cutler, Brandon Marshall) and draft picks (Shea McClellin) have turned out to be underwhelming, to put it extremely mildly.
The question then becomes one of who will replace these men in the chain of command. Could the Bears hire someone like Mike Shanahan to oversee the whole operation? Could the team lure Jim Harbaugh, who is almost certainly done with the San Francisco 49’ers, in to coach the team, and spice up the offer with personnel control that could make the job more attractive than what the University of Michigan is undoubtedly offering?
Whatever route the Bears end up choosing, Monday is shaping up to be a much more interesting day than Sunday for the team, and if people like Florio are to be believed, the McCaskeys readying a very big broom for the occasion.
