Replacing Jerry: Candidates for Bears General Manager

With Jerry Angelo out, Bears CEO Ted Phillips has the tough job of finding someone to do a better job than Angelo did. With St. Louis, Oakland and Indianapolis also looking for GMs, the Bears will have tough competition in finding the right person for the job. Take a closer look at some of the rumored candidates.

Bill Polian, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts: Polian was the man who put together the Colts team that beat the Bears to win the Super Bowl in 2006. (Ahhh, memories.) He has shown the ability to put together a team around an elite quarterback. On the downside, he let that team languish, and they were just as lost when the Colts lost Peyton Manning as the Bears were without Cutler. Polian is also 69, and may not be interested in starting fresh with another team.

Reggie McKenzie, Green Bay Packers
: Want to know why the Packers are good and why they stay good? Player development. They draft players, prepare them to play in the NFL, and when they're ready, they give them playing time. Aaron Rodgers played behind Brett Favre before becoming the NFL's best quarterback. McKenzie has been with the Packers since 1994 and knows well what makes them successful. He could bring that winning formula to the Packers' greatest rival.

Eric DeCosta, Baltimore Ravens
: Like McKenzie, DeCosta comes from a program that doesn't rebuild, it reloads. He worked his way up from being an assistant with the Ravens to their director of player personnel and is responsible for their acquisition of Anquan Boldin and Haloti Ngata.

Marc Ross, New York Giants
: A rising star who has worked with the Giants, Bills and the Eagles, Ross has run the Giants drafts that brought in Hakeem Nicks and Terrell Thomas, among others. At just 35, he is young but has experience as a collegiate player as well as the ability to spot talent.

Not Tim Ruskell
: ESPN reported today the current Bears director of player personnel, Tim Ruskell, is not expected to be a candidate to replace Angelo. Phew. Ruskell's scouting is responsible for so many of the player gaffes throughout the years.

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