NFL ‘helping' Bears coaching search

Share

NFL teams rarely take actions that materially benefit their other league competitors, whether it is divulging competitive information or something like, say, the Green Bay Packers defeating a division rival like, say, the Minnesota Vikings so that a team like, say, the Chicago Bears could slip into the playoffs (just being hypothetical there, of course).

But every so often a confluence of unrelated events can provide a substantial benefit to, say, the Chicago Bears.

As Phil Emery grinds through his candidate list, including offensive coordinators Darrell Bevell of Seattle on Saturday and Indianapolis Bruce Arians on Sunday, other teams are doing Emery and the Bears unintended favors.

The Buffalo Bills hired Doug Marrone from Syracuse. Kansas City quickly snapped up Andy Reid. And the Cleveland Browns grabbed Rob Chudzinski after a short search.

Those hirings took three (out of eight) potential job opportunities off the market and were done involving three individuals not on the Bears list. That means fewer prospects for Arians, Bevell, Marc Trestman, Mike Sullivan or Rick Dennison, prospects that could drive the price up if two teams target the same single finalist.

The Philadelphia Eagles have interviewed Trestman. The San Diego Chargers are expected to have conversations with Arians, who is also on the Eagles list.

But Arians and Trestman had been under consideration in Cleveland, which has now put out the No help wanted sign. And San Diego, which is expected to interview Lovie Smith, has looked more at defensive coaches.

All of which work in favor of the Bears and their plans.

Contact Us