WrigleyField 22

Low key I think this is the issue for many. Put him on ozempic and his favorability rating skyrockets. Hes probably 3rd for me after Johnson and Monken at this point. I think I'd have slated Vrabel ahead when he was available. Johnson Monken McCarthy Tier 2 (spin young hot OC wheel no specific order) Coen, Brady Tier 3 (would probably talk myself into) Carroll, Shaw, Flores Rest not worth ranking either because my opinion is low or uninformed.

Brown won't count towards Rooney Rule. Glenn and Flores they can't get in the door until earliest the 20th. If they were really trying to make a push for Vrabel they had to find a way to advance the timeline of 2 in person interviews. Not saying they could have closed as quick as NE did who really blatantly sham interviewed the Rooney Rule interviews, but there could be something there and at least one insider alluded to it... It's also possible now that among the group of Weaver, Shaw, Glenn, Flores they only end up needing to bring 1 in person. If 3 don't wow, you'd have basically still had to have advanced one. On Shaw I've seen conflicting reports on if he's restricted from in-person interviews like employed coaches are - he's an employee of Denver, but as an Exec...

Hard to support Thomas Brown back in any capacity honestly. Had a little bit of a dead cat bounce when he became OC, but his cumulative record, including his time last year in Carolina is a tough sell. Seems likely McCarthy is back in Dallas and if not I see him sitting out a year or doing some light Sr advisor horsefeathers for a year. Going to a OC role does little for him.

I think we should slow down with the idea of HC interviews as secret coordinator interviews. There's a least some speculation Ron was brought in person specifically due to Rooney Rule... I don't know is that's truely the case, but Bears were behind 8 ball with Vrabel if they were making a serious run at him. For what it is worth he seemed to come out of nowhere and is the only in person interview so far when all others, even Carroll and Vrabel were reported to be virtual. Maybe there is something there, though they are still one Rooney Rule interview short if they were trying to close Vrabel quickly. Or they legit had interest. Or they are just doing a lot of network/info gathering and Rivera is a former HC in a search with only a few others like that who could give new perspectives. Or George mandated it because the org still lives in 1985 and 2006. Or Poles actually likes him (thus explains why George is so behind him)

No

Vrabel wasn't free until recently. How exactly are they supposed to narrow down the 5 of 6? People just need to stop being impatient. Bears have often worked quickly - it means nothing.

Honestly the biggest thing people don't get is it's a league cap. Not that teams don't have to account for their own spending, but if you spend cash over the cap that just gets pulled out of future cap increases for the whole league. At that point your team gets the same share of that cap decrease 1/32. So the trick to maximize it is spending more without guaranteeing too much or structuring it in a way that you overshoot and deal with timing issues and having to make bad $ value decisions just to service the cap. I think a consistent 10-12% overspend is probably ideal (and ideally as consistent as possible, not 20% over one year and offset the next). But even up to 15% consistent overage is manageable. I think Browns even were pushing past that but that was very dependent on Watson being like a 8-10 year QB for them. That move flopping hurts them (not to mention lost picks). But it's a relatively minor pill to swallow especially because they understand it so won't spiral into a cash recesssion tank job to "clean up the cap" or some nonsense.

Obligatory Salary Cap is a Myth. Now bad spending decisions still exist, but on a team level it ends very quickly. Watson easily the worst single contract ever and it's only going to make them slightly uncomfortable from a cap mgmt standpoint. New Orleans is the only team that's credibly in a cap hell territory because they've done foot on the gas for 20 years. And they still annually do more than a bunch of spreadsheet nerds say they can. It's always overstated. If they wanted to they could basically "clean things up" in 1 year. It would be barely more painful than the tank job Poles willingly did his first year. Every team is required to meet that minimum threshold (90% over 3 years for most of CBA). The median team is typically spending like 108% percent of the cap in cash. You can consistently go at least 115% of the cap year over year if you're committed to the approach. Only when you explode it over a short time frame does it get somewhat difficult. So yea there isn't this massive difference, but I'd still rather spend the extra $20M or whatever. The structure of Bears spending over past 3 years tells me it's probably a GM issue over ownership cheapness. Poles structures his deals like someone who's afraid of dead cap hits. That leads me to think it's not about ownership spending mandates (though it could be a small part) So I think we have a scared-of-FA weenie at GM. Which frankly is what most fans pined over (see: weird Ballard obsession from the fanbase)

Fake insiders on Twitter are going absolutely lit spreading rumors on the candidate interviews.

Poles said he would. But Browns already getting OC requests. I kind of imagine Poles has already told him it's not happening.... Who knows.

When he wasn't almost accidentally kneeling it down

Lmao

Would be a upgrade for NFL fans and Greg Olsen

Black Monday used to be one day

Probably not "long" before SB. If Lions make it past divisional round, the earliest they can even get him in the building is Jan 27. They'll get 3 hours of zoom before that. They also can't have any contact after Feb 2 if Lions make SB. I'd say Jan 30- Feb 2 is the likely leak timeframe.

Worth the wait.

Right. And if its a SB team its the bye week as the window for in person interviews.

Thanks a lot Brock

Who's a bigger dummy the organization or it's fans?

Well good luck with that.

Based on what?

Saints list shaping up:

If there is any issue with Poles as lame duck it's him hiring out of his own self interest in hiring a coach who won't get him forced out. But 99% of the complaints of him being lame duck are centered on attracting the candidates. I don't think that is an issue and could be a low key positive (the ability to force out and scape goat Poles early on if needed). Thats where Warrens role in the process, especially if George is really Poles biggest backer gets interesting.

Yea I am glad that is sounds like there is no extension for Poles. That whole component was way overblown by a fan base that loves obsessing over minute details that matter little. Messaging can use work though lol. Honestly I think George probably answered it better (though asked a slightly different way).

The new rules require such a long runway, I'm not overly concerned with it. Outside of the few candidates who aren't currently employed I think there can't even be in person interviews until the 20th. I'm guessing while 3 hours I'd allowed under the rules, many will clock in under that. But a lot is probably for appearamces. And maybe for negotiation purposes with agents.