Bears Blitz

Published by Zach Kruse on November 11, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The currently constructed Chicago Bears have hit a crossroads, and the path leading away from this point—the rock bottom of another lost season, perpetuated by Sunday night’s embarrassing loss to the Green Bay Packers—isn’t lined with any shortcuts or quick fixes. 

The Bears are saddled with a quarterback who has already reached his ceiling, a head coach who can’t get through to his players, a defensive coordinator lost in his efforts to make something out of nothing and a general manager who has botched the defensive rebuilding process. 

Pressing the fire button on the whole operation feels like an attractive option, but it’s simply not realistic, and in some cases not even an option. 

The reality of the whole situation creates a difficult fix. 

The Bears are contractually stuck with quarterback Jay Cutler, who has a league-leading 15 turnovers in nine games this season. His seven-year, $126.7 million deal signed last January contained $54 million guaranteed. Cutting him before 2016 (as in, this coming offseason) would cost the Bears $19.5 million in dead money on the 2015 cap. No team is crazy enough to eat that kind of money by releasing a quarterback. 

For all intents and purposes, Cutler is tied to Chicago through next season. And he’ll make $15.5 million in base salary and count $16.5 million against the cap, so he’s almost certain to be the team’s starting quarterback come opening day 2015. 

That’s a big, big problem. The 31-year-old Cutler has essentially maxed out his skill set. He’s become slightly more efficient in 2014—his 66.4 completion percentage and 92.8 passer rating would both set new career highs—but his inability to avoid turnovers (10 interceptions, five lost fumbles in 2014) or even compete against the team’s biggest rival (Bears lost to the Packers by a combined score of 93-31 this season) is more prevalent than ever. Evolution isn’t coming. Cutler is now who he always will be. 

The fastest track back would be to deal Cutler at some point this offseason, and then draft a quarterback high next spring. But the chances of an NFL franchise actually completing a trade for an older, flat-lining, turnover-prone, headache machine of a quarterback with his contract are only slightly less than Cutler’s odds of ever beating Aaron Rodgers at Lambeau Field. 

The quarterback is stuck in place for at least another year. What about the head coach?

Marc Trestman also has contractual leverage over the Bears, but not nearly at the level of Cutler. The former CFL coach has a deal in Chicago that runs through 2016—giving him the rest of 2014 and then still two more years left on his contract. 

The Bears are not a franchise that makes rash, in-season firings of the head coach. And considering Trestman has two years left on his current deal, with roughly $7 million still to be paid out, it’s unclear if the Bears would can him this offseason and pay two head coaches for the next two years or wait out the storm for another season. If the Bears are competitive down the stretch, he could keep his job for a third year.

That said, the Bears have been anything but competitive over the last month and a half. Chicago has lost four of five games, including back-to-back games by a margin of 106 to 37. It looked like varsity against the JV in New England before the bye, and SEC school against FBS cupcake in Green Bay after the bye. That shouldn’t cut it at this level, regardless of situation. 

Completely losing the locker room would have to be the end for Trestman. And listening to his Monday press conference—in which he claimed that the Bears needed to go back and revisit past wins over the 49ers and Jets just to find ways of playing competitive football—probably speaks to his tenuous hold over a group of 53 grown men. You can only imagine being a veteran in the Bears locker room and wondering how a head coach clearly out of answers will get this sinking ship turned around. 

Yet the Bears are in a difficult position in terms of replacing Trestman. Let’s say, for a moment, that the slate is wiped clean after 2014, and Trestman is let go. Is the Bears job an attractive one right now? Cutler is locked in for at least another year. The defense is in shambles. The franchise is simply lacking the building blocks necessary to lure a top coach. 

Jim Harbaugh—if let loose by the San Francisco 49ers, of course—would be a tremendous fit in Chicago, and a feel-good story for the franchise that originally drafted him back in 1987. But would Harbaugh, who is maybe the most demanding of all head coaches at the quarterback position, have any desire to work with Cutler? Would that relationship survive more than a week? Harbaugh and Cutler feels a little bit like mixing fire and gasoline. 

The same premise applies to any coach. Cutler brings great volatility to the job. The Bears might just look at the entire situation and realize that rolling with Trestman and Cutler together for another year is the only realistic scenario. If 2015 is another flop, then a true cleanup can begin, with a new head coach and quarterback arriving together. 

In terms of immediate changes, the firing of defensive coordinator Mel Tucker likely tops the list. And for obvious reasons: The Bears are last in the NFL in scoring defense after a disastrous 2013 season, opponents have hung over 50 points on Chicago in back-to-back games and the results in Green Bay were, for lack of a better word, unbearable. 

Rodgers threw six touchdowns in the first half. Packers receiver Jordy Nelson caught touchdown passes without a defender within five yards of him. Running back Eddie Lacy scored the easiest 56-yard touchdown off a screen pass you’ll ever see. The Chicago pass rush was nonexistent. Basic effort, fundamentals and execution were lacking from the performance, and in a must-win, season-on-the-line game no less. 

Accountability will eventually fall in Tucker’s lap. It might not happen now, during the season, but a change soon after feels as likely and unavoidable as a Cutler turnover. Someone has to answer for the failings on defense. 

Then again, what defensive coach will want to take on this mess? The next coordinator would be inheriting an aging collection of misfits personnel-wise, plus the instability of either a lame-duck head coach or starting over in the first year. The Bears have rookie cornerback Kyle Fuller and not much else as long-term building blocks. And no coach wants to jump into a potential one-and-done situation. 

Any top defensive coordinator candidate would likely scoff at joining the Bears for 2015. 

Tucker remains the most likely member of the staff to answer for the demise, even if he’s been tasked with coaxing something out of nothing. But would firing him just set in motion a chasing-your-own-tail search for a replacement?

The architect of the whole operation, general manager Phil Emery, might be the safest of all. Like Trestman, Emery is under contract through the 2016 season. Yet he has made colossal errors in all facets of building the Bears’ current roster. 

Signing Cutler to a megadeal looks like a disaster, but he was mostly backed into a corner with no good escape options. Either give Cutler the money and retain a quarterback who at least keeps the Bears relevant, or let him walk and start over at the game’s most important position. He chose the “safer” route and lost.

His rebuild of the Bears defense is harder to defend. 

He spent gobs of money on Jared Allen, who is in the twilight of his career and now mostly a non-factor, and Lamarr Houston, who needed eight weeks to get his first sack and then tore his ACL celebrating it. Bargain-buy Willie Young was superb in a situational role, but he’s disappeared of late as his role has increased. 

The Bears possess, without much doubt, the worst collection of linebackers and safeties in the NFL. Neither position has anything near what could be considered an impact player, leaving no surprise that few teams are worse defending the middle of the field. If you can’t defend the middle of the field, playing defense is next to impossible in the modern, spaced-out game. 

Emery took over the Bears roster in 2012. His failed defensive picks include first-round linebacker Shea McClellin, third-round defensive back Brandon Hardin and second-round linebacker Jon Bostic. His one true hit has been Fuller, but a single cornerback can’t save a defense with so many other holes. He’s tied up big money on offense and left precious few resources for the other side. 

Departures are on the way. The Bears will likely lose cornerback Charles Tillman and linebackers Lance Briggs and D.J. Williams this offseason. Allen is 32. Cornerback Tim Jennings will be 31. Safety Chris Conte and defensive tackle Stephen Paea will be free agents. In terms of the future, the Bears have as empty a cupboard on defense as any franchise in football. 

Emery shoulders the blame for the 53-man roster. He also handpicked Trestman, over the likes of Bruce Arians, who has the Arizona Cardinals at 8-1.

But what’s the use of firing the general manager when the quarterback is tied down for at least another year and the head coach has two years left on his deal? More than likely, the Bears are a packaged deal at the three most important spots: general manager, head coach and quarterback. Either the three rebound and stay, or they all depart together. 

The stark reality in Chicago is that things might get worse before they start getting better. 

The Bears are stuck in neutral at quarterback. The head coach situation is devolving but complicated. It might not matter who is coaching the current defensive personnel. And the general manager probably shouldn’t be trusted with cleaning up a mess he’s already re-dirtied. 

The whole situation provides no simple solutions and a dreary short-term outlook. At least the Bears can take solace in the fact that Sunday night’s drubbing in Green Bay was probably rock bottom. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2

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