Where do Bears head coach, GM jobs rank among NFL openings? – Daily Herald
Chicago Bears Chairman George H. McCaskey watches from the tunnel at Soldier Field during a 2018 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. AP File Photo
Where does the desirability of the Bears job openings at general manager and head coach rank among positions open around the league?
With three clubs looking for GMs the fact the Bears and the Giants are two of the NFL’s heritage franchises, the Bears its most historic and they play in the No. 3 and No. 1 markets, respectively, gives them a leg up on the Vikings.
The size of those markets comes with dramatically elevated media attention and pressure, but if candidates can’t handle that they shouldn’t be applying.
The reputation of the Giants organization — the respect around the league for the Mara and Tisch families on the football side — gives them a clear edge over that built by the McCaskeys and the Wilfs who are nowhere near as high profile.
If the three GMs don’t get to hire their own head coaches no one will want the jobs.
As for the on field challenges new GMs will face, the presence of Justin Fields and Daniel Jones as potential franchise quarterbacks leaves the Vikings in third place with Kirk Cousins and his cap-choking contract.
The Bears’ greatest advantage is a projected $40 million in cap space, while the Giants are basically even or marginally over the cap and the Vikings have a $9 million deficit to clean up.
But the Bears are big losers when it comes to draft capital in year one.
The Giants have theirs and the Bears’ first-round picks, and five of the top 81 including 5, 7, 36, 69 and 81.
The Vikings are in decent shape with the 11th, 46th and 77th picks.
The Bears will pick only at 39 and 71 before day three.
Lastly, how much talent beyond the quarterbacks is already in place? I don’t have enough space here to break that down, and if you’re looking for a GM to win immediately and that’s the candidate’s main concern, you’re probably talking to the wrong guys.
All things considered I have to rank these jobs: 1. Giants, 2. Bears, 3. Vikings.
With all of that in mind the Dolphins, Jaguars, Texans, Broncos and Raiders are all looking for new head coaches.
While many rank the Raiders job highly I’d eliminate them first.
If Rich Bisaccia hasn’t earned the right to keep that job how much do you want to work for Mark Davis? Coaches and agents talk.
I also think a concern is can you think of a market that offers more distractions and potential pitfalls while you have to manage 50 to 60 20-somethings?
Look at the off field issues already. Yes, David Carr is there but …
Again, the presence of Fields, Jones and now Trevor Lawrence and Tua Tagovailoa should be pluses.
If the Bears organization is dysfunctional, the Texans are the definition of incompetent. What they just did to David Culley feels almost like a felony, and we have no idea how to value Deshaun Watson. Shahid Khan in Jacksonville and Steven Ross in Miami can’t possibly rank any higher than the McCaskeys.
Broncos ownership is unsettled and may remain that way for a while.
The biggest factor, however, for prospective head coaching candidates in a position to choose a job, will be whether they can win with the people they’ll be working with.
George Paton in Denver will attract quality applicants.
Chris Grier in Miami will have to overcome his failure with Brian Flores as will Jacksonville’s Tent Baalke from his messy breakup with Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco and the epic disaster of Urban Meyer although that belongs more to Khan.
Nick Caserio owns the Culley crime.
Raiders GM Mike Mayock is as solid as they come but how much authority does he have?
With the Bears, Giants and Vikings, whom are we talking about?
For ranking purposes, assuming those three will make quality hires and acknowledging talent already in place on each club can move these rankings, it is extremely subjective but here’s how I rank the head coach openings: 1. Giants, 2. Broncos, 3. Bears, 4. Vikings, 5. Jaguars, 6. Dolphins, 7. Raiders, 8. Texans.
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