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Bears Not Ruling Out Trading For HC; Latest On Team’s Search Process

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The Bears have not seen a coach stick around for a long-term stay since Lovie Smith, having seen Matt Nagy‘s tenure stop at four years and Matt Eberflus‘ end before Year 3 was done. As they hope to find a leader who can maximize Caleb Williams — or one whose OC hire will do so — the Bears are keeping their options open.

Ryan Poles said the Bears might have some surprises in this search, via the Chicago Sun-Times’ Patrick Finley. A trade for a head coach is also not something Poles will rule out. Trades for HCs’ rights are not too common, but they have produced splashy results in the modern era.

Sean Payton has turned the Broncos around after their disastrous Nathaniel Hackett season, while Bruce Arians‘ unretirement keyed a Buccaneers Super Bowl win. Turn-of-the-century deals involving Bill Belichick, Jon Gruden and Mike Holmgren also all produced Super Bowl appearances, with the Patriots’ play yielding this century’s best run of success. First-round picks changed hands in the Payton, Belichick and Gruden trades. A second went to the Packers for Holmgren, while a late-round pick swap brought Arians to Tampa.

The Bears have not gone down this road. To be fair, they are far from the only team not to have done so. Speculation about a Kyle Shanahan-to-Chicago trade did not take off, with 49ers brass quickly confirming the two-time NFC champion HC was not going anywhere. Kevin O’Connell, oddly, came up in trade rumors as well. This may pertain to potential Vikings extension talks, but multiple teams have expressed interest in acquiring the high-end play-caller’s rights. While an intra-division trade involving O’Connell would be extremely unlikely, a call to the Browns on what it would take to obtain the recently extended Kevin Stefanski — slated to stay in Cleveland, as his team is trapped with the Deshaun Watson contract — would make sense.

As far as who will be making this call for the Bears, Poles is still leading the charge. Though, candidates are curious as to president Kevin Warren‘s role within the organization. Previously viewed as a business-side boss, Warren has instead been playing a regular role in personnel. Warren joins Poles, owner George McCaskey, co-director of player personnel Jeff King, director of football administration Matt Feinstein and executive VP Liz Geist on the search committee.

Assistant GM Ian Cunningham represents an interesting omission, but ESPN.com’s Cronin adds the three-year Bears exec would be added to the committee if efforts to secure a promotion elsewhere to not pan out. Cunningham faced off with 49ers exec Adam Peters in the finals for the Commanders’ GM job last year and has interviewed elsewhere since arriving in Chicago. He has not received any interview requests yet this year, though only two teams — the Jets and Titans — are hiring. The Tennessee opening also only emerged Tuesday morning.

McCaskey is not expected to play a lead role here, per CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, who indicates Poles and Warren will instead shape this hire. Potentially helping to explain any potential trade rumors involving this job opening, a source told Jones that Warren may want a splashier hire to help his stadium project — one that has seen some twists and turns since it launched — across the goal line. The team has scheduled a Mike Vrabel meeting, and Lions OC Ben Johnson — a long-rumored target — is expected to interview as well. The Bears have also reached out to the Cowboys on Mike McCarthy but have not heard back. McCarthy’s Dallas HC contract expires January 14.

Via PFR’s Head Coaching Search Tracker, here is how the Bears’ search stands so far: