OK. So you're calling for a 2-year plan and Theo said it would probably take 3 years.

And the last 2 years have been losing seasons. They're under .500 and declining and missed the playoffs both years.

I never understand why you, and others, always bring up that the Cubs had sucked for a couple years before Theo came in like that was part of Theo's plan. He was actively searching for opportunities to take over bad teams as part of a master plan.

So, it's the same plan with different timelines.

Understood.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Regardless of talent they have or don't have, its much easier to go from worst to first in the NFL than in MLB. We see examples of this almost every year.

Well, it is the exact same plan.

Now that I think about it, that isn't even true.

That would have meant the argument was over.

What the hell, I would. Post op is OK right? Right?!?!?!

I'm pretty sure the only way out of this thread is suicide

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Now that I think about it, that isn't even true.

First of all, the plan is basically fire the coaches, and maybe the GM, and trade two players because of bad contracts. Nothing like the Cubs.
If that doesn't work, get rid of two players and absorb the one year salary cap penalty associated with it. Nothing like the Cubs.

Nothing about hording draft picks over multiple years.
Nothing about having an artificially low payroll that you are banking on using in the future.
Nothing about selling any player you can at the deadline for players that are still a ways away from competing.

The only real similarity is the expectation that you would be bad for the first season. If that makes it the exact same plan, then any rebuilding plan was the exact same plan.

DT, I think ...

It's more fun to be a victim

There will never be an effective vaccine. I'll never get one anyway.

Dumping Cutler, Marshall, coaches and GM be ready to compete after one season of rebuilding? That's asking a lot out of Fales. Not sure even Dr. Ken has the faith.

What we are seeing today is the end of the Angelo/Lovie era. The biggest mistake that was made was turning the Emery/Trestman regime into an extension of that. The Trestman hire was a desperate attempt to try and keep what Lovie did around while fixing an offense with unfixable problems. You can't be in "win now" mode forever unless you have a top 5 quarterback or if you are actually winning Super Bowls. The last true rebuilding season was 2004. It is time for another one in 2015.

Trestman is obviously gone as is his whole staff. They are beyond repair.
Emery should probably be gone but there is at least some valid reasons to keep him at least for a year if you bring in a new president to oversee options and hire a new coach. I'd say you get rid of him too, but some amount of continuity could be a good thing especially if it basically takes a lot of the decision making out of his hands. Emery becomes a glorified scout and gets evaluated for the next year.

Now the hard part happens. You must remove Cutler and Marshall from the team. Cutler is tradeable. I have no doubt. You may only get a 7th round pick for him but that is fine. However, a team in win now mode or a team that is desperate may offer more. The team would probably also take Marshall and hope they could extract a few years out of that duo. If not, you release Marshall outright. This would provide salary cap relief that would help but realistically they aren't winning next year no matter what. If you can't find a trade partner, then you release both of them and just take the massive hit so you can move on. The salary cap hit doesn't hurt as much when you are rebuilding since you don't really care about winning anyways. This saves a pretty good amount of money in year 3 I believe.

If you keep Cutler and Marshall, there are only two ways it plays out, and they are equally bad.
1) They end up bouncing back next year and being decent. You end up at 8-8 and have another lost year.
2) They end up being bad again, and you have lost another year.

The absolute ceiling for the Bears the next two years as currently constructed is maybe sneaking in for a wild card. They are old, declining, and have very few young players you can consider good candidates to improve enough to make you more than that. They are in qb hell right now with a quarterback that will never be elite but instead just be average without the team to surround them that can overcome it.

Subtract Trestman, Cutler, Marshall, and probably Emery and do a true rebuild. It's going to be rough to watch but at least there is hope. There is currently no hope for this team. You can't look at what that team was against the Saints and see any real reason for optimism. It just isn't working. The plan failed. There is not a single person that wouldn't go back to the day that Emery was hired and tell him to do a rebuild starting day one, or at a very minimum when he fired Lovie. If they don't do this then they'll be sitting here a year from today wishing they had.

We don't want to become the Jets, who basically close their eyes at the start of every year and wish really hard that they somehow become a good team again. The Bears need an actual plan to do it.

Sure. Why not?

It's the NFL. You can do it. That is what makes so much sense in just flushing out the issues now to start the rebuild.

Somebody explain what moving Sweaty Teddy brings, please. You need a czar with football thoughts to help with the hires. Do you need him outside of that time? Call up Bill Parcells, Marv Levy, anyone else you'd like. Have them consult/direct the hiring process.

They haven't won a Super Bowl in 30 years. Why the hand wringing over which is the correct path to take?

Everyone, stop comparing the Bears to the Cubs. The NFL is designed for teams to go from worst to being Champs in only a few years. It comes down to good coaching, talent evaluation in the draft, and scouting your own roster. You need football veterans hiring and making decisions.

But you need franchise players, especially a leader at QB and you can sign older talented/proven Free Agents who aren't troubled but still have something in them, ex: Corey Dillion, Rod Woodson, Reggie White, Jerry Rice, Simeon Rice, Rodney Harrison, Faulk, Charles Woodson.

1989 Cowboys hire Jimmy Johnson, draft Aikman/Smith/others and win in 1992/1993.
1992 Packers bring Wolf/Holmgren, trade for Favre. Got to NFC title game in 95, win in 1996.
1997 Rams hire Vermeil, draft cornerstone LT in Pace. Sign Faulk/Timmerman/draft Holt/sign Warner. Win in 1999.
1995 Titans' Floyd Reese hires Fisher, drafts McNair, then George in 96. Make it to SB in 1999.
1993 Patriots hire Parcells and draft Bledsoe/Martin, make it to SB in 1996.
1996 Ravens keep Ozzie Newsome. Drafts Ogden/Lewis/ and keeps building. Hires Billick in 99, wins in 2000.
2006 Saints Mickey Loomis hire Payton, sign Brees make it to NFC title game and keep drafting well. Win in 2009.
2010 Seahawks hire Carroll,draft well and find a QB. Win in 2013.
1995 Bucks draft Brooks/Sapp, hire Dungy in 1996. Draft a good RB in 97. Make it to NFC title game in 1999.