Vrabel wasn’t wooed by Brady, so there’s no guarantee Ben will be either. Ben is a different cat imo when it comes to this coaching thing imo. I think he’s smart enough to look past Brady the QB and understand that Tom is greener than he is at doing any management stuff.


I’d also add Brady continuing to be in broadcasting would mean he can’t do much day to day operation stuff with the team anyways do to NFL rules and regulations.


In short, Brady isn’t the slam dunk some might think he is. He didn’t impact Vrabels decision, and he may not have much effect on Johnson either.


We still don’t even know if Ben is the guy the Bears want anyway. But if they do, one thing about Poles is he’ll go above and beyond to try and land who he wants too. And while Brady might be intriguing the Raiders cupboard is bare. They have a shit team and don’t have much hope for the immediate future. That team is a wreck right now. While the Bears have some important pieces in place.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

Brady also is a part time in Las Vegas unless he quits announcing.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

What makes you think this?

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Trading a 2nd round pick for Claypool, trading for Ryan Bates when he didn’t have to because he was afraid of losing out on him after pursuing him for so long.. needing to be stopped from trading up to grab Odunze because he was locked in on him, not even thinking about interviewing any other QB’s during the draft process last year.. Ryan falls in love with his choices and will do reckless things in order to land them.


So my logic here is, if he has fallen in love with Ben (for example) he will sit at the poker table with Tom and the Raiders and push all his chips in on trying to land him.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

Uh yeah the difference here is that 99% of NFL players have no say over where they get traded. Ryan Poles has to win over Ben Johnson, not the other way around.

One of my biggest criticisms of Poles (besides just being a bad decision maker) is that he lacks patience to be effective and the GM position. I think this might wind up playing a role in how landing ‘his guy’ plays out. Tbh this whole ‘let’s interview 18 different candidates’ does not seem like something that Poles would be behind. There may be a tug of war going on behind the scenes here if Ryan is getting nervous about losing out on who he really wants.


Now I’m not convinced that Ben Johnson is Ryan’s guy.. but Vrabel may have been and now that he’s off the board I’m wondering if we start to see some acceleration in this process or some cracks in the ‘unity’ start to show.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

As far as we know, the two obstacles that could prevent Johnson are money and organizational structure. Poles can't do anything about those short of firing himself.

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No shit Sherlock. That’s why I was making the point of him being willing to go the extra mile to ‘get his guy’.


In this case, he may be willing to give Ben a seat at the scouting/personnel table to lure him here when he may have been opposed to that just a week ago.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

Ben Johnson is rumored to want some say in personnel decisions -Vrable was the one that wanted a direct line to the owner.


Ryan definitely has control over the thing Ben allegedly wants.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

Are there examples of GMs relinquishing personnel control to a new hire? Poles has to know his ass is red hot but ceding a major part of his job to a first time head coach is not a great way to build his brand for future endeavors.

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1st Poles wouldn’t be completely stepping aside on that stuff -he’d be making Johnson a big part of it.


2nd yes there are many teams with these types of arrangements.. KC does it, the Pats did it, the 9ers and Seahawks (when Caroll was there) do it and there are others too. They all have various arrangements on it but there are plenty that do it. In fact, most (not all) but most of the successful organizations do it. It makes sense to have the GM and the HC on the same page when it comes to personnel.


I’ll also point out there are some coaches that really don’t want the responsibility too. They want the GM to handle all that and they’ll just coach them up.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

What if he wants the authority to bench Williams?

I suppose this doesn't really matter because we will never know what, or if, Johnson wants in terms of roster construction. It's a big IF, but what does the IF mean? Does Poles still have final say? Does Johnson? If Poles will be as attached to his draft picks as he has been, does Johnson really have any say? If Johnson really wants a guy that Poles doesn't, can he sit in Kevin's office and demand he stay? There's just too much bullshit here for this to work effectively, unless Poles and Johnson can create what seems to be a very unlikely harmonious marriage.

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All of this almost certainly goes on with the teams that are giving their coaches a seat at the table.


The biggest part of this equation is your last sentence. That’s why they need to interview/sit down and talk and come to an understanding and develop a working relationship. One thing that gives me some hope is that Ryan listens to Ian Cunningham. So it is possible for him to bring in a guy like Ben who’s also the coach of the team and develop a similar relationship. Something Poles has to accept and recognize is that much of what he’s done personnel wise in the draft has not worked out. He needs to be open to finding a guy he can have some dialogue with that can help hit home runs via the draft.


And of course, Ryan isn’t going to be quite as good at identifying the talent needed to run the offense as the coach running and creating that offense. So again, it would make sense to give Ben some pull at helping out with that process. You’d think he’d almost want Ben’s input there at least.

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If the rule you followed lead you to this, of what use was the rule?

Reminds me of the discussions back when Pace and Fox were hired. Many believed Ted Phillips hired them with the stipulation that Cutler would remain as starter so they wouldn’t have to take a financial hit…even though we knew Cutler sucked. Obviously somewhat different now since the jury is still out on Williams.

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Any interest in LaFluer if they fire him?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It’s just a way of showing that “roster control” has its limits in Chicago. Of course Ben Johnson will not be allowed to bench Caleb Williams for at least two seasons. Unless the Bears specifically say he can (which there is zero chance George will let a black, gay quarterback be benched) Johnson knows this.

He’s not coming to Chicago. Sorry, the quarterback is the problem.

Gotta be interested in the guy who can help our age go down

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Found Brady to be an interesting listen today, he sounds like the anti-Poles, talking about what must be the "Patriots Way", finding guys that might not score at the top level athletically is not as important as finding guys that have a team first mentality. He talked about the importance of the interior of the offensive line and the need to have the threat of an inside run to influence coverage, Poles does not get that, and you see it in the way he builds his roster.

One gets the feeling that Brady is talking specifically with candidates about roster evaluation based on very specific offensive and defensive philosophies while Poles is wasting time in group zoom meeting interviews.

Who is getting a better feel for if the candidate is able to meet long term franchise goals?

Didn't they bench Kordell Stewart?

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

That was 2003. DEI stood for "destroy every Iraqi."

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Seems the focus should be going to the second and third tier guys as you are not getting the top 2 guys.

Kingsbury is likely talking to Quinn about his Bears experience which will make him hesitant to take the gig.

You are down to guys like Todd Monken or Joe Brady.

Bringing in an older dude like Rivera or Carroll just to reset culture does not make much sense because you waste a year or two of your rookie QB window.

The "Bears Way" is on full display, looks to be yet another whiff and miss, we will be right back here in 2-3 years.

Down to?

You see anything in Monken and Brady's work that they shouldn't be the equivalent of Johnson? Brady will be the Johnson of next year.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

In Johnson's work, I see a QB who Sean McVay gave up on.

Who are the top 3 coaching candidates on the market and which one of them do you expect the Bears to land? Just Asking A Question

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That was two questions.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

It's the "ever present" Peep Show! At least you can add a little because we know that you add very little Peep Show.

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With this stuff it comes down to do you believe the source....but is anyone surprised?


Per George Ofman, Brady’s pitch is working. Following the Bears interview with Johnson on Saturday, Ofman reported Chicago is not No. 1 on Johnson’s list.

“More on Johnson …Told Tom Brady got involved a few days ago. He has personally recruited Johnson heavily leaving him with plenty to think about,” Ofman posted on X. “That, and the Raiders recently fired their GM. Told, as of now, Bears are not number 1 on his list.”

The top 3 according to whom?

There isn't consensus among the people who are hiring, only the reporters. For instance, the Jets wouldn't interview Johnson.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Whatever happens, I need to hear some reporting that they at least offered Johnson and were declined. I’ll give Poles the Ryan Pace “hey, I tried!” award.

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