when Rooney and Tomlin sit down, Rooney needs to impart some wisdom and suggest that while it might be a good idea to leave, that there can also be changes made if he stays that would also be beneficial. Point out that the offense got better when Canada was shipped off. That the offense, as a whole, has graded very subpar. That while we appreciate the work and duties of Sullivan and Faulkner, that their offense tag-team barely got the offense to average. We need more than average to raise the standard. That the standard being the standard is essentially average at this point. Time for some new blood on offense.
Leave him a weekend to make a decision - if he comes back for another year, the coaching staff is gutted to the core. If he doesn't come back, then the coaching staff is obviously also gutted.
Teryl Austin needs to go. I don't think he did badly overall, but the defense can be better. If Curry isn't promoted, we stand to lose him before long. And, face it, Curry did a good job. We had ILBs drop like flies all season, but the guys "off the sofa" were still playing quality ball. Curry should be the DC. Grady Brown has also done a nice job with the secondary. Look at the guys we got "off the sofa" who balled out when given their shot.
Outside of Faulkner and Sullivan, who else on the offensive coaching staff could come back? Jackson has done nice work with DJ and Pickens. Our WRs are head cases, but the best ones usually are. Guys like Hines Ward are an exception. I'd be interested in speaking to Hines about coming in as a WR coach and offensive assistant. We obviously need an OL coach who knows what these guys should be doing on each play. Anyone recall hearing that half the line was doing one thing while the other half was doing another? What a clusterfuck that Canada/Meyer had going on. Even though the line did seem to gel late in the season after Canada was gone, we couldn't quite get the run game up to where it was needed.
Speaking of offense... Rudolph is a goner. He's a FA and he might be interested in returning, but he won't come back as a 3. Mitch's contract has him here for another two seasons:
Releasing Mitch would save $2.9 against the cap. Easy decision. Would Rudolph return for that? He made $1,080,000 this season.
Which brings us the elephant in the room. Is Kenny the man? The Front Office might want him to be, but this FO didn't select him either. He was a Colbert pick. Khan could very well move on from Kenny, but to who? Lots of speculation/click-bait has us interested in Justin Fields if the Bears take a QB in the first. Which would be interesting, but I'm not so sure we want to take on another Chicago Bear QB reclamation project. Burn me once... But is Fields better at QB than Kenny? We all know Kenny has his issues seeing the field. Briand Baldinger says Justin Fields has issues seeing the field. Sounds like Kenny. Even though Canada neutered Kenny and didn't allow passes over the middle (slant routes, anyone?) Say the Bears do take a QB in R1 - they're not going to give Fields away. So, to me, it would be best to retain Kenny, and use the draft to bring a new guy in. Personally, I'd take Jordan Travis in the mid rounds (as high as third) if we can get guys like Amarius Mims and Sedrick Van Pran in 1-2.
Leave him a weekend to make a decision - if he comes back for another year, the coaching staff is gutted to the core. If he doesn't come back, then the coaching staff is obviously also gutted.
Teryl Austin needs to go. I don't think he did badly overall, but the defense can be better. If Curry isn't promoted, we stand to lose him before long. And, face it, Curry did a good job. We had ILBs drop like flies all season, but the guys "off the sofa" were still playing quality ball. Curry should be the DC. Grady Brown has also done a nice job with the secondary. Look at the guys we got "off the sofa" who balled out when given their shot.
Outside of Faulkner and Sullivan, who else on the offensive coaching staff could come back? Jackson has done nice work with DJ and Pickens. Our WRs are head cases, but the best ones usually are. Guys like Hines Ward are an exception. I'd be interested in speaking to Hines about coming in as a WR coach and offensive assistant. We obviously need an OL coach who knows what these guys should be doing on each play. Anyone recall hearing that half the line was doing one thing while the other half was doing another? What a clusterfuck that Canada/Meyer had going on. Even though the line did seem to gel late in the season after Canada was gone, we couldn't quite get the run game up to where it was needed.
Speaking of offense... Rudolph is a goner. He's a FA and he might be interested in returning, but he won't come back as a 3. Mitch's contract has him here for another two seasons:
Releasing Mitch would save $2.9 against the cap. Easy decision. Would Rudolph return for that? He made $1,080,000 this season.
Which brings us the elephant in the room. Is Kenny the man? The Front Office might want him to be, but this FO didn't select him either. He was a Colbert pick. Khan could very well move on from Kenny, but to who? Lots of speculation/click-bait has us interested in Justin Fields if the Bears take a QB in the first. Which would be interesting, but I'm not so sure we want to take on another Chicago Bear QB reclamation project. Burn me once... But is Fields better at QB than Kenny? We all know Kenny has his issues seeing the field. Briand Baldinger says Justin Fields has issues seeing the field. Sounds like Kenny. Even though Canada neutered Kenny and didn't allow passes over the middle (slant routes, anyone?) Say the Bears do take a QB in R1 - they're not going to give Fields away. So, to me, it would be best to retain Kenny, and use the draft to bring a new guy in. Personally, I'd take Jordan Travis in the mid rounds (as high as third) if we can get guys like Amarius Mims and Sedrick Van Pran in 1-2.
