Bears Narrow List of GM Candidates to Replace Jerry Angelo
Clipped from: www.chicagotribune.com (share this clip)
The Bears start the most important process in the organization in more than a decade – finding a new General Manager to re-build the guts of the team. There are some nice parts on both sides of the ball, but there isn’t any depth behind the front line guys. Dan Pompei does a nice job outlining the prospective candidates in the Chicago Tribune. Let’s look at each and see if it makes sense after the jump:
Eric DeCosta, Personnel Director, Baltimore Ravens
Could the Bears’ botched draft night trade with the Baltimore Ravens cost them a chance to get this rising star? There’s no shortage of bad blood between the two organizations after the Bears left the Ravens swinging in last April’s draft.
The Ravens have done a good job replenishing and reloading their defense around Ray Lewis. It would be nice if the Bears could continue to add talent around their aging vets to create some continuity and legit depth chart:
"Sources say the Bears have made inquiries about the Ravens personnel director, who has been the most sought-after GM candidate in the NFL for a few years.The 40-year old is credited with being one of the driving forces behind the Ravens’ outstanding drafts, and also is known as a progressive thinker, solid administrator and people person."
The question for me is how much of this work is his and how much is Ozzie Newsome’s?
Reggie McKenzie, Director of Football Operations, Green Bay Packers
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That motto makes a lot of sense for the Bears. Not only do they improve their status, but they also weaken their biggest rival. If you believe that the Bears are looking for a great talent evaluator, keep an eye on John Dorsey, the Packers’ Director of College Scouting. He’s the guy who is making all the great draft picks and might be a slightly more under the radar candidate compared to the big name McKenzie.
Tim Ruskell, Director of Player Personnel, Chicago Bears
In my opinion, if the Bears do this, it would be the equivalent of the Three Bears Press Conference from a few years ago. If they don’t trust Jerry Angelo any more, why trust the guy that Jerry hand picked to be his successor. Call it guilt by association if you’d like, but I have it from trusted Seattle sources that Ruskell left that team in shambles and hasn’t worked too many miracles since coming here to Chicago.
Chris Polian (and father Bill Polian)
The recently fired Colts leadership are another big name out there. They have ties to the McCaskeys, which scares the hell out of me. This is another bad idea. If you’d like to know what happens when a team loses their franchise quarterback, you don’t need to look much farther than down I-65. Talk about a team that was ill-prepared for losing a key player, the Colts wrote the book on it.
Ted Sundquist
The former Broncos GM drafted Jay Cutler, so it would seem to make sense on the surface. Can he mesh with Lovie Smith? That’s a key to make this a good fit. Sundquist is known to be a forward thinking ideas man. That doesn’t fit the McCaskey mold either; the last the Bears want is any dissenting opinions.
Who do you like? Are there any candidates that were missed? Let’s see your suggestions in the Comments.