Vic Fangio is Now a Free Agent
The small exclusive window the Bears had to negotiate a deal with Vic Fangio has come and gone.
Vic Fangio still might be the Chicago Bears’ Defensive Coordinator in 2018, but the chances of that happening are now less than they were yesterday.
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At 12:01am this morning, Fangio became a free agent and is able to talk to any team he chooses and also negotiate a new contract. That doesn’t mean that Fangio won’t stay. When the Bears hired former Kansas Chiefs’ Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy as their new head coach, it was clear to many in the media that the Bears plan was to keep Fangio aboard.
If Fangio was convinced that he wanted to stay, he would have signed on the dotted line yesterday afternoon or evening, but he definitely wants to speak with other teams and choose what he feels is the best option for himself, and that may not be the Bears.
Fangio did interview with Ryan Pace for the vacant head coaching position last week, but it’s safe to assume that Fangio knew it was a courtesy and that he was never actually being considered as the next head coach.
However, there were a couple reports that the meeting certainly did serve a purpose.
*IF* the #Bears retain DC Vic Fangio, you can thank the HC interview on Wednesday for that.
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) January 6, 2018
Was told not only did the interview go well but it allowed Pace & Fangio to get a better long-term feel for each other, which could help convince Fangio to stay.
Pace and Nagy both clearly want Fangio to stay, but now that he’s a free agent, they are looking at other potential options to be the team’s next defensive coordinator.
Nagy, as mentioned earlier is a hot coaching candidate and is thinking of having former Browns coach Mike Petine as his DC. Petine has been helping Seattle all year in a consulting role.
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) November 18, 2017
While this is an older tweet from Lombardi, there’s no reason to think that idea would have changed since the hiring of Nagy by Chicago. As of right now, it’s a wait-and-see situation for the Bears. Fangio will certainly be looking for a pay bump and perhaps even an increase in his title (Assistant Head Coach?), but if Pace wants to keep him, those type of issues rarely get in his way. Will Fangio stay? The answer could come as early as today or tomorrow.