The Chicago Bears are going to hire a General Manager in the next week or so, and have already begun reaching out to candidates to interview. While there will be plenty of wishlists and hopes from Chicago Bears fans, this post will focus on the most likely candidates.
With George McCaskey and Bill Polian running the show, we are going to look at front office members with ties to either, or that would make plenty of sense being hired by this duo.
10. Rex Hogan, New York Jets Assistant GM
Rex Hogan knows George McCaskey very well. He was hired by the Chicago Bears and spent 12 years with the team from 2003-2015. However, after he got promoted from a scout to a national scout, he began to rise up the front office rankings. From the senior director of college scouting to vice president of player personnel to assistant GM he bounced around from the Jets and Colts and back to the Jets, gaining promotions every step of the way.
So, a former Chicago Bears scout has been promoted three times over six years and is now a GM candidate. Reports are already out that Chicago may be interested, so keep this name in mind.
9. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, Cleveland Browns VP of Football Operations
The Chicago Bears already reached out to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and will interview him at some point. This one makes sense because Andrew Berry hired him to the Cleveland Browns, and Berry got his first job under Bill Polian.
Polian knows about Kwesi Adofo-Mensah exclusively from Berry, but the league has found out quickly about this rising name. He was once a Wall Street trader but had been with the 49ers for nearly a decade before Berry scooped him for the Browns. After one year with the Browns, he is getting GM calls.
This would be a forward-thinking hire but would come with risk. Still, given the endorsement from Berry, you have to take it seriously.
8. JoJo Wooden, Director of Player Personnel, LA Chargers
This is not quite the same as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah because Adofo-Mensah has already been requested to interview, but do not be surprised if Wooden gets a call in the next 24 hours. Wooden is another name tied to Bill Polian through one of his proteges.
Tom Telesco came up under Bill Polian but was hired by the Chargers in 2013. One of the first names he brought in was Wooden, who has been beside Telesco since 2013. Surely Telesco would give his mentor Polian the full scoop on whether Wooden is or is not worth the interview.
Either way, you never view the Chargers as a team that is void of talent. The eye that Wooden has is clearly respected, and he should be recognized as a potential candidate.
7. Champ Kelly, Chicago Bears Assistant director of player personnel
This one is rather obvious and it is not hard to find the connection. Champ Kelly has been with the Chicago Bears organization since 2015. He has climbed the front office ranks, and while Ryan Pace is gone, one of his hires at least deserves an interview.
Fans have always appreciated Pace’s ability to find gems on day three, and that was arguably the only thing he had going for him towards the end of his run. Ryan Pace obviously gets credit, but even Pace is quick to mention Champ Kelly at end of draft press conferences.
George McCaskey is all about family and they had a hard time moving on from Pace. Keeping Kelly would at least keep some balance of what they have had in their front office while also being able to start clean.
6. Jeff Ireland, New Orleans Saints Assistant general manager & college scouting director
Jeff Ireland does not have as many ties to the organization or Bill Polian, other than the idea that they were rival GMs for a few years in the late 2000s. Still, there have been plenty of media members noting that Jeff Ireland is a prime candidate for the Chicago Bears, and there is too much smoke to ignore him as a candidate.
It takes some connecting, but Ireland pressed hard to get Jim Harbaugh to Miami in 2011. Miami says they have no interest in Harbaugh now, so perhaps Ireland led the charges and would be in high regard for Harbaugh once again.
Either way, this is the most experienced on the list and the only one with GM experience. That, his connection to Harbaugh and the rumors around his name is enough to add him to this list.
5. Glenn Cook, Cleveland Browns Vice President of Player Personnel
This is another candidate that the Chicago Bears have already requested to interview. Just like Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, this candidate is connected through the Browns, and Andrew Berry. However, for Cook, it goes deeper than that.
Cook got his start in the NFL as a scout for the Colts. Who was the GM at the time? Of course, Bill Polian. Now, over a decade later Bill Polian gets to interview Cook for a GM seat with the Chicago.
For Polian, there has to be an emotional aspect to the rise of Cook and his potential as a Chicago Bears GM. Berry has kept him close, and they are both Polian guys so you have to think the interest here is real and strong.
4. Ran Carthon San Francisco 49ers director of player personnel
Ran Carthon has not heard from the Chicago Bears yet, but with Bill Polian running the show you would have to assume that he is going to get a call to interview.
Bill Polian signed Carthon as a UDFA in 2004, and he stayed on the Colts roster until 2006. Carthon says that he watched tape with Polian during his playing days, and it helped get him into scouting. Polian helped him get a job as a scout and he went from a Falcons scout to director of pro personnel with Rams. Then, in 2016, the 49ers hired him, and was promoted twice since.
Now, he is a hot candidate and a rising name across NFL circles. Polian helped him get his start in plenty of ways and would at least give him an interview considering many other teams are interested in him.
3. Malik Boyd, Buffalo Bills Senior Director of Pro Personnel
Malik Boyd has helped assist the Buffalo Bills to rebuild into perennial contenders. As you would expect, he also has ties to Bill Polian, this one going back to 2003. Boyd gave Polian his first job in 2003 as a scouting assistant.
However, from there it was all Boyd, who took a job with the Arizona Cardinals and spent time from 2005-2017 with the Cardinals, getting multiple promotions along the way.
The Cardinals rise with players like Tyrann Mathieu helped get Boyd exposure that the Bills saw. Now that he is having immense success on the Bills many are calling his name, and Polian will surely be one of them.
Another positive to Boyd is that he could be a head coach pairing with Bill Daboll or Leslie Frazier.
2. Morocco Brown, Indianapolis Colts director of college scouting
The first name to emerge the second that Ryan Pace was fired as director of college scouting Morocco Brown. Brown has ties to the Chicago Bears going all the way back to 2001. He spent time from 2001-07 with the Bears and they are the team that launched his career.
He went from Washington to Cleveland and then to Indianapolis from there, getting promoted each step of the way. The thing about the Indianapolis Colts is that names such as Darius Leonard, Julian Blackmon, and Grover Stewart were not big-name prospects, but small school finds or day three shots.
The director of college scouting gets plenty of credit for those types of hits. This is a candidate with ties to the Bears, with a lot of luster around his name, and plenty of accolades. It makes sense the team is interested.
1. Dwayne Joseph, Las Vegas Raiders Director of pro scouting
Dwayne Joseph has plenty of ties to the Chicago Bears. He had a short playing career but signed as a UDFA with the Chicago Bears and spent three seasons there as a player. In 1998 the Bears hired him to a front-office role.
Joseph was with the team until 2003 when he started to get bigger scouting jobs. Still, he came back to Chicago and worked in the front office from 2012 through 2015.
When Ryan Pace came in, Joseph was out but moved onto the Eagles for a few years before being with the Raiders as of this day.
Joseph has ties as a player and in the front office. His ties to Philadelphia may make him a potential package deal with Doug Pederson as well. Time will tell, but a lot of good signs point in the direction of Dwayne Joseph.