The Chicago Bears are casting a wide net in their search for a head coach. They have interviewed, or plan on interviewing, basically every big name on the market. They’ve also requested interviews with some unconventional names like Dallas Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy and former Seattle Seahawks HC Pete Carroll. Could they also be considering the trade market and a possible inquiry about Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike Tomlin?
Adam Schefter reported that “one team” explored a Mike Tomlin trade but was told of a no-trade clause in his contract. No-trade clauses only mean that Tomlin would have to sign off on it for the trade to be executed. Whether he would is anybody’s guess but Bears GM Ryan Poles had this to say when asked if they would consider the trade market while searching for their next head coach.
“We’ll look at all avenues to get the best coach here,” Poles said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “There’s going to be some names that you don’t expect that are going to surprise you because we’re digging deeper than we ever have before.”
Trades for head coaches are very rare in today’s NFL. The last two that occurred involved retired head coaches who still had their rights tied up with their previous team. The last actual trade executed for an active coach was back in 2006. There were several back around that era in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
There are a lot of reasons why this trade wouldn’t happen. Mike Tomlin has repeatedly said over the years that he loves his job in Pittsburgh. There is also nothing about a head coach trade that fits into the way that the Steelers have done things over the years. Tomlin is their third head coach since 1969. This would be quite the way to end his tenure, especially after signing a three-year extension last offseason.
If the Steelers lose Saturday in the Wild Card round and go one-and-done in the playoffs five times in a row, there will be frustration throughout the organization. But is that frustration enough to make such a massive change? It would be completely shocking if it happened.
Just connecting the dots, it seems plausible that the Bears could be the “one team” Schefter spoke of that reached out to the Steelers about a possible trade. Things haven’t gone so well for Ryan Poles when he has conducted business with Omar Khan in the trade market in the past, for what it’s worth, but don’t be surprised if we never hear of this again.
