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General Manager Ryan Poles of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears made their first in-season head coaching change in the franchise’s 105-year history when they fired Matt Eberflus after Week 13.
The team named offensive coordinator Thomas Brown interim coach for the remainder of the season. Regardless of how well Brown performs, Bears brass has vowed to bring in a genuine game-changer to lead the franchise.
Naturally, there have been rumors and reports about who Chicago will bring in, with some analysts going so far as to suggest that the Bears trade for an already proven and established head coach.
Emphasizing the potential synergy between current San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes Bears general manager Ryan Poles would be a fool not to at least make a call about Shanahan.
Additionally, Florio mentioned Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel as three other coaches the Bears should also pursue. Florio says after he mentioned those four names, another current NFL head coach reached out wondering why he wasn’t included on the list of candidates.
Mike Florio: NFL Coach Wanted to Be Mentioned on Short List of Trade Candidates for Bears
In a December 4 appearance on 670 The Score’s “Bernstein & Harris Show,” Florio discussed the response he received when suggesting the Bears trade for a new coach.
“Here’s the feedback I got,” Florio said. “I can’t tell you who the coach is, but after I posted that the Bears should call the Ravens about Harbaugh, the Dolphins about McDaniel and the 49ers about Shanahan … I heard from another coach who said: ‘Why didn’t you mention me on that list?”
Florio says this interest could be a very positive thing for the Bears if they knock on the right doors. “It just proves to me that there’s merit to this idea, that a well-timed call could strike gold,” he added.
So, what does history tell us about trading for a new head coach?
A Look Back at the Most Recent NFL Trades for Head Coaches
If the Bears do decide to make a few calls about a potential trade, they’d better be ready to start negotiations by offering multiple first-round draft picks, as compensation for coaches tends to go up every year.
Per The Athletic, the following head coaches have been traded since 1997:
- Bill Parcells, 1997, Patriots to Jets: Jets received first-, second-, third- and fourth-round picks along with $300,0000 in fiscal compensation for Parcells
- Mike Holmgren, 1999, from Packers to Seahawks: Second-round pick
- Bill Belichick, 2000, Jets to Patriots: Jets received first-, fourth- and seventh-round picks, while the Patriots got Belichick, a fifth-rounder and a seventh-rounder.
- Jon Gruden, 2002, Raiders to Buccaneers: Raiders received two first-round picks, two second-round picks and $8 million in compensation in exchange for Gruden.
- Herm Edwards, 2006, Jets to Chiefs: Jets received a fourth-round pick in exchange for Edwards.
- Bruce Arians, 2019, Cardinals to Buccaneers: Cardinals received a sixth-round pick and the Bucs received Arians and a seventh-rounder.
- Sean Payton, 2023, Saints to Broncos: Saints received first- and second-round picks, while the Broncos got Payton and a third-round selection.
Of those seven, three won Super Bowls with their new teams (Payton still has a chance to do so in Denver).
The most likely outcome is that either Brown impresses so much that the team decides to keep him, or they hire a hot coaching candidate such as Lions OC Ben Johnson or Bucs OC Liam Cohen. But the idea of adding an established offensive mind via trade is an intriguing one the Bears should not immediately dismiss.
