Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers heading in different directions

Who’s on the hot seat?

In a move that didn’t seem to get a whole lot of attention, Packers’ head coach Micke McCarthy signed a one-year extension this offseason. The new deal, which extended him through 2019, came shortly after the Packers essentially fired their longtime general manager, Ted Thompson.

Although the Packers gave McCarthy an extra year, they basically undermined his authority by getting rid of Dom Capers, his defensive coordinator, and Alex Van Pelt, his quarterbacks coach since 2014. The latter move did not sit very well with Rodgers.

Finally, of note is just how incongruous in terms of length McCarthy’s deal is with Rodgers’. While McCarthy’s expires after 2019, Rodgers’ will expire in 2023 at the tender age of 40. The Packers extended McCarthy, but it was hardly a vote of confidence.

Meaning if the Packers underachieve this year, they can cut McCarthy lose without it costing them a ton and take one last shot in the remaining five years of Rodgers’ contract. And it’s not as if there haven’t been rumors of his shaky standing with the team.

Nagy, on the other hand, is just beginning his tenure. Just as Pace’s fate is tied to Trubisky, so is Nagy’s. If Trubisky fails, Pace gets fired. If Pace gets fired, the new general manager will hire his own guy to coach the team. But Nagy wouldn’t have taken the job if he didn’t believe in Trubisky.

And if he’s right, and can mold Mitch into the quarterback Pace believed he could be when he drafted him, then we could be looking at the beginning of Nagy’s long tenure in which he is inextricably linked with his quarterback. It’s the kind of continuity Bears fans have only dreamed about, but could very well become a reality beginning this year.