George McCaskey still shows flaws despite Chicago Bears regime change

Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey kicked off the introductory press conference on Monday when the Bears officially introduced Ryan Poles as their new general manager and Matt Eberflus as their new head coach.

After seven seasons under former general manager Ryan Pace and four seasons under former head coach, it was clear that McCaskey needed to embark on a regime change for the Bears’ football operations.

While Monday was meant to mark a new era of football for the Bears, McCaskey repeated a similar mistake that he made previously. After the 2020 season, when McCaskey met with reporters along with Pace and Nagy, the Bears chairman refused to address the length of each of their contracts.

McCaskey’s refusal to address the contract status led to instant speculation. Speculation in the sense that the Bears had secretly extended both their general manager and head coach. Pace and Nagy are no longer here but when speaking with reporters on Monday, McCaskey refused to address the contract lengths of Poles and Eberflus.

"‘‘We talked about it and talked to Matt and Ryan about what their preference was,’’ he said. ‘‘And their preference was that it not be disclosed, and we’re honoring that preference.’’In the past — before McCaskey refused to say whether Nagy and Pace were on the same timeline — the Bears didn’t have issues disclosing contract lengths. In the past, they had issued four-year deals with a fifth-year option. Now McCaskey won’t say.‘‘If the individual wishes to make it public, they’re welcome to,’’ he said. ‘‘But I don’t think that’s the Bears’ place.’’"

Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey once again showed his lack of understanding.

McCaskey is wrong with his insistence that it is not the Bears’ place to disclose the contract lengths of their head coach and general manager. The reason why it is the Bears’ place is that these are the leading members of their football operations.

Knowing the length of contract for both Poles and Eberflus would be an indicator of the direction that the team wants to head in. If Poles and Eberflus received short-term deals, it would be an indicator that the team is planning on contending soon. If the pair received long-term contracts, then it would be an indicator that the team is planning a rebuild of some sort.

Despite the positive reviews from what Poles and Eberflus said during their introductory press conferences, McCaskey once again showed his lack of understanding when being the chairman of an NFL Team. The hope, with Eberflus and Poles now in place, is that McCaskey returns to being a “fan” and lets the football people complete their business with no interference from ownership.