The Chicago Bears have themselves a new offensive coordinator. The Luke Getsy experiment is over, and Bears head coach Matt Eberflus is turning to Shane Waldron to run his offense in a critical year for the franchise. Frankly, this is a monumental decision being made by Eberflus and the Bears, and Waldron is a fascinating candidate who has worked in the NFL under the likes of Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan, Sean McVay, and Pete Carroll.
Most recently, Waldron was the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, a role he held from 2021-23, but he's got experience working with quarterbacks of all backgrounds and types.
Anytime you bring in a new offensive coordinator, I think the follow up to that is -- what players are going to be leaving?
And I think the Chicago Bears can expect plenty of change on that side of the ball in terms of personnel. Here are a few players who are either on thin ice or are as good as gone with the arrival of Shane Waldron.
1. Lucas Patrick, C
You could look at any number of players with clear, direct ties to former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and say they are likely gone or treading thin ice. Lucas Patrick has started for the Bears at center over the last two seasons, but those days are firmly in the past at this point.
Shane Waldron has ties to a number of other interior offensive linemen around the league, and I think we'll see the Bears go a new direction at the center position in 2024, whether that's via NFL free agency or the 2024 NFL Draft.
2. Justin Fields, quarterback
This is the big one, of course.
With Shane Waldron now in the building, the Chicago Bears have to get to work figuring out what their ultimate plan is at the quarterback position.
General manager Ryan Poles has yet to attach himself to any quarterback of his own choosing, but this offseason will determine whether or not he's effectively chosen Justin Fields as "his guy". Poles has now held the #1 overall pick in two consecutive offseasons. After seeing how substantially CJ Stroud impacted the Houston Texans last year (a QB Poles passed on), it's hard to imagine he will sell off the top pick so someone else can draft Caleb Williams this year.
It's possible, but it doesn't feel likely.
So, that leaves Justin Fields's status very much in limbo. Fields has been a highly debated player through his first three NFL seasons, but he did show progress in 2023. My guess is, the Bears are going to trade Fields to the highest bidder this offseason and move forward with Shane Waldron calling plays for Caleb Williams.
3. Robert Tonyan, tight end
Let Robert Tonyan be a cautionary tale that sometimes, hiring the guys you know the best doesn't always work out great. Although Cole Kmet has been the presumptive TE1 for the Bears anyway, former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy brought in Tonyan, a player he knew from his time with the Green Bay Packers.
Tonyan caught a whopping 11 touchdown passes back in the 2020 season for the Packers, helping Aaron Rodgers to an MVP season and earning some hype for himself in the process. Unfortunately, that season for Tonyan was complete fool's gold. He never even came close to matching that level of production, certainly not with the Chicago Bears.
Although he only signed a short-term deal in Chicago, Tonyan caught just 11 passes in 17 games and had a pair of drops among his 17 targets.
I'm sure we'll see players with connections to Shane Waldron coming into Chicago this offseason, but let guys like Lucas Patrick and Robert Tonyan serve as a cautionary tale that perhaps the best course of action is starting over or starting fresh at certain spots. You don't always have to fill out your roster depth with just the guys you know.
4. The running back position
There's no doubt that the Chicago Bears had one of the best overall running games in the NFL this past season, but that was largely due to Justin Fields leading the team with 657 total rushing yards. When you get that kind of production from your quarterback, of course you're going to have some inflated statistics.
But what about the running back position?
Under Shane Waldron, you can expect a huge emphasis on running the football, something he did a lot of with the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears are currently projected to say goodbye to pending free agent D'Onta Foreman who accounted for 502 yards from scrimmage and five total touchdowns last season.
The team's leader in rushing attempts was Khalil Herbert, who is entering a contract year and has a career average of 4.9 yards. He's now got second-year player Roschon Johnson breathing down his neck for snaps in 2024 and with Herbert entering his contract year, I think the Bears could look to emphasize this position in free agency or the NFL Draft.
This year's free agent crop at running back is stellar with the likes of Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs currently projected to hit the market. I think with a new coordinator coming in, the running backs currently on the roster should be expecting some substantial competition for snaps in the near future.
5. Pending free agents at wide receiver
I don't know if the pending free agents at wide receiver for the Bears are still on thin ice, or if they've simply been launched out of the team's plans completely.
Once again, a member of this wide receiver core -- Equanimeous St. Brown -- was brought in due to his familiarity with former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. I think he's as good as gone. The Bears are probably wishing they had his brother, Amon-Ra, who has become an absolute star with the Detroit Lions.
Trent Taylor is another pending free agent for the Bears that the team isn't likely to miss.
I think one of the names we need to park on for a second, however, is Darnell Mooney. Mooney has proven that he can be a great big-play threat since coming to the Chicago Bears, but has he been consistent enough for this team to give him a second contract? Does Shane Waldron look at Mooney and envision him as playing a potential Tyler Lockett-like role?
I don't know. That might be reserved for Tyler Scott at this point. He's already got the first name down and everything.
All kidding aside, I just don't think we're going to see the Bears keep any of these guys around with a new system being put into place.
6. Velus Jones Jr.
The Chicago Bears are going to have to make a difficult decision in the near future with Velus Jones Jr., a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Tennessee. There were a lot of people who hated this pick initially because of the fact that Jones was an older rookie coming in (he will already be 27 this coming season) and they’ve unfortunately been proven correct.
Jones has less than 300 yards from scrimmage in his first couple of NFL seasons, and as a return specialist, he had a long of just 37 yards in 2023.
The biggest issue here with Velus Jones Jr. is the fact that his primary role on the team is as a kickoff returner, which is becoming less and less of a factor in today’s NFL. Jones isn’t a punt returner, he’s not adding value to the offense, and he’s already going to be 27.
You hate to say the writing is on the wall here, but is Shane Waldron going to come in and be the magic straw to stir this drink?
I think the Bears are borderline going to need an overhaul at this position group outside of DJ Moore, who is obviously one of the cornerstone pieces of this franchise going forward.
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