NEWSLETTER
Day 9 of the Chicago Bears offseason. I told myself I would follow some “low-buy 2025” principles. And yet, I found myself buying a side table for my bedroom because rearranging it made me feel like my space was imbalanced because it had a table on one side of the bed and not the other. Now I just have to talk myself into that being the last purchase of that type for this month. If I can accomplish that, then I will be one step closer to reaching the financial goals I have set for myself in 2025.
- You knew some outlandish names would be thrown out in connection with the Dallas Cowboys job once the team officially parted ways with Mike McCarthy. And the Cowboys wasted little time in shaking things up:
Sources: #Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has spoken with Colorado HC Deion Sanders about the team’s head coaching vacancy, and discussions are expected to continue regarding the possibility of him becoming the next head coach in Dallas.
— Jordan Schultz (@schultzreport.bsky.social) January 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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- I love the idea of Deion Sanders coaching the Cowboys. He has a big personality and a ton of energy. Will he be a good NFL coach? I have no idea. But it could be fun. And the NFL needs more fun coaches in the league.
- You might be wondering if I’d want Deion Sanders to coach the Bears. To that, I’ll say this: I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Crazy as it might sound, this franchise has tried everything else — and failed more often than I care to count. Maybe something off the wall is what this team needs. Unfortunately, I think Coach Prime has too much personality for this team. What a shame. But, hey, if Sanders to the Cowboys means Ben Johnson is still available for the Bears, then so be it.
- Mark Potash (Sun-Times) writes how the Cowboys splitting with Mike McCarthy adds an unexpected wrinkle to the Bears’ search for a new head coach.
- How much money has Sam Darnold cost himself in the last two weeks? The Vikings lost to the Rams to wrap up wild-card weekend with Darnold laying an egg. He completed 25 of 40 passes for 245 yards with one touchdown, one interception, and a 77.6 passer rating. The bigger story was that Darnold took a whopping nine sacks as the Rams’ defense was credited with 12 quarterback hits. Some QB-starved team is going to give Darnold a bag to start in 2025. But it won’t be as big as previously expected.
- Are the Vikings the worst 14-win team ever? Maybe. They lost three times to two teams this season — and didn’t even make it out of the first round of playoff games. What a real shame.
- Minnesota has 30+ pending free agents (ESPN’s Adam Schefter lists the biggest names here) and just four draft picks (h/t Tankathon). Good luck navigating that mess.
- Also: I wouldn’t mind if the Bears pulled out from their interview with Brian Flores. Same with Broncos DC Vance Joseph and Steelers OC Arthur Smith. Those chats seem unnecessary at this point after seeing what took place with the respective units of those teams over the weekend.
- On the other side of the coin: Accelrate the interview process for Ravens OC Todd Monken and Bills OC Joe Brady. Those are two Bears candidates I want to hear more about.
- It is always nice to see Bears players give back to the community:
- I co-sign Richard Deitsch’s thoughts at The Athletic about how FOX owes it to viewers to address the Tom Brady-Ben Johnson stuff. This isn’t me wanting a pound of flesh or anything. Because, more than anything, I feel as if FOX laying it out plainly would be informative to football fans. I just want people to understand. And while I can write it until I’m blue in the face, some people learn better from video.
- Mike Vrabel sounds like he has a good plan for Drake Maye (via Pro Football Talk):
“Drake is going to be his own person. But I’m going to give him some things that I feel like are necessary to win football games. We have to be a very efficient passing football team. And when you look at, statistically, what wins in the National Football League, our ability to affect the other team’s quarterback and our ability to provide for an efficient quarterback and passing game is a high contributor to success.
And there’s a lot of ways to do that — by protecting the middle of the pocket and all those things we’re going to talk about as we move forward. But how we protect the football, how we’re aggressive but not restless, understanding where we are in the game, and the situational awareness I feel like I’ve developed in my six years [as head coach] and in my past year in Cleveland.”
- I’d bet he had s similar plan for Bears QB Caleb Williams. But sometimes, the draw of a homecoming is too strong to overcome. That’s pretty relatable now that I see it through that lens.
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- HE DID IT: Connor Bedard reaches 100 career points. (BN Blackhawks)
- The dream is dead. Roki Sasaki has reportedly told the Chicago Cubs they are out of the running to land the Japanese star pitcher. I don’t understand why we’re doing a dog and pony show for a guy who is almost certainly going to choose the Dodgers, which has been the expected outcome all along. Whatever. Maybe the Bears can request an interview for him to be their next coach.
- Oh, my! The newest details from the Jontay Porter betting scandal are crazy. (BN Bulls)
