Chicago Bears asked a playoff team about trading for their head coach | Report
1st & North: Bears coaching search, Lions’ playoff push, and free agency outlook
The 1st & North crew covers the latest on the Chicago’s head coaching search, the Detroit Lions’ playoff run as the NFC’s last team standing, and a preview of free agency for the Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers.
The Chicago Bears have inquired with a playoff team about trading for their head coach.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bears called up the Pittsburgh Steelers about a potential trade for head coach Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers didn't listen, as Schefter reported Pittsburgh rebuffed the Bears' inquiry, but it follows a trend with the Bears looking everywhere possible for a new head coach.
"We are turning every stone to make sure that we're doing this the right way," Bears general manager Ryan Poles said on Jan. 7. "We believe that's going to be really, really important. There's going to be some things that you don't expect that are going to surprise you because we're digging deeper than we ever have before in terms of timing."
Poles was asked about the potential of trading for a head coach. He didn't dismiss the idea.
"We’ll look at all avenues to get the best coach here," Poles said.
The Denver Broncos were the last NFL team to acquire a head coach when they traded for Sean Payton. Even though Payton retired in January 2022, the New Orleans Saints still owned the right to his contract.
Payton accepted the job as Broncos head coach, but the Broncos still needed to trade a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick to the Saints in exchange for Payton and a 2024 third-round pick.
The idea of trading for a coach was still spurred on by FOX Sports' Jay Glazer, who reported at the end of the 2024 regular season that Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell was a coach to keep an eye on in trade talks.
O'Connell, heading into the final year of his contract in 2025, has yet to be extended. If the two sides can't come to terms on a contract, Minnesota could trade his rights instead of letting him walk when his contract expires.
However, O'Connell made it well-known he wants to remain in Minnesota.
"I love being the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings," O'Connell said at the Vikings season-ending press conference. "I love our ownership, I have a great relationship with our ownership. Feel so fortunate, like I said, not only the way they support us and believe in us, but also the impact they have on our players, our locker room and ultimately where we all want to go together. Feel very, very great about that."
The Bears search for a coach will continue, as they have talked with 14 candidates in their first wave of interviews.
Clarity on candidates that made the next steps will come clear in the coming week, if not in the coming days.