Category: 2021 season

Aikman on Cowboys’ Quinn: ‘I think it’s a good hire’ but says ‘holes in personnel’ exist

Troy Aikman gave high marks for Dan Quinn as the Cowboys new defensive coordinator on Wednesday in an interview for 96.7 FM in Dallas.

The Dallas Cowboys defense finished 28th in points allowed, 31st against the run, and 23rd overall in 2020. It was a disaster, to say the least, and it led to the firing of defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, which was followed by the Cowboys bringing Dan Quinn on board as his successor.

Hall of Famer and Cowboys legend Troy Aikman made an appearance on The Musers on 96.7 FM in Dallas on Wednesday and patted the organization on the back for handing the keys to the defense to Quinn.

“I think it’s a good hire,” Aikman said. “I’ve always liked Dan, I think he’s a good coach… I thought that Dan would be a good hire for them… Dan took over for a couple years as defensive coordinator and they were number one for both years he was there in Seattle. They never were quite as good on defense [in Atlanta] as what I think a lot of people thought they would be considering Dan’s background as a defensive coach, but yeah, I think he’s a really good football coach.”

Quinn’s previous stint as a defensive coordinator was a successful one with the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks led the NFL in defense under Quinn and made back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2013 (won) and 2014 before he became the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons a year later.

Aikman was asked if the Cowboys have the pieces to run Quinn’s scheme effectively. He was quick to bring up the familiarity with what Quinn will run compared to what the Cowboys defense looked like under Kris Richard, who was the defensive backs coach under Quinn in Seattle.

“It’s the system that they were running with Kris Richard. That’s that Seattle background. It has evolved over the years, it even has in Seattle with some of the things that they’re doing…

“There are holes in the defense personnel-wise. Those things have to be addressed. I’ve always believed that on the defensive side of the ball it’s more of a mindset. If you can get guys rallying to the football and playing at a certain level that you can do a lot of good things on the defensive side of the ball and you don’t necessarily have to have the best players. But you can have really good players that don’t buy-in, don’t execute, don’t run to the football, don’t tackle well — shoot, hardly anybody tackles well anymore. It’s kind of maddening to me, some of the fundamentals of our game.”

There are definitely upgrades that need to be made on the Cowboys defense if they’re going to be a contender anytime soon. Neville Gallimore showed flashes as a rookie, as well as Trysten Hill before his injury, but there’s still a need for another force on the interior of the defensive line. Leighton Vander Each and Sean Lee missed significant time in 2020, and Jaylon Smith is set to have left wrist surgery on Thursday. Even though he’s expected to be ready for the offseason program his regression in play along with the injury issues at the position make linebacker a topic of interest in the NFL Draft.

The secondary also needs a makeover. Rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs lived up to his second-round hype. However, Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie are set to hit free agency, leaving Diggs and Anthony Brown as the only reliable bodies at the position if neither is retained. Donovan Wilson was stellar in his second year logging 10 starts at safety, but Xavier Woods is also set to hit the market, making the third level of the defense a top priority this offseason as well.

The only way to go is up for the Cowboys defense after a putrid 2020 showing. Now, the question is will Quinn be the man to make the unit a respectable one.

Cowboys Jaylon Smith to have wrist surgery

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith is set to undergo left wrist surgery. He will be available for the 2021 offseason program.

The offseason allows players the opporutnity to fix any nagging ailments and that’s what Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Jaylon Smith is set to do. According to ESPN’s Cowboys writer Todd Archer, Smith is scheduled to undergo left wrist surgery.

It is not considered to be anything serious and Smith will be ready for the offseason program.

In 2021 Smith is scheduled to make a base salary of $7.2 million which becomes fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the new league year, and carries a $9.8 million towards the cap. Smith is signed through the 2025 season after signing a six-year, $68.4 million contract in 2019.

Even in what has been considered to be a down year for Smith, he lead the team in tackles with 154 overall and has posted 120 or more tackles in three of his first four active seasons.

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Report: Falcons pick Saints VP Terry Fontenot as next GM, but can’t sign him yet

NFL Network reports New Orleans Saints personnel executive Terry Fontenot is the favorite for the Atlanta Falcons general manager position.

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NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Atlanta Falcons are closing in on their next general manager, with New Orleans Saints vice president of pro personnel Terry Fontenot emerging as the favorite for their vacancy. But there’s a catch: Fontenot cannot sign with a new team until the Saints’ season is over, either by playoffs elimination or winning the Super Bowl.

Losing Fontenot would be a big blow to the front office. He’s done a great job of evaluating prospects at the pro ranks, both as free agents from other NFL teams and standouts in the CFL, as well as startup leagues like the XFL and AAF. He’s earned the assistant general manager title after years of hard work in New Orleans, and he’s now on the verge of running his own team.

Additionally, because Fontenot is a minority candidate being hired to a general manager position, the Saints would receive third-round compensatory draft picks in 2021 and 2022. That’s reliant on Atlanta sealing the deal, of course.

It’s just a shame he’ll likely be doing so across the division. But the Falcons haven’t been able to beat the Saints, so the only strategy left to them is trying to hire up-and-comers from New Orleans..

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Can someone tell Bears brass that winning contributes to a successful football culture?

Winning is the most important thing in running a successful franchise. Something the Bears haven’t done on a consistent basis for decades.

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The Chicago Bears have made the decision to retain general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy, a decision that was not met with approval from Bears fans.

Simply because they haven’t gotten the job done. And, usually, when you don’t do your job, well, you get fired.

But Chairman George McCaskey and President and CEO Ted Phillips made it clear that they don’t care what the fans have to say — Pace and Nagy are here to stay, mostly because they like them as people.

That’s right, the owner and head of football operations are keeping around a general manager and head coach, that would’ve likely been fired by another organization, around for another year because they respect them as people.

Which, don’t get me wrong, is important. But you want to know what’s more important when it comes to running an NFL franchise? Winning. Something that the Bears haven’t managed to do on a consistent basis for decades.

Their last championship came before their current roster of players were even born, and they’ve only made the playoffs three of the last 10 years, the previous two including early exits in the wild-card round.

But focusing on the current regime, Pace and Nagy haven’t gotten it done — Pace in six years, Nagy in three and Phillips in 21. Pace whiffed on drafting a franchise quarterback and a slew of other mistakes that have him to a 42-54 record. Nagy was brought in to revive this offense, when it’s at times looked worse than the John Fox era. Phillips has overseen football operations for the last couple of decades, where the Bears have made the postseason six times (with a 3-6 record) and eight double-digit loss seasons.

And yet, there has been no accountability. When McCaskey had an opportunity to send a message that losing isn’t acceptable, he kept around the very people that have contributed to that culture — and it’s not a winning one nor one that other franchises strive for, as Phillips continues to tell himself.

McCaskey and Phillips remain content with mediocrity, which would make Papa Bear himself George Halas roll over in his grave.

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Breaking down contract statuses at every position for Bears’ 2021 offseason

With Chicago’s offseason in full swing, we decided to take a look at the current contract status at every position.

The Chicago Bears concluded their 2020 season at 8-9, which included a wild-card playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Now, the attention turns to the offseason, where general manager Ryan Pace will have plenty of work to do and not a whole lot of cap space to do it with — at least at the moment. The Bears are roughly $185,755 over the salary cap, which factors in the likely salary cap decrease following a COVID-19 season.

With the offseason in full swing, we decided to take a look at the current contract status at every position.

For note: Those listed that still have time left on their contracts could be released or traded during the offseason, and some could sign extensions.

This list also includes players entering free agency and those on injured reserve, although not the practice squad.

Here’s a key:

  • UFA – Unrestricted free agent
  • RFA – Restricted free agent
  • ERFA – Exclusive Rights Free Agent
  • CO – Club option
  • Ages are as of Sept. 1, 2021

*Cap numbers courtesy of Spotrac

Max Kellerman believes Deshaun Watson needs to be traded to the Bears

Kellerman is adamant about the Bears going out and trading for Watson, but he also believes it would be best for all involved.

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The Chicago Bears have been a franchise stuck in football purgatory because of one position. And no, it’s not kicker. Chicago’s list of failed quarterbacks is almost as long as their list of Hall of Famers — which in itself is a lot.

With news that Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy will return in 2021, they have at least one more year to fix this team, which starts at quarterback.

One decision that has haunted Pace — and will continue to haunt him through his career — is passing on Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Now, Mitchell Trubisky appears headed on his way out of Chicago — which is probably for the best for both sides — and the Bears are left with continued questions at quarterback while Mahomes and Watson continue to light the league on fire.

While there’s pretty much zero chance of it happening, there has been speculation about Watson wanting out of Houston following some tension that has upset their franchise player.

If the impossible were to happen — if the Texans were to actually out-do themselves after the DeAndre Hopkins trade and trade Watson — there would be no shortage of Bears fans clamoring for the franchise to right their initial wrong of passing on Watson. And you’d expect the guys with their jobs on the line to try and right the ship with one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.

ESPN First Take’s Max Kellerman is someone that is adamant about the Bears going out and trading for Watson, but he also believes it would be best for Watson.

“I know it ain’t ‘no taxes,’ and it’s cold weather, I get all that,” Kellerman said. “Chicago is a football obsessed city… The ‘85 Bears are probably the greatest team ever, and it’s their only Super Bowl championship. The Bears are a franchise who’ve never really had a great quarterback in the Super Bowl era. You’re talking about Sid Luckman in the ‘50s? Are people crazy? In the Super Bowl era, who’s been their best quarterback? McMahon? Are people serious? Rex Grossman? Jay Cutler? When Jay Cutler is one of your three best quarterbacks of the Super Bowl era— Jim Harbaugh, better known for coaching?— you have a real problem.

“From Deshaun Watson’s point of view, he has a chance to become an icon, unlike he would be anywhere else. If he delivered a single Super Bowl to the Chicago Bears, he would occupy a space in the cultural landscape, the American sports imagination, that very few occupy. Because of how great he is, because of the storied franchise he’d be playing for, and because he delivered them finally, from a drought since 1985.”

Kellerman isn’t wrong. If Watson — or any quarterback, for that matter — were to deliver a Super Bowl to this franchise, they’d be a legend forever. After all, people still talk about the ’85 Bears like it happened a few years ago rather than 35.

Of course there’s the fact of the matter that Pace didn’t even bother to speak to Watson during the pre-draft process, which surely would deter Watson. But Kellerman argues that it makes all the sense in the world.

“It’s even bigger than that because the Bears botched the Deshaun Watson draft,” he said. “They took Trubisky. They moved up to take him, and they have a chance to make that right. It makes all the sense in the world.

“Deshaun Watson should want it, and so should the Bears, and that’s where he should go. They should try to make that happen.”

While it’s certainly nice to daydream about Watson donning that navy and orange, common sense tells us that there’s no chance of it happening. Unless someone invented a time machine.

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Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace hint at what to expect from Bears at QB in 2021

One thing was made abundantly clear during Wednesday’s press conference with Pace and Nagy: Mitchell Trubisky won’t be a Bear in 2021.

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One thing was made abundantly clear during Wednesday’s press conference featuring Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy: Mitchell Trubisky won’t be a Bear in 2021.

Which, to be honest, is good for all parties involved. Trubisky has a chance for a fresh start while Pace and Nagy have a chance to distance themselves from Trubisky with an eye toward the future.

Only, that future also involves Nick Foles, who the Bears traded for last offseason. Foles is under contract for two more seasons, and barring a trade, Chicago is bound to him financially.

And listening to Pace and Nagy talk about how well Foles handled everything in his first season with the Bears, it sounds like we’re up for another season of Foles, as well as another quarterback that they choose to bring in, whether that’s a veteran or a rookie or even both.

“With Foles specifically, as we look at that, and I reflect on him and that move and he’s under contract for us, I respect the way he handled a lot of adversity this year, not just for himself in the quarterback room,” Pace said. “He was a leader in the room as a starter or as a backup. And I think you go back to when he was playing and there were some things that, in fairness to him, the offensive line was a little unsettled and the run game wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be. And then unfortunately he got injured. So I think there’s still some evaluation left out there on him.”

Foles’ first season with the Bears wasn’t what Nagy and Pace envisioned. In seven starts (and one half), Foles posted a 2-5 record. He completed 64.74% of his passes for 1,852 yards with 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 80.8 passer rating.

“I do appreciate the way that Nick handled the entire season and it wasn’t easy,” Nagy said. “And we learned as we went through that thing, just how we work as coaches, how he works as a player. I know there’s all the talk about the connections that we all had together at different times in Nick’s career, and he grew a lot from when I had him as a rookie in 2012 to as a backup in Kansas City in 2016 to other coaches on staff that had him in different areas.

“You go back and you say when we ended up making the move for him, you look at that we weren’t able to have that offseason, which I do believe would have helped in a lot of different ways for him because things are different. You just can’t connect Kansas City and Philadelphia and say it’s the same offense. You can’t do that. But there’s a growing process there. I think that as we look at his situation, just like Ryan said, he went through and battled his tail off in regards to doing a lot of good things for us. And is there areas where he could improve? Absolutely. Are there areas we can improve as a coaching staff to help him? Yes.”

Ultimately, Foles was a disappointment. But Pace and Nagy are putting their faith behind Foles heading into 2021. Whether that’s genuine or not remains to be seen. After all, at this time last season, Leonard Floyd and Adam Shaheen were praised. And look how that panned out.

It’s clear that the Bears seem primed to make a move at quarterback this offseason — again — and it’ll likely come via the 2021 NFL Draft. Although the thought of Pace getting another chance to draft a franchise quarterback is one that inspires little confidence.

“We talk about the quarterback position and how critical that is to any team’s success and we understand that,” Pace said. “And that’s why it will be a big focus of us and a big decision for us.”

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News: Aldon Smith’s future in Dallas, Jamie Foxx defends Cowboys to Stephen A. Smith

Also, breaking down the Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt, Jr. hires, Cowboys coaches decide on Senior Bowl trip, and moving on from Dak Prescott?

The 2021 Dallas Cowboys defense is taking some semblance of shape following the hires of new coordinator Dan Quinn and now passing game coordinator Joe Whitt, Jr. There’s plenty to dissect as Cowboys Nation reads the tea leaves on the connection between Quinn and Whitt… and Whitt and Mike McCarthy. Read on to learn why there’s both optimism and cause for concern regarding the Whitt news and what Quinn may bring to Dallas.

Also on tap, looking back at what worked in 2020, looking ahead to the Cowboys’ quarterback situation, looking closely at Aldon Smith’s future with the club, and looking for answers as to why Jerry Jones the owner won’t move on from Jerry Jones the general manager. There’s also news on the Cowboys contingent heading to the Senior Bowl, a battle of former Dallas pass-catchers on this weekend’s playoff slate, and a Hollywood superstar standing up for America’s Team to one of the Cowboys’ biggest and loudest haters. All the News and Notes, coming right up…

Chuck Pagano issues statement following retirement

Chicago will be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator following an announcement that Chuck Pagano is retiring after 36 years coaching.

The Chicago Bears will be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator following an official announcement that Chuck Pagano is retiring after 18 years coaching in the NFL.

Pagano served as Chicago’s defensive coordinator from 2019-20, where he led a Bears defense that ranked among the top 10 in both years. Pagano replaced Vic Fangio, who went on to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos following the 2018 season.

In two seasons under Pagano, the Bears defense ranked fourth in the NFL in points allowed (18.6 per game) and eighth in yards (324.1) in 2019 and 13th in points (23.0) and 11th in yards (347.3) in 2020.

Pagano released a statement through ChicagoBears.com, where he thanked the Bears organization, as well the Indianapolis Colts organization, which supported him through his battle with leukemia.

“After 36 years of coaching the game I love, I have decided to retire from the National Football League,” Pagano said in a statement.

“I’d like to sincerely thank the McCaskey family, Ted Phillips, Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy for the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing organization. Also, many thanks to the Irsay family and the Colts organization. I am forever grateful to that community and to the support they have always given me both on and off the field. I’d also like to thank all the coaches, players and staff throughout my career. Thank you will never be enough to express my gratitude.

“As much as I love coaching, it takes a lot of time away from your family and loved ones. I’m excited to start this new chapter of my life and can’t wait to be able to spend more time with my family. This has been an amazing ride and I have made countless relationships that I will cherish forever.”

Bears head coach Matt Nagy also commented on Pagano’s retirement, noting that Pagano broke the news to him on Tuesday morning.

“I did not know Chuck at all prior to these last two years,” Nagy said, “and what he’s brought to us and what he’s taught us—everybody in our family here—is second to none. For him to come to me [Tuesday] morning and break the news to me and just say it’s time to call it a career and he’s going to walk away, he’s sacrificed, his family’s sacrificed so much for him and now it’s time for him to sacrifice for them. He’s at total peace with it, and so I just think again thank you coach for that and he’s going to be a great grandad and enjoy that family time.”

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Chuck Pagano issues statement following retirement

Chicago will be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator following an announcement that Chuck Pagano is retiring after 36 years coaching.

The Chicago Bears will be on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator following an official announcement that Chuck Pagano is retiring after 18 years coaching in the NFL.

Pagano served as Chicago’s defensive coordinator from 2019-20, where he led a Bears defense that ranked among the top 10 in both years. Pagano replaced Vic Fangio, who went on to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos following the 2018 season.

In two seasons under Pagano, the Bears defense ranked fourth in the NFL in points allowed (18.6 per game) and eighth in yards (324.1) in 2019 and 13th in points (23.0) and 11th in yards (347.3) in 2020.

Pagano released a statement through ChicagoBears.com, where he thanked the Bears organization, as well the Indianapolis Colts organization, which supported him through his battle with leukemia.

“After 36 years of coaching the game I love, I have decided to retire from the National Football League,” Pagano said in a statement.

“I’d like to sincerely thank the McCaskey family, Ted Phillips, Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy for the opportunity to be a part of such an amazing organization. Also, many thanks to the Irsay family and the Colts organization. I am forever grateful to that community and to the support they have always given me both on and off the field. I’d also like to thank all the coaches, players and staff throughout my career. Thank you will never be enough to express my gratitude.

“As much as I love coaching, it takes a lot of time away from your family and loved ones. I’m excited to start this new chapter of my life and can’t wait to be able to spend more time with my family. This has been an amazing ride and I have made countless relationships that I will cherish forever.”

Bears head coach Matt Nagy also commented on Pagano’s retirement, noting that Pagano broke the news to him on Tuesday morning.

“I did not know Chuck at all prior to these last two years,” Nagy said, “and what he’s brought to us and what he’s taught us—everybody in our family here—is second to none. For him to come to me [Tuesday] morning and break the news to me and just say it’s time to call it a career and he’s going to walk away, he’s sacrificed, his family’s sacrificed so much for him and now it’s time for him to sacrifice for them. He’s at total peace with it, and so I just think again thank you coach for that and he’s going to be a great grandad and enjoy that family time.”

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