Tag: Phil Emery

Extensions to Cole Kmet, Darnell Mooney would snap Bears decade-long drought

The Bears haven’t extended a tight end or wide receiver that they drafted in over 10 years. Here are the last players to get new deals.

The Chicago Bears have decisions to make regarding a few of their veteran players from their 2020 draft class who are now eligible for extensions. Two of those players. tight end Cole Kmet and Darnell Mooney, are each entering their fourth year with the Bears and are eligible to sign an extension to remain with the team after the 2023 season.

Kmet has improved in each season as a professional and is coming off a season in which he led the Bears in catches (50), yards (544) and touchdowns (seven). Mooney, meanwhile, entered the 2022 season as the unquestioned top wide receiver for the Bears. He was looking to build off his first 1,000-yard season, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 12. He still finished the second on the Bears in receptions (40) and yards (493).

The Bears have a chance at not only locking up two key offensive skill players, but skill players who were homegrown as well. It’s something the team hasn’t excelled at in recent years, with no tight ends or wide receivers signing multi-year extensions after being drafted by the Bears in over a decade.

Since then, the Bears have picked 12 receivers and three tight ends through the 2022 season. Here are the last two players to receive multiyear extensions at those positions who were drafted by the team and how their careers fared after the fact.

How one radio interview planted the seeds for the Brandon Marshall trade 10 years ago

The Bears traded for WR Brandon Marshall 10 years ago. See how one radio interview might’ve played a part in the blockbuster move.

Former NFL wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad once said that Chicago is “where receivers go to die.” Muhammad said this on his way out of town after playing with the Chicago Bears for three seasons in the mid 2000s.

For a while, it seemed he was right as the Bears failed to have any receiver post a 1,000-yard or Pro-Bowl season since 2002. But that changed 10 years ago when the Bears made a daring move to trade for arguably the most talented receiver they’ve ever had in Brandon Marshall.

Marshall was acquired from the Miami Dolphins for a pair of third-round draft picks. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 2006 and quickly became one of the best young pass catchers in the league. He was dealt to Miami where he spent two seasons before being traded to the Bears.

It was the first significant move from former general manager Phil Emery, who in his first year, sought to fix a glaring need on the offense and reunite Marshall with his former quarterback Jay Cutler.

Though Marshall was only a Bear for three seasons from 2012-2014 and seemingly had issues with multiple players in the locker room during his time in Chicago, he was unstoppable on the field. Marshall caught 279 passes for 3,524 yards and 31 touchdowns in three seasons, while earning two Pro Bowl nominations as well as making first-team All-Pro in 2012. It was a trade that immediately improved the Bears’ passing attack and offense as a whole.

While the marriage was short lived, many applauded Emery for his execution of the trade and his willingness to improve the offense. But as one Chicago sports radio producer reveals, this trade probably wouldn’t have happened if a chance interview didn’t take place just weeks before the deal.

Randy Merkin, an executive producer for WMVP ESPN 1000 recently authored a book titled Behind the Glass: Stories from a Sports Radio Producer. The book details many of his bookings as a radio producer with dozens of athletes and iconic figures, from George Steinbrenner and Charles Barkley, to Dabo Swinney and Peyton Manning.

One of his guests that he details in the book is Marshall. Merkin recalls contacting Marshall at the Pro Bowl hotel in Honolulu, HI, prior to the game taking place in February of 2012 to see if he would come on the radio station for a few minutes.

A few weeks prior, Marshall was tweeting with Cutler during the Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints playoff game, reminiscing about their old playing days with the Denver Broncos.

“These young duos are the old us,” Marshall tweeted at Cutler while watching players like a young Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.

“Please. We can run circles around these guys,” Cutler responded.

The game was a shootout and the tweets had Bears fans salivating over the possibilities of Cutler and Marshall together again.

Merkin took note of the exchange and saw it as the perfect opportunity to get him on Chicago radio to ask him about how he felt about possibly reuniting with Cutler. Merkin details how the interview went down with the Waddle and Silvy show:

I put Brandon on with Silvy [Marc Silverman] and JD [Jeff Dickerson], who was filling in for [Tom] Waddle that day. The guys did a great job and Brandon Marshall is an outstanding interview. The guys had a great conversation when Silvy asked him about his tweets with Jay Cutler. Silvy said ‘Brandon, why don’t you get the band back together!’ He seemed intrigued!

Just over a month later, we get breaking news. Brandon Marshall was now a Chicago Bear!! Holy cow! We figured we were going to the Super Bowl. Over the next couple of years, we started The Jay Cutler Show, It was a huge success and always had a giant crowd. One week, Brandon was filling for Jay. During the show, he told Waddle and Silvy that our interview with him at the Pro Bowl was the impetus for his asking to be traded to the Bears. He wasn’t kidding! It was a very cool moment for us.

Reading that Marshall landing with the Bears all started with a radio interview was surprising to say the least. We caught up with Merkin, who elaborated on the story and detailed how everything went into motion following the interview.

“Brandon started filling in for the Jay Cutler Show and it kind of became the Brandon Show after Jay split,” Merkin told Bears Wire. “One time, Marshall randomly said, ‘you know, when I came on with you guys at the Pro Bowl, I was a Dolphin. You guys were the reason that I reached out to Jay and said, we got to get this done. I have to come back. I have to come to Chicago and play with you.’

“And that started the whole wheels in motion. Jay went to the Bears brass and said let’s get this done. Let’s get Brandon here. So yeah, I think we played a small part. You know, they still have to make the trade of course, but it helped.”

There’s a significant chance that if Merkin doesn’t make the call to the Pro Bowl hotel back in early 2012, or if Marshall never answered the phone, that trade would have never taken place. Of course, both teams could have had interest regardless, but it seems like that one interview sparked both players to push for a deal. The result was one of the most dominating stretches by a Bears offensive player in team history, even if it was brief.

Perhaps the next football interview that Merkin books has major ramifications for the Bears, too. The executive producer continues to work at ESPN 1000 during the middays, still working his magic to bring the best guests to the radio.

Behind the Glass: Stories from a Sports Radio Producer is available for purchase online.

Matt Forte, Thomas Jones air grievances about former Bears management

“The Last Dance” shined a light on the dark side of professional sports management, and some former Bears shared their own experiences.

The sports world saw its most excitement in over a month when the ESPN docuseries “The Last Dance” premiered on Sunday evening. The 10-part series details the Chicago Bulls’ final championship run back in 1998 and shows never-before-seen footage of one of the most iconic sports teams of all time.

Naturally, nearly every sports fan tuned to watch the first two episodes and had many thoughts on the Bulls, particularly regarding the mistrust between the Bulls players and their front office. A couple former Bears chimed in as well, then shared thoughts on their own team.

Former Bears running back Matt Forte, who played for the team from 2008-15, reacted to a Tweet from retired NFL receiver Torrey Smith, saying Bulls general manager Jerry Krause “ruined one of the greatest teams in any sport” as he reacted to the docuseries. Forte agreed and said it seems to be a common theme in Chicago.

When asked to elaborate, the former Pro-Bowl rusher didn’t hold back, airing his grievances with former Bears general managers Jerry Angelo and Phil Emery. Forte began with Emery, citing the way head coach Lovie Smith was fired in 2012 following a 10-6 season. He was also displeased with how Hall of Fame linebacker Brian Urlacher’s tenure ended with the team, along with linebacker Lance Briggs and cornerback Charles Tillman.

Forte then went on to detail his issues with Angelo, focusing on how his former boss wasn’t faithful in contract negotiations just prior to the 2011 season, Forte’s final year in his rookie deal.

That’s when Thomas Jones, another former Bears running back, entered the conversation to agree with Forte when it came to Angelo. Jones spent three seasons with the Bears from 2004-06 before getting dealt to the New York Jets for a second-round draft pick following the Bears loss in Super Bowl XLI. Like Forte, he has a similar issue with Angelo when it came to negotiating in good faith.

Angelo, who signed Jones as a free agent in 2004 and drafted Forte in the second-round of the 2008 NFL Draft, was fired following the 2011 season. Emery was hired as his replacement and got off to a rocky start with Forte.

The Bears placed the franchise tag on the team’s second all-time leading rusher, before eventually agreeing to a contract extension, giving Forte $32 million over four years with $18 million guaranteed. The two parties avoided a holdout situation heading into training camp. Emery would be fired just two seasons later after a disastrous season in 2014.

Forte apologized for his posts, saying the docuseries reminded him how great his own teams could have been.

Jones also made it clear he has no ill will towards Angelo, saying “it’s just the ugly part of the NFL,” and that he’s grateful for the opportunity he had to play in Chicago.

Getting a peek behind at the curtain at some of the issues that plagued arguably the greatest basketball dynasty ever brings out many emotions. As former players, Forte and Jones brought some of their own issues with team management to light after reacting to “The Last Dance.”

The question is, with millions of fans captivated by the docuseries and still eight episodes to go, what else might be shared by Chicago athletes over the next few weeks?

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Looking back at the Jay Cutler trade 11 years ago today

Let’s take a look at the trade that went down in 2009, and the career that QB Jay Cutler had as a Chicago Bear.

Eleven years ago today, the Chicago Bears traded for quarterback Jay Cutler. Let’s look back at the trade that went down in 2009, and the career that Cutler had with the Bears.

In early 2009, the Bears traded Kyle Orton, a pair of first-round picks and a third-round pick to the Denver Broncos for their hopeful franchise quarterback in Cutler.

By comparison, during Orton’s three seasons with the Bears, he had a record of 21-12, while Cutler had a record of 17-20 in his first three seasons in Denver.

Orton was a proven winner here in Chicago, and Cutler had a bit of an attitude and seemed like he didn’t get along with the coaches in Denver, so maybe the trade was a little questionable at the time.

In his first season in 2009, Cutler threw for 3,666 yards, 27 touchdowns and 26 interceptions, while starting all 16 games. Ouch. It wasn’t the first year in Chicago many hoped for Cutler. The Bears went 7-9 and ended up missing the playoffs, and the Broncos ended up going 8-8 and also missing the playoffs. So you could call it a draw for both teams in the first year of the trade.

In 2010, it seemed like Cutler was a completely different quarterback, as he led the Bears to an 11-5 record, and they ended up winning the NFC North. In 15 games, Cutler threw for 3,274 yards, 23 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. That was a 10 interception drop-off that he had in 2009, which was a huge improvement.

Then in 2011, Cutler suffered an injury that cut short what was playing out to be a magical season when he broke his thumb against the Chargers. In 10 games, he threw for 13 touchdowns and 7 interceptions with a 7-3 record. Instead of a return trip to the playoffs, Chicago finished with an 8-8 record and were left wondering what could’ve been if Cutler had stayed healthy.

The Bears traded for Broncos receiver Brandon Marshall in 2012. Marshall and Cutler played together in Denver from 2006-2008, and they were reunited in Chicago.

Cutler ended up missing the ninth game in 2012 after getting hit hard during the Houston Texans game. The Bears ended up finishing 10-6 and still found a way to miss the playoffs. The 2012 season ended up being the last year for Lovie Smith as Bears head coach after nine years with the team, which included a Super Bowl appearance in 2006.

General manager Phil Emery quickly found a replacement for Smith, hiring offensive guru Marc Trestman in 2013. Trestman was a part of Steve Young and the 49ers’ success in the ’90s and he has won championships in the Canadian football league.

Cutler once again struggled with injury in 2013, where he only played in 11 games. He threw for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while leading the Bears to a 5-6 record. Entering Week 17, the Bears and Packers matched up for the last game of the regular season, the Packers were 7-7-1 and the Bears had a record of 8-7. The Packers delivered a brutal 33-28 defeat, and the Bears missed the playoffs with an 8-8 record in Trestman’s first year as head coach.

In 2014, Cutler went 5-10 as the starter, he threw for 3,812 yards, 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. The Bears missed the playoffs with a 5-11 record. After only two seasons, Trestman would end up getting fired.

In 2015, changes were needed for this Bears’ team. They would find a new general manager in Ryan Pace, a new head coach in John Fox and Marshall and Martellus Bennet would leave the team.

In Cutler’s final two years with the Bears in 2015 and 2016, he started 20 games, throwing for 4,718 yards, 25 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Bears ended up missing the playoffs in Cutler’s last two years, with records of 6-10 in 2015 and 3-13 in 2016.

During the 2017 offseason, the Bears held the third overall pick in the NFL Draft, and Bears’ fans know how that turned out as Pace would trade up from the third overall pick to the second overall pick to draft Mitchell Trubisky. Still a questionable move to this day on why Pace traded so many future picks just to move up one spot.

Even before drafting Trubisky, Cutler’s career as a Bear came to an end. He spent eight seasons in Chicago, leading them to a 51-51 record as starter, throwing for 154 touchdowns and 109 interceptions. But during those eight years, the Bears only made the playoffs once.

Seeing Cutler play with guys like Matt Forte, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Devin Hester, and Johhny Knox, to name a few, was exciting.

Cutler was by far one of my favorite Bears. When the Bears traded for Cutler, how did you feel? Did you like the trade? What was your favorite moment?

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Kyle Long confirms he won’t be a Bear next season

While Bears RG Kyle Long didn’t officially come out to say he’s retiring, his comments indicate he won’t be playing football anytime soon.

After months of speculation and cryptic messages on social media, one Chicago Bears veteran says he’s played his last down for the team.

Chicago Bears right guard Kyle Long, one of the longest-tenured players on the team, tweeted out a few messages on Sunday evening indicating he’ll be stepping away from the game to focus on his body and offered heartfelt thanks to the city.

Long continued, thanking the Chicago Bears organization for bringing him and keeping him around.

Long’s messages stem from another tweet earlier in the evening, when a fan asked how excited he was to work with new offensive line coach Juan Castillo. Long’s response was a gif of former Los Angeles Lakers President Magic Johnson when he resigned from his position, saying “I’m not going to be here.”

The former 2013 first-round draft pick brought stability and leadership to an offensive line that lacked both since center Olin Kreutz left in 2010. Long ends his Bears career with three Pro Bowl selections in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and was named second-team All-Pro in 2014.

Long struggled with injuries over the last four years, however, needing surgeries to repair a torn shoulder, broken ankle and more from 2016 through 2018.

After spending last offseason surgery-free, Long felt he was in the best shape of his life and was eager to return to the football field. But after early struggles in 2019, Long was placed on injured reserve following the Bears’ Week 5 loss to the Oakland Raiders, ending his season and effectively his career with the Bears. He was the second-longest tenured player on the team, behind defensive back Sherrick McManis.

While Long didn’t officially come out to say he’s retiring, his tweets indicate he won’t be playing football anytime soon.

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