Abandon all hope, ye who enter. These 5 NFL teams need to whitewash and start over.
The Chicago Bears have finally hit that point. They’ve reached the apex of mediocre.
Well, maybe that is just a bit too harsh, but the general point being made is the Bears’ front office has had enough and is now looking for a sweeping change with the team.
John Fox was brought into alter the culture in both the locker room and on the field, and so far he’s failed. It isn’t totally his fault that Chicago has gotten off to a 1-3 start though. Instead, the blame is being placed on a lack of chemistry and a collection of players who don’t “fit the scheme.”
If you want to attribute trading Brandon Marshall away for next to nothing on a poor fit, okay. Marshall’s troubles have been well documented, but he’s still a very dependable No. 1 option in the passing game. The New York Jets are proving that right now with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback, and Fitzpatrick doesn’t have a fraction of the chemistry with Marshall that Jay Cutler had with him.
The Bears then shipped out Jared Allen to the Carolina Panthers for a sixth-round pick. I get that. Allen is an aging defensive end whose numbers will never reach the level they were at when he was Kansas City Chief or Minnesota Viking. That makes sense.
But trading linebacker Jon Bostic to the New England Patriots just doesn’t make any sense unless you’re talking about one thing: complete overhaul.
The Bostic trade, which only yielded a sixth-round pick for Chicago, was also due to a poor schematic fit. That, again, makes sense. Bostic is a traditional middle linebacker in a 4-3 scheme, and the Bears are moving toward a 3-4 look. The confusing part is only acquiring a sixth-round pick for him.
Now Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffery have been mentioned as possible trade chips, and it probably won’t be long before Cutler is also discussed.
The Bears are re-building. They might not label it that way, but they are. And they’re not the only team that should be doing it either.
Here are the top-five teams that should follow the Bears’ blueprint and start from scratch.
Next: Philadelphia Eagles