Bears Coaching Notes: DeFilippo, Pitre
The Bears made a staff move Monday that will surely have a lot of people in the NFL universe connecting dots. Chicago has promoted John DeFilippo to be passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the team announced. He had previously just been QBs coach, and replaces Dave Ragone after he left to be Atlanta’s new OC. Thee promotion is eyebrow-raising because the Bears are reported to be pursuing Carson Wentz, and DeFilippo has an extensive history with the embattled Eagles quarterback.
DeFilippo, of course, was Wentz’s quarterbacks coach for his breakout 2017 season when the Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl. He also coached Wentz during his rookie season before the Super Bowl earned him the job of Vikings offensive coordinator. He immediately clashed with Mike Zimmer, and was fired by Minnesota midway through the 2018 season. He was then hired as Jacksonville’s OC for 2019, and was fired after the season when he couldn’t recapture the magic he had previously with Nick Foles. The Bears making this move will do nothing to decrease the chatter about them acquiring Wentz, and now we wait.
- Washington DBs coach Chris Harris was the runner up for the Packers’ DC job that went to Joe Barry and is a name to watch moving forward for other openings, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. As Breer points out, he’s still only 38. Harris spent eight years in the league as a safety from 2005-12, and got his first coaching gig as a defensive quality control coach with the Bears in 2013.
- The Bears made another recent shuffling of Matt Nagy’s staff, hiring Michael Pitre to be the new running backs coach, Adam Rittenberg of ESPN tweets. Pitre had been the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Oregon State. He’ll replace Charles London, who left Chicago along with Ragone to be the new quarterbacks coach with the Falcons.
Bears, Colts Pursuing Carson Wentz; Trade Expected Soon
Carson Wentz is expected to have a new team soon. The disgruntled Eagles quarterback is on track to be traded within the next few days, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com report.
The Eagles are looking for a Matthew Stafford-type trade package, per the ESPN.com duo, who add the Bears and Colts have expressed interest in the five-year veteran. Other teams have inquired about Wentz as well; a trade has been brewing for a few days now.
It is not known what other teams have inquired here. Despite heading into his 13th season, Stafford brought a host of teams to the table. The Bears, Broncos, Colts, Panthers, Patriots, 49ers and Washington were in the mix for the new Rams starter. Of these teams, the Panthers and Broncos have been connected to Deshaun Watson. Wentz could prompt offers from some of these teams, but ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler tweets this market may not be as fierce.
The Stafford deal did well to accelerate Wentz dialogue around the league, per Schefter and Mortensen, who add that some around the league believe a Wentz trade could lay the foundation for more QB swaps — such as a Sam Darnold deal. Several passers have been loosely linked to trades in what has become one of the hottest QB trade markets in many years.
Wentz’s 2020 performance and injury history will certainly dissuade teams from putting together a Stafford-type package, though Fowler notes the Eagles are expected to collect a first-round pick for Wentz. The North Dakota State product was dominant in 2017 (first in Total QBR prior to a December 2017 knee injury) and played well despite a decimated receiving corps in 2019.
The Colts certainly add up as a logical destination, having seen Philip Rivers retire. Frank Reich served as Wentz’s OC in Philly for two seasons, and Wentz ally Press Taylor is expected to join Indianapolis’ staff. The Bears, however, have ex-Eagles QBs coach John DeFilippo on staff. The Colts are projected to hold the second-most cap space, while the Bears are much lower on this list. Chicago will need to make moves to get under the cap, though the franchise has been in need at quarterback for far longer than Indianapolis.
The Eagles continue to insist they would be happy to keep Wentz, per ESPN, but he has not backed down from his desire to leave Philadelphia. The 28-year-old passer’s contract runs through 2024, though an acquiring team could get out of the contract after the 2022 season. Wentz is owed $47.2MM guaranteed through the ’22 season. However, none of his cap hits through 2024 would exceed $27MM, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
It would be the Eagles eating a sizable chunk of the former MVP candidate’s money. Philly would take on an NFL-record (by a considerable margin) $33.8MM in dead cap charges by trading Wentz. Any deal will certainly occur before the third day of the 2021 league year, when Wentz is due a $10MM roster bonus.
The Eagles have the No. 6 overall pick and appear set to have at least one other Round 1 selection and/or a Day 2 pick in this year’s draft, were they to seek an immediate upgrade on Jalen Hurts. The Eagles’ HC interviews centered around a coach who could revitalize Wentz, and a recent coaching staff meeting produced a consensus that Wentz could regain his Pro Bowl form in Philly, per Schefter and Mortensen. But it appears the Nick Sirianni hire will still precede a major quarterback change in Philadelphia.
Bears Hire New ILBs Coach Bill McGovern
- The Bears recently promoted Sean Desai to defensive coordinator to replace the retiring Chuck Pagano, and now they’re adding to his staff. The team has hired Bill McGovern to be inside linebackers coach, a source told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). McGovern coached in the college ranks for a couple decades, spending some time as Boston College’s defensive coordinator, before becoming a linebackers coach with the Eagles in 2013. He then was as a linebackers coach with the Giants from 2016-19.
Goff-Stafford Fallout: Rams, Lions, Suitors
Sean McVay‘s call to Jared Goff informing him of the Rams‘ decision to trade him ended quickly, but the five-year starter will exit a rapidly deteriorating (for him) situation. Both McVay and Les Snead gave suboptimal endorsements of Goff’s 2021 status recently. While the Lions could well draft a quarterback with their first-round pick, Goff is now set up to be the starter in Detroit.
“I’m just excited to be somewhere that I know wants me and appreciates me,” Goff said, via NFL.com’s Michael Silver. “I’m moving forward and couldn’t be more excited to build a winner there. I’m excited about Dan (Campbell) and the whole staff.”
Goff had entered the past four Rams seasons as the team’s unquestioned starter and will now attempt to stabilize his career in Detroit. The Rams will host the Lions at some point next season. Here is the latest from Saturday night’s blockbuster trade:
- Several teams made offers for Matthew Stafford. We can add Washington to that list. The NFC East champions presented the Lions an offer featuring more 2021 assets than the Rams offered, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets. It can be assumed Washington was willing to part with its first-round pick — No. 19 overall — but the team’s proposal could not match the unique opportunity the Lions had in leveraging Goff’s lavish contract into a monster Rams package. Washington has Alex Smith and Kyle Allen under contract for 2021, but Smith’s status is far from certain and Allen is coming off a severe injury. Taylor Heinicke is set to be an RFA.
- Joining the Panthers, Broncos, Patriots and Washington in pursuing Stafford: the 49ers, Colts and Bears, according to NBC Sports’ Peter King (Twitter link) and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. All of these teams have quarterback questions, though the 49ers have indicated Jimmy Garoppolo will be their starter next season. A Bears deal would have certainly qualified as farfetched, but Chicago made an effort at a rare intra-divisional trade. Mitchell Trubisky is a free agent and obviously has not delivered anything close to what the Bears envisioned when they drafted him. Nick Foles is under contract for 2021, but the Bears, at the very least, will bring in competition for a quarterback they benched this season. The Colts lost Philip Rivers to retirement and have Jacoby Brissett as a UFA-to-be. While Jim Irsay said he would welcome Andrew Luck back, nothing has transpired on this front in a while.
- Goff has already spoken with Campbell and other Lions staffers, and Jeff Darlington of ESPN.com notes (via Twitter) the five-year veteran has a physical coming soon. While the Lions could technically fail Goff on his physical and void the trade, Darlington adds that based on Goff’s early conversations with Detroit coaches it can clearly be assumed the former No. 1 overall pick will be the team’s starter to open the 2021 season.
Coaching Notes: Pack, Rathman, McCardell
The Packers are making a change on special teams. They are firing ST coordinator Shawn Mennenga, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). A longtime college coach, Mennenga had previously served as Browns assistant ST coach before joining Matt LaFleur‘s staff in 2019. The Packers are expected to promote assistant ST coach Maurice Drayton to replace Mennenga, Pelissero tweets. At least one other team was interested in Drayton for such a role, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Drayton was in contention for this job two years ago.
Here is the latest out of Green Bay and from around the league:
- Mike Pettine may not be locked in as Packers defensive coordinator next season. The veteran DC opted not to sign an extension last year, and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com notes his contract is up. The Packers invested heavily in their pass rush and used three first-round picks on defenders from 2018-19 but dropped from 15th in defensive DVOA in 2019 to 17th this past season. Pettine is a holdover from Mike McCarthy‘s staff, having arrived in 2018.
- Colts running backs coach Tom Rathman announced his retirement Thursday. The Colts hired Rathman in 2017, after his eight-year tenure as 49ers running backs coach ended. Rathman attempted to retire in 2019 and ’20, but the Colts successfully lobbied him to stay on, per The Athletic’s Stephen Holder (on Twitter). A decorated fullback who won two Super Bowls with the 49ers, Rathman coached running backs from 1997-2020. Sixteen of those years came in San Francisco.
- Staying with the Colts, they are hiring former Jaguars QBs coach Scott Milanovich to replace Marcus Brady in that position, Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star tweets. Milanovich was Jacksonville’s QBs coach from 2017-19. Otherwise, he has spent his career in the CFL, having coached the Toronto Argonauts and, in 2020, the Edmonton Eskimos. The Colts promoted Brady to OC last week.
- Longtime NFL wideout Keenan McCardell will resurface in Minnesota. The Vikings are hiring McCardell as receivers coach, per Gene Frenette of the Florida Times-Union (on Twitter). A longtime Jaguars pass catcher who broke into the coaching ranks in 2010, McCardell served as Jacksonville’s receivers coach from 2017-20 under Doug Marrone.
- Ex-Colts DC Ted Monachino will be the Falcons‘ outside linebackers coach under Arthur Smith next season. Monachino, Indy’s DC from 2016-17, spent the past two years with the Bears. The Falcons also hired Jon Hoke to coach defensive backs. The older brother of Maryland HC Brady Hoke, Jon was the Terrapins’ defensive coordinator from 2019-20 but has coached NFL DBs for several seasons.
Lions Add Dave Fipp, Aubrey Pleasant To Staff
Dan Campbell‘s first Lions staff is taking shape. They hired the third of their 2021 coordinators this week, announcing longtime Eagles special teams coordinator Dave Fipp will take the same position in Detroit.
The Lions are also hiring Rams cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant as secondary coach, according to NFL.com’s Steve Wyche (on Twitter), and ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets new Lions linebackers coach Mark DeLeone will come over from the Bears.
Fipp coached the Eagles’ special teams units throughout Chip Kelly and Doug Pederson‘s tenures, beginning that run in 2013. In that time, Philly’s 12 return touchdowns ranked second in the league. Fipp has been an NFL assistant since the 2008 season. This includes time with Campbell in Miami. The two coached together with the Dolphins from 2011-12.
Pleasant represents an interesting get for the Lions. Washington attempted to promote Pleasant ahead of the 2017 season, but he left for Los Angeles. During that time, he interviewed for the Bengals’ DC job — one Lou Anarumo landed — in 2019 and oversaw the development of Rams corners Troy Hill and Darious Williams. The Jalen Ramsey sidekicks each ranked as top-30 corners, per Pro Football Focus, alongside Ramsey this past season. Pleasant will join ex-Rams staffers Brad Holmes and Ray Agnew — the Lions’ new GM and assistant GM, respectively — in trekking from southern California to Michigan.
DeLeone spent the past two seasons as Chicago’s inside linebackers coach under Chuck Pagano, overseeing the development of Roquan Smith, and was with the Chiefs from 2013-18 under then-Kansas City DC Bob Sutton. Additionally, the Lions are expected to retain tight ends coach Ben Johnson, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter).
Latest On Bears, Allen Robinson
Allen Robinson has served as Chicago’s clear-cut No. 1 chain-mover since the 2018 season, but the Pro Bowl wideout is less than two months from free agency. And the Bears may need to find a new No. 1 pass catcher.
The Bears are bracing for the possibility Robinson departs in free agency, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com notes, adding that the team appears content to let the seven-year veteran test the market instead of forking over top-five receiver money to keep him.
That strategy may be fine for Robinson, who sounds eager to test free agency again. While Robinson said recently he was open to returning to the Bears, he reflected on the parties’ failed extension talks.
“I personally feel like we had an opportunity to be able to get something done over the past 365 days,” Robinson said, via Dickerson (on Twitter).
The Bears would have the franchise tag as an option with Robinson, but they are — prior to any roster cuts — sitting at $10MM over the projected 2021 cap. This is without Mitchell Trubisky factoring into Chicago’s 2021 cap sheet, though the polarizing quarterback is not a lock to be back next season. It will be interesting, in a year in which Matt Nagy and GM Ryan Pace will likely be on hot seats, if the Bears will be willing to let Robinson walk.
A former Jaguars third-round pick, Robinson agreed to a three-year, $42MM deal with the Bears in 2018. But the sides were unable to reach an extension agreement last year. Robinson envisions himself as the market’s top wide receiver, which would put him — even in a year in which the salary cap is expected to decline for only the second time ever — in the $20MM-per-year conversation.
Free agency’s WR1 will be a tough conversation this year. As of late January, young standouts Kenny Golladay, Chris Godwin, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Corey Davis are set for free agency. Barring extensions, veterans T.Y. Hilton, A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Antonio Brown would stand to join them. Robinson’s previous three-year Bears deal puts him in between these groups, age-wise, at 27.
Despite playing for a team with one of the league’s shakiest quarterback situations, Robinson posted back-to-back 1,100-plus-yard seasons over the past two years. The Bears have Anthony Miller under contract for another season and drafted Darnell Mooney in 2020. But a Robinson exit would leave the team with a major need on offense.
Bears Interested In Eagles’ Duce Staley
Duce Staley has been an Eagles assistant for 10 seasons, but the franchise’s longtime running backs coach has landed on the Bears’ radar.
The Bears are interested in the former NFL starter-turned-HC candidate, Adam Jahns of The Athletic tweets. While Staley arrived in Philly before Doug Pederson, he worked with Matt Nagy‘s former Chiefs coworker for five seasons.
The Eagles will likely bring in a host of new assistants after hiring Colts OC Nick Sirianni as their Pederson replacement. Staley was on the radar for the job Sirianni landed but did not seem to gain much traction during Philadelphia’s search. He was also passed over for Philly’s OC position when the team promoted Mike Groh in 2018.
Nagy has seen two of his offensive assistants — QBs coach Dave Ragone and running backs coach Charles London — defect to the Falcons this week. London will be Atlanta’s new QBs coach, working under new Falcons OC Ragone. Nagy will need to replace these staffers, and Staley has extensive experience as an offensive staffer.
Philadelphia’s RBs coach since 2013, Staley began his career at the quality control level two years prior. He worked under Pederson, Chip Kelly and Andy Reid. The Eagles tabbed him as their acting head coach during Pederson’s bout with COVID-19 last summer. But with Sirianni coming in, it is unclear if Staley remains in the Eagles’ plans or if he would want to continue working as a position coach with another new Eagles HC.
Bears To Promote Sean Desai To DC
The Bears interviewed a few outside candidates for their defensive coordinator job but will make a promotion instead. They are elevating safeties coach Sean Desai into the DC role, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Desai, 37, has been with Chicago since 2013. He worked at the quality control level for several seasons but coached Bears safeties over the past two. It is believed Desai will become the first person of Indian descent to become an NFL coordinator, Rapoport adds.
Desai joined D-line coach Jay Rodgers as internal candidates to succeed Chuck Pagano. He will take over a defense that has ranked as a top-10 DVOA unit in each of the past three seasons. The Bears interviewed George Edwards, James Bettcher, Colts DBs coach Jonathan Gannon and Mike Singletary for the job. A Hall of Fame Bears linebacker, Singletary re-emerged on the interview circuit after a lengthy absence. But Chicago is going with Desai, who holds a doctorate degree from Temple.
While Desai does not have much experience as a position coach in the NFL, he did serve as a special teams coordinator at Boston College prior to turning 30. He worked in that capacity with the ACC school in 2012, doing so after spending five years at his alma mater as a special teams assistant.
Falcons Hire Dean Pees, Dave Ragone
Previously rumored Falcons plans came to fruition Thursday. Arthur Smith will bring Dave Ragone aboard as his offensive coordinator, and the first-year Falcons coach has a big role planned for the recently retired Dean Pees.
The former Titans defensive coordinator will again come out of retirement, committing to become the Falcons’ DC. The Falcons are also hiring Marquice Williams as their special teams coordinator.
While Pees and Smith served as Titans coordinators together in 2019, this will be Ragone’s first run as OC. Working as Bears QBs coach for the past five years, this will represent a move up for the ex-quarterback — the first known target for this post.
Ragone, 41, will not, however, have an immediate path to a play-calling role. Smith’s play-calling chops helped him draw interest from all seven head coach-seeking teams this year, and he confirmed he will call plays in Atlanta.
For Pees, this marks unretirement No. 2. Mentioned early as a likely to join Atlanta’s staff, Pees will skip any advisory or consulting roles and jump back into the play-calling fire.
Pees left his post as Ravens DC after the 2017 season but re-emerged as the Titans’ defensive boss ahead of the ’18 campaign. Pees, 71, stuck to retirement for a season this time around — which coincided with a Titans defensive regression — but will return to lead a fourth team’s defense. Pees served as Patriots defensive coordinator from 2006-09 and led the Ravens’ defense for six seasons beginning with their Super Bowl-winning 2012 slate. Of Pees’ 12 defenses, only one has ranked outside the top 12 in points allowed.
Williams has worked as assistant special teams coach with the Chargers and Lions, working in that capacity with Detroit for the past two seasons.