fleet wrote:Betta Bulleavit wrote:So then Rapaport and Schefter (two pretty credible guys) have conflicting takes on where things stand with Johnson.
I’m inclined to believe Rap more given how all in the Bears seem to be on McCarthy. Perhaps the “rolling out of the red carpet” is a preemptive move to get a guy who likely is in their top group (while the getting is good) instead of missing out for a guy that’s a maybe at best. Is this the right approach? Not sure. But for the BJ or bust fans, this is very discouraging.
I have suspected the Raiders as soon as they fired their GM. That’s commitment. Showing someone love and commitment can be intoxicating for them. And the money of course. The quarterback will solve itself on down the line. Hell, tank a season, next year there should be some good QBs. And believe it or not, playing in a dome matters to an OC. Underrated factor. Not one of the main ones, but not nothing. I can’t help but worry about how easy it was to turn down the Bears. It ought to be pretty hard to turn down the chance to hook up with a great young rookie. Even if the rookie’s franchise is a struggle. Unless he’s not going to be special.
I think that you make a couple of interesting (and perhaps under discussed) points here.
The first is around the dome stadium element. I honestly hadn’t really thought about it. But now that you mention it, it is somewhat peculiar that he didn’t accept a Commanders job that was pretty much being given to him and now, he seems to be shying away from the Bears job. Yet we are getting all this smoke about Vegas, who plays in an environment that BJ is obviously familiar with. Whether it’s a thing or not, it certainly isn’t something the Bears can really do much about at this point. So if that is a factor, the BJ dream is looking as grim as ever.
The second point is around how easy it would be for BJ to turn down the Bears job. While that could be a concern, a perspective that we haven’t really talked enough about is whether or not the fans and media are into BJ more than Poles is. There have been different things floated around about BJ wanting his own guy and wanting a pretty heft bag, etc. I wonder if it’s possible that these things are true and perhaps those things may have been a turn off to Poles. Perhaps to such and extent that he’d turn his focus towards a more experienced candidate that actually has a resume as a HC.
All that said, maybe the Bears aren’t all in on BJ any more than he is on the Bears.
