When the Chicago Bears landed the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, there was little doubt who their selection would be. Despite selecting Justin Fields 11th overall just three years prior, the Bears were locked in on Caleb Williams, who was hyped as a generational talent.
Yet, Williams has experienced early growing pains, leading Chicago to the NFL’s 24th-ranked scoring offense. On Tuesday, coordinator Shane Waldron was fired. As pressure on Matt Eberflus’ hot seat mounts following Chicago’s third-consecutive loss, there’s potentially a new narrative forming inside the Bears’ locker room.
Related: See where Caleb Williams lands in Sportsnaut’s NFL QB Rankings
Chicago Bears players want changes, even at QB
According to former Chicago Bears receiver and now local insider Tom Waddle, multiple players recently approached Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles about making changes. These requests reportedly involved moving on from Shane Waldron, which has since been checked off.
Another unknown number of players have even requested that the Bears make a quarterback change from Caleb Williams to second-year quarterback Tyson Bagent.
“After talking to a few people with knowledge of the situation, players went to [coach] Matt Eberflus & [GM] Ryan Poles asking them to make a change at offensive coordinator. There have also been a few veteran players requesting [Tyson] Bagent starts.”
Bears insider Tom Waddle
- Tyson Bagent stats: 65.7% comp. rate, 171.8 YPG, 3 passing TD (2 TD rush), 6 INT – 2-2 W/L record
Despite going undrafted out of Shepherd in 2023, the Bears felt confident enough in Bagent that they didn’t sign a viable veteran to compete for the backup QB job in Chicago. Now, if some players had their way, the QB with four starts would be getting a fifth chance in Week 12 at home against the Green Bay Packers.
QB change or not, now Bears passing coordinator Thomas Brown gets his second chance to serve as an NFL team’s offensive coordinator after previously serving in the same role with the Carolina Panthers in 2023. Brown, 38, was previously viewed as a rising star who could become a head coach, so this may be the change Chicago desperately needs.
