Just hours after Brad Biggs reported the Chicago Bears were talking to former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, news has surfaced that the two sides have agreed to a deal. He was not the first choice. Several rumors indicated Matt Nagy had interest in Pat Shurmur and Mike Kafka, but those never seemed realistic. Thus Lazor, who was out football in 2019, is the option they settled on.
Lazor has been renowned over the past several years as a quarterbacks specialist. This makes his hiring interesting because several of his former pupils could be available this offseason. He got a career year out of Ryan Tannehill in 2014 with over 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns. A year earlier, Nick Foles threw 27 touchdowns with just two interceptions in 10 games for the Eagles when Lazor was quarterbacks coach. Then there is Andy Dalton, who reached his final Pro Bowl in 2016 under his direction.
Tannehill will be a free agent in March. Dalton and Foles are both considered legitimate trade possibilities.
People will point out that the offensive coordinator has a history of bad running games, which is fair. However, this move wasn’t about that. It is clearly an all-in ploy by the Bears to finally fix the quarterback position.
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Bill Lazor has his critics, but his QB exploits deserve respect
Nobody is going to say this is the hire that will save the Bears in 2020. Lazor isn’t going to call plays anyway. This is still Nagy’s show. However, the man has his good points. Most of them center around the most important position in the sport. Go back and look at every stop he’s made in the NFL as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator. The QBs there tended to play some of their best football. Hell, this is a man who got a 3-0 record and a 106.4 passer rating out of Todd Collins in 2007.
He’s used to making the most of what he has, even if the quarterbacks aren’t that good. This is what the Bears are investing in. It would’ve been the same with Shurmur or Kafka, both of whom also have deep backgrounds at the position. Whether it’s Trubisky or somebody else, this team is committed to getting the quarterback right next season.
There is nothing bad about that plan.
