The Minnesota Vikings have been a fascinating case study for the past few years. One year, they look like world-beaters. Head coach Kevin O’Connell has the offense clicking and the defense plays at a high level. The next year, they fall apart and can’t seem to do anything right. After winning 14 games in 2024, expectations were high that this team was ready to compete for a Super Bowl. Instead, they stumbled to an 8-9 record, missed the playoffs, and saw their general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah,

Ever since then, people have wondered how it all went wrong. It all traces back to the team’s controversial decision to let veteran QB Sam Darnold walk in free agency despite making the Pro Bowl that season. The team committed to 1st round pick J.J. McCarthy, believing the team wouldn’t miss a step. McCarthy struggled, suffered injury setbacks, and never looked anything close to what Darnold was. Even worse, their former starter landed with the Seahawks and won the Super Bowl.

It is by far one of the worst personnel decisions in recent NFL history, and someone close to the situation informed Sports Mockery about what happened.

“The Vikings have a quarterback disaster that was caused by their head coach letting Darnold go because he got a hard-on for McCarthy. The GM took the fall for it. Now they’re stuck with two mid QBs.”

The Minnesota Vikings have lost control of the narrative.

Early on, it was suggested that O’Connell was against letting Darnold leave, believing McCarthy wasn’t ready. That has proven to be a lie meant to protect the coach from public scrutiny. In reality, O’Connell had been itching to get started with McCarthy since the team drafted him the year prior. The coach encouraged Darnold to test the market, eventually landing in Seattle. That singular decision cost the Vikings a precious season of their Super Bowl window. McCarthy failed to show any signs of real progress, forcing the team to pivot to Kyler Murray.

Adofo-Mensah became the sacrificial lamb as a result; the pound of flesh meant to shield O’Connell. Others around the NFL aren’t fooled. The head coach is the one responsible for costing his team what could’ve been a legitimate shot at a champion. Now they’re trying to sell everybody that Murray is the answer to all their problems. Never mind the fact that the veteran quarterback played only one healthy season in the past five years and has been very average (51 TDs and 26 INTs) across that same time span.

Bears fans should be loving this.

For so many years, it was their teams always making the bad decisions at quarterback. The Minnesota Vikings kept finding quality starter after quality starter, staying competitive. Now they’ve gotten themselves stuck in the same purgatory Chicago was for decades. All because their head coach let his massive ego cloud his judgment. In almost any other circumstance, O’Connell would’ve been the one to take the fall. Unfortunately, his recent runs of success made that impossible.

Here, Minnesota now sits. Good enough not to be bad, but not good enough at the most important position to be a true contender. They’re desperately clinging to the hope that Murray will somehow have a career renaissance like Darnold’s. Here’s the thing. It isn’t like he was hung out to dry in Arizona. They built around him pretty well. Murray just never ascended beyond a certain point. O’Connell believes his own magic touch with quarterbacks will solve that problem. After watching last season, karma might be catching up.

Terron Armstead was one of the best left tackles in the NFL for a considerable stretch of the past decade. The five-time Pro Bowler anchored the blindside during the last great years of Drew Brees and the best years of Tua Tagovailoa. Injuries that shortened his career might be the only reason he won’t reach the Hall of Fame. He was that good. Still, that doesn’t mean the 34-year-old can’t contribute to the game he loves in other ways. One of them is taking on the role of mentor and personal coach for the younger generation.

It appears no team is taking advantage of that more than the Chicago Bears. It was already common knowledge that Armstead had been working with Braxton Jones all offseason on getting his conditioning and fundamentals right for what is easily the most important season of his career. Now, some of his teammates have decided to take advantage of Armstead’s expertise. Among them are right tackle Darnell Wright, left tackle Theo Benedet, and tackle Kiran Amegadjie.

Terron Armstead is likely acting at the behest of another.

It isn’t a coincidence that many of his understudies are Bears. Their offensive line coach is Dan Roushar. His rise to prominence came in New Orleans with the Saints in the late 2010s. That was right when Armstead was playing his best football. Roushar has stated he considers the former left tackle “the standard” by which all others are measured. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he encouraged all of the team’s prominent tackles to spend their breaktime before training camp getting some lessons.

Most people believe Armstead’s success came from his elite athleticism and mobility. While that was part of it, he was never given enough credit for how much of a technician he became. From his hands down to his feet, everything was in sync. He was a student of the game, always having counters for anything opposing pass rushers threw at him. This is often the last hurdle many young blockers never clear. They have the talent. They don’t do the homework to become masters of the craft.

Nobody can say the Bears players aren’t motivated.

Wright has no reason to seek out Terron Armstead for help. He was already a second-team All-Pro last season and is one of the best right tackles in football. It shows you how committed he is as a worker that he’s willing to put in the extra time. Credit must also go to Amegadjie. Everybody has written the former 3rd round pick off as a lost cause after a frustrating second season. He clearly hasn’t given up. Otherwise, he would just be going through the motions preparing for training camp.

It will be fascinating to see what the players glean from Armstead’s workouts. Some players don’t really know how to instruct because they only know how to play the way that made them successful. Still, Armstead has always been lauded for his intelligence. It shouldn’t be difficult for him to give pointers that everybody can utilize, even if they may not have his natural skills. Don’t be surprised if guys are a little bit sharper this season than they might’ve been in 2025.

The Green Bay Packers have been a model of consistency for over 30 years now. Spearheaded by the greatness of two Hall of Fame quarterbacks, they’ve enjoyed an almost unbroken streak of winning seasons, three Super Bowl appearances, and two Lombardi trophies. In that time, they maintained the aura of a world-class organization. Everybody is on the same page. No dissenters. No controversies. Except that hasn’t been the case at all. In reality, the Packers have been hounded by internal problems for years. The winning has merely masked a lot of it.

It started in the late 2000s when Brett Favre went through his long, painful will-he-won’t-he retirement tour. Then it was the tumultuous end of the Mike McCarthy era in 2018. Ironically, Aaron Rodgers soon followed in Favre’s footsteps with a retirement tease of his own. Green Bay managed to weather it all. However, things might be reaching a breaking point. After a disastrous end to their 2025 season at the hands of the Chicago Bears, discontent is rising inside the building. One person with knowledge of the situation summed it up as follows.

“They’re stuck with a head coach they don’t want and a quarterback who they see as good but not a star.”

The Green Bay Packers are trying to make the status quo work.

After all, doing so has worked for them multiple times before. They kept Favre and Mike Holmgren together after a bumpy first few years. Rodgers and McCarthy stayed together despite some rumblings of tension between the two. They reached two more NFC Championship games. One would think they want to do the same with head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love. Unfortunately, it sounds like there isn’t nearly as much unity between players and decision-makers on that front.

LaFleur isn’t the most popular person inside the Packers locker room. Some see him as too passive and a choke artist. He hasn’t won a division title since Rodgers left, and he’s 1-4 in his last four playoff appearances. His team’s 21-3 collapse in the wild card round felt like a possible breaking point for many.

Then you have Jordan Love. The former 1st round pick had another productive season in 2025, throwing 23 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He threw four touchdowns against the Bears in that playoff loss. None of that has convinced people he is anywhere near the same level as Favre and Rodgers were. Chris Simms summed it up best.

“His numbers and stats look better than his play was. If you go back and watch the season, you’ll see tons of inconsistency with the offense and with him. I love his arm talent, but every game you see balls that are off target.”

Ed Policy complicates the situation even further.

He recently took over as the team’s new president, replacing Mark Murphy, who’d held the job since 2007. Policy had no say in the hiring of the top three football people in that organization: Love, LaFleur, and general manager Brian Gutekunst. Some may try to downplay that, but history shows that once someone is put in charge, they tend to bring in people they trust and believe in. Remember, this is the son of Carmen Policy, former president of the San Francisco 49ers, who oversaw trading Joe Montana and firing two-time Super Bowl champion head coach George Seifert.

This isn’t a family with a history of fearing bold decisions.

It is apparent that pressure is extremely high going into this season. The Green Bay Packers mortgaged their future when they traded for Micah Parsons last year. He tore his ACL and now will miss at least a third of this upcoming season. If this team underachieves, there is a good chance LaFleur might get shown the door. It will then be up to the next head coach to decide what to do about Love. Whatever the case, all is not well in Cheeseland, which is extra entertaining for Bears fans.

The Chicago Bears have done pretty much all they can to prepare the roster for a big 2026 season. Despite monitoring the various markets, general manager Ryan Poles didn’t make any bold moves. He managed his resources carefully and got the best players possible. All things considered, he did pretty well. The defense is younger and faster. The offense is younger, faster, and deeper. Everything was accomplished while maintaining flexible finances and enough draft capital for the future.

Still, it feels like the Bears are one move short of really being a team that has a legitimate chance to chase a Super Bowl. Right now, they aren’t considered true favorites in the NFC like Seattle, Los Angeles, or Philadelphia. They need something more to hit that extra gear. If they’re to find something like that, it will have to be on the trade market. Right now, no such possibilities exist. However, looking ahead to the deadline in November, here are a few names that could be up for grabs and had for affordable prices.

Chicago Bears trades that would instantly make them better.

3rd round pick to Arizona for EDGE Josh Sweat

It is an open secret at this point that the former Super Bowl champion isn’t happy. The coach Sweat signed on to play for, Jonathan Gannon, was fired after last season. That and releasing quarterback Kyler Murray put Arizona squarely on the path to a rebuild. Sweat didn’t sign up for that, and there have been rumblings for months that the edge rusher might eventually push his way out of town. Having three years left on his contract makes him a more attractive target for the Bears. A 3rd round pick feels reasonable since he’s 29 and wants out. Arizona gets something to help the rebuild, and Chicago gets a legitimate double-digit sack option.

2nd round pick in 2027 to Pittsburgh for EDGE T.J. Watt

The Steelers really put themselves in a cap bind by extending Nate Herbig. They are now paying three of their edge rushers big money, along with Alex Highsmith and Watt. This is why speculation has persisted that one of them will eventually be traded. Watt is the most expensive of the group at $41 million per year. He’s also coming off one of his worst seasons in years with seven sacks in 14 games. It is believed he is on the decline at age 31. If the Steelers don’t get out of the gates strong, they may decide to unload him. Even at his age, Watt is worth the gamble. Few pass rushers can take over games as he can. Playing in a more diverse and exotic scheme like Chicago’s could make life easier for him while he makes life easier for everybody else.

4th round pick in 2027 and 5th round pick in 2028 to Indianapolis for RB Jonathan Taylor

ESPN predicted that the Chicago Bears would be the landing spot for the All-Pro running back in a trade this year. This presumes the Indianapolis Colts struggle out of the gates. Taylor has one year left on his contract, and they might be reluctant to extend him again, even though he’s still just 26. Ben Johnson won’t have any concerns about that. Taylor is the type of stud running back who would be a demon in this rushing scheme. Remember, he’s posted at least 1400 yards in three of the past five seasons. That was despite playing with below-average quarterbacks. Put him with Caleb Williams, and it could get wild.

Conditional 3rd round pick in 2027 for Baltimore DT Nnamdi Madubuike

Baltimore faces serious salary cap issues in 2027, with projections of being over $64 million in the red. That means they will have to unload at least one of their biggest contracts. Madubuike suffered a nasty neck injury last season, leaving his status moving forward uncertain. The Ravens could use that as an excuse to move him out. A trade would net them $11 million in cap space. When healthy, Madubuike was one of the best interior pass rushers in the NFL. The Bears have badly needed that for some time. A conditional 3rd round pick that can become a 2nd round pick if certain health and statistical thresholds are met sounds reasonable.

Conditional 4th round pick in 2027 to Atlanta for LT Jake Matthews

It isn’t a secret that left tackle is a problematic position for the Chicago Bears. Right now, their two best options are Braxton Jones and Jedrick Wills. Free agency and the draft didn’t offer any definitive solutions. That could change if things don’t go well early for Atlanta this season. They’re facing a transition period under new general manager Ian Cunningham. He may decide to start stacking draft capital for 2027. Trading the 34-year-old Matthews feels like a possibility. He’s still good enough to fetch something decent. In this case, a conditional pick that becomes a 3rd if he starts every game and a 2nd if he makes the Pro Bowl. Chicago gets one of the better left tackles in football, fortifying their offensive line for a big second-half run.

These days, running games are rarely built around one player. Granted, they do still exist. You have studs like Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, and Bijan Robinson putting their teams on their back. However, most of the time, it’s more of a two-man committee approach. That is what the Chicago Bears implemented last season under new head coach Ben Johnson. He paired veteran D’Andre Swift with 7th round rookie Kyle Monangai. Not much was expected of the pair.

Swift had been a solid player over the year, but nobody saw him as a true primary back. Monangai was highly productive for Rutgers in college, but most saw him as an average talent. That didn’t stop them from pacing the Bears to the 3rd-best rushing attack in the NFL. Together, they combined for 1,870 yards and 14 touchdowns. This was enough to earn them the fourth spot on Sports Illustrated’s top five running back tandems in the NFL. Quite an accomplishment.

4. Chicago Bears: D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai

With Ben Johnson as the team’s coach, the Bears were expected to run the ball effectively after watching him scheme up Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in Detroit. As it turns out, those expectations were correct.

Chicago ran its way to the NFC North title with an 11–6 record behind Swift and Monangai, with the former rushing for 1,087 yards while the latter, a seventh-round rookie, picked up 783 yards. No back who ranked second in rushing yards on his own team had more than Monangai. 

Going into 2026, the Bears are hoping quarterback Caleb Williams becomes the first man in franchise history to throw for 4,000 yards. If he does, that’ll open up the rushing lanes even more for Swift and Monangai as Johnson’s scheme expands in his second campaign with Chicago.

Did Swift and Monangai get robbed?

You could make the case. The tandem that took the #1 spot was Kyren Williams and Blake Corum in Los Angeles. This is understandable. They produced more yards and touchdowns than the Bears’ duo last season and beat them in the playoffs. However, the real issue lay with the #3 and #2 spots. These were given to Travis Etienne and Alvin Kamara of New Orleans and Rico Dowdle and Jaylen Warren of Pittsburgh. On paper, both sound imposing. There is just one problem.

Neither group has actually played together yet.

Etienne was signed by the Saints this past spring. The same was true of Dowdle with the Steelers. It feels like this list is leaning too much into projection and name value compared to actual productivity as a duo. Throwing two names together doesn’t automatically lead to major success. We know Swift and Monangai are good because they proved it last season. Projection should not enter into rankings. Yet that appears to be what has happened in this case.

They certainly have an incentive now.

The Bears made it clear that they believe in D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai when they didn’t make any notable moves at running back the entire offseason. Head coach Ben Johnson likes what the two bring to the table and feels they can do it again in 2026. With his rushing scheme and a talented offensive line, this isn’t a terrible assumption. Neither player is in danger of getting too old and their understanding of the system will be even higher than before. The big question will be how hard defenses try to stop them.

Running the ball was Chicago’s bread and butter last season. Opponents will certainly have scouted that this offseason. They may start loading the box in an effort to stop it. Unfortunately for them, that will leave more open throwing windows for Caleb Williams. This isn’t the old days where teams could just stymie the run and dare the Bears to win by throwing the ball. Williams is too good of a player for that strategy to work unless you have that much confidence in your secondary to cover everybody.

The Chicago Bears went the unconventional route in the NFL draft this year. It had been 36 years since the franchise selected a safety in the 1st round. That was Mark Carrier in 1990. This isn’t something teams usually do these days, what with safety being a “non-premium” position in most NFL circles. However, the Bears felt Dillon Thieneman was a rare specimen. His mixture of size, speed, and instincts made for the type of Swiss Army knife that could make any defense much harder to attack.

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was thrilled with the pick. Thieneman checked all of the athletic boxes general manager Ryan Poles prefers with 1st rounders. Even head coach Ben Johnson saw the type of gritty, intelligent style he covets in players, despite being an offensive guy. Expectations for the rookie are high inside the building. Still, as a later 1st round selection, one would imagine there isn’t much thought about what he may accomplish. Tell that to Bleacher Report, who believe he’s poised for a big-time rookie year.

“Given his natural athleticism, relentless motor and impressive instincts, Thieneman will not only open 2026 as a starter for the Bears, but also have a strong chance to lead all first-year players in interceptions while racking up a ton of tackles.

2026 Stat Prediction: 98 tackles, 5 interceptions“

This Dillon Thieneman prediction isn’t out of left field.

Just start with the man he’s playing for. Allen has a proven track record for getting his safeties into good positions to make plays. Kevin Byard proved that last year with seven interceptions. Tyrann Mathieu had four during one season. Marcus Williams had four twice. If the player does his job and uses Allen’s creative scheming, along with the necessary instincts, there will be ample opportunities for takeaways. Thieneman was constantly applauded for his range and intelligence in coverage.

Don’t believe it? He showed that ability as a freshman at Purdue. Despite such limited experience, he collected six interceptions that season. So we already know he is capable of putting up those kinds of numbers if the circumstances are right. The big key for the rookie will be how much help he gets from the Bears’ pass rush. It was hot and cold last season, and the team didn’t do much to improve it this spring. That means it may come down to luck and how good Allen is at manufacturing pressure.

The Bears have put their 1st round pick in a great situation.

He’s playing in a defense that treats the position with proper respect. Allen was a defensive backs specialist before ascending the NFL ladder. That is, before you mention that Dillon Thieneman will also work with Al Harris, one of the best secondary coaches in the league. Beyond that, you have Coby Bryant arriving as a free agent from Seattle. He was widely praised as a locker room leader and tone-setter for the Seahawks. His presence next to the rookie will be invaluable.

If the Bears give Thieneman freedom to play without restrictions, he will get himself in position for interception opportunities. He’s shown he can do it on the regular. The trick will be how much time it takes him to absorb the defensive scheme. Allen admitted last year that players were overwhelmed by it at times, which led to some struggles. Rookies make mistakes. It won’t be any different with Thieneman. The trick will be working through them to find consistency without losing his aggressiveness.

Mark Schlereth remains a prominent figure in the NFL landscape. He was a Pro Bowl offensive lineman on three Super Bowl championship teams in the 1990s. Following the end of his career, he entered the media as an analyst and, more recently, a podcaster. more recently, a podcaster. Schlereth has never been shy about sharing his opinion on any topic. Well, he certainly picked a big one this week when he came out and said that he believes Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams is overrated. He is “Kyler Murray with hype.” Needless to say, a lot of people took exception to that statement. One of them is Tom Thayer.

Unlike Schlereth, the longtime Bears color commentator doesn’t usually throw his opinion around. He tries to maintain a measured, fair perspective. He was asked about the comments on Kap & J. Hood on ESPN 1000. In a rare show of genuine emotions, Thayer rolled his eyes and uttered a single reply.

“That’s insulting.”

Thayer went on to say that such a criticism of Williams is unfair. The Bears quarterback has demonstrated time after time that he has the mental and physical toughness of a franchise quarterback. He proved it by weathering 68 sacks in 2024 and again with seven 4th quarter comebacks last year. Murray has missed 30 games in his career with various injuries. He has 11 comebacks in the 4th quarter total in his career. Williams already has nine.

Tom Thayer is right on the money.

It is pretty apparent that Schlereth’s entire stance stems from the fact that Williams’ body and play style are similar to Murray’s. He’s slightly undersized, highly mobile, has a cannon for an arm, but relies too much on the big play. The funny part is that Murray’s second-year numbers were remarkably similar to Williams’. There was one major exception. He completed more passes.

Williams had more touchdowns, fewer interceptions, and took fewer sacks. Murray made the Pro Bowl that season. So to compare the Bears’ quarterback to him is more of a compliment than Schlereth probably intended. Also, as Tom Thayer pointed out, Murray played most of his career in the same offense. We haven’t seen Williams in the same system two years in a row.

It is odd that Schlereth would pick this stance.

After all, he played with John Elway for a large chunk of his career. The Denver Broncos icon finished higher than 13th in completion percentage only three times across 16 seasons. In fact, he finished in the 20s or lower in six of his first seven seasons. During the two years Denver won the Super Bowl, he was 21st and 14th. Was Schlereth belly-aching about the completion percentage then? Probably not. That is because Elway consistently found ways to win games. Caleb Williams is the exact same way. You’d think it would be something Schlereth would appreciate.

Apparently not. Thayer isn’t one to get swept away by the narrative. He saw what Williams did last season with his own eyes. If completion percentage mattered as much as everybody says, the Bears would’ve gone 6-11. Instead, they won the division title and were an overtime away from the NFC Championship. Much of that was because of Williams. Murray made the playoffs once, managed 137 yards and two interceptions in his only game, and faded away. They are not the same.