Bears GM Rumors

Update:

The Chicago Bears announced that they interviewed Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard and Saints director of player personnel Ryan Pace for the vacant GM position on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the Bears met with Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine and Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson, so they appear to be getting closer to adding their next general manager.

Other candidates for the Bears GM position include: Marc Ross (Giants), and Vince Newsome (Ravens).

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Rich Campbell has spoken to multiple sources that have indicated Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine will interview with the Bears for their GM position on Tuesday.

• Adam Jahns reports that Gaine could be Ernie Accorsi’s top recommendation for the Bears GM vacancy.

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According to Michael C. Wright of ESPN, many in league circles believe Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard is the favorite to land the Bears general manager job.

“[Ballard] should be a lock unless they want to totally move on from the [former general manager Jerry] Angelo ties,” said a scouting director who has worked directly with Ballard. “If [the Bears] don’t hire Ballard, they would be making a big mistake. He knows players, but the underrated quality about Chris is the way he deals with people. He’s second to none. One of the best evaluators around. Has deep knowledge because he has played college in the Big Ten (at Wisconsin), coached college (Texas A&M-Kingsville), and did both pro and college scouting. He’s more qualified than anybody I have ever been around in this business.”

Wright’s source mentioned that if Ballard is hired, he could target former Bears special-teams coordinator Dave Toub as their new head coach.

The Bears are reportedly interviewing Ballard on Wednesday and Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson today.

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Ian Rapoport reports that the Bears will interview Texans director of pro personnel Brian Gaine later on in the week after they meet with Titans executives Lake Dawson and Chiefs executives Chris Ballard.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirms that the Bears are, in fact, interviewing Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard on Wednesday, and adds that Chicago has also scheduled an meeting with Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson for Tuesday.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported this morning that it’s unlikely Saints director of player personnel Ryan Pace will interview for the Jets GM position. Instead, Pace could receive a promotion within the Saints.

This is worth mentioning given that he has also come up as a potential candidate for the Bears.

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The Chicago Bears are interviewing Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard on Wednesday for their vacant general manager position, according to Ian Rapoport.

Ballard spent twelve years in Chicago under former Bears general mangers Jerry Angelo and Phil Emery. As of now, it appears as though Ballard could be one of the favorites for the job.

It’s worth mentioning that the Jets have also shown interest in Ballard for the GM position.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Chiefs have granted the Bears permission to speak with Chiefs executive Chris Ballard.

• According to Rapoport, Ballard is expected to be in Chicago to meet with the team on Friday or Saturday.

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ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that the Bears have requested permission to interview executives: Chris Ballard (Chiefs), Lake Dawson (Titans), Eric DeCosta (Ravens), Brian Gaine (Texans), and Ryan Pace (Saints).

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According to Dan Pompei of the Bleacher Report, the Chicago Bears have expressed interest in Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta regarding their general manager vacancy.

A number of teams have tried in the past to DeCosta him away from the Ravens, but he has elected to remain in Baltimore as the GM in waiting.

DeCosta is considered to be one of the top executives in the NFL, so this would be a huge addition for the Bears if they can pull it off.

The Jets are reportedly showing interest in him as well.

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Ben Volin of the Boston Globe confirms that the Bears have interviews lined up with Ravens director of pro personnel Vince Newsome, Giants vice president of player evaluation Marc Ross, and Titans vice president of player personnel Lake Dawson for their GM vacancy.

According to Volin, Ross is viewed around the NFL as one of the “strongest up-and-coming candidates” and his ties to Ernie Accorsi, who is conducting the Bears’ search, could help his chances of landing the job.

Volin adds that Chiefs’ director of player personnel Chris Ballard remains a name to watch for the Bears’ job.

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Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Chicago Bears are targeting Chris Ballard (Chiefs), Marc Ross (Giants), Lake Dawson (Titans), and Vince Newsome (Ravens) for their general manager position.

According to Rapoport, the Bears want to hire a general manager first, if at all possible. This would allow the new GM to be heavily involved in hiring of the team’s next head coach.

The Bears cleaned house on Monday firing GM Phil Emery, HC Marc Trestman and OC Aaron Kromer. It seems likely that DC Mel Tucker will also be fired in the coming days.

We’ll have more updates regarding the Bears search for a new general manager as the news is available.