What do you get when you cross a popular “Dos Equis” marketing campaign with one of the most famous “Saturday Night Live” sports sketches?
The most interesting team in the football world: Da Bears. For the next few months, anyway.
The Bears possess $97.7 million in salary-cap space — about $41 million more than the Falcons and more than double that of the other 30 teams, according to Spotrac — and the No. 1 pick in the draft. Add a possible quarterback change, a 12-year streak without a playoff win and questions about whether they picked the right head coach to the intrigue.
“The Bears could be a quick fix,” one NFL scout told The Post, “or could make miscalculations that set them back a few years.”
One year ago, the Jaguars hired Doug Pederson, committed $260 million ($155 million guaranteed) to seven free agents and drafted pass-rusher Travon Walker at No. 1. They reached the playoffs and advanced for the second time since the 2007 season, birthing a phrase not often said: Copying the Jaguars’ blueprint for success.
The first big decision awaiting the Bears is whether to stick with dual-threat quarterback Justin Fields and trade the No. 1 pick to a quarterback-needy team, or to trade Fields and start over with pocket-based rookie Bryce Young. Free agency will begin six weeks before the draft, but the Bears’ level of aggressive spending likely will be tied to the Fields-Young decision.
“Absolutely the Bears should stick with Justin Fields,” former quarterback and Fox analyst Michael Vick said before Super Bowl LVII. “Good quarterbacks are hard to find. That second year in a system [2023] is paramount throughout the offseason to learn what needs to happen. I think they are a step ahead of the curve right now. They just have to make Justin a better passer, and get an offense around him that can really help him take it to the next level.”
That may be easier said than done, especially with no plan to change coordinators, but sticking with Fields would allow the Bears to further stockpile assets by trading the No. 1 pick for a bounty of selections and still securing a top prospect to rebuild a weakened defense: At least six teams with top-10 picks are in the market for a new quarterback.
Fields’ QBR (which includes rushing impact) improved by more than 20 points and jumped from ranked No. 31 as a rookie to No. 17 last season, which raises a sometimes-risky question: What could he be with better weapons around him? The Giants asked the same about Daniel Jones after his first two seasons, and it led to disastrous investments in Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Kyle Rudolph.
The Bears made what looks like a regrettable midseason trade of the No. 32 pick (first in second round) for enigmatic receiver Chase Claypool (two years left on his contract) with that same question in mind. With just one more season to evaluate Fields before deciding on his team option for 2025, the expiring clock could force Chicago to sign a top running back (Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley or Miles Sanders) and a top tight end (Mike Gesicki, Evan Engram or Dalton Schultz).
Trading Fields, however, would restart the timeline for general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus, whose 3-14 debut season is more forgivable as an unofficial “Year 0” with a quarterback inherited from the last regime than as Year 1 of their union. The Bears would have four years of control over Young, whose salary-cap hits actually would be bigger (the No. 1-overall pick is expected to sign a four-year, $40.9 million contract) than Fields’ ($11.1 million combined in 2023-24).
Those same free-agent splurge additions would help Young’s development just they would for Fields, but the money easily could be saved for a shopping spree when Young is further developed, thus changing the current free-agent market.
Either way, Eberflus is under pressure to make it work quickly. Of the 12 external head coach hires (not internal promotions) made over the past two seasons, Eberflus is one of three with primarily a defensive background.
The Bears chose Eberflus over fellow finalists Jim Caldwell and Dan Quinn. The Giants’ Brian Daboll, who was named the NFL Coach of the Year, and Pederson, the second runner-up, didn’t receive second interviews with Chicago.
“There’s not a lot of Andy Reids and Nick Siriannis around,” Vick said.