According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, the Chicago Bears don’t plan offering head coach Lovie Smith a contract extension now that the they’re in the middle of a free fall as we get closer to the end of the regular season.
At the midpoint of the season, with his team boasting a 7-1 record, Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith seemed to be improving his odds of getting a contract extension. Since then, the team has gone 1-4 and talk of a new deal has dried up, placing the Bears on the list of teams that could be searching for a new coach in a matter of weeks.
Smith, who signed a two-year extension in 2011, has one year remaining on his current deal and is seeking to avoid having to work through a lame-duck year. But his team’s current swoon has removed his leverage and placed a lame-duck year among the best-case scenarios. The Bears have shown no inclination to extend the deal, sources said, preferring to wait and see how the rest of the season unfolds. The fact that first-year general manager Phil Emery was empowered upon his hiring to evaluate the coaching staff is another ominous sign for Smith.
I’m not sure how you can be mad at Smith for the Bears’ free fall. They have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL and have been dealing with injuries on defense in the second half of the season.
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