The Chicago Bears are working on a deal to hire Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator, multiple league sources confirmed Monday morning.

Waldron has been the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator for the last three seasons and helped quarterback Geno Smith to a comeback season in 2022. Before that, Waldron spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as the passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach.

He is well-respected inside league circles as a young, energetic coach on the rise and a strong teacher with a creative mind and — especially important to the Bears — three seasons of play-calling experience.

NFL Network first reported the Bears are planning to hire Waldron.

The Bears reportedly interviewed at least nine candidates for the opening, including San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Waldron would replace offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, whom coach Matt Eberflus fired earlier this month after two seasons at the helm of the Bears offense. In the search for Getsy’s replacement, Eberflus emphasized his desire to find a new offensive coordinator who is a “great teacher.”

“That’s important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position, and I think that’s the No. 1 trait of any great coach,” Eberflus said. “You have to be able to have the innovation to really look at the players you have and be able to help enhance and put those guys in position to succeed and to get explosive (plays) and to move the ball down the field.”

Waldron would take over a Bears offense that has major decisions ahead this offseason at quarterback. General manager Ryan Poles must decide whether to use the No. 1 draft pick to select a quarterback — potentially USC’s Caleb Williams — or to stick with Justin Fields, the Bears starter for the last three seasons.

Poles said he expected to ask candidates for their plans to coach different kinds of quarterbacks.

“I love it because what are you going to do for these four different types of quarterbacks,” Poles said. “I want to hear that, and I think it’s really important to hear the versatility and adaptability in their teaching, in the way they implement a plan, scheme, adjust. It actually makes it pretty dynamic in terms of the interview process.”

Waldron called plays in 2021 for a Seahawks offense piloted by Russell Wilson. In 2022, after Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos, the Seahawks pivoted to Smith and won nine games while earning a wild-card berth.

Smith, in his 10th NFL season, was honored as the league’s Comeback Player of the Year after throwing for 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns. Both marks would be single-season franchise records for the Bears.

This season the Seahawks ranked 21st in total offense (322.9 yards per game) and 14th in passing (230 ypg). They averaged 21.4 points, ranked 17th. That was down from 2022, when they averaged 351.5 yards (13th) and 23.9 points (ninth).

The Seahawks staff is looking for new jobs after the organization and coach Pete Carroll parted ways after a 14-year union.

In addition to working closely with Wilson and Smith, Waldron worked with quarterback Jared Goff for three seasons with the Rams.

Waldron served as an offensive assistant with the New England Patriots (2008-09) and Washington (2016) and worked in operations with the Patriots early in his career. He also has coached in college, high school and the UFL.

Waldron and the Bears must hire assistants to coach the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs after the team dismissed Andrew Janocko, Tyke Tolbert and Omar Young earlier this month. Offensive line coach Chris Morgan and tight ends coach Jim Dray remain on the staff.

More Bears news

Bears Q&A: Did GM Ryan Poles miss a chance at a big-name coach? How desirable are the coordinator openings?
Column: Keeping Jaylon Johnson is paramount for the Bears — but will they make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback?
5 player decisions besides QB facing the Bears, including Jaylon Johnson’s contract and Darnell Mooney’s future
Bears GM Ryan Poles staying ‘open-minded’ as he evaluates whether to keep Justin Fields or draft a QB at No. 1
Caleb Williams declares for the NFL draft — and the Bears, picking No. 1, ‘can’t be scared of the unknown,’ analyst says
Column: How can GM Ryan Poles fix the cycle that has plagued the Bears forever? Pick the right quarterback.
Bears President Kevin Warren says building a ‘magnificent’ downtown stadium remains a possibility
Bears part ways with senior VP and general counsel Cliff Stein after nearly 22 years with the organization

()

Before his team started the second half of the season against the New York Islanders last week, Wild general manager Bill Guerin acknowledged that he needs to see something positive from the current roster before it breaks for All-Star week.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s where we are.”

So far, so good.

While it’s a small sample size, the Wild have won 3 of 4 since those marching orders, including a 2-1 East Coast road trip that ended with consecutive victories over the Florida Panthers, second in the Eastern Conference, and Carolina Hurricanes (fifth).

The bottom line? Guerin, facing the likelihood that he would start shedding veterans for draft picks before the March 8 trade deadline, has climbed back on the fence. The Wild have made up three points in the Western Conference standings in those four games, now six behind Nashville for the eighth and final playoff spot with a head-to-head meeting Thursday at the X.

The Wild have shown they can beat the NHL’s best; they’re 4-0 against the top two teams in the East, and 1-1 against second-place Vancouver in the West, which tempts one to call them streaky. The reality is, the Wild aren’t streaky; they’ve had one good run all season, 11-3-0 immediately after John Hynes replaced Dean Evason as head coach on Nov. 28.

If they were streaky, the Wild would have more than 45 points, tied for seventh-worst in hockey. The question that will be answered shortly is whether they’re hiding something better beneath those 45 points, tied for seventh-worst in hockey.

The Wild have a great chance to show that this week with three home games against middling opposition: Washington on Tuesday, the Predators on Thursday and Anaheim — one of the NHL’s two worst teams — in an 8 p.m. puck drop Saturday on Hockey Day in Minnesota. It is the biggest homestand of the season. Win out, and Guerin might not simply keep impending free-agent veterans such as Marc-Andre Fleury, Zach Bogosian and Pat Maroon, he might try to trade for a veteran defenseman to replace captain Jared Spurgeon, out for the season with hip and back injuries.

Otherwise, the Wild are fairly healthy. Although Fleury is sidelined by an upper body injury after being run by Florida’s William Lockwood on Friday, and Freddy Gaudreau and Connor Dewar are on injured reserve, they’re all expected back. Further, the Wild have Jonas Brodin, Kirill Kaprizov and Filip Gustavsson together in the lineup and playing well.

It’s perhaps no coincidence that since Brodin returned for the Islanders game, the Wild are 3-1-0. In fact, in the 10 games he has played under Hynes, the Wild are 7-3-0. Even with Spurgeon out, his presence gives the Wild three solid blue line pairs, and two very good ones. When he and Spurgeon were both out, the defense was something of a disaster — and the Wild were 1-5-0.

Kaprizov, too, is having something of a midseason renaissance since recovering from an upper body injury suffered Dec. 30 at Winnipeg — five goals and 13 points in five games since. He had his third career hat trick in Sunday’s 5-2 victory at Carolina and was named the NHL’s first star of the week on Monday.

“If we’re going to make the playoffs, we need to be a lot better than we’ve been,” Guerin said. “Our core guys, our big players, have to be better and produce at more key times.”

The Wild haven’t lost a game in which Kaprizov scores a goal since a 3-2 loss on Nov. 24 (9-0-0). Another good sign: Since returning on Jan. 13, Kaprizov is averaging 4.2 shots a game; in his previous 14 games, he was averaging 2.8.

The Wild still have five teams to leap for a playoff spot, but they’re within two points of the four teams in ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th place. If they want to make the postseason, or at least convince Guerin not to cut bait.

This team might not be out of time, but it’s just about out of second chances.

“I still believe in this group, and I know people are going to say I’m crazy, but I do,” he said last week. “And I think we’ve shown that when we are healthy, and when we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing, we’re a good team. So we’re going to have to really put our minds to it and try to get it done.”

Christopher Morel’s positional future remains unknown, and the Chicago Cubs are OK with that.

Beyond upgrading the Cubs’ roster, one of the organization’s most pressing questions entering the offseason centered on Morel.

He possesses the tools and athleticism to play multiple positions, something the 24-year-old has become accustomed to through his first two big-league seasons. In October, during his end-of-season news conference, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said figuring out Morel’s positional future and how to best utilize him would be something the Cubs needed to evaluate leading up to 2024.

Four weeks before camp begins in Mesa, Ariz., the Cubs are keeping an open mind on where Morel will slot in defensively as they look for ways to keep his electric bat in the lineup.

“We’re going to have to at some point decide where we focus a lot of the work on with Christopher,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. “And we might get that wrong at the start, but his versatility is something that is going to get him on the field that I think gives the team a floor if that makes sense, like where if something doesn’t go the way you want it or maybe the way you planned it originally that you can make an adjustment and have a lot of options there.

“That’s what versatile players do and that’s what I think Christopher is going to do for the Cubs.”

Morel got work at first base in the Dominican Republic where he played winter ball, though he didn’t log any game action at the position and predominantly started at third base. The pregame work and video the Cubs received was productive, general manager Carter Hawkins said Saturday.

“We’re excited to see how that plays out,” Hawkins said. “But from an athletic standpoint, I mean, if you can play shortstop from a hand standpoint, you should be able to play first and he definitely shows that.”

Third base would seem be the ideal position for Morel to take over, pending any further offseason moves. He’s shown flashes of defensive greatness but also struggles at times with routine plays and consistency on his throws. Morel, who was not at the Cubs Convention over the weekend because of visa issues according to an Instagram story on his account, started only two games and played 39 1/3 total innings at third base in 2023.

So why not play Morel at third every day in spring training to see whether he can handle it?

“I mean, you could put all our chips in one spot or we can put half our chips in one and the other,” Hawkins said. “I don’t know that one is a better answer or not. Our decision right now is to play him at multiple places and to the extent we feel like there’s better odds in one we’ll continue to put more chips there. But it’s just the strategic plan we have at this moment.”

Counsell agrees with the counterpoint to positional versatility: sticking at one position every day will make a player better at that position. However, the Cubs are thinking big picture when it comes to Morel and the team.

“That’s maybe a little bit of the sacrifice you make, but I’d argue you’re more valuable playing more positions and being versatile,” Counsell said. “Season to season, putting a team together, daily managing lineups, versatility is good for everybody I think.”

Ben Zobrist ‘very honored’ by Shōta Imanaga’s number choice

Shōta Imanaga wasn’t going to settle for any random jersey number after signing with the Cubs.

He had researched the franchise’s history and knew he wanted to wear No. 18 in hopes of embodying what former Cub Ben Zobrist meant on the field and in the clubhouse. Imanaga asked his agents at Octagon, which also represents Zobrist, to give the 2016 World Series MVP a heads-up about his choice.

The significance was not lost on Zobrist.

“Coming from an honor culture that means a lot,” Zobrist said of the Japanese lefty. “That was probably personally what I felt most honored by was that comment, just because of course that would be something that I’d want to be known for from my time here. So the fact that he gathered that based on his research, it’s a big honor.”

Zobrist participated in a panel Saturday featuring the 2016 World Series team, joining former teammates Justin Grimm, Kyle Hendricks, Miguel Montero and Pedro Strop on stage at Cubs Convention.

“It’s beautiful to be able to come back and be a part of Cubs Nation and to be recognized as one of the guys that helped the team win the World Series in ’16,” said Zobrist, who wore his championship ring. “It’s something that I’ll always get a chance to enjoy. … I can’t tell you how many times people have stopped and just said thank you to me and I just feel just super blessed that I got to be a part of it.”

()

It was only a matter of when, not if, the Chicago Cubs would use their deep farm system to bolster their major-league roster.

On the heels of Japanese right-hander Shōta Imagana’s four-year deal becoming official Thursday, the Cubs addressed two more holes on their roster. They acquired 26-year-old infielder Michael Busch and right-handed reliever Yency Almonte from the Los Angeles Dodgers for two prospects: left-hander Jackson Ferris and outfielder Zyhir Hope.

Busch is a consensus top-50 prospect, but opportunities with the Dodgers were limited despite him crushing the ball at Triple A — he slugged .618 to complement a .323 average and .431 on-base percentage en route to being named Pacific Coast League Most Valuable Player. The lefty slugger appeared in 27 games for the Dodgers.

Busch, a 2019 first-round pick, can play multiple positions, logging his most time at third base, second and first, making him an ideal fit at the corner infield positions for the Cubs. First base is a particularly notable opening for the Cubs. Lefty-slugging first baseman Matt Mervis got a look last season, but the 25-year-old struggled from May to mid-June during his six-week call-up and did not get another look.

By acquiring two cost-controllable players — Almonte won’t become a free agent until after next season while Busch isn’t arb-eligible until 2027 and free agent in 2030 ― keeping financial resources available to still spend on free agents this offseason.

Almonte, 29, brings six years of big-league experience to the Cubs bullpen. He had an inconsistent 2023, posting a 5.06 ERA in 49 games but pitched well in 2022 with a 1.02 ERA in 33 games. Almonte gives pitching coach Tommy Hottovy a lot to work with, starting with a fastball that averaged 95.9 mph and an overall whiff rate of 30.2%. Reducing his walks and improving effectiveness against lefties would help get Almonte back to his 2022 production.

The trade cost the Cubs high-upside talent in Ferris and Hope, but they net more help for a 2024 team with postseason aspirations by using their farm system’s deep talent pool to take advantage of a blocked player in other organization. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and the front office still have more work to do but have found important building blocks between the Dodgers trade and Imanaga signing.

The Cubs also reached agreements with their six arbitration-eligible players ahead of Thursday night’s deadline, according to a source: left-hander Justin Steele ($4 million), right-hander Adbert Alzolay ($2.11 million), outfielder Nick Tauchman ($1.95 million), infielder Nick Madrigal ($1.81 million), Mark Leiter Jr. ($1.5 million) and right-hander Julian Merryweather ($1.175 million).

()