Source - Bears hiring ex-Seahawks OC Shane Waldron to run offense - ESPN

CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are finalizing a deal to make Shane Waldron their next offensive coordinator, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Waldron, 44, was the first of nine reported candidates the Bears requested to interview after firing former offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and four members of the offensive staff on Jan. 10. He comes to Chicago after spending the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks.

Waldron began his NFL coaching career as an offensive quality control coach with New England in 2008 and later served as the Patriots' tight ends coach. After stops in the United Football League and at UMass, Waldron returned to the NFL in 2016 with Washington before spending four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams where he coached tight ends (2017), quarterbacks (2019) and served as the team's passing game coordinator.

Including Waldron, Chicago interviewed four offensive coordinator candidates who have under Rams coach Sean McVay. The other candidates from the McVay coaching tree included Liam Coen, Thomas Brown and Zac Robinson.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Sunday that the Bears had also requested to interview Chargers offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who was blocked by Los Angeles after interviewing for the team's vacant head coach opening last week.

Waldron brings three seasons of play calling experience to Chicago. He became Seattle's offensive coordinator during Russell Wilson's final season with the Seahawks in 2021 and coached Geno Smith to a career-best season the following year where the quarterback ranked first in completion percentage (69.8), fourth in touchdowns (30), fifth in passer rating (100.9), seventh in QBR (62.8) and eighth in passing yards (4,282).

Seattle'