Bears Reportedly Fire Cliff Stein

Long-term front office staff member fired, sparking outrage as President Kevin Warren implements changes.

At least one former employee of the Bears personnel department is furious about the alleged termination of a long-time front-office staff member.The Bears have fired Cliff Stein, who served as their principal contract negotiator for the most of his 22-year tenure with the team, according to a report by Brad Biggs of the Tribune.

After team president Ted Phillips had been involved in contract negotiations, Stein joined the Bears under Jerry Angelo in 2002. This was Stein’s 13-year tenure until Ryan Pace took over as general manager. After that, Joey Laine replaced over, but Stein stayed on staff and briefly resumed his duties when Ryan Poles became GM before Matt Feinstein took over.

Former Bears college scouting director Greg Gabriel was clearly incensed over the rumored firing, as he made clear on social media. Gabriel has 40 years of experience in football scouting and the media. He played for the Bears until 2010.

After playing for the Bears under Angelo, Gabriel (accessible on X at @ggabefootball) is currently a media personality, hosting “Gabriel Talks Football” on the Barrroom Network. In addition, he writes for Windy City Gridiron.com.

First, Gabriel stated on X, “My account will stay secret moving forward. Since Bears is not the company I used to work for, I will not be posting on anything related to them. I will comment on hirings, signings, trades, picks, and other related matters on the @BarroomNetwork and @WCGridiron. To put it succinctly, em!”

Gabriel once tweeted, “Tune in Tuesday at 11:00 to GTF on the @BarroomNetwork as I will tell some stories I have remained quiet about for some time.” It seemed as though Gabriel was threatening to uncover some secrets hidden in the closets at Halas Hall.

Changes at Halas Hall in the front office were probably to be expected considering new president Kevin Warren has been at Halas Hall about a year and has familiarized himself with their operation, and also because of what he said at the postseason press conference.

“I watch everything,” Warren said. “I had one-on-one meetings with over 211 of our employees, from practice, to walk-throughs, to games. This is my life.”