Bearstalk

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3173002 Would Martz consider working for a former assistant? Would his scheme work here? Would it be too much of a culture shock? I dunno.

Ok, so I've been thinking about this for a while. Mark Anderson is obviously our best pure pass rusher, but Brown deserves more playing time as he is much better against the run, so I say, if Briggs leaves, we convert Anderson to a LB/DE hybrid, along the lines of Willie McGinest and Terrell Suggs. He's definitely got the speed and athleticism, and we all know he can tackle. I think the role would suit him well if he can learn to play some decent zone coverage and of course, he'd always be a threat when blitzing. Even if Briggs stays, we should think about this because it allows us to play our best players more in Brown at DE and then Anderson's threat to get to the…

With Joe Gibbs gone from DC,,,, and it appears Cowher will be the first 10 million dollar coach..... Greg Williams may be out of a job in DC. Given the very so-so 1st year Babich had... and since he is still unproven.... I would think Greg Williams would be a large upgrade as defensive cooridator. Most of his defensives have rated very highly, his one bad year in 2006 he attibuted to offenses figuring out the cover 2 and he spent the off-season making adjustments. He also had a bad 2006 since he started the year with Adam Archuletta starting at saftey. Williams gets points for figuring out to bench Archuletta a year before the Bears flew him in and popped open the cha…

Just wondering if anyone read Michael Lewis' book The Blind Side? Offensive tackle Michael Oher from Ole Miss (who just declared for the draft yesterday) is apparently featured prominently in the book as the "perfect left tackle on paper" and the book talks a lot about his story. Any reviews (of the book or the player)?

2008 East West Shrine Game Sat, Jan 19, 2008 at 6:00 PM CST on ESPN2

The Giants of New York versus the Packers of Green Bay I'd say the game was most exhilirating

You can forget about using a franchise tag on Berrian. The link below shows the franchise and transition tag numbers for 2008. Way too much money for Berrian as much as I would love to see him stay a Bear. Tag, you're it ... a look at the '08 franchise & transition numbers

Some pretty good assessments. I posted a little from each player, but there is more at the link. http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/...=29927&pg=2

I thought he'd be in the mix for running backs the Bears hope to bring in for competition (Translation: To replace the overpaid asswhipe who started the season for us this year) Although I'm surprised he signed this early and for this cheap. It gives me hope that a guy like Julius Jones will be "inexpensive." Here's the story from PFT.: "After generating only 1,016 yards in four full seasons with the Raiders, running back Justin Fargas busted out in 2007, nearly equaling that totaling 14 games, with seven starts. For that, Fargas has been rewarded with a new contract. According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, it's a three-year, $12 million deal with $…

Here in Central Illinois, it's cold, rainy, windy as hell, the temperature's dropping, and we're supposed to get 2 inches of snow. In other words, I'm bored as hell. I decided to look up every mock I could think of & share the results. With the major sites, everyone seemed to have something different. When I got to the lesser-known guys, they all seemed to agree that Jeff Otah was our man. #1 http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7786546...g-close-to-home Fox has us taking FS Kenny Phillips @ #14 saying "He's the best player who can help the Bears immediately." That'd be nice except I can't help wondering: 1) Who the hell is our strong safety if he's a…

I lost my feed to NFL Network. (Dang Dish Network!!!) And was hoping to see some Combine stuff, specificially the OLer's and Flacco!! By the by, I for one am disappointed to see Muhammad go. He may not have been like they hoped he would have been 3 years ago but I believe that he was a strong and positive influence in the locker room with the younger players. And, he was willing to go over the middle, despite his advanced years. Good luck Moose wherever you end up next.

PFT is reporting that Andre Davis was just re-signed to a 4yr/$16m deal w/ an $8m bonus. Yes, that is right. $8m bonus. Same amount we offered Berrian. Yea, I know we offered Berrian more money overall, but if Andre Davis is going to get $8m, what the heck will a good WR get. I fear the combination of a huge salary cap jump (meaning many teams w/ huge cap dollars to spend) combined w/ a very weak crop of FA WRs, will lead to very mediocre WRs getting paid big bucks and good WRs getting ridiculous money. More than ever, I think this deals sells me that we need to sign short term solutions at WR. After that, we can (a) see if Hester/Bradley/Hass can develop (…

http://www.nfl.com/players/shaneolivea/profile?id=OLI195248 http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/charg...052-mccree.html only 26 and needs to prove himself.

The Bears and Brian Urlacher are discussing a restructuring of his contract. Urlacher signed a nine-year deal in 2003, but will make just $3.95 million this season, as salary inflation has far exceeded the increments in his agreement. The timing is bad for Urlacher, though, as he suffered with a sore back for much of last season, and still won't be able to run for two more weeks after undergoing neck surgery. Source: Chicago Tribune Michael Turner is visiting the Falcons Friday. Atlanta, looking for a power rusher, is the most logical landing spot for Turner. We wouldn't be surprised if he signs Friday. The Lions, Bears and Saints are also said to be actively …

http://ww3.startribune.com/vikingsblog/?p=1394 Was that Berrian? You betcha March 1st, 2008 – 12:12 PM by Judd Zulgad An odd thing happened as media members waited in the Winter Park practice facility for the Madieu Williams’ news conference to begin. A Vikings official and someone wearing a Vikings cap and with a Vikings jersey in his arm emerged from the team’s weight room. First thought: Did we just see Bernard Berrian? It certainly wasn’t Williams and it looked like Berrian. (Update: After examining his picture in the Bears media guide, we are now sure it was the 6-foot-1 Berrian.) Later in the Williams’ news conference Vikings coach Brad Chil…

From PFT: 'SKINS MADE A PLAY FOR BRIGGS Though the decision of linebacker Lance Briggs to re-sign with the Bears has created the impression that he had no options elsewhere, a league source tells us that the Redskins made a run at Briggs. It was, per the source, "very close" between the Redskins and the Bears. In the end, Briggs decided given the similarity of the numbers to stay home. Factoring in the $7.2 million salary he earned as a franchise player in 2007, Briggs will earn $28.8 million over four years. Factoring in the Lamborghini he crashed and abandoned, the number is more like $28.3 million.

I'd like to see the Bears sign him. He's a proven RB. Give him a shot.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/82...i030408.article

Booker agreed to terms with the Bears damn near immediately after Jabar Gaffney agreed to terms with the Patriots. In other words, Booker was either hoping to land with NE, or he was hoping to use both teams against one another as leverage. The same thing happened with Demorrio Williams on Saturday. He was scheduled to meet with the Bears on Tuesday. The Bears resign Briggs, and within an hour he's a Chief. I find this interesting as hell for a lot of different reasons: 1. Those of us who follow the NFL "rumor-mill" constantly don't know nearly as much as we'd like to. The Chicago papers had reported the Bears seemed to have no interest in Booker. I h…