Bearstalk

Okay, so here is the question. Which is worse. Which is the lesser of evils. Wasted salary cap space or overpaying for FAs. Normally, I am not a big fan of overpaying for FAs, but I view this year as being different. In the past, we had plenty of our own to re-sign. That isn't the case today. In the past, we didn't seem to have nearly as much cap to work w/. This year we had anywhere from $30-34m, depending on what numbers you use. In the past, if you didn't love what you saw, you could use LTBEs and whatever other fun tricks the accountants use to eat cap today in order to epand it tomorrow, when pickings may be better. But w/ the potential of an unca…

Read on PFT that Cincy could be putting Levi Jones on the block, and this is not the first time I have heard this. What i have yet to really understand is, why? He was their 1st round pick and I thought has proven to be a very good OT for them. Why would they be shopping him?

...and another one's gone. ********************************************************* ST. CLAIR LANDS IN CLEVELAND Posted by Mike Florio on March 17, 2009, 5:40 p.m. Tackle John St. Clair has opted to sign with the Browns, and to spurn the Bears. According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times, Biggs has agreed to terms on a three-year, $9 million deal, with $600,000 guaranteed. The Bears had offered exactly half that amount — $4.5 million over three years. But Biggs says that the contract appears to be a series of one-year deals; this suggests that sizable roster bonuses are owed to St. Clair at the start of the 2010 and 2011 league years. …

St. Clair receivers offer from Browns, negotiations underway By Brad Biggson March 17, 2009 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) The Bears' first minicamp practice begins in less than 30 minutes and the team could have an answer soon for the gaping hole they will have at right tackle. Negotiations for veteran offensive tackle John St. Clair are believed to be taking place. St. Clair remains in Cleveland where he arrived Monday for a free-agent visit with the Browns. A source close to the situation said that Cleveland has offered St. Clair a contract. We have no idea what kind of money he is looking at in Cleveland. Whether or not he is leaning one…

NFL | Multiple teams showing interest in H. Johnson Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:41:23 -0700 The San Diego Chargers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Chicago Bears are teams who have shown the most interest in Louisiana State OL Herman Johnson during postseason events. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NFL | H. Johnson's draft stock rising Tue, 17 Mar 2009 05:35:01 -0700 Louisiana State OL Herman Johnson has lost 26 pounds since the Senior Bowl, down from 382 pounds to 356 pounds, and as a result has steadily risen up the draft boards of many teams, according to his agent Albert Elias. -------…

Could this be why the Bears are sitting on their hands this offseason? LEAGUE READY FOR “WAR” Posted by Mike Florio on March 17, 2009, 10:30 a.m. As new NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith proclaims that he’ll spend every day hoping for peace but preparing for war over the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, a league source tells us that the owners are hoping for “war” — and already are prepared for it. Per the source, the owners already have been taking steps aimed at ensuring that a lockout will have minimal financial impact. For starters, and as we’ve previously pointed out, most if not all contracts for assistant coaches hired in 2009 hav…

By Brad Biggson March 16, 2009 12:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBacks (0) With John St. Clair visiting the Cleveland Browns today it forces us to pose the question, what's next? If St. Clair signs with the Browns or another team, the already changing Bears' offensive line has another major question to answer--who plays right tackle? General manager Jerry Angelo could draft a tackle in the first round with the 18th pick and plan on plugging him in there from Day 1. He tried that last season and that didn't work so well with Chris Williams, although by all accounts he will be ready to go as the starting left tackle when minicamp opens Tuesday. T…

This is a guy that a lot of people had pegged at points in his career as a guy with star potential. He never truly emerged into that and he had some off the field problems this past season, but as a whole he's the opposite of any WR's we have. The guy is a beast of a target with good hands and he seems to be a very good red zone target. He clearly is a step down from Holt, but again would be a significant upgrade over anyone the Bears had at the WR position last season. He's also still young enough that he could in fact have a few 900 yard plus seasons in him.

I remember a few years back, most likely on the other board, a lot of people were saying (me included) that the Bears are trying to model themselves after the New England Patriots. This was brought up because the Bears weren't targeting big name FA's. The Patriots were winning Superbowls left and right, built there team through the draft, plugged holes with either mid level FA's or older vets that wanted to come for a shot at a title. When one of their players became a nuisance about getting more money, they let that player go. Now after thinking about that thread, I look at what the Patriots have been doing the last two years. It seems like they have flipped t…

I just read that Greg Gabriel, head of scouting was personally at West Virgina's Pat Whites workout on his pro day. I dont usually hear his near on visits.

http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/2009/0...-madden-nfl-10/ Some Madden 2010 details revolving around player movement & player momentum. The strides I am seeing definitely make 2010 look very good from what has been shown to us fans so far. Thoughts?

Even as early as it is in the offseason, the Bears have "committed" to at least three position switches that I've seen: Frank Omiyole from OT to OG, Zackary Bowman from CB to FS, and Israel Idonije from DT to DE. While I am aware that often a position switch is both natural and logical (like the move from safety to MLB for Urlacher when he came into the league), it seems to me the Bears make their positions switch decisions based on the present shape of the roster and trying to find a cheap way to solve problems without any real eye towards what is best for the player. Thinking of position switches in recent years for this team, the vast majority of those that were effect…

Bowman moving to free safety One of those players is 2008 fifth-round pick Zackary Bowman, who is being moved from cornerback to free safety, a position he played at New Mexico Military Institute before transferring to Nebraska. The 6-1, 193-pounder possesses speed and athleticism, but has struggled to remain healthy. He suffered knee injuries in each of his final two seasons in college and then sustained a season-ending biceps injury while making his NFL debut last Oct. 19 against the Minnesota Vikings. In that game, Bowman scored a touchdown by recovering a muffed punt in the end zone and then later preserved a 48-41 victory by intercepting a Gus Frerotte pa…

Unless they stupid with money and are only offering him a swing tackle job, then he will be back here tuesday. Who the hell would pick Cleveland over Chicago?

we must at least inquire about him now http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_11919325?source=rss

I read a story on the first 10 WRs taken in the last 4 drafts,there is only 10 players that made an impact on there teams. Most were busts, with the court still out on some of them. With that much risk at the top end of the draft, I only see the Bears taken a receiver with the 1st pick if Crabtree or Macklin are there. Probably wont draft one till the 3rd or 4 th round.

per Biggs at the Times

The criteria for this topic, is based on Watersfootball.com current mock draft. The 10 players I would most like to be Bears based on who is there with our first 3 rounds with only three picks. Our extra pick from the lost player thing I will be figuring to be a 4th round pick. I think there is alot of smart football people on this blog and a few dreamers. So the smart ones let me know your list so we can compare. I dont necessarily believe this mock is accurate just a basis for this topic. Macklin/WR Maualuga/LB Ayers/DE Britton/OT Nicks/WR Robiskie/WR Loadholt/OT Bryd/S Sidbury/DE Follett/LB

Another WR off the board.

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