Bearstalk

Bears seeking family plan? By Vaughn McClure | Tribune reporter 10:01 PM CST, January 6, 2009 If Joe Barry had his preference, his next family reunion would take place in Chicago. Barry's father-in-law, Rod Marinelli, has an opportunity to join the Bears staff. Barry wouldn't mind tagging along. "If I had an opportunity to work for Lovie Smith, I would cherish it," said Barry, who was fired as Detroit's defensive coordinator when Marinelli was dismissed as the Lions head coach. "I have a relationship with coach Smith. I have a relationship with [general manager] Jerry Angelo. So if that was an opportunity, it would be something I definitely would be…

ESPN and the Sun Times did a bit of Salary Cap work for the NFC North. Below are the figures for the four teams: Detroit: $26.8 million Minnesota: $20.4 million Green Bay: $19.09 million Chicago: $17.4 million These numbers do not reflect cap credits each team will get, including as much as $9m we are due to receive in credit for CB Marcus Hamilton. $9m for Hamilton? Wow. So we are looking at about $26M, and you can bet the others will be due increases also. What I didn't feel was mentioned much though was how each team is set up entering FA in terms of current players the team needs to sign. The bears have the following players due to hit …

Please take Bob Babich and Darryl Drake with you!!!! http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2009/01/br...u_coach_ex.html Peace

The Bears have proven over and over they cannot evaluate QB talent. Mike Holmgren has retired here to Arizona but I think the Bears should pay him to be a QB consultant for them in the upcoming draft and/or FA. Holmgren's track record finding QBs. Or if there's anyone else out there with similar credentials get him to help. We shouldn't sit back and keep hoping we make a good decision.

I'm still undecided. I love Britt but Nicks is impressive and could allow us to go E. Brown in the 1st, but Bey is long but still a bit bulky with nice hands.

http://www.nfl.com/partner?partnerType=rookies

I'm wondering what JA is thinking about Lovie and what Lovie is thinking about JA. I think maybe there's a little rift going on and our next move may be a sign of things to come. Lovie Smith said in his post season interview that it didn't help when he lost his #1 and #2 WR. I take those comments as strikes towards JA. I even think this started about a year ago. Muhammad was released in Feb, Berrrian was not resigned and then Lovie stated "Devin can be a #1 WR in this league" putting pressure on Hester and JA. The Bears also had Mark Bradley who IMO Angelo wanted to see get his shot, but Lovie refused. If it was Lovies choice not to play/develop and then cut …

The Texans, who finished the year (thanks to us) at .500, didn't do well on defense, and fired a handful of their defensive coaches. Expectations for this defense were never high, but after finishing 22nd in the rankings, it was low enough to make a statement. GB had greater expectations entering the season for their defense, and after finishing 20th in the rankings, basically fired all defensive coaches. Now, those are two programs I would say made statements. They finished the season and said changes were necessary after not playing well. We entered the season w/ high expecations, at least for the defense. Two years ago, the D helped carry the team…

All of you know my thoughts on who is to blame for the collapse of our defense. That being said, I also called for Babich to be the scapegoat. From everything I have been reading, it is looking as if he is staying as DC. Is this Jauron/Shoop all over again? Seriously, WTF is going on? Are they so clueless to think firing the DB coach is going fix the shit we saw on the field? Are they secretly giving the power to Marinelli to save face? Thoughts...

If we had the #1 pick in the draft, what would you do with it?

PFW

Last year around this time, most of the experts pre-drafts had us taking QB Andre Woodson at this time. Of course, by the time the draft rolled around: 1. We'd already given new contracts to Kyle Orton AND Rex Grossman making the idea of drafting a QB at #14 improbable. 2. Andre Woodson had been bad enough in the combine that he slipped to the 6th round. How the hell does a guy go from being projected at #14 overall to #198??? While I can't wait for the April 25-26th draft, I just wanted to rant for a moment that I hate all the pre-combine speculation . . . and I'm bored and pissed that the Vikings are winning in the second quarter.

IMHO this is what I think the Bears should do in the FA period if all possible. In the secondary Let M.Brown and McGowan go & get Sean Jones from Clev.and Asomugha from the Raiders Move Payne to SS and Vasher/Manning to the nickel DE see if Peppers is still there to Ogun WR get either C. Johnson. T.O or T.J. Hous, Bouldin or oneone to be the number one. Move Williams to LT, sign ST. Clair at LG move Buenning to RG and find someone to back up Tait Find a center in the draft...kruetz is getting old

This is a very creative offense. They bring out just about every formation, the wishbone, the wildcat etc.. Their unique running style makes Chad Pennington look like a Pro Bowler when he's really just like Kyle Orton if you think about it. I wish the Bears would develop a clever offense like this, that keeps the defense on their toes. Bring that OC over here

http://www.vsngaming.com/2008/12/simulatin...ldcard-weekend/ What is your guys' take on the results? The only one I disagree with is that the Eagles are not going to lose to the Vikings. After the impressive show they put on last week, I just dont think it'll happen.

Listening to Hub on the score today he talked about a couple of changes to watch for. We all know JA wants to bring in Marinelli as he mentioned it during the press conference. Marinelli didn't do so well in DET, but I can't say that says alot about his coaching abilty as much as the organizations ability to commit to his philosophy. Marinelli was our first choice when we brought in Lovie to run the D, but Tampa refused. His coaching style is about having discipline and working hard and those are two things I think killed our D this year. Hub didn't say the Bears would bring him in to be the D Coordinator, but as the D Line coach with an assistant head coach title, o…

http://www.only17points.com I swear that video is purely amazing. I laugh just thinking about it.

I remember after last year's draft all the "experts" were blasting Tennessee for drafting RB Chris Johnson when they so badly needed a WR. All Johnson did was help them establish the #2 running-game in the NFL, next to the Giants, and help establish them as arguably the #1 team in the NFL. This is a copy-cat league, and we're not that far off from doing what they did on offense. Which is: #1--Establish a dominate running game. This means we'll need to add another explosive running back and beef up on our offensive line. A lot would hinge on how good Chris Williams can be. #2--Utilize the TE's: Tennessee's top WR was Bo Scaife, and they used Algae Crumpler …

SI.com Thoughts? As of now, it looks a bit easy. The Lions, Packers, Browns, Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, and Bengals all have top 12 draft picks. Obviously, it could change totally (see: 2008 Falcons, 2008 Dolphins) but as of now, it looks like the NFL schedule's are in our favor.

1. ted phillips - great bean counter and cap guru. accomplishments: great stadium deal if you are the owner and cheap help. all designed to keep money in owners pockets. 2. jerry angelo - cheap first time GM who is great as a cap guru and, as phillips right hand man, helps keep money in owners pockets. accomplishments: great cap management which helps put cash in owners pockets but after 7 years of drafts has nothing/nothing special to show for it on either side of the ball. hired the cheapest inexperienced coaches and staff possible and sees no need to change any of them after 2 pathetic back-to-back seasons of regressive mediocrity. won't rock the salary boat…