Bearstalk

http://nfldraft.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=777329 According to the Steelers GM, this is the best OL draft in 24 yrs. Means we can take a top notch OL man in 1st or 2nd.

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I started to talk about this in another thread, but felt it might be an interesting topic to start new. We have something like $30m in cap space. I think we can all agree we are not going to spend $80m in cash, or whatever, to sign 4 or 5 big names, including our own. So the question is, how will we use up all that space. Signing a bunch of mid tier FAs will not use up the space. W/ that in mind, I am wondering if we will see some big roster bonuses this year, as opposed to using just signing bonuses. By doing this, we would still use up the cap space this year, while at the same time, improving our situation in the future. Harris would be a prime c…

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-4...o&type=lgns Damn, that would've been nice to have gotten something for Briggs.

per nfl.com I had hopes Andrews would be our starting RT next year. Oh well, we always can get Locklear...

The #7 is retired as it was Papa Bear's number! Go with 17...

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.

I mean, he is a freakin DT. Where on earth will this end? Look at where is gotten to in the last 10 yrs. Bruce Smith made 2.2M 10 yrs ago. He was a premier player. Dwight Freeney got his deal last yr at 6 yrs 72M, 30 guaranteed. Even using simple math, thats 12M per yr. based on the same rate of growth, that implies that 10 yrs from now, that a premier guy like Smith or Freeney is going to make what? 72M a year unless something is done. These salaries have gotten completely out of hand. Hell, Deion Sanders was the highest paid NFL player 10 yrs ago and he was paid 4.9M a Yr and people were going gaga over that. How can the small market teams survive, let alone compet…

Sure, it is still WAY early to give a true grade to a draft that took place only a year ago, but w/ so much draft talk, what the hell. 1st round, 31st pick - Olsen Most of us still believe this was a great pick. Someone just needs to explain that to Turner. 2nd round, 30th pick - Bazuin We had a high 2nd round pick, and traded down. We ended up taking Bazuin, Wolfe and Payne w/ those new picks. Bazuin does not look like a good pick at all. The injury aside, he is 4th on the depth chart w/ little room to move up. 3rd round, 30th pick - Wolfe I hated this pick than, and still do today. While many will argue, what does it say about ou…

Okay, I am going to say upfront. This is from PFT, but while there are some haters out there, PFT is a pretty good source for rumors, and an excellent source (IMHO) for number crunching and legal analysis. Anyway, here is their list for all teams cap space. We are shown to have about $20m in cap space, which jives w/ LT2, but does not reflect the recent moves, so I would put another $10m in space on top of that. Three teams (Carolina, Wash and Indy) are over the cap and will have to restructure and/or make cuts just to be under, much less make moves. CURRENT 2008 CAP NUMBERS PROJECTED PER-TEAM CAP: $116,000,000 Arizona Cardinals $109,500,000 …

From the Sun Times, Brown was due to get $500k base this year, but that just went up to $5m. The report says he also gets another $5m up front, which could be a signing bonus or roster bonus. Unknown at this time. He was also due a $600k (other bonus). He also still had (I think) around $1m due in bonus allocation from his original signing bonus. If it was a SB, then his cap hit jumps up to around $8.5m. If it was a roster bonus, his cap hit jumps to around $11m. Both of these are not counting the $600k "other bonus". This is pretty significant, as Brown was due to hit our cap for around $2m, but will now cost better than 4 or 5 times…

The more and more I think of it, the more I wouldn't mind if we took Rashard Mendenhall, RB out of Illinois. He is an absolute monster- a muscular, faster, better attituded Cedric Benson. However, I'd only do this if we could trade Benson to a team for a 2nd rounder, so that way, we could go Flacco in the 2nd, then somebody like Carl Nicks, then Roy Schuening. What are your thoughts on taking Mendy if we could get a 2nd, or 3rd, for Benson?

The Trib says several times the cuts were part of a youth movement, or trying to get younger. As all the guys released were 30 or over, I guess it is not wrong to say as much. But was that really the reason? I personally think age had very little to do w/ yesterday's cuts. If Miller's 2008 base was the vet minimum instead of $4m+, would he have been cut? I think that if he was due to make the minimum, the team would have talked about how he was injured last year, and give him another season. If Walker was not due that roster bonus, would he have been cut, or would he too have been given another year after an injury riddled season. Moose is different, as w…

The Bears signed defensive end Alex Brown to a two-year contract extension on Monday. Brown had two years left on his existing contract. Per NFL.com

I just noticed that he hasn't missed a game in his career. 2003: 16 games 2004: 16 games 2005: 16 games 2006: 16 games 2007: 16 games Very impressive for an outstanding special teams guy.

the New England Patriots. WR Booker will meet with Patriots http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/rumors;_ylt=Al...WETQsZCsZlDubYF Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008 8:16 am EST Marty Booker Getty Images The New England Patriots are setting their sights on another former Miami Dolphin, as receiver Marty Booker is scheduled to meet with team officials at Gillette Stadium Tuesday the Boston Globe reported. Much like the Patriots' decision to pursue Wes Welker last year, Booker's success against New England might be a significant factor in the level of interest he's received from Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli and head coach Bill Belichick. …

As always, thanks again Loyd Thomas for your brilliant cap insight. Oustanding. As per LT, cutting Darwin Walker saved us 6,350,000 (I double checked that and much to my surprise, my commas are in the correct spot.) Dumping Fred Miller netted another 3,404,560. Alas Moose only saved us 100,000 (My wife will no longer have to ask, "Why are they booing?") Before this, our free cap space was 22,490,133. Arch will eventually cut, rounding up (and being to lazy to use the calculator, that leaves us with approximately 32 million to spend. Wow. (Thanks again LT) So where do we spend our money?

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4377 Peace

The Bears released Moose per NFL.com. While I did not think he had a great year, who are we going to get to replace him? here does that leave us draft wise?