balta1701-A

I don't know if I've said this quite this clearly, but, I expect the Bears to trade down and try to wind up with 3 picks in the 2nd round, giving them a shot at a WR/TE, OL, and 2nd round rated defensive player.

If he doesn't play well, I think he'll be the most highly paid backup in the league next year.

I feel like it's somewhat interesting to see the Bears bringing in their camp competition at a number of positions now, before the draft. That strikes me as unusual.

If they're really committed to trying some read-option plays next year...I don't like switching out the QB for a play, but that's a way to try it.

I think the Bears already spent that $2 million when they signed the other LB's.

Both Matt Flynn and Kevin Kolb also came off the market yesterday, although I'd guess both would have been out of the Bears' price range.

Colt McCoy was traded to the 49ers today.

I'm not sure if I'm right, but I always think this is worth considering...defensive linemen have taken a big step forwards in their athleticism over the past decade. The kinds of D-linemen that the SEC is pumping out regularly now just strike me as fast in a way that was not the case when Martz's system really produced success. I wonder if part of the reason why Martz's system didn't work in Chicago is that it is predicated on linemen moving at the speed they did in the late 90's. If the linemen are on the QB 0.75 seconds faster now, and maybe you throw in a QB whose release is 0.25 seconds slow, then suddenly a pass that would have been a completion under pressure turns into a sack.

There are always some CB's who get picked up mid-season by teams that have a ton of injuries. I think the Giants lost their entire secondary 2 years ago when they won the championship.

They might be able to use one, but they have at least a couple guys on their roster who can obviously be plugged into that role and do a decent job. I'd put the LB's and WR's and 2nd TE and CB's and D-Line all in that same boat.

At this point, the Bears need to draft some guys for depth at a number of positions, but they don't obviously need an immediate front line starter at any position. They're in a great place to trade down, grab an extra 2nd or 3rd round pick, and start putting guys into the rotation.

I really don't think that's the question. Louis played RG before injury. I believe Rachal started the season off at LG last year. Is Slauson an upgrade over Rachal and whatever else was there? A monstrous upgrade.

Yeah, but that sounds like the place I'd line Clay Matthews up on passing plays. I feel like McClellin would even have a field day against that setup.

The Bears still have Edwin Williams?

With Rivera as their coach, probably something similar to what the Bears ran.

Right now, I'd say the Bears are roughly the same. They've gained some athleticism but lost some experience, and perhaps the kicker is that Briggs is of course another year older and eventually everyone gets old. They've probably gained on the health side, but both of the guys they brought in had better years prior to 2012, but if they stay on the field the full year, they're better overall. If they add in a LB from the first couple draft rounds, then I'll genuinely say they're strongly better on paper. One thing worth noting...very few MLB's stay on the field in both running and passing situations. The Bears had one of those guys last year for 2/3 of the season. Even though he missed the last part, that's still an advantage, I think it gives more flexibility to a defense...so something may have to be done if the Bears want to do what most of the league does and rotate LB's.

Do you really think this team hasn't improved from last year? If so, I'm going to be seriously ragging on Cutler, IMO.

And what he did in New York was worthy of taking a #2.

This could be entirely true, and it still wouldn't be a good idea for the Bears to commit more money to him than they offered him.

Link @caplannfl 4m Lance Louis agreed to a one-year deal, 3-4 other teams were interested, but it came down to the Dolphins giving him a chance to start.

How much of that flexibility comes from not having a QB under contract?

Vince Young is generally a terrible idea. Guy's had more chances than anyone I can remember to do something productive. He's just not going to be a successful football player. If the Bears think McCown can be a useful player out of the gate, then this would be a good year to grab a backup in the middle to late rounds and try to spend a season or two on development.

We just had super bowl 47. Doesn't that count as "Nearly 50 years"?

Especially if Webb is still in the lineup, he'll be scapegoated no matter how he actually plays.

Really, you know the nearly-50 year history of the NFL well enough to argue successfully that he's the worst starting TE of all time?