balta1701-A

Entirely because everyone is posting every signing in the Bears thread, and i haven't decided yet whether or not to move them. What do y'all think, does Javon Walker signing with the Raiders belong in this forum or is there enough General Bears interest for me to leave it in the Bearstalk forum?

While I agree that DE is a luxury and is a place where the Bears could trade from a position of strength to fill a need, I find it hard to believe that a 4th rounder would be equal value for the Bears on OGun.

I'm really not sure that he's worth that much even when healthy. Wasn't he considered mostly healthy in 2006 when he played 16 games? In that season he only had 69 catches and 1084 yards. Yes it was a very good season, but even then, not a league changing season. The only seasons I'd say he was worth that kind of money were his last 2 healthy seasons with the Packers...where not only was he healthy but he had a good QB giving him the ball so he could really rack up the numbers.

You really ought to check the other thread titles before posting.

And, to be fair, the Bears' QB situation was bad last year, but it wasn't nearly 0-16 bad.

The starting QB's in the NFC North next year, as things currently stand are Aaron Rogers Rex Grossman Tavaris Jackson John Kitna. Quality.

If we don't draft an O-Lineman...then maybe we'll get a better one when we get a top 10 pick next year because the RB we took couldn't get past the -1 yard line without being hit.

Next to Benson, he might actually make sense. The Bears might well still have a playoff shot, he might well still have enough in the tank to work as a quick/change of pace guy, etc. Of course...he'd basically wind up in a meat grinder if the Bears don't fix the O-Line.

If there are a lot of them who are potentially great, then why would you go for the 2nd highest priced one? Give me a first round O-Lineman or give me another top 14 pick last year after missing the playoffs again.

A bad offensive line would make the best running back in the league look horrid. Conversely, a solid O-Line can easily make a poor to average back look solid or better. You can not fix the running game without fixing the O-Line first. I don't know if Benson is part of the problem or not, but I know for a fact that even if he was a great back, he wouldn't look like it behind an O-Line performing as poorly as the Bears' last season.

A valid question. How would the Bears be looking if instead of drafting 2 LB's, they'd spent those 3rd and 4th rounders on O-Linemen the last 2 years? At worst they'd be in exactly the same position they're in now right, and that's if both of them flopped? Anyone think someone would give us a 3rd for Okwo if we put him on the market now? Or Williams?

Can't rule it out, but I can't be alone in thinking it's a bad idea. You put LaDanian Tomlinson behind the Bears O-Line last year, and he doesn't look much better than Benson. Let alone his backup. Fix the O-Line and we can talk.

That may be the best move for Lance, but I don't think it's the best move for the Bears. It just doesn't make sense to spend a 3rd and a 4th rounder 2 years in a row on potential replacements for a guy and then resign him and consign those draftees to the bench. There are better ways to use cap space. Williams may not be where Briggs was, but from a cap standpoint, Williams/Okwo is the right call for next year and for the franchise's future.

That's significantly more expensive than the 3 years, $10 million originally posted.

If the O-Line and RB's are doing their job, that's not that bad of a thing.

On this I agree. I still think that between injuries and the O-Line's performance last year, the Bears weren't as bad as the team we saw in some of those games. But if the Bears try to go in to next season with a completely patchwork offensive line, then they're just asking for trouble.

We resigned Rex Grossman. Therefore, it's not a bad thing to have too many speed guys. Because the more guys we can send down the field, the more we play to Rex's strength. A possession, underneath guy would be useful, but we shouldn't go for that at the expense of additional speed guys.

Ok, even I'll grant, if that's the contract, it's really, really sad that the Bears didn't make him a better offer. And that's coming from one of those people who thinks the FA period hurts more teams than it helps.

This one's official.

Bruce goes to the 49ers to rejoin Mike Martz. The Bears could have offered more money and still not had a shot.

Stallworth is better than Berrian when healthy. Stallworth has been no where near as healthy as Berrian so far in his career.

I for one just keep looking at the real successful teams...the Colts, the Pats, the Eagles, the Steelers...hell even look at this year's top teams...the Cowboys, the Packers, the Chargers...how many big FA's are there across those teams? The Pats had a couple last year, the Eagles have one every few years, the Cowboys filled in an O-Line hole last year I believe...but for the most part, teams do not massively improve themselves in FA. They do so by drafting the guys they want and locking them up. The ones who hit FA are the ones people judge to be worth less to that team than they'd get on the open market.

Question. Can someone name for me a team in the last 5+ years that has won a super bowl on the strength of the guys it brought in during FA the previous year and not based on the long-term strength of the guys they drafted? Patriots, Colts, Giants, Steelers, hell even throw in some of the losers like the Seahawks, Bears, etc.

He does make sense for Philly, I'll give them that. No idea how it fits with their cap situation.

It actually makes some sense. You get a QB who's at least gone through some portion of an NFL training camp and tutored under people for a year already. He'd have to learn a new system again, but he'd almost be guaranteed to be a step in preparedness above any other QB that you could draft.