balta1701-A

One lesson we should take from Emery's first 2 drafts...in both cases, he has taken an unexpected, fast-rising, possible overdraft in the first round.

I thought interior O-line was a need on the grounds that Garza isn't a spring chicken before seeing these.

The "leaving the Bears able to give out signing bonuses" would make sense if they were actually close to a yearly spending limit, but "having money available to fix the defense this offseason" is the opposite of what a deal structured like this does. The big benefit to the team of the front-loaded signing bonus is that it allows the team to spread the bonus out over more years, reducing the cap hit in the early years. This deal, it would appear, does not do that - it takes the cap hit as it is written, in exchange for giving the Bears the ability to end it quicker if necessary.

Actually answering question in thread title

I'm struggling to imagine any way this contract could be cap-friendly, it's going to be a major hit whether the team likes it or not.

That could also be interpreted as the Bears keeping a lot of his guaranteed money in the first 3 years...which would make the cap hit higher during those years.

Apparently the safety didn't get an audible that was called at the last second, according to the press conference today. Does that make him a moron if he didn't hear a last second call?

The problem is you'd really like to restructure him before the FA period starts if you're going to do so because otherwise you have $20 million sitting there against next year's cap.

Tampa Bay is back in a position where the epitome of average would be an improvement.

Kevin Fishbain ‏@kfishbain 6m Trestman said Briggs checked to a blitz on 4th-and-8, Conte didn't get the call, he was in zone.

The dollar amount in the first couple years is similar to or even less than what it would take to franchise tag him and by doing this with a 7 year contract it'll probably make his cap hit something like just over $10 million a year. Once you do that math, the question then becomes how much it takes to get it done now versus February, and there's an obvious benefit to getting it done now since they will not have to work out any top level QB's in February during the combine/interviews, they can focus on the guys they want on defense and get to work in FA.

It's a 7 year deal so that the early money is spread out to lower the cap hit,. Probably a whole lot better than franchising him.

Topic pinned at the top for your viewing pleasure.

The problem is...coming off that 0-16 team and multiple years of Stafford injuries...Detroit needed to have an attitude like this to get themselves out of the cellar. I totally buy where this is coming from...someone had to tell them to be nasty, to be extremely cocky, just to get these guys believing in themselves. It should be clear though that attitude could only take them so far. This was the attitude they needed to get out of the cellar, now they need someone to come in and kick their tails into gear to turn them into a disciplined, effective football team. We'll see if that's the kind of coach they hire at this point. Lovie Smith, IMO, would have been a terrible fit there for that reason - the player's coach isn't what these guys need.

Compared to where they were this does probably make them a better team but they're in a tough division right now until Brees retires or gets old.

That makes a whole lot of sense.

Well, if you're going to do a 3-4 transition that should definitely be your first pick....but that tells me how much of a risk it would be in switching to a 3-4 since you suddenly can't use that pick to address the other major needs on D.

If memory serves, aside from keeping a 4-3 setup...didn't they fundamentally switch schemes last offseason? (from a 1-gap to a 2-gap defense or something along those lines?)

Jay Cutler ends up 1-8 career against the Packers.

How much confidence do people have in Crosby?

One more TD and it sets up a late-game 2 point conversion for the tie if there's no further turnovers.

Jeff Dickerson Hey, at least the Bears actually got a sack.

That's the autocorrect you complain about?

Well, it's better than multiple INT's I guess.

Bears are already working hard to give it right back.