balta1701-A

Earl Bennett with no safety help over the top because they're focusing on Marshall and Forte ought to be a huge offensive producer.

With this team's history at the CB position and system, I expect a CB gets targeted in rounds 2/3.

That's really no longer the case though. The Bearz have the size they need. Thomas, Marshall, and Davis give the Bears substantial amounts of size to go along with the names you just mentioned.

Who offered him more money, Packers or Broncos?

If the Bears find a tall WR they actually like who is a reasonable value with one of their picks, obviously they should go for it, but if there's a 5'10" guy sitting there in the 4th round who they think will be Johnny Knox or better, then passing on him because they want height would be a mistake.

So? The Bears have their big target now. 2 if you count the TE slot. They can go for total skill now if they're still trying to add WR. Marshall and Davis are the big near-the-end-zone targets.

If that's the case, then the WR corps is actually overflowing and Sanz will already be cut/traded.

They always say things like that, and if someone offered him $200k more, he'd say that team had a better chance to win.

I know the crop of them is weak, but the only complaint I have is that I think the need for a tackle is much greater than the need for a guard, and if you're getting a lineman in the draft he better be able to play 1 of the 2 tackle spots. But if you pick up good value, that's fine. You've covered pretty much every position of need in some way otherwise. Tell me more about that CB. Big, physical guy or short speedy guy?

Now, I'm at the point where I have some trouble seeing the Bears spending another roster spot on the WR position...especially with all the D-Linemen they usually carry. If they're giving an extra roster spot to a WR/Special Teams guy this year, it's a roster spot that was freed up by Omiyale leaving or Graham leaving, which weakens the depth at those positions, where people quite commonly get hurt.

So he's also replacing Graham in that role, possibly.

Actually, I really think it's safe to say that the system the Bears were running was a disaster and it was getting worse with time in terms of QB killing. Detroit and San Fran saw the same thing when they tried it, and you can establish how bad it was pretty easily if you watch O-Line setups around the league. Nobody puts their LT out on an island like the Bears wanted to do with Webb. It's just suicide.

But then, Thomas was behind guys like Manningham and Nicks last year, while Williams was the main option when he was healthy enough to be on the field (also an issue). Obviously that suggests that Thomas isn't going to come out and catch 90 balls next year, but the Bears don't need him to do that now that they traded for Marshall. If Thomas comes out and catches 25 balls next year like he did in Washington 2010, that might well be all the Bears need him to do, and I'm also going to imagine that he'd be more content with that role than Roy Williams.

The problem is, the 2nd half of this really is conjecture. When you watched the better lines in the league, they did things fundamentally different from the Bears. Go watch a Saints game. Every single snap, a RB or a TE gives help on the other team's best outside rusher, if there's not a full double team. The Bears scheme deliberately said no to that. It might well have worked with Orlando Pace 10 years ago, but it doesn't work today, the lines and attack packages have improved that much. Webb may flat out be inadequate, but when the system is inadequate and everyone agrees the system is failing, how do you put the fault on the player in that system? I've seen some promising games from Webb and I've seen some down games from him. Real problem is, there's no obvious trend, which means either it's his preparation or it's how the defense attacks him, and until I'm paid a lot to break down video by someone, I can't judge that. Which is why I keep saying...if Lovie and Tice are wrong on this decision, if they pass on finding another starting tackle and then Webb gets blown apart this season with a system built to help him, then that's their jobs on the line, because people pay them a whole lot of money to make that decision, and it's probably the difference between a super bowl run and a .500 team that misses the playoffs next year.

At this point, I think it's a case of "The devil we don't know is better than the devil we do". You know what Williams is going to bring, it's not a lot, you can get the same production from guys who are younger and might well fill their roles even better, so try out one of the younger guys and see if they stick.

Oh, and with adding this piece, I wouldn't be surprised one bit to see the Bears go for the DE in the first round or trade down if the kid from Illinois is gone.

If he has a down year though, doesn't fight for extra yardage and averages 3.9 yards a carry instead of 4.3, then he hits the FA market next year and everyone thinks he's a running back on the decline, injured in 2011 and down in 2012, and he winds up taking what Brandon Jacobs just got, a 1 year deal for someone.

Well, if they don't add anyone, both of their jobs depend on him being right.

They absolutely need an additional tackle, but I'm not sure either I or they think that they need a "Starting tackle". They're not wrong when they say that very few tackles in the league would have looked good in Martz's system last year, especially with Edwin Williams playing next door and Hanie in the backfield.

Anyone know the deal structure? 1 year?

Roy Williams isn't coming back, I think that's abundantly clear. If they actually had any desire to have him back, they wouldn't have waited to sign him, and they wouldn't ahve made this signing.

Not sure where else to stick it and not going to start a new thread, the Bears are at least starting to convince reporters that they are ready to go into this season with Webb at LT except having him in a scheme where he's not out on an island all the time.

That's usually the case with most mock drafts though.

Not really, that's basically the Bears guaranteeing this year's contract for 3 years. It'd be really hard to get any legit cap savings this year on a $20 million guarantee. It's closer to a bargain if they would consider franchise tagging him next year as well, because his number will be 20% higher next year, and then the Bears would have paid him ~60% of the guarantee in those 2 years.

Unless you already think Forte will hold out.