balta1701-A

At the combine Nicks ran a 4.51, his best career mark was supposedly 4.42. Devin Thomas ran a 4.40 at the combine, quite a bit better than he was expected to do.

The correct answer is "It depends on what happens in free agency." You add in a left tackle (at the very worst to replace Omiyale), a top flight WR, and a defensive end, and suddenly some of those "Major needs" go away, and the Bears could gamble jumping up. Of course, then the motivation to jump up for a WR really goes away.

2 WR's went in the top 6 picks last year, and hten a 3rd didn't go off the board until 26. If these guys come out of the combine with mid first round grades, I doubt they drop. WR is always a position of need for teams trying to develop an offense. Edit: But if one of them has a bad workout or tweaks an ankle or something, that could be all it takes to push them into the 20's.

The one thing the Bears did definitely try to do last year was add at least 1 player to each position of need. They didn't all work out (Roy Williams) but they did try. Some of the positions of need have changed, some haven't. They definitely though need to make sure to add at least a player at a couple of these positions, and a few of them need to be starting quality.

Yes, they definitely need depth at WR and could fill that role in the draft, but it doesn't seem like a good use of a first round pick assuming the Bears fill the #1 spot in FA. With Hester, Knox, and maybe Sanzenbacher taking up some reps ast he #3 WR, there's not going to be a ton of reps there for a #3 WR, especially if they get into the habit of using Knox and Hester to stretch the field. THat means they can put a 2nd or 3rd round pick there and use that spot as a way to get a guy onto the field and develop him. If they spend a big pick on WR and sign one, then that tells me that Knox and Hester won't be seeing the WR position at all this year. The only reason you'd want 2 starting full time WR"s (aka a first round pick guaranteed guy) is if Knox isn't going to be back.

He could have saved Mike Martz's job.

Part of the issue is that a lot of GM contracts aren't public, and aren't required to be.

Me.

Ok, it's nearly $11 million. That's more than I'd guarantee him over a couple years.

Wouldn't the money on Mathis be like $12 million+ a year?

But at the same time, the 2 prima donna WR setup absolutely tore Cincinnati apart.

Fine I'll say it. If Cutler and Forte were healthy, the Bears were winning that game in GB. I have no idea how they'd do it, but they were going to win that game.

Here you go Gabe.

The combine is what, late February? You've got to have someone in place at least 2 weeks before that, not just for the combine, but also because free agency starts like a week later.

I'd absolutely be in on Mathis. I think he's probably my 2nd option at DE, I'd go after Mario Williams first but there's a decent chance the Bears would just be outbid on him. With Peppers and the LB's there, adding him to the DE rotation even just on passing downs would really strengthen that defense. And you can't just look for a multi-year solution if you're trying to win now...he's a big win now move.

With the discipline record of the Vikings under Tice, he would seem like a fit for the Raiders.

I think y'all might want to root for Tice to get hired by the Raiders, because I'll still bet that he'll push to keep Webb as his starting LT. He'd probably be content with drafting a backup, but I think he'll push for the 3rd year starter that he's defended for 2 years.

At least IMO, the Wildcat can be used effectively, but teams need to start thinking of it as a power formation rather than a trick formation. The biggest benefit you could get is that it adds an extra blocker in your running game. If you're running the ball, to first order, you're playing 9 players on 11 defenders...the QB gets out of the way and the ball carrier has the ball. Now, pull the QB, and put in an extra FB/TE. Suddenly you're playing 10 on 11, and you can legitimately run a set with 2 TE, a fullback, 5 O-lineman, and then stick another back in or 2 WR's designed to block. That's a power formation now. Snap the ball to your RB, send your blocking in, and overpower one side of the field. Problem is most people still try to use it as trick plays, so they lateral to the QB or they leave the QB in at WR or some other darned thing. Put the extra blocker in and use it to try to blow open one side of the field.

I don't really like this setup as much more than an occasional gimmick, because having both Forte and Hester in the backfield is going to either make the bears undermanned at the WR spot or undermanned on blocking. You can use anything a couple times a game, but that's not a good "Every down" setup.

So, I finally gave up and just switched all approvals to admin-only and pretty much haven't approved anyone for 2 days, and that involved pruning 40-50 applicants. Should anyone real actually read this message and want to apply, hopefully they'll try it a couple times.

Really, the Bears need a miraculous offseason to contend? Would people say that they wouldn't have been in contention if Cutler and Forte had stayed healthy? I think they're a contending team right now. If Cutler and Forte had been healthy, they'd have gone into Green Bay and probably still had that winning streak going at the end of the year, and they'd have a legit shot at taking down the Packers at Lambeau in Week 16. That team was going places. On top of that, hopefully next year the Bears avoid the "Martz is trying to kill Cutler" game. And they get 2 first round picks added to their O-line already. A solid offseason takes the Bears from contenders to one of the best in the NFL.

The real issue is that Briggs might well hold out next season.

There is a big jump in the salary cap this year for everyone, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's $50. Here's one version from a week ago at a different message board where 50 was the number. No one really knows exactly what the full cap number will be, that makes doing the numbers a little hard.

The only way this makes sense is if the Bears find O-line, CB, D-line, and LB help in free agency and are sitting in a position with a veteran laden roster but have also swung and missed on the FA wideouts. It could happen, but this position shouldn't wait this long.

I think we can just assume that the franchise tag eats up what, $8 million of that on a RB.