balta1701-A

I've set up and run a mock draft most of the years since this site's been here. Last year we didn't have enough people interested to make it happen. If there's interest this year I can do so again, and I like your guys' suggestions about everyone picking for the Bears.

The ones who are insisting that it is broken are the owners.

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Don't forget, the Bears wrote Peppers's contract with a team out clause after the first season, probably so that the team could do exactly this. I'll bet both sides benefit somehow, and that the Bears wound up saving cap room by having more of his contract count for last year.

A judge just ruled against the basis for most of this article.

Another FA o-lineman.

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Also, now that I think about it... Last year, Cutler put up a (slightly) higher QB rating than Palmer did. Cutler did that while Palmer had 2 big name WR's, and Cutler did that behind one of the worse O-lines in the NFL. Cleveland's O-Line wasn't necessarily great...but how many other QB's would have even survived behind the Bears O-Line last year?

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I'll be absolutely stunned if there isn't a rookie wage scale at the end of this.

Everything I've seen or read suggests that Williams is not a RT. He's a lot better as a blind-side protector; he has better footwork in pass blocking. That fits LT best. He might be able to stick at LG, I'm not sure, but he should likely stay on the left side. The key thing for him is getting someone next to him that isn't an open door. Omiyale was so bad last year that anyone playing next to him was going to look bad, especially if that player was playing out of position himself. Williams never could count on help and he could count constantly on having the LH side of the line beaten and blown up. Even a great LG would look bad in that spot.

I know that a big name would be nice, but I'm not sure he's wrong here; everyone on reading this can name 3-4 positions where the Bears could use either one more starter or legitimate depth.

Lilnk

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The calm before the labor storml

I'd be flat-out stunned if any team guaranteed him a lot of money. When Mike Brown went to K.C., they signed him for a $900k base salary (in the old CBA, that money became guaranteed when he made the opening day roster).

Otogwe is visiting the redskins today.

Seriously, even for a "close to the minimum" contract?

I don't think I'd say they're above average or "pretty good". I'd say they're "adequate". The big problem is that there's no go-to guy in there. There's no guy you can constantly count on being open, nor is there a guy that you can constantly count on as a killer threat. Even when you get protection, you can't count on guys having been where they're supposed to be or figured out a way to get open. Without a #1 guy, it's not an above average group to me. For all I know though, Knox or Bennett could take that next step next year; they're still darn young.

Come on man, you're better than this. I'll totally agree there's no #1 WR, and that's a big problem. Seriously though, Knox put up 960 yards last year in his 2nd season. For comparison, Berrian put up 954 yards for the Bears in the year before he got his big contract with Minny, and 964 yards in his first year with Minny. Give you another one. Vincent Jackson didn't put up 1000+ yards until his 4th season. He's not a #1 WR, but he's absolutely an NFL caliber WR.

Yeah, but if you ask "Which ones are likely to get hurt", Harvin and Rice are at the top of that list.

I'm certainly not sold on the Bears' WR's...but the amount of time the vikings WR's missed, plus the fact that Berrian stinks, didn't help. Give you an example: Hester, Knox, and Bennett combined for 137 catches on the year. The Vikings top 3 combined for 116.

The problem is...you really have to assume he won't be there for the full season if you sign him. You can't let Manning walk, or you need to draft another safety, for example. You assume anything you get after training camp is a bonus.

That's the kind of guy I wouldn't consider signing until a new CBA was around, so that I'd know what the impact was on whether or not I'd be able to cut him mid-deal/mid-season.

I seriously doubt the league will agree to a new CBA with a transition tag working like it does now, with the possible-poison-pill.