balta1701-A

It sounds like pro-bowl linebacker Chad Greenway is their #1 priority for the franchise tag. There has been talk of transition-tagging Rice.

Without knowing what will happen in FA, I think the right move is to plan on Garza being the starter until a CBA is signed unless you find a guy after the 3rd round in the draft that you think could be an interior line option. The LT/LG weakness is more important, and going into this draft, you have to play it as though the draft will be the only chance you get to add players. Go LT/LG with the first pick, go for other needs with 2/3 (WR, CB, DT, etc.). If somehow there's a CBA signed before the draft, try to fill that LT slot in FA. Then you're much more clear in the draft. But assuming that doesn't happen, at least add another body to the left side of the line in the draft, and realize that replacing Garza right now isn't as high of a priority as some of the other personnel holes.

You don't think Garza fills a slot? Is he a "FA"?

I'd still use a high draft pick somewhere on that line...but really, if the Bears can sign 1 legitimate starter for the left hand side of that line, either for Guard or Tackle, they could well be set. They need to have plans for the future obviously for the C and RG spots, but Webb at RT, Garza, Kreutz, and Williams somewhere on the LH side is a workable line with decent upside, if they have a legit extra starter.

One thing to remember about offensive lines is how 1 giant gaping hole can carry through to the other positions. If, for example, your LT says "ole!" every time a defender walks by, then the LG has to either help the LT's guy or have that whole side of the line blown up. Then, the Center is isolated on his own, with not help. Add in the fact that the LG was playing out of position, and Omifail's, well, suckitude could have impacted the whole left side of the line.

I almost want the lockout to start. At least then we'll know where everything stands; right now, whether or not the tags have any meaning and whether or not teams can/will sign contracts beforehand is, well, complicated.

I'll say it again. Outside of the first round, you rarely find O-linemen who are able to step in and perform their first season. Even in the first round it's trouble. The Bears have had zero first round picks since they drafted Williams. They traded them for Cutler. Taking guys in the 2nd round and later is a long-term building strategy, but it's not a good plan for a team trying to "Win now". A better question to me is why the Bears haven't played harder for O-line on the FA market once they traded for Cutler.

Of course, this comparison only makes sense if you think "Spending more time with his family" was actually a big part of MJ's reason.

A lockout right now really hurts him also. No idea what team he's actually with, no OTA's, potentially no training camp, etc. In a normal season he could start talking to teams and learning the playbook a lot earlier.

The biggest reason? The Bears sent 2 1st round picks for Jay Cutler.

Assuming that whatever CBA is established preserves people who are tagged this year...the right move is still to try to fill in the O-line in the draft.

It's also going to be hard for a team like the Titans to hire a guy like Tice away if they're not willing to pay a lot of money for a guy to sit around and wait for the lockout to end.

Even though he was better than the Omiyale signing the Bears made when he left...that's really not a signing that would make the Bears better next year.

That of course could mean that he's vastly out of shape and has lost a lot of muscle.

We flat out don't know this, and it's not even a good assumption. He could have gained 60 lbs in prison for all we know.

The biggest part of the reason he (and Jackson) came back is the union advised them that if they did not come back and complete 1/2 of a season, they would not receive credit under the CBA for having been in the league this season. Thus, they'd be right back in the same spot; they'd only qualify as restricted free agents, since the number of years you've been in the league determines whether you can qualify as restricted or unrestricted. They didn't need to tag either of those guys since they only qualified as restricted FA's last year, teams could slap the "1st and 3rd" tender on them and no one would sign those players as FA.

He'll turn 34 this August. I'd consider it and at least give him a workout if I can't land another WR...but it's worth asking how likely he is to be in shape. Michael Vick, for example, took a full year of NFL level workouts before he got back to his previous athleticism, and that was for a guy in his 20's with a shorter prison term.

Yeah, that stat gets the person silly enough to compare free agent contracts to drafted-player contracts fired. "Chester Taylor makes more than a 5th round running back who played in 1/4 of the season's games! Scandalous!"

The problem the Bears have is that when he comes in on the offense, everyone expects him to get the Ball, so whatever he does, the defense flocks to him. The only way that's really been effective is going over the top on a long pass where he can beat the defender. Screens & such, everyone is teeing off on him. If the Bears however had another actual threat, such that if you put Hester in, they couldn't tee off on Hester because it would leave say, Vincent Jackson wide open, then suddenly that part of Hester's game could open up.

Can he be signed before the CBA is agreed to? If so, why not grab him? Unless he's worse than Omiyale, all that does is put the Bears in a slightly stronger position come the draft.

As of right now, these amounts are the contracts that each team in the NFL has committed for 2011. It's good information but there are a lot of details to add. First, the cap in 2009, the last year that a cap existed, was about $130 million. Second, these numbers exist prior to basic offseason moves, like cutting people with non-guaranteed contracts, making qualifying offers to restricted free agents, and attempting to use the franchise/transition tag. Third, there are no holds for draft picks. Fourth, this will change rapidly if players are extended before the CBA runs out. If the owners succeed in forcing cuts to the salary cap in the future, especially if there is no rewriting of current contracts, then the teams at the upper end of this distribution could have trouble holding onto people. Take home message; at this point, the Bears have the most room of anyone in the NFC North to add players if there is such a thing as FA (or to extend current players like Forte), and the Packers have the least and will likely have to do some player shedding to get under whatever cap is established.

You are correct, Free Agency will not happen until a CBA is signed. Normally, the FA period would start on March 3, the same day that the NFL calendar flips and the CBA ends.

Link

I'd also say that Martz probably learned that if his O-line isn't dominant, he needs to have underneath/possession options for Cutler to move the chains and get new sets of downs if he wants the area over the top to open up.