ASHKUM BEAR

Here are a couple of links you can look at to get an idea of what your teams needs are. You can get an idea whats needed from football.about.com and the check the espn free agent tracker and sort by team to see if they maybe filled those needs. http://football.about.com/od/teamneeds/Team_Needs.htm http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/fa?&act....com%2fnfl%2ffa

Jerry was just on the ESPN1000 show and gave a pretty cool interview. He said when he was on the phone w/ Denver that he knew he had to come in big otherwise they would just blow him off and listen to the next offer. He didn't say what the offer intially was, but it was big enough were they didn't field any other calls (GM to GM). They countered back and forth a couple of times before reaching the deal, he said it took about a half hour. He said that Denver had already done there homework on Kyle Orton and liked what they saw in him, so I think Orton was intitially in the deal to start. My guess is maybe we offered 1, 1, and Orton and then Denver countered to 1, 1, 3, and Orton and finished out as 1, 1, 3, Orton and Cutler & 5th. Also in the interview they brought up Jerry's next move. Jerry said that as of right now they've been working really hard at this deal and trying to solidify the offensive line. He did mention Pace as big addition and that he cleared the physical, and they know he has wear/tear and expect a 70-80% motivated Pace to be a huge addition. Jerry said they have more work to do and brought up WR and defense as the next priorities. ESPN mentioned Holt and he said they will look into all possibilities but they've been working on these past deals first. One that has me thinking is Jerry stressed the oline and keeping the QB off his back that we may still add a high draft pick at the oline position. WR is going to be high on the list and also some defense.

Imagine if our training camp QB battle came down to Kyle Orton vs Chris Simms. Simms was the QB a lot thought JA would pursue to push Kyle along. Who would of won? Most likely Orton without a doubt, there wouldn't have been a real competition. Now, we get to see this competition for real. Denver will most likely not hand this job over b/c of favorites. It'll come down to a real battle and we'll get to see if Kyle is actually a decent QB or not. What are the odds? Does our homerism already convince us that Kyle is the better QB? This may also show us that we've been wearing the koolaide goggles. What do you guys/gals think?

I'd prefer Holt right now, I think he would be great with our young WR's. He has a thing for Hester and would probably love to mentor him. Harrison, while great also, is more of the quite do your work and go home type guy IMO. I also think Holt would work out good here b/c of Lovie and now Pace. Complete the trifecta JA, go get Holt!!!!

Nice draft Jason, funny thing is I was working on a Mock also w/ Duke as our #2 Heres my take: 2-49 Duke Robinson OG - Bring in to groom or start, need to add youth 3-99 Sherrod Martin FS - CB at Troy, project to be pretty good FS, not afraid to stick the RB 4-119 Zack Follet SLB - Bears showed interest in him, he is also good pass rusher from LB 5-149 Mike Wallace WR - 6' 200 4.33 speed. Lovie preaches speed 5-154 Johnny Knox WR - 5-11" 185 4.33 speed. Once again more speed 6-191 Orion Martin DE - 6-2" 262 4.78, leader w/ non stop motor, excellent special team also 7-246 Graham Harrell QB - 6-2" 223. just b/c we have Cutler, doesn't mean we forget about the QB 7-251 Jamaal Westerman DE - 6-3 260 4.75, Bears have also expressed interest in him

Like NFO said, does the team Mafia goe against Cutler like they did with others on this team. When Chicago drafted Benson, the "Mafia" chose to break him down. Benson was supposed to be next greatest RB and his college play showed he had the talent, but when your left out and alone, you either clam up and shut down, or you become a fighter and fight everyone against you to prove them wrong. Benson IMO clammed up. If I see any of this directed toward Cutler, I would hope JA would blow up the D and any offensive players "Kreutz?" that are the Bosses leading this team CODE. I hope these reactions are just numb reactions, not knowing what to say. Also, maybe since Cutler is very cocky & trash talking, the Bears D players may have that in there minds from previous games. Glazer said that Shaun Merriman mentioned he has never seen a QB talk so much trash. You'd thought he was a defensive lineman.

Hell, I'd give them our 2nd this year and 2nd next year. Who needs draft picks, when we struggle drafting anyways, hahaha.

Jay Glazer Fox Sports was just on the score, he said it was a great move for the Bears. Glazer was just w/ Cutler at a UFC fight, said Cutler is cocky, like McMahon and will fit in nice with the Bears locker room. Glazer also said signing Pace is also a huge huge signing b/c Pace is still a very good LT. The only down side is if he can stay healthy.

This guy can throw an accurate deep ball, he is mobile, 25 years old, gets cocky - especially when playing against Rivers, completes more of his passes after the 10 yd range. Orton was nice, but he would never get to greatness, more mediocre. His passes were more dump offs between 5-10 yds. This kept the box crowed, thus Fortes ypc average low. Cutler will open up this box, like he did with the crappy Denver RB's who average 4.8 ypc. Its a once in a lifetime type of deal, QB's who are on the verge to become great very rarely come along and then you have to bid against 20 other teams. So getting Cutler is kinda of like winning the lottery, IMO

Yeah baby!!! Greatest day to be in Illinois (Cutler traded for, Pace signed, and Blagojevich indited). It may be a little to early to mention, but I think some people need to eat some crow that said this would never happen Just think of the boost this will send through the hole team!!!!

Ill take ATL and NO to finish out the board unless someone else wants to join in once we get started.

I can see how you can compare dog fighting (cruelity) to hunting, but you have to understand one is legal and one is illegal. I enjoy hunting for numerous reasons: sitting in the woods enjoying nature, that slim chance a once in a lifetime trophy comes by, the stories to tell to your buddies about the experience, and of course filling the freezer with some meat. Hunting is not cheap and probably will end up costing you a lot more than going to the supermarket, but it's an experience thats worth it to me. Dogs in our culture are known as mans best friend, kind of like cows in India are sacred. Dog fighting and cock fighting are more serious because of the gambling involved in the law enforcements eyes. The public sees it more as animal cruelity. The ring Vick ran was pretty big and serious, it wasn't like a neighborhood kid taking his pit bull down to the park and betting another kid that his dog would win. This involved hundreds of thousands of dollars exchanging hands. Its really no different if he got busted for being the biggest bookie in ATL, except w/ cruelity to dogs being and extra penalty. IMO, this is one of the most serious crimes commited by an NFL player in a while. What Stallworth/Little done are worse IMO b/c human life was lost, but Vicks crime was a planned, under ground racketeer.

I've seen where it will take our 1, 2, 3 this year. This was out of a NY newpaper listing the teams with enough ammo to make it happen. NYJ edges ahead of CHI b/c there a couple of spots ahead of them in the order. Detroit has the most ammo, they have to decide if they need those extra picks to rebuild and select Stafford or Cutler and some later round picks. Det will probably go w/ Stafford. Tampa is also in the running, but don't have as much ammo as NYJ/CHI. So would it be worth it? Giving up our draft dreams of Britton/Nicks for a potential franchise QB? possible look: 1-Cutler 2-Cutler 3-Cutler 3b-Fenuki Tupou OT 6-5 315 5.28 4-David Bruton FS 6-2 219 4.46 5-Johnny Knox WR 6-0 185 4.34 6-Aaron Kelly WR 6-5 204 4.49 7-Jamaal Westerman DE 6-2 257 4.78 7-Russell Allen OLB 6-3 230 4.63

Not going to give up just yet, not until it's clearly off the tables for the Bears. 1- The Bears were one of ten teams who called Denver showing interest. 2- Jerry Angelo stressed he needs to make a better effort at securing the QB position and that it all comes down to the QB. And if you think Baseanez was JA's answer, JA is smarter than that. 3- JA's interiew on Sirius radio said he was a little upset about not getting the $$ or blessings to go after a certain player, which IMO was Kurt Warner b/c it came down to having the $$. This also could have been about Cutler, but in all reality Cutler would only cost the Bears draft picks as he is still under contract, so I'm thinking Cutler wasn't on are radars yet. 4- Out of the 10 teams interested, the teams with the most ammo for Cutler go: 1-Detroit, 2-NY Jets, 3-Chicago in that order. If Detroit selects Stafford, you can cross them off, leaving NYJ vs CHI. The Jets have been "secretly" vocal about there desire for Cutler. (secretly b/c it's against NFL rules to mention his name and interest in him together)

Some "insider" news I have from living in the Kankakee/Bourbonnais area is that Pace has family in the area. When STL was having trouble signing him and placed the franchise on him, Pace told his family members about his huge desire to come to Chicago. STL may have even granted him permission to seek a trade, but I can't recall for sure. IMO, he prefers to play in CHI, closer to family, and under Lovie Smith which means we can get him for a bargain.

Makes me wonder whats going on. We didn't here about any interest/visits from Omiyale/Bullucks/Shaffer. Now were hearing news, probably because they are bigger name players. I hear you about the log jam, I'm thinking we are lining up to trade for Cutler.

With the Pace/Lucas visit heres my mock: 1-trade to Denver along w/ 3rd and Vasher 2-Brian Robiskie WR 3-traded to Denver 3-Kraig Urbik OG 4-David Bruton FS 5-Vance Walker DT 6-Aaron Kelly WR 7-Graham Harrell QB 7-Victor Butler OLB Hester Olsen Williams Omiyale Kreutz Shaffer Pace Clark Bennett ..............................................Cutler ..............................................Forte

This tells me we may be preparing to trade if we sign Pace and Lucas. Maybe we trade our 1st and Tillman/Graham/Vasher to Denver for Cutler. Signing Pace would bolster the Oline, adding a leader who may step up his game if he knows his team has a chance. Lucas has been one of the better CB's in the NFC lately and would give the Bears even more flexiblity at the CB which hasn't been stellar or even solid which the Bears thought when they handed cash over to Tillman/Vasher. The news is now flowing and the sky is no longer falling, now just find a way to get Cutler.

Just reported on the Score that the Bears have brought in Ken Lucas CB from the Panthers to Halas Hall. With all the news of players reporting, I wonder what the Bears have up their sleeves???

doubled up.

I'm just offering Benson a little bit of justice. The thread was started b/c Benson vented to the media about his bad experience in CHI. I hold Benson totally responsible b/c it was his actions that brought everything on. But IMO, if he didn't hold out one bit and JA had him signed like a lot of his other 1st RDers he still may be here. That action was the first domino that led to all the other faults. The guy was a loner, he would be by himself out and about during TC and this was after he was on the team for 3 yrs. I just feel that the leadership on this team black flagged him and no one wanted to break that code. Im really thankful now he's gone b/c that led us to Forte, but I would like to see Benson have some success in the league to show our scouting staff ain't all that bad.

I feel Benson got screwed over by the Bears and fans, but it came down to his holding out and comments about being able to start and succeed right off the bat. Benson's comments were not meant to belittle TJ, but to show a positive attitude and enthuse the fans. It quickly got spun in the media and made him look really arogant. The vet Bears were not impressed at all especially seeing a young brat holding out for more $$ than most of them were making and him saying he can make this league look easy. They wanted to show him how easy the NFL was by knocking him around in practice. This seperated Benson from the team and when your team/fans are against you it doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't change their first impression. I'm glad Benson is finding success in Cincy b/c the players/fans are making him feel like part of the team and giving him a little thing called hope. Benson will probably always hate CHI from now on, but the feelings are the same back to him.

If we didn't have Forte, I'd say AP Otherwise, the entire draft would have to go to either a premier LT or QB. LT - I like Joe Thomas also QB - why not - Jay Cutler or Phillip Rivers young guns ready to become probowlers, Drew Brees since we passed on him earlier or Matt Ryan who showed poise as a rookie. Ben Rothlisberger is also a thought. With Manning/Brady, I see Manning heading down the wrong side of the hill and Brady is under a system that made Castle look great.

I like the addition and question why some think we got the shorter end of the stick b/c Cle got there choice of the RT. CLE didn't want to pay Shaffer, but wanted to retain him if he restructured. He's a NFL starting RT that is better known as a run blocker according to CLE fans. He is an upgrade over Tait and St. Clair IMO. This allows us to keep Omiyale at LG which our staff believes is a upgrade over Beekman. Now we come down to RG and Garza, which I'd like to see this battle at TC hoping the winner of Garza, Buenning, Beekman upgrades that position. We are looking at a better unit already which is what we all wanted. St. Clair is a great guy, but I'm glad we moved on. Shaffer gives us a RT we know can start and Omiyale is insurance if Williams can't hang at LT. I still want to see the Bears add another RT and G, and as much as I have man love for Britton, If we feel Nicks, Britt, Robiske, DHB is a higher need, I can live with that. Yet again, Angelo adds a player under the medias radar, I like it that way. We filled another need and opened up options so were not pigeoned holed when draft. I do fear what nfo mentioned about JA going nuts elsewhere and avoiding OLine totally, but until draft day is over I'll hold those thoughts.

Cutler hurting more than Broncos with behavior By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports 7 hours, 36 minutes ago Buzz up!23 votes Print DANA POINT, Calif. – This can’t go on forever, this little game of text messages and pleas and ignored olive branches. Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels knows it, even if his quarterback, Jay Cutler, doesn’t. So when Tuesday came and McDaniels sat down with the media at the NFL’s annual meetings, his most expansive moments since his fallout with Cutler were spent fortifying his position. In nearly an hour of questioning, and at a table that looked like it was hosting a town-hall meeting, McDaniels reiterated that Cutler is Denver’s quarterback until he isn’t. In mostly even tones and in an environment that never really got testy, the Broncos coach subtly put the ball in Cutler’s court, stating that the team would do what it could to repair the relationship. But McDaniels also admitted the franchise hadn’t actually moved off the stance that had agitated its Pro Bowl quarterback in the first place – that if something better comes along for the Broncos, his quarterback can be had, just like anyone else. Many Denver-area fans blame McDaniels for the controversy. (Garrett Ellwood/Getty) Whether Cutler likes it or not, all his consternation in recent weeks hasn’t made him any more untouchable. “I think I would be contradicting myself if I said that,” McDaniels said. “Like I said, he’s our quarterback, we’re committed to him, and – and – we will always do what’s in the best interest of our team. That’s why we’re talking about this right now – because there was a scenario that was presented that was considered. I’m not going to fall back from that.” In essence, what Tuesday amounted to was McDaniels firmly reasserting his line of defense in a situation in which Cutler and his agent, Bus Cook, have done most of the talking in recent weeks. He acknowledged that the Broncos seriously entertained a three-way trade that would have sent Cutler to Tampa Bay and delivered New England’s Matt Cassel to Denver. And he even went as far as to say that it was timing, as much as anything, that scuttled the deal. But McDaniels also once again said he now wants to move forward with Cutler, alternating between both a soft approach (“He’s a very good player”) and a more firm stance (“He’s under contract. He’s our quarterback.”) Interestingly, McDaniels said he still wants a one-on-one meeting with Cutler and gave the impression that such a meeting would cure some of the problems. It came off as a shot across the bow of Cook, who has been painted as a villain in the whole standoff in some media circles. Certainly, McDaniels didn’t do anything to indicate that Cook was helping to solve the current problem, and even said that Cook shouldn’t be involved in the talk that the coach wants to have with Cutler. “It’s not an issue for an agent,” McDaniels said. “That’s all I’ll say. We’re not talking about contracts. It’s not an issue for an agent. That’s why I want to speak with the player.” Cook hasn’t returned several calls seeking his comment. But as a practical matter, it’s unknown how many other concrete avenues are available to resolve the situation. While there have been a litany of media reports about the other NFL teams interested in Cutler, the validity of such interest hasn’t been fleshed out very well. McDaniels said he hasn’t been approached this week by other teams, even though this is typically a time when teams begin to put their heads together on potential predraft deals. “They’ve never done it – zero,” McDaniels said. “Nobody has approached me, called me – I don’t know if they’re afraid of me or if this thing is really silly. Nobody’s talked to me, nobody’s tried to communicate with me indirectly or directly. I know that people have briefly expressed interest to [broncos general manager] Brian Xanders, but again, I’ll reiterate, there’s not any decision that’s going to happen in our organization relative to our football team without going through me.” But after talking to a variety of personnel sources over the past 10 days, a handful of facts have emerged: • Before Tampa was involved in a potential three-way trade for Cutler, Minnesota was actually the first team to become engaged in talks for the quarterback. McDaniels acknowledged Tuesday that another team had inquired about Cutler prior to Tampa Bay’s interest, but he declined to name that team. A personnel source confirmed it was the Vikings. According to two league sources, the Vikings would have shipped draft picks to Denver for Cutler, and Denver would have turned around and sent picks to New England for Cassel. However, the deal fell apart early on, after some elements in the Minnesota coaching staff weren’t entirely sold on Cutler. • At some point in the process, the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears also expressed interest in Cutler. The depth of that interest is unknown, but both teams are still thought to be in play if Cutler once again becomes available. • While the New York Jets have also been tabbed as a potential destination for Cutler, Jets head coach Rex Ryan spent much of Tuesday talking up his own quarterbacks and seemingly trying to extricate himself from the Cutler talk. But when cornered about what he would do if an opportunity presented itself for a veteran quarterback, Ryan left the door open, saying, “You consider all the options.” Yet the longer Cutler’s standoff with the Broncos continues, the more damage he may be doing to his own value. Clearly, the situation has fostered some negative impressions of him in other organizations. One high-ranking NFC personnel man said last week that the public nature of Cutler’s problems with Denver is definitely sending a message. “It’s human nature to form opinions, especially when you are reading [Cutler’s] own words,” he said. “Not being on the inside of it, it seems pretty immature. But, you know, how you conduct yourself when you’re not happy says something about you. … He seems like an emotional guy – just volatile emotionally.” And while coaches and executives can’t talk in specifics about players on other rosters, a handful pointed at emotions as a primary part of what separates quarterbacks. Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak spoke about the importance of the bond and trust that has to exist between a quarterback and his head coach. Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley took it a step further, suggesting that mental maturity is a key long-term factor. “If you’re sensitive and you’re not mentally tough, you’re not going to have a great chance to succeed,” Haley said, speaking in generalities about quarterbacks. “Some of these guys, Kurt Warner and Tony Romo, some of these guys that weren’t ‘the guy’ and had to go through these trials and tribulations – like Matt Cassel, who’s been told ‘you’re not good enough’ for how many years? – you develop that shell that gives you a chance to overcome adversity. I think if you don’t have that or if that’s not your mental makeup, that’s probably a problem.” Cutler’s relationship with the Broncos has increasingly gotten worse since Mike Shanahan’s firing. (Byron Hetzler/US Presswire) So here the Broncos are, with a player who continues to insist he no longer wants to play for them, yet they continue to dig in and push for a resolution without actually changing their approach. McDaniels said he believes Cutler will still be the team’s quarterback five weeks from now; that he has confidence Cutler will show up for Denver’s first mandatory camp for veterans next month; and that Cutler will ultimately succeed in the new scheme. But every day, damage is being done, both in terms of perception and preparation. “Obviously, the days that are missed relative to installation and opportunity for any player to learn our system, it will obviously hinder our development in what we’re doing,” McDaniels said. “But that’s part of coaching. … This isn’t necessarily an ideal situation, but you’ve got to work with whatever time you have. You do what you can do within the system if a player doesn’t have great understanding of something at some point.” For now, it’s an awkward stance – hoping for the best and preparing to make do with the worst. But Denver’s attitude has appeared to solidify: It’s Cutler’s move, and ultimately he’s the one who will have to adjust. “I can’t convince anybody of anything if they don’t want to believe it,” McDaniels said. “I think part of it is, like I said, we want him to be here, we’re committed to him, and I think it’s got to be two ways. I think that’s the biggest thing – if he wants to commit to us, then I think there are some certain things that he’s going to have to get over personally. And that’s a challenge for him. It’s a challenge in this whole situation