dawhizz

I'm not saying there's no way Toliver or Bars can start next year, but I don't see how this team can feel confident in them as starters at this point. For Bars, he's an undrafted free agent who started one game last year (the last game), and only started because of injury. Plus there is a different offensive coordinator and offensive line coach here now than was here then, so they have no institutional knowledge of how he can perform. Tolvier has certainly made strides, but to trust him with the #2 CB role after two starts last year again seems less than ideal.

Losing the 4th round pick suggests to me that unless there's a guy they love sitting there, the Bears could very well trade back with both their 2nd round picks. Something like #43 to the Jets for #48 and #120, and then #50 to the Chiefs for #63 and #96. Two picks in the first 162 picks is not going to cut it.

Apparently other teams were offering a 5th, so the Bears had to up their offer to a 4th to get him.

Traded to Bears for Bears 4th round comp pick per Schefter. Seems like an overpay but what else is new around here.

It's really impossible to say before free agency plays out a bit more. Pace likes to patch holes in FA and go BPA in the draft, but the Bears are kind of cash strapped and currently are missing starters at SS, #2 CB (unless you are a real believer in Toliver) and RG. You can probably get a starter at RG if you trade down in the 2nd or even early 3rd round, but you probably need to use one of those 2nd round picks on a #2 CB or SS if you still don't have a viable starter when the draft rolls around. The Bears have a #1 WR in Robinson and someone they drafted to be their #2 WR in Miller, and the draft is deep enough at WR that you can get a speed option like John Hightower or Devin Duvernay in the middle rounds if that's what you want.

I keep thinking that signing Graham is an indication that the Bears didn't really like many of the TEs available in the draft. at #43, it seems reasonable that maybe one TE is drafted before the Bears pick but just as likely that they will all be on the board. The Graham signing will look even less sensible if they turn around and draft Kmet at #43. It seems more likely that they grab someone in the middle to late rounds to me, or just see if anyone emerges from the current clown car of TEs they have during preseason.

To get back to the actual topic, I’d like to see the next move be a starting caliber S. There were rumors about HHCD, but nothing confirmed. Heck, I’d be just fine bringing back Deon Bush - I think he did pretty well when he played. Not many safeties have come off the board, but the Bears currently have one safety under contract. Don’t want to be the last one standing when the music stops.

Also, looks like only the first two years guaranteed (5-year, $70 millions, with $30 million guaranteed), so while I question how long he'll still be effective, I'm pretty confident he will still be worth the $ for the first 2-3 years, after which they can cut him loose. The Cowboys run a 4-3, right? So does Quinn play at DE or OLB?

And in an essentially corresponding move, Floyd was released. Would have been nice to trade him for something but, whatever.

I guess this takes TE off the board for the Bears in the draft, right? I mean they have like ten TEs on the roster. Graham stays. Burton stays if he's healthy, I assume. They added Harris as a blocking TE. I would hope you can find one other guy worth keeping between Holtz, Horstead, Raymond, and Shaheen. I mean, none of those options are exactly great (as we've seen), but signing Graham would be an even bigger waste if we then went into the draft and spent a high pick on Kmet or someone, right?

So, this is the most disappointing day one to Bears free agency I can remember. One move and it’s bad. I’ll take non Activity over that any day. At least it’s not long term I guess.

I'm coming to grips with the fact that I just don't like any of the QB options that will be available to the Bears. If Trubisky fails again, we're going to be back to the drawing board looking for a QB in the first round, so grab a competent backup in free agency that can compete with Trubisky and won't cost a draft pick (Mariota or Keenum probably), get some more weapons for the offense, fix the O-line and rededicate yourself to the run, and let's see what happens. I don't really like Hurts or Fromm, and I don't much see the point of drafting a QB after that. If things go bad, let's get in a situation where we are starting from scratch next offseason.

Bears have now traded a conditional 2021 7th round pick to the Raiders for K Eddy Piniero. I think he immediately becomes the frontrunner for the job. Obviously the results from the weekend were uniformly underwhelming.

I’d bet on Deon Bush before I bet on Woods.

Baron and Redford Jones were just cut, and they didn’t sign any of the tryout guys leaving Fry and Blewitt.

All eight kickers are at the mini-camp this weekend. Nagy had an impromptu competition at the end of the day giving each kicker one chance to make a 43-yard FG (the significance should be lost on no one). Six missed (including one doink!). Two made it - John Baron and Spencer Evans. Nagy's assessment: "Not good enough." I've seen reports are that during the course of practice, Elliott Fry and Casey Bednarski were the more consistent in accuracy and distance. Stay tuned for the best soap opera of the offseason . . .

While he's been disappointing, you looks at the names taken after him and there's not a lot to be excited about, and pass rushers in particular (Lawson, Dodd, Ogbah) have been uniformly underwhelming. Lots of 5th year options being declined for that draft.

I wasn't much of a fan of Montgomery going into the process, admittedly. I also don't like the trading of yet another future pick and I thought a lot of the mid-round RBs were similar enough that you could get nearly equivalent value in the 3rd as you might get in the 5th.

Always interested to see where others would have gone with the Bears picks. I would not have traded up for Montgomery and I assume he would have been gone when I picked at 87, so I would have gone this way: 3) Julian Love, CB, Notre Dame - Can work in the slot like eventual actual selection Duke Sweeney but big enough to develop as an outside corner as well. 4) Travyveon Williams, RB, Texas A&M - This is who I took in my pre-draft mock draft and although I think he didn't actually go until the 6th I'd have taken him here. 5) D'Andre Walker, Edge, Florida State - I probably had him as a 3rd round pick or so, so I'd take him here as a developmental pass rusher. 7a) Isaac Nauta, TE, Georgia - Although I like Dax Raymond who we got as a UDFA, I would have probably taken Nauta at this point in the draft. 7b) Emanuel Hall, WR, Missouri - Great that we got him in UDFA, I would have had a hard time passing on him as the highest guy on most draft boards at this point in the draft.

Ridley seems to me like a slower, less athletic Chris Conley, who Nagy had in KC and who KC drafted at a similar point in the draft. I don't think he's a top receiver, but he's a good guy to have on your team, runs good routes, catches the ball well, etc.

I am interested to see what he can behind a better O-line because part of the reason he broke so many tackles is because he didn’t have the clean running lanes a lot of other backs did, so he maybe didn’t have s chance to show long speed. But as it is I watch his highlights and it’s mostly goal line dives and 12-yard runs, which don’t get me super excited personally.

Meh from me. I get it, especially with all the Kareem Hunt comps, but he looks small and couldn’t break long ones in college. I liked the mid round RBs as a whole, so I bet there will be some one at 87 or when they pick in the fourth that I’d just as soon have as Montgomery (either Williams, Weber, etc.). I’ll say this - the Bears better be improved running the football next year after trading Jordan Howard for not much and giving up draft capital to move up for Montgomery.

Considering it's still 50+ picks until we pick, I don't think you can predict anything about what will be available when we pick based on what has happened so far. It's funny, the only guy I thought might conceivably be available when the Bears pick at 87 that has been picked was Darnell Savage.

Interesting development in the Gould situation: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001027539/article/kicker-robbie-gould-wants-niners-to-trade-him

The nice thing about this RB class, and maybe this is a product of not having a 1st or 2nd round pick, is that there isn't really any RB that I hate. There's some I prefer, and I may quibble with the round we take a RB or the one we choose given the available options, but apart from some of the plodders that I don't think are considerations for the Bears anyway (Damien Harris, Elijah Holyfield) I'm pretty much fine with whoever they believe is the best fit.