dawhizz

I agree that the Bears could use a big body, but at 6'2" 302 (according to NFL.com), Fluellen isn't exactly undersized. In fact, he would be our heaviest DT, according to the numbers on ChicagoBears.com.

If you're talking playmakers at WR, I think there's plenty more you could add to the mix. Leaving out other really good first round receivers like Deandre Hopkins, how about Stedman Bailey, who scored 25 receiving TDs last year? Or Markus Wheaton? Or even Ace Sanders? The Bears will have plenty of opportunities to add someone who qualifies.

I agree with a lot of your thoughts. I think the OL help will be gone. My gut says we draft Arthur Brown if we keep the pick, but my dark horse is Sheldon Richardson - we don't have a lot of DT depth and he's a great fit in our scheme.

The longer introduction did me in . . .

This is the list WalterFootball has on visits/meetings/etc. Not sure where they got this information, but here it is: Terron Armstead, OL, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (EW) Arthur Brown, LB, Kansas State (PRI) Josh Evans, S, Florida (EW) Matt Evans, LB, New Hampshire (EW) Reid Fragel, OT, Ohio State (PRI) Johnathan Franklin, RB, UCLA (SR) Tyrone Goard, WR, Eastern Kentucky (EW) Stefphon Jefferson, RB, Nevada (COM) Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma (COM) (INT) Edmond Kugbila, OL, Valdosta State (PRI) Robert Lester, DB, Alabama (SR#) Zach Line, RB, SMU (EW) Bradley McDougald, S, Kansas (EW) Brandon McGee, DB, Miami (PRI) Christine Michael, RB, Texas A&M (INT) (EW) Jordan Mills, OT, Louisiana Tech (COM) Keavon Milton, TE, Louisiana-Monroe (PRI) Alec Ogletree, LB, Georgia (PRI) Sean Porter, OLB, Texas A&M (COM) Eric Rogers, WR, Cal Lutheran (PRO) Brandon Williams, DL, Missouri Southern (SR) SR - Senior Bowl meeting. EW - East-West Shrine meeting. COM - Combine meeting. INT - Interested. VINT - Very Interested. PRO - Pro Day meeting. PRI - Private Workout. % - indicates more than one meeting. # - indicates meeting set up outside of the 2013 Senior Bowl or the 2013 East-West Shrine Game http://walterfootball.com/draft2013meetingsteams.php

I tried to make this a poll, but couldn't make it work.

Just taking the temperature of the board - I sense a lot of resistence to Manti Te'o, but I wonder if he's become underrated at this point. So I'm wondering, what is the earliest you would be OK with having the Bears draft Te'o? Assume for the purposes of the question that either Ogletree or Brown are gone by #20 (but not both). 1) #20 overall 2) Trade down, but pick still in the 1st round 3) Trade down, but pick in the early 2nd round 4) #50 5) Don't want him

I still think it's way too early to give up on Carimi. And, to be fair to Webb, the league is littered with failed LTs who are quality RTs.

Haven't seen any of these. What do they do?

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 3m Rams re-signed G Chris Williams to a one-year deal worth up to $2.75 million.

Thought this was interesting, since there were only three GMs there. Maybe a long look at Robert Woods (who was reportedly very impressive) or Khalid Holmes?

I see the Bears had two scouts at the LSU Pro Day yesterday. Could have been for Kevin Minter. Could also have been for Mr. Badger . . .

Don't love the idea of spending a draft pick on a back-up. I saw that Vince Young threw at the Texas Pro Day and was reportedly impressive. I'd be open to it . . .

The name of the Bears offseason has been flexibility. This sets them up to draft a CB without needing to press him into service at the nickel or dime right away.

4) Except Urlacher was also a FA LB. We're just going to be signing a different FA LB instead of Urlacher. There's reallty no change except the potential FA LBs the Bears could have signed has decreased by one. 5) And we all know the true barometer for a fan base is in message boards. It seems to me message boards are typically more likely to be negative (just look around here . . . ). 6) OK. I just hadn't heard that. 7) Spencer, Campbell, and Idonije are FA. I would say Bush, Gould, and Garza are earning their money.

Less fun fact: He doesn't play LB.

The thing is, nearly every reason you cite (except for possibly #4) could have been equally applied to Olin Kreutz when they let him go. And yet, I think most of us would agree that it was the right move: he ended up being pretty terrible in New Orleans, the fanbase was initially mad, but got over it, and it forced other guys to step up their leadership roles. Other thoughts: 4) We still have FA to get some decent LBs. And I think they were always going to target a LB early - 1 year of Urlacher doesn't change your plans much. 5) Though you may be rights when you say "majority", I would say the fan base is fairly split. 6) Are you sure $3 million would have done it, or are you just speculating? I honestly want to know, because I heard that Urlacher's proposal was 2 years for $11 million, and if he was so insulated by a 1-year $2 million contract, I'm not sold that $3 million would have done it. 7) Who are the "multiple" equally bad or lesser players currently making more than $2 million/year on the Bears, besides the rookie contracts that are pretty much set? http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/contracts/nfl/chi/ Hester maybe, but his contract made sense at the time. 8) Yes, but contrast what the Ravens did with Ed Reed with Urlacher. Not so stark a contrast.

I wouldn't be shocked if they wait on Urlacher and see how the draft shakes out. No one seems to be knocking his door down. Maybe we sign a couple FA LBs that give us flexibility going into the draft and wait to see how things go before deciding if we want to bring Urlacher back.

I also wonder if the Bears will try Brandon Hardin at CB next year, since Wright and Conte did pretty well last year and Hardin played CB in college.

Not a surprise, but it's official. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-f...-2013-nfl-draft

What an incredibly flawed premise. So because someone signed him, he must be 100% healthy. They signed him for much less than he would get if he was 100% healthy with no injury risks, but the Rams decided it was worth the risk for them. A lot of players are signed. That doesn't mean that the result of every physical is "no worries, he's 100% healthy." It just means that that particular team decided they wanted to take that chance. I'm pretty sure the Dolphins' doctors looked at the same medical information and decided it wasn't worth the risk for them.

Oh, you think so, Doctor? The torn tricept isn't the only injury he's had. He played his last seven games in 2010 in a shoulder harness which required off-season shoulder surgery. He missed games due to a back injury in 2011 before missing the end of the season with torn biceps. He has had problems with his knee that also required surgery. Maybe he's behind all those injuries and he'll be fine. But that's a lot of problems, some of which can easily become chronic.

While I'm far from sold on the Bears safeties, I think they go into the season with Wright, Conte, Hardin, and Steltz/Walters/Quarles.

We're also in need of CB depth. Now that Moore and probably Hayden are gone, the other guys on the Bears roster (Frey, McManis, Lewis) haven't been contributors, so it's hard to project them at this point. That might be another spot that gets early consideration from the staff, though some options remain in FA (Asamough, Munnerlyn, Winfield, Jacob Lacey).