AZ54

At this point there is no reason to cut Taylor. We might as well let all the RBs compete for the 3rd spot, or is it 2nd spot with Barber being short yardage specialist. We'll see. At least the FO has seen the need for a solid short yardage back and made a couple moves to try to address it with Unga and now Barber.

We went from below average at C to average. That's an upgrade and I'll gladly take it..

If the leader can't play well you have a problem. What's he going to say "I know I can't block that guy but you need to block him"? Did I like the idea of having Kreutz experience at calling out the blocking assignments? Yes. I don't see why Spencer can't handle the same with his experience. In that case it means all we're losing is some locker room leadership. There are other players to take up that role and for the Oline I suspect it will be Garza. Do I like the idea of having a younger, bigger, and stronger guy in there for short yardage plays? Yes. Find some help for OG.

Love Sapp, honest and straighforward about players. He and Kurt Warner have become my favorite new analysts. Kurt tries to be politically correct but he'll tell you what they aren't doing right and Warren couldn't care less about being politically correct.

The point with Olsen is that once Roy Williams became available he became expendable. He's a good TE and I'm not happy about losing him but the reality is he doesn't fit our scheme. Instead of giving Olsen the new contract he wanted and deserved we simply took that money and gave a bit to Williams and some other soon to be Bears. At the end of this the question will be did we get better value from Olsen's new contract by giving that money to Williams and the other player we end up signing plus the 3rd Rd pick. As of right now I think the combo of Williams/Spaeth is better for our offense than just Olsen. It might be better than Olsen/Williams too because protecting Cutler must happen this year. We weren't that far off from going to the Superbowl last year and in two (I believe related) moves we are at least equal and maybe better than we were this season.

Do be so sure about Roy Williams not being motivated.

Just like Antrelle Rolle being the highest paid FS when the Giants signed him. Weddle is a good player but he is not a game changer.

I'm beginning to wonder if the Bears aren't content to drive up prices on some of these Tier 2 FAs. Past history has shown that if there's a guy they really want they'll get aggressive on the deal. If someone signs at a reasonable price that's fine too. Otherwise with guys like Durant, Babin they are pretty much Just-Another-Guy as Bill Parcells used to say. While we need players to fill out the roster it's not hard to find guys who can contribute 3 sacks a season like Babin, especially if they are opposite of Peppers. I just don't think we've seen their best offers yet, I'm hoping it all shows up with the Oline FAs.

What are the Bears looking for?

Too much going on this first day back to get players signed that quickly. Bears focused on the UDFAs upfront and I think that was the smart way to go. It's a proven fact you can find good depth players and occasional starters among the UDFAs. Then focus on getting offers out to our FAs (so they know they are wanted) as well as targeting FAs around the league. Drafted players aren't going anywhere so expect their signing to happen later this week.

We need somebody for depth at DE. We can't go into the season with just the 3 we have. Outside of ending Favre's career Wooton is nothing but hype. Adding a proven DE would be helpful for a couple years while we see if Wooten steps up. I just wonder what type of money Babin is looking for. No doubt his agent wants the bidding to start at the 12.5 sack rate while JA will come in at his average sack/season rate of 3.0. For the right price he seems like he'd be good depth for us.

IMO the wildcat is a wasted play. We have one of the better QBs in the NFL why take him off the field? All it does is shrink the field the defense has to cover.

Too many shanked punts last year and not enough leg strength.

Yes, they can negotiate with any FA starting I believe Tue and so the rumor mill will be white hot. As I said last week, players and teams know there is precious little time to negotiate deals Even if they aren't signed we'll be hearing of handshake agreements before Friday.

I'd rather spend the money on Cullen Jenkins, and a good starting OG like Nicks. Probably still have enough left over to add in a decent second tier FA WR.

I always said anyone with common sense making these deals has to have a drop dead time for confirmation or you go ahead and make your pick at your current slot.

It's hard to say what a miss is in their definition. There is one line that says "on contact" so I'll take that to mean the defensive player must contact the offensive player. This does not account for players who are out of position, or players who lack the athletic ability to catch the guy. Then you have guys who are sure tacklers but gave up 5 yards while making the tackle. Teams will march down the field on you time and again. That leads to guys like Briggs who is a bit of a gambler, and sometimes those gambles put him out of position to make the play other times it gets a big play. On the whole Briggs give us more positives than negatives and those big plays help stall drives. So while there is some credence to the data as always some context is needed.

That franchise tag guarantees a pretty good salary and regardless of that, the Colts have always taken care of Manning. Despite the FT nobody forced Manning to sign a contract with the Colts. While it's not as desirable as FA if Manning wanted to get out of Indy he could have and should have forced that deal long ago.

With the owners having just voted to approve the new collective bargaining agreement I though it would be good to have a single thread to cover the various new rules that will be coming out in the next few days from FA, salary cap, rookie salaries, etc. Item 1: Bears Rams Hall of Fame game is cancelled. All teams will have identical preseason practice time and games

Roach needs a contract before he gets and extension.

My guess is that many players agents already have deals in place and people will be surprised at how quickly many signings get done. While players won't say it, they have to be nervous knowing there's just a few days to find a job. Now for the top tier FAs it's going to be very interesting to see how that shakes out with so little time. For these big deals player usually like to play one club against another but with teams reportedly required to spend a certain amount of money they can't sit back and wait for very long before jumping to their second option.

There is the matter of being ready to run plays versus being ready to get hit. I agree that the players need a couple weeks to get in the flow of things and prepare for full contact.

Word is that Carimi is headed to RT and Webb will be our LT.

As the only one to vote so far I think the fans will have to collectively find a way to boycott. If games are missed certainly those who bought PSL and tickets deserve money back. Once games begin to be played the fans will be right back in those seats, and they should be. I'll be right back at my TV watching Bears games. Then how to impact the teams and players revenue stream? Perhaps refusing to purchase any NFL licensed gear. Yet I think that is a very small percentage of revenues. In the end the only real way to impact revenue is a long term loss of fans as happened to baseball for several years. I think both sides understand what happened there and that's why I tend to think this deal either gets done soon or goes on and destroys this season with no middle ground. Once they start taking games off the schedule each side will start pointing at the other and blaming them, which only forces them to dig their heels in further to defend their points.

What are you guys hearing about the negotiations? I heard tonight the players and owners had agreed upon a revenue sharing split. I don't take these rumors too seriously until it's repeated from multiple sources. If true, I would think that was the biggest hurdle in negotiations and now it's a question of details on things like FA, rookie salaries, retirement benefits, etc. Word is the 18 game season is a goner too, not that I mind.