AZ54

When people criticized Cutler at the end of the season I simply asked them to name another QB who could have gotten our team that deep into the playoffs behind that Oline. There's a few out there but it's a very short list. Ironically I'd put Aaron Rodgers at the top of that list over Manning and Brady because of his mobility. I think the love of Hanie (as our #2 QB) has as much to do with the hate of Collins and how inept Collins was. At least Hanie looked like he wanted to win while Collins looked like he wanted to wet his pants every time he dropped back to pass.

Ted Phillips indicated the Bears have every intention of being active with free agents as soon as the lockout is resolved because he expects there to be a lot of FA available. No doubt some of that is us trying to keep our own playes but I get the feeling they not looking to make a big splash ala Peppers but we might be seeing a key group of several tier 2 type FAs joining the roster. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-like-star.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- “I don’t see us, right now, just putting our resources into one high-profile player,” Phillips said. “But I do see our budget being set up where we can have an impact in free agency to fill some needs and to re-sign some of our players.” Phillips and Angelo said there could be a larger than usual pool of free agents on the market. “Normally in free agency, there are a handful of players,’’ Angelo said. ‘‘Then there are maybe two or three [players] that people are saying are special. And there will probably be a dozen paid like they’re special but they’re not really special, based on the value of their positions.’’

The players are doing a lot of damage control with their recent appearance on ESPN asking us fans to support their lawsuit as it will force the owners to forego the lockout. That in itself is an interesting tactic because essentially it's a judge forcing a business to open up and run like normal. How do you make someone open a business if they don't want to? I can see where the league will lose it's antitrust exemption. Again, that too would hurt the players long term as the mage contracts the stars sign would likely be reduced if there is more competition for the football $$$. So the players took a middle ground and I'm curious to see how this plays out. Also, the players have now changed their position, based on their interview, where they said they'd also like to be at the draft to welcome the new players into the league. Clearly fan opinion has a big effect on both sides. Hopefully that gets them back to the negotiating table.

I understand the players wanting to see the books but to me the entire decertification and the way it was all handled was a total sham. Then we have players telling us they are slaves and now HH telling us how great it would be to work for Southwest Airlines. Hunter...you have the option to go work for Southwest or any other publicly held company but YOU chose to work for a privately held company where you don't get to see the books. If you want to negotiate as a union, then fine, holdout and negotiate. It is your prerogative and if the consequences of that action cause the league to lose revenues then you too are assuming that risk. Same goes for the owners and their choice to lockout players. Both sides are assuming the risk. Now your actions as players of forcing this into federal court are wasting tax payers' money solely for your own "private" benefit and there is no public need for the NFL. We make private decisions to support the league. Man up HH, AP, Mendenhall, Manning, Brees, et al...if you don't like the offer of the league don't accept it but spare me the expense of paying for you to prove your point.

I also think the players asking the college guys to skip the draft is very selfish move. Why would you not want a guy who is going to join your ranks to celebrate one of the best days of his life with his family and friends on that stage? Few people get that opportunity in life and to try to deny them that experience solely for your own priorities is wrong. I realize negotiations will affect them but they have no control over it whatsoever. IMO they should be encouraging them to enjoy that moment and welcoming them with open arms into the union.

Very nauseating.

I'm going to have to re-evaluate my opinion on this matter. I didn't realize the millionaires were being held in slavery. AP: It's modern-day slavery, you know? People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. As a regular guy working a regular job I don't feel I entered into slavery. I agreed to do work for what I felt was a reasonable.wage. If I choose I can leave and pursue working at another place. So can Adrian Peterson.

I will add that I think decertification is a stupid maneuver on the players part. Then they turn around and the richest players, whose argument I can't understand, sue the league because it's a monopoly. Sue the monopoly for which you have agreed to take part and which made you incredibly rich? If it's such a moral high ground why didn't they sue years ago before they signed those huge contracts? I don't recall them clamoring about how they couldn't get into the XFL years ago, nor do I see them bolting to Canada to exercise their free agent rights. Are they really dissolving their union in the hopes that another football league starts up so there is more competition? Are they no longer going to negotiate with the owners? Who negotiates since D. Smith no longer works for the players? It seems clear this really was the intent of the players all along as those lawsuits ALL hit at the exact time the union dissolved and so they had no intentions of negotiating an agreement. In fact, they sat down at the negotiating table with the owners even after they had filed the decertification papers in court. That is clearly not good faith at the negotiating table and in fact it's deceitful. It seems clear the players just agreed to the negotiating delays solely so they wouldn't appear to be the bad guys but in the end just did what they wanted to do from the beginning. The whole court BS is just a sideshow way of forcing the owners to open up their books and D. Smith feels his White House connections will only help him in this cause. That's ok but if that's all they wanted up front then that's what they should have pursued from the beginning instead of deceiving fans into thinking they were serious about negotiations the last few weeks. Now we wait to see if the legal process forces the owners to open their books. I'm not necessarily supporting the owners but I can definitely say I no longer support the millionaire players at all now. To me their recent behavior just makes them look like spoiled brats. I just want football back and even though I still believe this will get solved before the season starts I'm more prepared now to move over to college football if this continues. Probably still watch my Bears but all those other games...not so much. I'm starting to think that the fans need to begin discussing a boycott and the most effective way IMO is to boycott Monday Night Football. It's just one game but it's the easiest way to tank the TV ratings and drop ad revenues which affect both parties. I think the MNF contract is a pretty big revenue source for the league.

I'm in the millionaires vs. billionaires club for the most part. However, I do think a lot of those perceptions of owners are misleading. Simply put the Bears family (McCaskeys) make a nice living via the Bears but to imply they are billionaires solely because of the football team is misleading. The could be if they sold the team. It is the same with the Bidwill's out here in AZ. While everyone sees this as simply the players vs. owners everyone is forgetting about all the other costs a team must finance: coaching staff, scouts, front office, etc. and many of those positions have gone way up in salary and/or added positions. Most teams now have so many specialty coaches it's crazy. That said there's plenty of money for everyone to be happy and I believe both sides know this. A lockout really hurts some of these owners too. I can't imagine Jerry Jones knows how to pay the mortgage on his brand new stadium with 8 less football games. He was already in trouble financially before it was even completed. On the players side they know the average career is just 3 years so losing 1 season is a huge deal for a lot of these guys. With incentives like that on both sides I believe a deal will get done.

I think it points out again just how important the QB is in this league. When you have the QB position set it makes every else appear to be a better player. Indy, NE, NO, SD, GB, and yes the Bears. You have to consider how far we got with so little talent on offense, in particular the Oline. All of the above teams have had the advantage of not having to devote early picks to the QB position for years. It also frees up scouting resources to focus on other positions. We are just entering that phase since we gave up so much to get Cutler.

Talent without heart. At least once again the Bears are showing this offseason, like last offseason, they are no longer hanging onto "hope" with players and making decisions based on performance.

Nope, I'm sticking with the man who's already done it on the field. Mannelly's video was impressive in large part because it was a lot of impromptu challenges with a reporter.

Russkell drafted him and then got fired. Ok it wasn't based on that pick but when Seahawk fans are happy to see Russkell go there's a reason. We're all accustomed how JA drafts but it's going to be different this year for a couple reasons: We have Russkell in and Lovie now has a diminished role in personnel decisions. I'm glad Lovie's role is reduced because it seemed he was the guy pushing for the draft day reaches in guys like DManning because of their athleticism. If Mebane was UFA I'd be interested in him but I don't think we should trade a 3rd for him considering the draft is supposed to be deep in Oline and Dline this year. If Seattle were willing to go for a 4th Rd pick then we should have some discussions. Any idea what kind of a contract Mebane wants?

After seeing his stats at the combine and hearing all the praise heaped upon by the likes of Sapp, Austin seems the like the perfect (and typical) Bears reach at the end of Rd 1. If Pouncey is there, JA you better realize he has the higher floor and fits a bigger need!

Austin had the same 10yd split time as the best DEs in this draft....that's amazing quickness.

Palmer was horrible last year. His timing throws were way off and sometimes he just flat looked lost or uncertain about where to throw the ball and it wasn't always that receivers were covered. The only big surprise is that Cincinnati still wants him.

Goodbye to Tommie Harris. I wish we had you for the Superbowl in 2006 because we might very well have won that game. For now, I'm glad to finally see one of my predictions on roster moves come true. Like the Cubs, I've been due for about 10 years. Ok, perhaps the Cubs have been due a little longer than that.

Didn't Nate Solder do something like 20 or 22 reps of 225lbs at the combine? Plus there were comments there that he didn't move as well as advertised. Seems he's not a first round talent. He might develop into something but he's not ready to contribute any time soon. I'd rather stick with Webb and see what he develops into in his second season. Adding someone like Carimi seems like it would do some good. Now that we cut Shaffer does it mean we have our three OTs in Williams, Omiyale, Webb? Or is Williams still a guard? Or are we willing to add one OT to the group and let them compete? Nobody will find that out until after the draft.

It's just a sign of explosiveness moving forward. Maybe it translates into quickness off the snap, good for run blocking unless you are in a zone blocking scheme?

Then he's the perfect fit for the Bears Oline draft profile.

If Pouncey is there he should be our pick and I'd be very happy with that.

We really really need Kreutz back. Another offseason with Tice calling the shots on who we bring in to upgrade the Oline. Tice found Webb, and while I know he didn't play great he improved a lot over the last 8 games, we got a lot out of a small school 7th rd pick at RT. First and foremost the team must decide what Williams is going to be...OG or OT so he can focus his offseason on that position. Regardless of where Williams lines up we need to have Tice focus on the early rounds and FA so we come away this offseason with a good G, C and OT prospect or proven vet.

I say Tommie Harris gets cut soon unless he agrees to a new deal with a much lower price tag.

The last safety we brought in after some serious injuries ended up working for NFL Network...Adam Archuletta. I watched Arch all through college and loved his game, he was fearless going after the ball. He was the same in St Louis but after his back injury he was never the same. Sanders had that same fearlessness and it's what made him great but he also paid the price for it. You have to wonder if he's even close to having the same mentality as a player. This is one of those things that a physical and a workout can not discover and there's no recent film on him.

Spend the money on the Oline and finding a DT who can get some pressure up the middle. Our safety group is solid and the areas above are not. With a better pass rush the safety play will be good enough. I realize they might not be household names but our safeties and defense held the vaunted Packers offense to an average 12 points in the last two meetings. Based on that it's hard to say the D is where we need to focus our money on improvement.