AZ54

Yep, JA was fool for not signing this guy.

I think he is making a veiled reference to Urlacher and Briggs. Why shouldn't we think so? I've heard several people on the NFL Network (Rod Woodson yesterday) calling Urlacher greedy and saying he got a great deal from the Bears a few years ago and it's still a good contract. Urlacher had no complaints when his contract broke the bank a few years ago, now it's an issue. I agree with those thoughts. Remember it was Urlacher who called out the organization first and they've done nothing but take care of him in the past before his contract was up. He signed the deal he should shutup and play and allow the team to take care of other players like Hester before his contract is up. As for Briggs, he's just cares about himself.

I agree with him and I think Harris' comments already reflect his leadership. The Bears have fairly rewarded their own players from Vasher, Tillman, Urlacher, Kreutz, Alex Brown, and (although he might disagree) Briggs. It seems clear Harris is now the face of our defense, and the entire team. Ced is rapidly becoming a distant memory.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/bears/1016781,harris062008.stng Harris: 'Classy' talks led to deal June 20, 2008 FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tommie Harris says the talks that led to his four-year, $40 million contract with the Chicago Bears were businesslike and ''classy.'' Speaking at a morning news conference at Halas Hall, the defensive tackle said he and Bears management kept negotiations private in reaching a deal that will keep him with Chicago through 2012. That differs from what has happened between the team and linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. They've both gone public with complaints and either hinted or threatened holdouts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It's nice to see this comment from a player after the way Briggs and Urlacher and Lovie have handled their contract negotiations the last couple years. However, had this deal not been done this year I wouldn't have put it past Harris to keep things out of the media.

Awesome news, something the team needed to hear after all the recent acrimony. This was the big one that had to get out of the way for us to close the deal on the other contracts. It's nice that we have Harris, Vasher, Tillman, Briggs, and Url locked up long term and I believe Alex Brown has an extension too. I'd like to see a good safety in that mix too. Behind Harris we also have a rookie DT who is supposed to be pretty good at shooting the gap too so not only do we have our starter at that spot we likely have his backup. At the other DT spot we have Dusty/Adams. I have to say that right now it seems our D is loaded with top talent and depth everywhere except safety. On the flip side this also means the focus of our big spending the next year or two can be on the offensive side of the ball. Something we badly need, assuming we can find someone worth the money.

Nobody has seen Kevin Jones run yet so we can't assume he's got all the lateral movement and speed he had last year. Nobody has seen Bentley play in two years so nobody has a clue what he can do. They need to stay on our radar and if we like what they're capable of then going after one or both is fine. I think it's too early to assume either is the player we saw in the past, especially Bentley. Culpepper was an INT machine and we have one of those on the roster right now. He can no longer run, even if he's not afraid to try. If you don't think it was Randy Moss who made Culpepper a Pro Bowl QB go back and watch some of Moss' highlights from last year where Brady threw to him even in tight double coverage. Brady had that much confidence that Moss would come down with the ball or nobody would. The way he played last year Randy Moss could have put Grossman in the Pro Bowl. Before someone flies off their handle I'll add that Brady is good enough to get to the Pro Bowl on his own. There's a reason they rewrote the record books last year.

Alright then, this begs the question: which of these no-name RB on the roster has made that good of an impression that the Bears would feel comfortable with him the final roster? I have no clue. Having seen Pope before in preseason games I don't think it's him, at least I hope it's not him.

I agree on that, Faneca would have been a great fit for our team. I think in the end it came down to going after him or extending Harris' contract, and even at that $8mil/yr was an incredible amount of money for a LG.

He was not on one of the main streets in Vegas so you have to ask yourself-- what's millionaire doing hanging out on a relatively quiet street in Vegas in the early hours of the morning with a lot of cash? You can pretty much get whatever you want in any of the big hotels and have lots of security around you.

Look at it this way, if Haynes is outworking you, you have serious problems.

In a way this is a positive thing to hear but on the other hand knowing we might have to rely on him as our #2 WR is kinda scary. My hope is that he's good enough to win the slot role only because somebody else beats him out for the #2 WR. I'm assuming Booker takes the #1 WR role.

I always loved Ruben, thought he played well for us. He was the only Oline player who was any good at pulling, and that's amazing considering his age. I have no problem bringing him back if he's healthy and I agree that he'd still be our starting LG. That's actually something I'd love to see because his experience and leadership could really help Williams at LT.

At least he scored over 30 on his Wonderlic test so we can have hope he's a quick study.

Thanks for the update. I too am a big fan of Peanut.

Bentley has been injured the past two seasons with ZERO games played. How do you know he's an instant starter? Just because Ruben Brown played for us with one arm and Metcalf played for us with one hand, doesn't mean Bentley can play for us with one leg. He might be able to play but the lack of interest in him indicates how serious his injuries were. How much damage was done in the surgeries to cure his staph infection? Three surgeries to cure an infection, as far as I know that's only done to remove infected tissue. I'm not ruling him out as a possibility but we must be realistic in knowing he's not the same player that he was two years ago.

Which brings up the question of how bad was the 2005 draft class? That's 7/10 top picks that haven't done much, not nearly enough to warrant their contracts. I don't know the exact number but I bet in combined signing bonuses they garnered over $100 million. That's just bad for business. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...,1243940.column 6. I know that the 2005 draft already included nearly as many busts as the foyer at the Pro Football Hall of Fame before Benson joined the list. The group of misses among the top 10 picks includes Pacman Jones (No. 6, Titans), Troy Williamson (No. 7, Vikings) and Mike Williams (No. 10, Lions). The running backs sandwiched around Benson at No. 2 (Ronnie Brown, Dolphins) and No. 5 ( Cadillac Williams, Buccaneers) haven't done enough lately for various reasons to justify their high selections either. Throw in the No. 1 overall pick, shaky quarterback Alex Smith of San Francisco, and the top half of the first round in 2005 serves as Exhibit A in proving how inexact the science of the NFL draft is.

Bob Sanders equals Mike Brown. Key players for their respective defenses both hurt all the time. One difference, they had Sanders for the Super Bowl and we didn't have Brown.

He'd be a great fit for our team and I'm not so sure the Cards wouldn't deal him. I just don't think we'd be willing to pay the price.

For me the most important part of this whole process (watching high draft picks bust) is the fact the league absolutely must change the salary structure for rookies. There's absolutely zero incentive to work if your first contract is so high there's little financial incentive to work for the second one. Top ten picks should not be among the highest paid players in the game.

Pretty damning stuff but probably won't shock anyone on this board. http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...SPT-bear15.stng ''Cedric has always been lazy,'' Haynes said. ''Cedric was lazy when he first got to Chicago, and I guarantee you he is lazy now. It's the work ethic that a lot of teammates didn't like. When I was there and things didn't work out, I always showed up and I always worked hard. I tried really hard, and I never complained.'' --------------------- For the first time publicly, Haynes acknowledged he was the source of a Sun-Times story in August 2006 that revealed Benson had left Soldier Field at the beginning of a preseason game against the Chargers. The story was confirmed independently with a second player still active in the league. It was the first time feelings about Benson inside the locker room leaked out. The common belief was he was a coddled player used to preferential treatment and he always would be protected by the club. ''That's the way it was,'' Haynes said. ''As an organization, I realized they had a lot of money invested in Ced, and they couldn't get rid of him right away. You knew he wasn't going to change. Everyone thought I was being too judgmental too early. I'm like, 'Look, people don't change. They are who they are.''' ------------- The proof, according to Haynes, can be found not only in Benson's body of work, but also in his body. ''He was cutting a lot of corners in the weight room, and guys notice that,'' Haynes said. ''He was never cut, and that was one of those things that surprised a lot of people when he first got there. You expect someone to be cut up a little bit, but the fact that he wasn't came to show you, at least us, that there was an issue here. Running backs, you're supposed to be cut.''

In reading through all this the common theme is how bad we were last year yet still managed to win 7 games.

I would love for one of the young OGs to step up and earn the LG starting spot but in the end I want the 5 best Oline players on the field. If that means St Clair starts at LG so be it.

Maybe Sayers wants a new contract?

I think it's common for defensive players to "send a message" to an offensive player. I have no problem with a guy having to earn his starting spot which is likely all that the defense was doing to Ced. He cried about it and I think that's where it became something bigger than what it should have been. Ced is more than big enough to dish out a solid hit on a defensive player too.

Hunter is pretty good in his own right. It would be very tough for JWilliams to unseat him. I do like the fact that we finally seem to have some depth at LB especially after what Url went through last year. And you never know when Briggs will have another accident.