AZ54

Other teams draft Olineman in the later rounds and they turn out just fine. I'm not saying you'll get a prime time OG or OT that way because, like other positions on the field, you need to have a couple high round talents to make it work. In between we should be able to fill in the gaps with later round picks.

I take the player that is likely to become great...the RT. Defenses aren't entirely focused on pass rushing from the left side as much as they used to be so there's a greater need for better talent at the RT spot these days. Anyone that can anchor either tackle spot that well allows you to move your TE to the other side. Or at least the RB knows his first pass protection read is from the left side. On top of that I still say your always better off taking a longer term approach and any time you can add a great player you do so versus just filling a need.

Payne on D and on offense I wait to see who we have on the team. As far as Hester being used like Welker that isn't going to work because Welker has one thing Hester doesn't: Randy Moss. In fact, Hester is more of our Moss when he's on the field because he commands a lot of attention. Welker just has to run the underneath routes after Moss and others clear it out. What we need to do is use Hester a little more often like the Patriots use Moss and have him help clear out the underneath stuff. That doesn't mean he has to be on a fly route all the time but he can run some 15 yard out routes, or a skinny post from the slot position. Just do something with him besides throwing him the ball within 3 yards of the LOS and watching 11 guys run over to tackle him.

The Bears staff knows how he's doing and I prefer not to hear anything before the draft, or if they do I'd prefer they just say he's doing great. After we draft our next RB then the chatter can start.

I don't think TJ cares as much about a rookie being drafted as he's already gotten his last big contract. Plus there's no way the Jets would cut him as you need two good backs to make it through the year.

How interesting for the Bears to telegraph so much interest in a first round pick. Wonder what's behind that?

I can see Oakland drafting McFadden, he's their type of home run player and he carries the big name to excite the fans. They have their QB, they just signed Walker and yes they have Fargas signed too but his contract was reasonable. They can easily split time between him and McFadden.

Hester: Thanks for saving me the post but I'll add another point. He's too much of a project for a team with Grossman on a 1 year deal and Orton with only 2 more years. By the beginning of next year the Bears will be committing to a QB for the long haul, or at least a longer contract. Grossman and Orton both have enough question marks IMO that I think JA will want somebody with a higher chance of being at least an average QB at the start of next year.

No doubt, I haven't seen anything at all about his contract. I know he's not playing for free and I doubt it would be 3.5mil for 2 years. I could see 3.5mil/yr but how much is bonus?

While I am all for fixing the OL in the draft this year if the best LT prospects are gone when we pick we have to look at other options before reaching on somebody. If you can get a guy that has a chance to be a special player, or say has a ceiling of being a Pro Bowl players, then you have to take him versus reaching to fill a need position. We're all keyed in on having success this year but we also have to have some vision for the long haul. This all goes back to the draft strategy threads that always show up ....best player or best player for your need? IMO the value of who you pick has to have some correlation to where you are picking. I prefer great LT and average RB combo versus the other way around but if I can't get the great left tackle I'll take the great RB and put him behind an average LT. At least I've got one great and one average player versus two average ones. Elite players change the game for everyone around them and there are plenty of examples around the league where average players standout because the great player. Is Mendenhall going to be a great player? What he did against USC I didn't see anyone else do to them all year long. I never saw Stewart run like that and I watched him in a lot of games. I'm starting to prepare myself that if one of the top LTs in the draft don't fall to us JA will be content to just draft a very good RT prospect in Rd 2 and we'll see Tait at LT again. That means Rd 1 is wide open to fill one of many other needs.

Ridiculous and I'm glad we weren't interested.

The problem is you can't make that trade until AFTER the draft because you don't know who will fall to us. Make the trade early and you're locked in to LT in Rd 1. Right now we need a LT but we could get away with waiting a round and drafting a RT so there's at least some doubt. I agree that Tait has his limitations with speed rushers but I think he also played through a pretty tough leg or ankle injury. While I'd like to move him back to RT and draft one of the top LT in Rd 1 things change dramatically for us if we don't need to do that. Suppose we steal Starks away from Pitt and put him at RT and keep Tait at LT. Now we have a lot of flexibility in the draft. We can go RB in Rd 1 (Mendenhal), QB, WR, S, and even JA's favorite Rd 1 pick DT. WR and S might not be worth our first round pick but the other 3 options could yield a very good prospect. With the talent at LT in this draft I'm not saying we should do this because as I've said already, if you can get a stud at LT then it anchors that spot for many years, if not a decade. If we're not locked into filling that spot we have a lot of flexibility in Rds 1-3

JA seems content to sit out the initial fireworks (duh at this point) and just take whichever WR is left regardless of what his strengths are. He'll take what's left, be it a bigger possession type (Booker) or the smaller faster type (ala Berrian) and then just go draft the complimentary WR. Other teams seem to have targeted a WR for their system or needs and have already gone after them and signed them. It seems most of these guys are not making multiple team visits. Maybe it's because the money is so crazy but this is the first year I can recall so many FAs making just one visit and signing. In the past almost all the agents would visit at least two teams if not three. Teams used to do the same bringing in a couple FAs at one position. It seems we're getting to that point now in FA but the first weekend players have gone really fast, even 2nd and 3rd tier players.

No trade of Harris. He's the only guy we have on the DL that commands a double team. Lose him and everyone on that line takes a step backwards.

I disagree. How many Bears players have held out and not played games because of a contract dispute? I understand your logic with all the whining players do about getting more money but in the end the only leverage they have is to not play. We just haven't seen that not even with Briggs, Vasher, and Alex Brown the two biggest malcontents last year. If they play but don't play well they lose their leverage too. I think overall the Bears are known as a team that will reward their own players for good performance and this system in general has given us decent cap room over the last few years so we can make a few moves each offseason. I just wish we'd be able to use this concept on a young OL prospect but we don't seem to be able to find those guys.

Given the option of Turner or Johnson I'm taking the WR. IMO it's easier to fill the RB spot via the draft, especially in the middle rounds. Johnson is good enough to replace Berrian but he's not good enough that he should automatically be handed the starting job over Bradley. In other words I also think Bradley is good enough to replace Berrian but his injury history puts a big question mark on him. Johnson should win that competition but I don't think it should be handed to him because he's had too many character issues in the past. On the other hand to get him to sign here we're probably going to have to give him assurance that he'll at least be our #2 WR. I think we'll end up seeing Bryant Johnson (or other FA) as our #1, Bradley and Hester splitting the #2 role. I also think we'll see Greg Olsen lined up as a WR more than last year.

Harris has spoken from day one about getting another huge contract so money is clearly all he thinks about. He has to weigh his options carefully because his injury history is not very good. While he played through tough injuries last year it's still going to be a factor in any GM's mind before he hands over a huge signing bonus. As far as the Redskins making a play for Briggs this sounds like pure BS from Rosenhaus so he can save face for him and his immature client. Making "a run" might have been nothing more than one quick phone call to see what Briggs' wanted in signing bonus. After that they probably hung up.

I'll take Anquan Boldin over Berrain any day of the week and he has way outperformed Berrian on some BAD Cardinals teams. Not taking the time to go through the rest of the italicized WRs. Also your statement that there were teams who thought he was a #1 and were willing to pay him that money is incorrect, at least based on the fact only the Vikings offered him that much. He never went anywhere else so we only know that they think of him as being worth that much. But they paid a lot for Bobby Wade last year too and he was their #1 WR. We know how that worked out. Goodbye Bernard, it was nice having you around but you're not worth that much coin.

Now that Berrian is a Viking I don't see any way Bryant Johnson signs with Buffalo without first visiting the Bears. If his agent suggests that he does he should fire him on the spot. The Bears situation clearly gives Johnson a shot at being a #1 WR. On top of that they already know the money the Bears were willing to spend on Berrian. The fact Berrian is gone should make us a bit more desperate to sign a WR. That threat alone should raise the Bills offer to Johnson. I'd be stunned if his agent doesn't at a minimum use the Bears as leverage in contract negotiations.

Glad to have him back with us. Now we have a strong LB core with decent depth for the first time in years. Briggs price is reasonable given that he's been a Pro Bowl player. While I've said he's not a great player he fits well with what we need.

Remember Briggs play against the Cardinals on Monday night football where he overran the play and the RB scored a TD? Stop them for a FG and we were in the game but Hester made amends on the next play. Even though I've said Briggs isn't a great player and pointed out some of his weaknesses I'm glad we have him back. He does make some great plays for us even if he'll miss one now and then, he knows the defense and fits in well with our scheme. Having Williams and Okwo just gives us some depth that we haven't had at LB for years and I for one have no problem with that.

We have a ton of special teams players on our roster and we'll have a few more after this draft and FA are done. I just don't see that as an overriding factor in keeping AP. But like I said a couple months ago. We'll go to camp with 4 guys competing for 3 spots. The new guy probably stays and I suspect Wolfe also stays because we invested a 3rd Rd pick in him and JA won't want to give up on him just yet. You can argue that all you want but it's what I think JA will do. That means Benson competes with AP for a job. The difference is Benson has to be good enough to compete for the #1/2 spot while AP has to be good enough to fill the #2/3 spot.

Regardless of having JWilliams and Okwo, if Briggs is gone who do we have as backups? Assume Jamaar Williams starts, that leaves us with Okwo as the lone decent (but unknown) backup LB. If we sign Demorrio Williams to a modest contract and let him compete with Jamaar Williams for the starting role on the weak side I have no problem with that. Nor should Jamaar as he has the inside edge knowing the defense for 2 years. At least you know Williams is your starting WLB heading into training camp.

3 years $12million, how many Lamborghini's does that buy? Wait, I forgot to take out child support.

Who over-rated Bryant Johnson? Guy sometimes runs poor routes, sometimes drops easy passes, and sometimes makes a catch that makes you say wow. Sounds a lot like Bernard Berrian. The difference is he's bigger than Berrian, faster than Moose, quicker than Moose in/out of cuts, and has enough speed to get deep. I also think Johnson is finally starting to mature and not just because he wants a new contract. Time will tell if I'm right on that as he was nothing but a punk his first couple years in AZ. Things like getting totally wasted the night before his first training camp began, so drunk that he couldn't even practice the next day. Refusing to work out with his QB in the offseason. Being lazy in minicamps. Don't get me wrong, he still has a ways to go to become as good as his talent would allow him to be but if he's surrounded by the right character guys he just might turn the corner. If he doesn't, at least you won't be tying up so much money that you can't get out of his deal in a few years. I think he'll at least be a good #3 WR and possibly a good #2.