ParkerBear7

Charles Tillman has re-signed with the#Bears on a one-year deal, I'm told. Somewhat of a surprise but pleasant one, given his legacy there

Hopefully they cut Weems.

Yes, it is hard to evaluate all these things as fans and we will never know what factors are most influential to the success or failure of our team. Now some of the players you mentioned had to play out of a necessity and luckily they were able to contribute as rookies. The former coaches put a lot of unproven young players in positions to fail and often was detrimental to the team. Examples like believing Hester was a number one receiver or having an athletic but unpolished Webb, a 7th round rookie starting at RT / LT for 2 seasons until Trestman cut him. Actually, Urlacher was initially brought in to play outside LB after being a safety/LB rover hybrid player in college known as the LOBO. Url did pretty bad his first year at OLB, but they got it right and he was able to transition by his second and third years as a good to great MLB. Hopefully, we will say similar things about Bostic, Greene and SMC. Conte showed some nice skill his first year but his confidence was crushed last year as the DL was ineffective he could not handle the pressure. CC still may be salvageable with an improved DL and good coaching. I am not sure Tucker should have returned either especially if many think it is often easier for rookie lineman and defense players to contribute earlier than a WR for example. Excuses aside the defense was absolutely hammered with injuries last year. With that said if the "D" does not improve this year especially with the new position coached Tucker will be gone. Lovie was a very good coach for the Bears however it was time for a change. Lovie and JA's downfall was that they appeared to be unwilling to adapt to the changes in the NFL and were all in with their systems. After the SB loss and without good depth on either side of the ball their window eventually closed with this team. As far as Emery, I actually like almost all of his free agent signings including DJ Williams, Anderson, Ratliff, Slauson, Bushrod and the trading for B-Marshall. These guys are all capable starters when healthy. If anything, Emery has proven to be good at brining in solid free agents and has success early in his tenure at drafting offensive players and thus far we know his defensive draft picks have not provided much return yet. Although it still is too early to provide a final grade in Bostic, SMC, Greene, Washington etc. I think most liked that he was addressing the LB position last year in the draft. Trestman has also had some up and downs in his first year with regards to game management but I expect that to improve.

Not sure which wager you are referring to? My definition of overvalue is the overpaying a player for past production who is now older and not currently having the same impact and production that contract was rewarding. There is no doubt Tillman is a leader and that is often an underappreciated trait by organizations. I actually feel weird as a fan with the core identity of the Bears franchise "the defense" is fading fast. Peppers sure looked like he was banged up all year last year and Tillman was indeed injured as well. But just like how, all of a sudden Urlacher was done as a Bear that seems to so be the same fate as some of our other favorite defense players. Now if healthy and at a fair price I would feel much better if Tillman and Peppers gave us 1 or 2 more years to make a run.

First of all, good for Josh on getting the deal with the Bucs. The Bears have plenty of holes to fill with $5m per year and backup QB is not one of them. I actually like having Palmer as Cutlers backup. Last year when Josh was playing well while Jay was out the media reported some drama and rumors about a divided locker room once Jay was getting healthy enough to return. Although I do not remember any specific player names but I am now wondering if any of those alleged players supporting Josh over Jay will find their way to TB to play with Josh for Lovie? If Tillman, Peppers, Wright and Melton somehow ended up in TB would anyone assume that they did not like playing with Jay or should we assume that they just following the $$$ to play for a coach who overvalues their current skill sets?

Alaskan Grizzly, I totally disagree with your bolded comment above. The current state of the "D" is not just on Emery. Sure, Phil drafted, Hardin who is out of the league and misevaluated the position and round to draft SMC. It is also true that Bostic, Greene and Washington were obviously not ready to contribute as rookie starters but way too early to call bad picks. Frey was competing all last offseason and played himself into the nickel role as a second yr pro. Lovie and JA are the most too blame for the current state of the franchise. Just look at how many bad picks they made on offenses and defense over their tenure. Defense was supposed to be their strength for evaluating talent but how many safeties and DL did they strike out on and contiuned to have to draft theses same positions again every year while pretty much ignoring the rest of the team, specifically OL and offensive skill positions. Sure JA traded for Culter only to have him waste away behind an inferior line with no weapons meanwhile he continued to stock pile defensive players that were considered reaches or asked to play out of position they had experience with in college. The "D" is really old and the past poor ability to draft for depth has really left the cupboards fairly barren for Emery and company. This is why Emery now has to try and tactically retool this teem now. Emery had two choice, 1. total rebuild or try and too identify a core to rebuild around. Most agree you can not win without an above average to elite QB and usually the preferred way to build a team is to begin in the trenches. I think Emery decided that Jay was still young and talented enough to build around and that is where he started, getting a better Oline and supporting cast including a legit coaching staff. Now, that the offense has been successfully rebuilt and stabilized Emery has already began the process of retooling the defense which will also take some time. although, I can certainly criticize some of the things Emery has done he still has my trust and he has made a lot of good moves since becoming GM. If we are lucky we could have a legit 1-2 year window for an chance to make a run at a SB inside the next 3-4 years.

Falcons Release - Safety Thomas Decoud Is this guy any good? http://atlantafalcons.blog.ajc.com/2014/03...-thomas-decoud/

At least if they are going to keep him and indeed move Shea to rush from the outside LB position he will provide some containment by default as the time it will take him to loop around the TE instead of the RT while performing his signature "hurricane Shea" spin move will take longer.

Contract expirations by position according to: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-08...ks-henry-melton Quarterback (2) Jay Cutler, 2013 (YES) pay him a fair top 12 qb money for 5-6 years Josh McCown, 2013 (YES) 1-3 yr deal Jordan Palmer, 2013 (YES) I really like what I saw in preseason albeit limited playing time. 3 yr deal KEY: we really need some continuity on offense so I'm bring back most of the key players now that we have a new system in place Running back/fullback (4) Tony Fiammetta, 2013 Michael Bush, 2015 Michael Ford, 2015 Matt Forte, 2015 Wide receiver (6) Joe Anderson, 2013 (RE-SIGN) see if he could handle kick returns Brandon Marshall, 2014 (start Extension) Eric Weems, 2014 - (CUT) he has been guilty of several dumb penalties on ST this year and is not that good. Earl Bennett, 2015 (Restructure current deal and have him take over punt returning duties.) Alshon Jeffery, 2015 - (EXTEND NOW!) Marquess Wilson, 2016 Tight end (3) Steve Maneri, 2014 Martellus Bennett, 2016 Offensive linemen (9) Taylor Boggs, 2013 (Keep if you think he can play and/or draft a new starting Center) Eben Britton, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Roberto Garza, 2013 (LET CONTRACT EXPIRE) Jonathan Scott, 2013 (LET CONTRACT EXPIRE) Matt Slauson, 2013 (RE-SIGN) James Brown, 2014 (RE-SIGN) Jordan Mills, 2016 Jermon Bushrod, 2017 Kyle Long, 2017 Defensive linemen (9) Jeremiah Ratliff, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Nate Collins, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Henry Melton, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Cheta Ozougwu, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Corey Wootton, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Stephen Paea, 2014 (RE-SIGN) Zach Minter, 2015 Julius Peppers, 2015 (Tear up current deal and resign to vet min. 2 yr deal with heavy incentive laden deal) Shea McClellin, 2016 (TRADE/CUT or switch to 3-4 Def in 2014) Cornelius Washington, 2016 (START) this week vs. Green Bay! Can't be worse than........ Linebacker (6) James Anderson, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Blake Costanzo, 2013 (RE-SIGN) D.J. Williams, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Lance Briggs, 2014 (EXTEND) Jon Bostic, 2016 Khaseem Greene, 2016 Cornerback (6) Zack Bowman, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Tim Jennings, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Sherrick McManis, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Charles Tillman, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Isaiah Frey, 2014 C.J. Wilson, 2015 Safety (4) Craig Steltz, 2013 (LET CONTRACT EXPIRE) Anthony Walters, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Major Wright, 2013 (relegate to Reserve /Special Teams) Chris Conte, 2014 (relegate to Reserve /Special Teams) Specialists (4) Robbie Gould, 2013 (Just Extended) Devin Hester, 2013 (LET CONTRACT EXPIRE) Pat Mannelly, 2013 (RE-SIGN) Adam Podlesh, 2015 (CUT / Bring in Replacement!) COACHES: DeCamilas: FIRE!!! absolutely turned a strength into a major weakness. Dewayne Stukes: Asst ST Coach. TUCKER: see above or 1 shot to run his system if no better candidate becomes available. John Hoke: DB Coach - must have taken the year off? Conte and Wright have taken huge steps backwards. Tim Tibesar: LB Coach: not at all impressed with this position! Mike Phair: DL Coach Michael Sinclair: Asst. DL Coach Chris Harris: DEF Quality Control Coach. Not a great way to begin coaching career.

Why not try resigning Melton to a team friendly 3 yr deal. His price tag should come down quite a bit due to his slow start and injuries this year. I would also try doing the same with Peppers if he does not redo his deal for vet min then decide to cut him then and move on.

second thought maybe Incognito should be playing DT.

if the dolphins cut Incognito should Bears sign him to play LG and kick Slauson inside to Center? We could use some more fight inside especially the way our online got pushed around by suh and fairly yesterday. one thing for sure if Ritchie was with the bears the past few years Webb would have not been a problem because he would have quit.

should we go for it

foot on throat time

challenge!

yeah we really miss Dave Toub now

not yet knowing the extent of rodgers injury the bears need to keep three qbs on the roster going forward so that gb has one less option at qb. Damn itbwe neef go bring in some saftied that can tackle.

with mckown running the offense so efficiently no wonder cutty is gearing up too go next Sunday. Go Bears!

Yeah, If I was Phil I would be on the phone with Palmers' agent right now.

Conte is disappointing. Grrrrr!

good packers news to help us revover from two straight lossed.

This was a team loss which includes the early play calling. Overall I think the Bears lacked rhythm and intensity in all phases today. Too many metal mistakes and no urgency especially in the first half. Nothing is more frustrating as a fan than when your team is just gifting their opponents so many easy scoring opportunities with a short field via turnovers and other mistakes. Where is the alleged up tempo offense? Trestman had them starting out faster with a lot of quick passes in the first two weeks of the season and the last two weeks the "O" has been much more lethargic in my opinion. Is it just me or does anyone else feel that Hester is going through the motions now. When he was having his great returns in the past he was much more decisive and faster. He now makes me nervous as a returner. Big game for Alshon. Hopefully all phases can get on track against the NYG on Thursday night.

So does this mean the Bears kick Peppers inside more at DT and activate the rookie DE Washington? Washington looked really fast and explosive in preseason and somebody needs to step up so why not get him activated next Thursday against NYG..

I would rather have Jordan Palmer as the backup for the vet minimum and no draft picks.

I certainly understand where you are coming from but the thing that annoys me the most is that a lot fans like to pile on Jay excessively. Look, the Mannings throw picks like all nfl qbs who attempt more than 30 attempts a game. In today's passing league we are going to have to live with some of these turnovers. I am seeing progress this year and hope jay earns a new contract with the bears. I know Cutty is far from perfect but who else would you want that is available? I take cutty over most qbs not named brees, brady, aaron or peyton. I believe that jay is on track with the new regime to win a superbowl in the not so distant future. I am really excited with what emery, trestman and company are putting together.