lemonej

You hvae to minus off Keisling ,Bobby Lane, Alan Page and Jim Finks since those guys spent the bulk of their careers with other organizations.The reports in the Chicago Media was 27 so they are including Jim Finks. The cool/puzzling thing about Dents speech was he gave love to Jimbo Covert and Steve McMichael but, no mention of love to Gary Fencik who IMO should get considerable attention from the hall as the Bears All Time leader in Interceptions,who was in attendance at his enshrinement.

Coming out of USC he was thought to be to big to play safety and some scouts even projected him to play LB until he posted good numbers in the 40 at the Combine and USC Pro Day. He would be another reclamation project.

Mad L the Bears have a ton of info on his body language to and many of his tricks to try and draw teams off-sides and will be alerting the referees to some of those things also. Also the Saints and Bears have matched up a couple of times under both these two staffs so they have film on how each will attack so there is nothing he can tell them new. Another advantage we will have is that the last time we played the Saints Marinelli wasn't calling the defensive plays and his year down in Tampa as D-line coach should give us a little more insight also. With Kruetz only knowing of Marinelli's calls for one year he may not have some of the new things that may be added to the mix this year since there will be a couple of new players on the D-line that he has played with.

bradjock while I agree the Bears always seem to shop at the thrift store when it comes to FAs but when you call them a large market team thats not really true because one its family owned(Aka The Lucky Sperm Club) and they don't own their own stadium like others do and they seem to be run similar to the White Sox.

Kinda sorta he did but I'm figuring that per Lovie's comments("Keep Everything In Pencil" was his response when he was asked about Carimi playing on the rightside today) today that its only a matter of time before he is on the first unit. Lovie has always treated holdouts and newcomers the same. Starting them off on the second unit for at least a day or two.

Nick Fairley injured his foot during practice and is in a walking boot. The team doesn't know how severe the injury is and there is speculation that it could be a possible stress fracture.

I'm more realistic and feel 50 catches is more of a real target to shoot for. The way they spread the ball around I can't see any of our WRs getting over 60 catches as long as Forte is on this team.

I'm wondering why after the way he was treated because he didn't participate on special teams being left inactive for most of the season. The thing that puzzled me about that whole thing was during the preseason he voluntarily went in to long-snap when Mannely got hurt and it was a disaster but his attempt to do it was what is contrary to what they were saying about Clark during the season.

Spencer can't participate until Thurs due to new CBA rules for all FAs.

I guess he is deciding to watch his daughter go through her athletic career.

Ha Ha very nice close Jason. If you notice I agree with you about moving Williams back out to LT and if he shows that he can play there like projected then it is an upgrade. I threw the UFDA in there because of how Webb ended up in the starting lineup.

Ok I'll open mouth and insert foot. LT Williams LG Spencer C Linnekohl This is if Tice is on his job. RG Garza RT Carimi This is a crazy way of looking at things but I believe this wacky configuration might work. That leaves Webb,E Williams as backups with starting experience.

The new CBA has a provision in it to levy significant daily fines for holdouts and with Forte making what he makes it would be financial suicide for him to hold out. I think the dollar amount is 30K.

Agreed and as a fan of Olin when he was good it is sad that he had to be shown the door without asking the team to show it to him in a more dignified way.

Mad L I'll bite. Why is that unacceptable when the player's skills is truly on the decline. Tommie Harris got cut as well as Maynard for the very same reason and telling Kreutz this is what we will give you for one year makes sense and if he could have gotten a better deal elswhere it would have happened by now.

That was my point and if eveyone else is a veteran they too can step up to help the cause. Be it Garza, Williams or Linnekohl stick them out there and coach 'em up. I have followed the draft for a very long time and when Kreutz came out he had character issues tied to anger management. When he broke his teammates' jaw at a FBI shooting range on a day off, that told me his anger managemenet issues still are hovering around. You watch his interviews with the media and you can tell he is uncomfortable doing them and it really annoys me that everyone seems to think he runs the lockerroom. I wonder if that is through fear of what he might do or through real respect. I say let him go and see if someone else will give him what he wants.

I was talking with a coworker and said that the Eagles D was significantly upgraded and they are adding upfront also. They have OL issues too but no one is pointing that out from the so called experts because Andy Reid is being treated like Mike Holmgren as if he has a SB win. Reid has accomplished the same as Lovie a SB loss as a HC and as an assistant.

Its just like Marinelli is expected to work his magic with Gholsten, Tice has Garza, Edwin Williams and Linnekohl to work with at TC or until the sign Kruetz.

BF 2K I agree and believe he desrves to leave the way he wants but, his play last season including some untimely penalties signals its time to quit. Our line is so bad that our fans and media believe we can't survive without him but like someone else posted( I believe Jason) the amount of sacks the line gave up last season and Kruetz is supposed to be the leader and calls all the line assignments is like saying your the "Tallest Midget".

The Bears have said that Harrison can't practice until he is in better shape. Once again he is reporting over his reporting weight. Bye Bye!

I think he does have something to prove and I hope that he isn't celebrating every catch or first down. The guy who I think might be a tad hungrier is Hurd who is a tough guy that will play some special teams.

With all the angst over what moves were made or not made the Bears were still 2 freakin plays from the Super Bowl with that awful line and bad FO. They didn't need a major overhaul. They needed to tweak some things.First and foremost Martz needs to realize that in bad weather in Chicago you need to run the ball and pick your spots when you go down the field.If Olin Kreutz is not going to be back then Tice should immediately come out and say who is playing where and lock that in from day one instead of the musical chairs they played on the line from TC through game 4.The one good thing is that all the positions that need to be decided on the field in pads will be, none of this OTA in shorts declared starters crap. As far as the Olsen trade goes that is another JA 1st rounder that is no longer with the team. So lets count them: Haynes,Grossman,Colombo,Benson,Harris and Olsen. JA has made 8 picks in the first round and has gotten rid of 6 of them leaving Carimi and Williams still here. That is sad and if we throw in the 2nd and 3rd round we only have Briggs,Tillman,Hester, Forte and Wright. As much as I support this team for my 46 plus years this GM is clearly struggling when it comes to selecting and developing players. With all this being replayed over and over again the Bears are still the 2nd best team in the best division in football. I'm going to sit back and wait 'til the dust settles and take my annual B-day visit to TC and post what I think they look like they are doing and who looks good and who looks bad.

Big money and Jets back out. So they DRCF and Namdi at CB

I don't know about everyone else but,I believe that Tice has almost as much power as Martz and if he really wanted Kreutz back he would have been signed before the lockout. All I can remember is when Jay Hilgenberg went and played with the Browns at the end of his career and that was sad. Last season's game against the Redskins when Albert I'll play when I wanna Haynesworth treated Kreutz like a rag doll sealed the deal for me and I truly think he should spend his Sundays at home in Hawaii. He has had a nice full career and should leave on his feet and not on a stretcher like Hilgy after he had a grabber.

Jason as far as Omiwindmill is concerned I agree with you. When it comes to Webb I stradle the fence because he went from being a project to starting and I have to feel that Tice had a lot to do with that. I have had the benefit of being here in the Chicagoland area and hearing Webb speak to the media and I want to say that if you like Idonije's demeanor then you will like Webb's. He reminds me of Big Cat Williams the way he carries himself.