bradjock

Agreed. The sad part is that we desperately need him as part of the mix of our bad or often injured or inexperienced safety group. I really like McGowan as a back-up and as a special teams guy, but we need more production from our strong safety then what he gives us. What will be interesting will be to see if we resign Rashied Davis. Pretty much every other WR we have on the roster will be a FA either next year or the year after. That means we're almost guaranteed to draft a guy. So if we resign Davis, that'll mean the end of Mike Haas.

I'm anxious to find out what exactly happened that caused San Fran to get punished. Even the rumors seem to be fairly tight lipped. My guess is that the 49ers contacted Briggs during the season. That'd make a helluva a lot more sense as to why San Fran was slapped, as opposed to just have contact with a guy.

I think he'll be there. I just don't think we'll bite. Considering Wolfe's a 3rd round pick, we're still pretending like Cedric has a chance to be something more then a worthless pile of crap, and AP is a nice back-up. It's REAL tough to justify spending the #14 pick on RB when we have not one but two o-line positions we need to fill. That being said, I'd love to have him.

I can't remember hating a Bear-player as much as I hate Benson. That being said, there's no way in hell we go RB at #14. If we haven't done anything to address the o-line, it'd be kind of like living in a shack & buying a plasma TV. Or driving a Ford Escort & buying a kick-ass stereo for it. It just wouldn't make sense. On a side note, I've never seen Forte play, and I don't know if I ever even heard of him before a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm hoping like hell we draft him in round 2. It's weird how the draft hype changes your perspective.

Agreed. I look at it this way: Is he worse then Metcalf??? Is he worse the Beekman? Beggers can't be choosey.

Hell no. For the past two seasons we've returned every starter, and we've looked to trade down. There's no way in hell we sacrifice picks to move up when we're hoping that a rookie can start opening day. Our #1 priority in the draft is o-line, and they'll be a damn good one available at #14. Our #2 priority appears to be RB, and a guy like Forte (If we like him & he's as good as advertised . . . ) will be there in the 2nd. There's no need to move up.

There's no way he's the 4th overall RB. He's the 5th at the earliest. I can't imagine anybody would list him above McFadden, Mendenhall, Stewart & Felix Jones. ESPN actually has him ranked 9th: http://insider.espn.go.com/nfldraft/draft/...;draftyear=2008 What we do may depend on how quickly RB's are coming off the board. There's been speculation that McFadden & everyone else will drop. If 4 RB's have been taken when we draft in the 2nd round, we may not have much choice but to take him.

I need to save what I am about to write, so I can copy & post if for the next 1000 times I read one of these. Pre-season predictions are pretty much bullshit. If you were good in 2007, you'll be good in 2008. If you sucked in 2007 (like the Bears . . . ) EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE, predicted the Bears would win the NFC North in 2007. That was a universal conclusion. We placed last. What does that tell you??? Talk is cheap. Words are plentiful, and it's all bullshit. Be prepared, because the only debate with the preseason guys will be, "Will the Bears finish ahead of Detroit?" I read it & I love it, but I don't get pissed about it. We were last in 2007, we'll be picked to finish last in 2008.

I'd be curious to know if the Bears had any input in what their compensation was. I thought it would have made more sense for the Bears simply to receive the 49er's 5th round pick. This is the spot I look for the Bears to draft a QB. It may be that we were anxious to move up a few spots.

Ok, apparently I missed these conversations. What happened to Pittsburgh having the least amount of cap room in the league and then signing Big Ben for over 100 million? Why would this limit us in drafting a LT? Are you assuming that any LT would start immediately? Tait has two years on his contract left, and he'll be 35. We've seen what happened to the 34 year old Fred Miller. I think Tait will hang it up. He's a devout Mormon/family guy (he always signs more autographs then anyone else at training camp). He also doesn't hang out with the rest of the o-line in his free time. I only point that out because he doesn't seem to enjoy the NFL lifestyle the way others do. IMO that makes it easier for him to go. So if Williams falls to us, he plays LG for two years, then moves out to LT for the last 3 years of his contract. Assuming Williams is as good as advertised, that sounds damn good to me. You're still assuming that a rookie will be good enough to start. That's flat out nuts. You have to operate on the assumption that any draft pick will flat out suck immediately. Wasn't the guy in San Diego a RT? I don't remember for sure & I don't care enough to spend 2 minutes looking it up. While there's been some love for that guy, does anyone remember who San Diego's coach is? They benched him and won a bunch of games in a row. My guess is that Ron is begging Jerry to bring him in.

Agreed 100%. The time & effort he spent on that cap analysis was flat out unbelievable. That sucks. I'm hoping that as it gets closer to the draft he'll have an unresistable urge to get back on. We've seen other guys who have vowed never to return & just couldn't help themselves.

I was sitting here thinking about our offensive line and was trying to remember how many years John Tait has left on his contract. (Is it 3?) Usually I just check out LT's cap analysis for stuff like that. It used to be at the top of the forum and now it's gone. That great piece of work should be posted somewhere that's easily accessible.

While everyone is focusing on Benson actually sucking worse due to injury, what about this little blurb from the article: "With unproven second-year pro Josh Beekman and mediocre-at-best seventh-year pro Terrence Metcalf considered the front-runners for the starting OLG job, and journeyman John St. Clair shaping up as the starter at right tackle heading into the draft" Yikes. Metcalf VS. Beekman??? Christ almighty. St. Clair as the starting RT??? Wow. Just for the record, I like St. Clair ok. As long as the rest of the line is solid. There's no guarantee that any rookie we draft will be worth a damn. I've argued this before & I'll say it again: SIGN MAX STARKS!!! Yes he's a RT, yes he'll probably cost 7 years 50 million, and yes he's only good and not great. But this would be great for the Bears long term. Reasons: 1. It gives us draft flexibility. What if McFadden did slip yet we were too damn desperate for a tackle to draft him? 2. We can still draft offensive line #1. Let him play LG for a year or two and consider having him & Tait switch positions. Tait is 33 years old and is likely done in 3 years. 3. Starks is 26 and would anchor the right side for years. 4. Starks has the transition tag which means the Bears would have to make the offer front-loaded so Pittsburgh couldn't match. We did the same thing when we signed Tait, and something similar when we signed RMJ (although we had to give up our 3rd rounder for him.) Seriously guys, we need to add at least one starting quality offensive lineman in free agency. If we don't sign Starks, who the hell would we go after?

I know he wasn't a favorite on here, but I always thought his bad year had more to do with injuries then anything else. Granted, that's pure speculation. That being said, in 2006 we were loaded at tackle with Tank, Tommie, Boone, and Scott. For at least one game, 3 of the 4 were out and we struggled with injuries all season long. In 2007 we were again loaded with Tommie, Dvoracek, Walker & Adams. Again we were killed with injuries. Is there something about these big linemen who can't move quickly without getting hurt? That being said, Walker is still available. He can't be expensive since nobody has signed him, he knows the system and he'd shore up a major need without us having to draft yet another DT early on.

Good info. I'll admit, I've never seen him play. Nfldraftcountdown has him listed as a full-back. Is he a Mike Alstott type or what? Just curious. Like I said, I don't know much about him.

Agreed about Rosenass. When we drafted Olsen there was talk we should pass because he's a client. Of course the beauty was that our starting TE was also a client. He's now resigned. Angelo is smart in realizing that the person who holds the checkbook holds the power. Reguardless of what the media says or does in favor of a player, it all comes down to the money. I'd have loved to have seen how far Briggs would have dropped in $$$ if it hadn't been for the Bears. Supposedly Washington was interested, but they sure as hell didn't pay to sign Bryan Johnson. I wonder if that was a ploy. JA has positioned the Bears in such a way that Rosenass needs us, more then vice-versa. Getting back to your original point, it's stupid to think that there won't be tampering, when there's a 3 to 4 week period before free agency begins. After the Super Bowl, who really gives a damn? Maybe San Fran were talking to Briggs during the season. That's way wrong.

The one thing I wonder is this: How many teams are desperate for running back help? Most teams have either filled the position in free agency, or they're hoping to find a "bargain." Not to mention, there's other good RB's still available, although they're older. At some point Shaun Alexander is going to go, and Deshaun Foster from Carolina is still there. I'd imagine that most teams are like the Bears and have greater needs, as the Bears need O-line help. I think this easily puts him into the 2nd round, although I don't know if he'll still be there for the Bears. If so, I'd draft him in a heartbeat.

Well said. I've NEVER been to NFL forum. Hell, if it involves the NFL I'll just check some other site. I also rarely check page 2 of talkbears. If it's not on the front page, I rarely give a damn. I will say I'm impressed as hell at how fast people on the board are on top of things. When Marty Booker was signed it was on here immediately. That's what makes this site so great. That being said, isn't this a relatively small community??? How many people are registered here or are actively using? 500 at the most??? So if two of those 500 want to debate Manning Vs. Brady, or whatever, I'll just ignore the thread.

I can't prove it, but I get the sense that Briggs might have somehow messed with the defensive chemistry. It's just a hunch. All I know is, no matter how many players were injured, there is no way in hell our defense should have been that bad. And christ almighty they were bad. All I know is that we hoped to keep him for one more year and make a run at the Super Bowl, and it didn't work. Berrian would have become the highest paid player on offense. Then you have John Tait & Kreutz, and nobody else on offense is even remotely close. It's tough to pay a guy a boat-load of money who probably isn't better then Marty Booker, Devin Hester, or possibly even Brandon Lloyd. First, to your 2nd statement, I don't think Angelo would remove the tag unless a guy does something extreme to embarrass the organization. As for the first part, maybe we strike a deal, but I doubt it. Minnesota wanted him bad, and we wouldn't trade with them. It's all speculation. I might live to regret saying this, but at this point I feel we're much better off having moved on. Disagree. He's a gamble since he's not healthy that much, but he's arguably the best in the league when healthy. Pay the man.

I'll be happy to steal and share any and all INsider information that I can. This isn't a new mock though, it's from March 4th. It's interesting how when the season ended EVERYONE had us taking a QB. Now EVERYONE has us taking an o-lineman. A few notes from my second first-round projection for April's NFL draft: • The most notable change between my initial first-round projection and this one is that I have Virginia defensive end Chris Long going No. 1 overall to the Miami Dolphins. This is based on discussions with various NFL sources; however, Boston College QB Matt Ryan is still a distinct possibility to be the first pick. If Ryan goes No. 1 overall, then Long would go No. 2 to St. Louis, and Atlanta would take DT Glenn Dorsey with the third pick. The sources with whom I have spoken have no concerns about Dorsey's medical history. • The name you can expect to hear more leading up to the draft is Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Now that the Patriots have lost Asante Samuel to free agency, I have the Division I-AA cornerback going to New England with the seventh pick. If the Pats pass on Rodgers-Cromartie, the Saints could take him with the No. 10 pick. • Don't expect the Falcons to take Darren McFadden, because they just signed running back Michael Turner. Also, Minnesota won't be looking at a wide receiver in the first round because they've signed Bernard Berrian, so look for the Vikings to take a pass-rushing defensive end. * denotes underclassman Kiper's First-Round Projection Name Team Player School 1 Miami Dolphins Chris Long, DE Virginia 2 St. Louis Rams Glenn Dorsey, DT LSU 3 Atlanta Falcons Matt Ryan, QB Boston College 4 Oakland Raiders *Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas 5 Kansas City Chiefs Jake Long, OT Michigan 6 New York Jets *Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St. 7 New England Patriots (from SF) Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St. 8 Baltimore Ravens Sedrick Ellis, DT USC 9 Cincinnati Bengals *Phillip Merling, DE Clemson 10 New Orleans Saints Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy 11 Buffalo Bills *Malcolm Kelly, WR Oklahoma 12 Denver Broncos *Ryan Clady, OT Boise St. 13 Carolina Panthers *Derrick Harvey, DE Florida 14 Chicago Bears Chris Williams, OT Vanderbilt 15 Detroit Lions *Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois 16 Arizona Cardinals Keith Rivers, LB USC 17 Minnesota Vikings *Calais Campbell, DE Miami 18 Houston Texans *Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon 19 Philadelphia Eagles Jeff Otah, OT Pittsburgh 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers *DeSean Jackson, WR California 21 Washington Redskins *Aqib Talib, CB Kansas 22 Dallas Cowboys (from CLE) *Felix Jones, RB Arkansas 23 Pittsburgh Steelers *Branden Albert, OG Virginia 24 Tennessee Titans *Jerod Mayo, LB Tennessee 25 Seattle Seahawks *Devin Thomas, WR Michigan State 26 Jacksonville Jaguars Kentwan Balmer, DT North Carolina 27 San Diego Chargers *Justin King, CB Penn State 28 Dallas Cowboys *Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech 29 San Francisco 49ers (from IND) Gosder Cherilus, OT Boston College 30 Green Bay Packers Mike Jenkins, CB South Florida 31 New England Patriots Forfeited pick 32 New York Giants *Kenny Phillips, S Miami Click here to send a question to Mel Kiper for possible use on ESPNEWS.

The guy rushed for 462 yards and 175 of them were in the season opener against Jacksonville, who at the beginning of the year couldn't stop the run to save their lives. Brown seems more like a nice #2. Adrian Peterson is a nice #2. Wolfe is a nice change of pace back. Cedric would be good playing in Canada, and that's about it. I'm probably being overly optimistic, but I was really hoping RB would be a position we'd work to upgrade. We're not thrilled with AP's talent, and we're not thrilled with ANYTHING Cedric does. But if we're not going to draft a running-back in rounds one or two, why the hell not sign him? Unfortunately he's the best available.

Yes Briggs looked great and made the pro-bowl again. Yet our defense went from being among the best in the league to damn near the worst in the league. We franchised Briggs and had bad immediate team results. This is from a team-player who rarely misses a game or a tackle. Franchising a guy like Berrian would have brought too much damn turmoil. It was more ok with Briggs, because he's not as good as Urlacher or Tommie Harris. He's not better then Wale or Mike Brown. He may or may not be a step above Vasher, Tillman, Alex Brown are all damn good. If Berrian was franchised, doesn't that sort of place him as being the most valuable piece of our offense? It's nice to have a "pecking-order." What team would have given a 3rd for Berrian AND over-paid for him? We wouldn't have made that deal with Minnesota. Washington wanted Briggs, but they're retarded. I'd rather let him walk then over-pay. As long as we extend Tommie Harris & add one offensive lineman, I'll be happy as hell.

I disagree with franchising Berrian. Why pay him a ton of money this year so he could bitch & piss & moan, and then become a FA next year? All the experts agree that 16 million guaranteed was far too much to pay Berrian. So why guarantee him 7+ million for one season? I think Bradley & Lloyd will prove to be only a slight drop-off. It's not like he's Tommie Harris. As for bringing in the offensive lineman, I'd be shocked & pissed if that doesn't happen in the next 6 weeks before the draft.

I have to agree with the trade down scenerio. Like you've hinted at though, we're better off waiting to see who's available. We got lucky as hell that Tommie Harris dropped down to #14. Last year Angelo said teams were calling him to trade for the #31 pick, but he wanted to stick with Olsen. Most of us would have been happy if we'd traded UP for Olsen. Most of the guys who are likely available when we pick could easily slip to the bottom of the first round the way Olsen was. I've seen mocks that had us taking Otah at #14, and others that have him dropping to the bottom of the first.

First off, I was in favor of Justin Fargas, but he signed a 3 or 4 year deal for 12 million with Oakland a couple of weeks before FA started. I'm skeptical about Alexander, and it would depend on how much money he wants. He looked flat-out awful last season. That being said, I'd be thrilled if we dumped Benson after he gets healthy, signed Alexander, and give Wolfe more of an opportunity. There's all this talk about drafting a RB, but we've done it twice in the last 3 years with no luck.