bradjock

Why don't you like Turner??? I'm skeptical because he's been a #2 next to LT, but what I do know is: 1. He has big play ability 2. He has great hands 3. He's better then Adrian Peterson (the best RB on this team.)

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. I'm drinking another beer right now. DJ Hackett shouldn't cost much and he's not a huge drop-off from Berrian. Julius Jones is supposedly the 2nd best RB on the market.

I would say yes to that question. The thing is, at least for me personally, was that Cedric Benson was stifled by the fact that Thomas Jones was a locker-room hero, he had lots of friends who shared the same agent, and so on. In other worse, by losing Thomas Jones Cedric would have the chance to "grow." I was wrong. Cedric sucks. The difference is that we dumped TJ because we thought or hoped Cedric was better. The plan was in place. Let Cedric be the man, draft another RB in the 3rd round . . . that seemed smart. The plan failed. That happens. What's the WR plan? Mark Bradley & Devin Hester??? I do not want to see Hester on the field that much or it will hurt his return game. You can't count on Bradley for crap. Granted, the plan may change fairly quickly. But as of right now, losing Berrian is FAR worse then losing Thomas Jones.

Excellent points. It's important to remember that the reason most players are successful is that it's a combination of their scheme and the guys they have around them. Has Washington ever signed a guy that lived up to their expectations??? Berrian dropping the pass off his hands verus Dallas was equal to Leon Johnson trying to catch the ball with his helmet in 2002. In both instances, may have flat out ruined a season. His first two seasons with the Bears, Berrian had a history of injuries. It'll be interesting to see how much he sucks it up now that he's getting paid.

No. We still might, but why would we? The main concerns were: 1. Briggs would be making more then Urlacher, so our top LB wouldn't be the highest paid LB. That's a problem. 2. Briggs is gone leaving Urlacher a much harder task. Greater work and greater responsibility should equal a greater pay-check. We not only signed Lance, but he won't be making more the #54. That's called win-win for the Bears. Problem solved. Urlacher's due to make 6 million next year, and he makes a fortune in endorsement deals. He's great, but he's not going to get better.

Apparantly we won't have to ask, "Is Williams still visiting Chicago now we resigned Briggs???" Shortly after the Bears signed Briggs, he agreed to terms with the Chiefs. Here's the PFT story below: CHIEFS HAUL IN WILLIAMS The free-agency frenzy continues, even late into a Saturday night. According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, the Chiefs have agreed to terms with former Falcons linebacker Demorrio Williams on a five-year, $16 million contract. The deal includes $5.5 million in guaranteed money.

It's awesome we've inked Briggs. Yet our weakness has been offense, and so far the only thing we've done is dump 2 o-lineman, and lose our best WR to a division rival. Don't we have to bring a play-maker in here? Assuming we're only going to pay one (we still need to sign an offensive guard) would you rather have Michael Turner or Bryan Johnson? These are the two best available at their positions. I hope like hell we're able to land one of the two. No way we'd get both (or one for that matter.)

Connor, I'm starting to get the impression you spend your entire day sitting by the computer listening to the SCORE. Oustanding!!! Keep it up. Christ almighty, I was on here two hours ago saying Briggs would have to do something by Monday . . . never thought he'd sign that quick. Outstanding. Apparently patience pays off. We've resigned our pro-bowl LB and he's not getting nealry what Urlacher signed for years ago.

Did you take note of how Moss did in Oakland??? Not great stuff. How will he be with Orton throwing it 20 feet over his head, and Rex throwing it to the guy standing next to him? To think he could be productive and successful on the Bears the way we are now is flat out crazy.

I've said that all along about Lance. He never makes that "Wow" play. He's good, but not great. The thing is, the clock is ticking for Lance. Demorrio Williams is scheduled to meet with the Bears on Tuesday. If we sign him, our offer is off the table. That means Lance needs to get a deal done by Monday night, or his best and only realistic offer so far goes off the table. That'll mean he'll make far less then the offer he rejected from the Bears. In a way I hope that happens. I'd love to see us resign Lance, but that would send a message to other guys like Tommie Harris: Take it while you can get it.

Why was it stupid not to franchise him? The thing is, if we had franchised him, it's not likely a team would trade for him and pay him. We sure as hell wouldn't have dealt with a team in our own division. Lance Briggs was a pro-bowler. We franchised him, and he became the most consistent player on one of the worst defenses in the NFL. If he resigns with the Bears, the franchise tag was ok. If not, "Bad deal." Berrian's contract made him one of the highest paid players in NFL history. The kicker is this: Where does Berrian rank among current NFL WR's??? I doubt he's even in the top 20. It sucks he's leaving, but that's a ton of money for a #2 WR.

I think Brandon Lloyd's a pretty good possibility. He's a speed receiver that can stretch the field. Hopefully we'd take a look at Marty Booker also. Either way, if Berrian leaves, I'll be pissed if we don't bring in a veteran to replace him. If we're looking at Bradley, Hester, Rashied Davis, and whatever guy we draft . . . we'll be in trouble.

Disagree. Offensive line is all about timing, consistency, and working together as a unit. Not to mention, it's so damn importance to learn the tricks of the trade of defensive linemen. That's why so many offensive lineman peak when they're around 30. That experience is so damn critical. We'll enter camp with St. Clair as our starting RT. Assuming we draft a tackle in round 1, that guy will be given the chance to beat St. Clair out, which likely won't happen. I see us signing a guard in free agency. There are still several available.

It seems inevitable that we're going to lose Ayanbadejo. He's expressed interest in at least being given the chance to compete for a starting job and the Bears want no part in that. Last season we let 3 of our top ST's players go: Todd Johnson, Cameron Worrell, and Dante Wesly. Our ST's didn't suffer much. My guess is we'll look at Jamar Williams or Michael Okwo to be that special teams ace who replaces Ayanbadejo.

Was it the year Thomas Jones & the Medicine woman signed on opening day? I believe Moose signed before FA even started. I mainly ask, because every year during this weekend, I'm glued to the Radio & computer waiting to hear big news, and it never happens.

Hell, the way the Lance Briggs negotiations have been going, Angelo might possibly reduce his final offer. It'd be the icing on the cake if he's forced to take it. I agree with you about Berrian. Supposedly he was staying in Minnesota for another day meaning they're likely upping hteir offer. Tennessee & Oakland both really want him also. Unlike Briggs, there seems to be a demand for Berrian.

Last off-season Briggs announced something like, "I will never wear a Bear's uniform again!!!" Then he reports on time for camp. If that wasn't coming back with your tail between your legs, I don't know what is. Briggs wants to get paid. It's flat out amazing to me that nobody wants this guy right now and the Bears have made him his best offer. He tried to force a deal last season and it didn't work. I'm not sure what else he can do.

Two guys you left off were Donte Stallworth & Brandon Lloyd. Stallworth is great with the run after the catch. Other then Mark Bradley on occassion, that's something the Bears have not had. Brando Lloyd is more of a speedster like Berrian who can stretch the field. The kicker is, while I really like Berrian, I'm not certain he's better then Stallworth or much better then Lloyd. Yet he's going to make twice as much. Either way, the Bears had better make it a priority to sign ANYBODY at WR. If we enter the season with Bradley & Hester as our 2 starters . . .

Dvoracek hadn't played a down in the league, and really all you heard was how damn good he could be. We've heard that Jamar could be that good. We haven't heard a damn thing about Okwo. As a 2nd year 3rd round pick, you'd hope he could at least compete for the starting job. Instead it sounds like he'll be competing for Brendon Ayanbadejo's job.

Him not leaving Minnesota indicates they are giving him an even better offer. They gave him a proposal, he said, "I'll see what Oakland has to offer," and tomorrow they are going to counter with bigger money. He's leaving that Bears, so in the big scheme of things it's really not a big deal what he does, except that Minnesota is a rival. I'd much rather see him sign with Oakland and let him enjoy the same success Randy Moss had there.

On here, I've been echoing Angelo saying, "Wait for the bargains." Now that our bad offense has lost 2 starting lineman, 2 starting WR's (inevitably), our best run-blocker (Gilmore), and we still haven't replaced Thomas Jones . . . I admit I'm getting a bit anxious. At some point we will sign a good offensive guard that nobody has ever heard of. We'll draft an offensive tackle early. But that ain't good enough. We're going to lose Briggs & Berrian. Why not sign the best RB available? Any word on him? I know he was flying to Atlanta today . . .

Thanks for posting that Connor. I've been wanting to find something out about Williams. The guy ought to be pretty damn cheap. I checked PFT, and they don't have him ranked as one of the top 10 FA linebackers http://beta.profootballtalk.com/2008/02/28...gs-linebackers/ The bottom guy is speculated to make 2.5 million guaranteed, and Williams is below that. The guy is young and has never missed an NFL game. One thing does concern me: Jamar Williams is injury prone and is inexperienced so it makes sense we're bringing someone in for him. Understood. But what about Okwo??? How bad is he that we're not even considering him as a possible replacement?

Well said. How the hell did Oakland give Tommy Kelly 50 million??? The one time JA did go nuts and sign a guy right a way in netted us Moose. Just look at all the turds Washington has collected that they have signed right away. It is pretty damn frustrating though. I keep expecting something to happen . . .

As per the SCORE, Bernard Berrian is NOT going to Oakland, and is staying in Minnesota for at least one more night.

I think that's wrong. I just heard Zac Zaidman on WSCR Chicago an hour ago saying that San Fran has no intentions of going after Briggs. He went on to say that most of the teams who were rumored to be after him, like San Fran, run a 3-4 scheme. Briggs is at his best at the weak-side linebacker spot in a 4-3. Zaidman went on to say there are rumors that Briggs has "Overestimated his value." In other words, his asking price is too damn high. Who knows though.