bradjock

Good for Shea. He needed to get out from the shadow of being a #1 failure with the Bears. Our coaches don't bullshit and they legitimately liked Shea. That tells me all I need to know about him.

Here's how I look at it: In 2014 we went 5 & 11 and were an embarrassment. We gave away a legit #1 WR, had a TON of injuries, gave away Jared Allen . . . we finished 5 & 11 but WOW we had some close losses. We were actually competitive with Mariana as our #1 WR and no TE's. We were bad with Bennett. We can't be much worse without him.

I'd love to have him. But what do we give up? 2nd rounder? 3rd?

We can pick up the option for Long's 5th year. That means he's guaranteed to be with the team for two more years. Do teams extend guys two years out? I'm not saying it's a bad idea, it just doesn't happen much. The fact that the next guy we are worried about losing is two years away is a statement to how bad this team is. I assume we extend Jeffery. But that would likely lower his cap hit. Team don't want to franchise players because the immediate cap hit is so great. That 15 million available assumes that he will be a full 16 million cap hit. Even if we extend him we'll still probably have 15 million to spend.

After the Bennett trade, and after the rookie pool, and including the ridiculous Alshon Jeffrey cap his, we STILL have 15 million to spend. The Bears have been good about spending the maximum amount. We typically annually do some roll-over where we have 5 million extra to spend each year. We have 15 million to spend and I can't think of a single notable free agent we need to worry about resining next year. How the hell are we going to spend 15 million?

At one point we said the exact same thing about Jerry Angelo. Don't get me wrong! I'm in the fan-club. Where do we spend our 15 million in cap?

So we gave back the 6th round pick the Pats gave us for Jon Bostic. Basically we traded Jon Bostic & Martellus Bennett for a 4th round pick and 5.2 million in cap relief. After the rookie pool, we easily have 15 million to spend in free agency. It's like we have more money than we know what to do with. I hope we spend up to the cap. Any nickel-backs available?

Good! There was speculation that two of Robbie's misses were due to bad snaps or holds. It appears we plan to keep one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history so it's important we put him in a position to succeed.

Agreed. Even if we'd signed CJ Anderson for 18 million, I think we'd have used him as part of the rotation. Jeremy Langford has the potential to be great, but ultimately he hasn't done much and has a lot to prove. It's good to bring in a veteran to push him.

I think what you're saying is that you value MB and BM more than other team in the NFL. No team was willing to give up as much as a 5th round pick for Brandon Marshall (we also had to throw in a 7th.) If anybody wanted Bennett, we'd have traded him before the deadline. When we are begging teams to take these guys off our hands and nobody wants them, that tells you what the value is. An edge rushing d-lineman who can get to the quarterback is FAR more valuable than a DE. Also, Jones allegedly had a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana which is legal in Massachusettes. Martellus threw a fit to the point he had to be removed from practice. I didn't like dumping Marshall and I won't like dumping Bennett. But I believe in what Fox is doing and if he says he has to go--he has to go.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/...ing-with-bears/ We seem determined to bring in a veteran running back. I wonder if Ronnie Hillman will be an option if we don't sign Dunbar.

The big selling point for CJ Anderson was that he's 25 with low mileage. He's entering his prime. I hated to see Forte go but I get it. With the exception of Freeman and Miller, every player we've signed is in their prime and should be productive for 3-5 years.

He might be gone, but I don't think this signing has anything to do with that. The Bears were very effective running dual TE sets last year. In fact, that's what pissed Bennett off is that they were using him as a decoy which allowed Miller to score TD's. After all these deals, the Bears are still close to 20 million under the cap. Who do we even spend that money on? Any player of significance has at least two more years with the team (excluding AJ of course).

I'm sure it depends on who is available, but my guess is the #1 need of this defense is a guy who can get to the QB. In this scheme, it's an edge rusher OLB. I'd love to see us get an OLB who can be a playmaker on this team for years. On a side-note, I'm currently resisting too much draft talk since free agency changes everything (last week at this time you could argue we'd draft an ILB at #11 . . . ). Secondly, in two weeks I'm heading to Gulf Shores where I plan on spending several days on the beach reading draft magazines. I have Nolan Nawrocki's 2016 draft guide on pre-order

I got to admit, I'm flat out shocked we offered him that big of a deal.

He's currently an UFA. He had 3 catches for the Bears--which is his 3rd team. Considering I've not heard anybody mention his name and I didn't remember he was on the team, the outlook for him is not good.

The TE turned down a strong four year offer from the Bears to sign a one year deal with AZ. I got to admit, I thought it was a done deal the Black Unicorn would be gone. He was given permission to negotiate a trade and so far there appears to be nothing. Considering it's a week TE draft class and there's really nobody left on the open market (aside from Miller) I have to think it's a strong possibility he returns.

That's awesome to hear! Especially after we were so bad at the position. Although comparing either of these guys to Patrick Willis is a stretch.

Agreed. But man we had a bunch of real bad WR's. He became the #1 WR with no AJ, White, Royal, and Marques Wilson. That means he starts training camp as the #5 WR with an improved Cameron Meredith likely to make the team. Course if anybody gets hurt, we'll be thrilled we had him.

Let me ask you this: are Ferguson and Sutton legitimate 5 technique starters? Unrein is nothing more than a serviceable back-up. Will Goldman continue to improve? As for moving McPhee and Houston to DE, those are our most important edge rushers. Before moving them, we'd need to add another big time OLB (which I think we'll do at #11). Basically you are arguing we should take a LT at #11 because we need a back-up? That makes no sense. You draft a LT because we think Leno sucks. But that's contrary to what all the beat-writers think. At least with the o-line, you have 3 really good NFL starters--Long, Massie, and Slausob--and two guys you hope will be good in Leno and Slauson. With the 3 interior defense line positions, you basically have one guy you hope will be good in Eddie Goldman. I'm sure we will add quality back-ups on the offensive line. Will Montgomery was a nice free agent addition last year.

Normally I'd love a LT. Except this team has indicated they want to solidify the front on offense and defense. While Charles Leno may or may not be good, at least I've heard of him. With defense and the front three, we have Eddie Goldman and . . .

Normally I'd love a LT. Except this team has indicated they want to solidify the front on offense and defense. While Charles Leno may or may not be good, at least I've heard of him. With defense and the front three, we have Eddie Goldman and . . .

Normally I'd love a LT. Except this team has indicated they want to solidify the front on offense and defense. While Charles Leno may or may not be good, at least I've heard of him. With defense and the front three, we have Eddie Goldman and . . .

Jarvis Jenkins signed with the Jets for 3 years 6 million.

True. And isn't drafting an ILB at #11 kind of like drafting an OG at #11? It's just not a highly valued position. At #11 I think we draft a dude who can get to the QB.