bradjock

Where does the NFL get this timeline? Last year between 3 and 5 pm is was announced the Bears signed Eddie Royal and Pernell. What I expect at 3:00 tomorrow: 1. We trade Martellus Bennett. It's probably a done deal but at 3:00 we can make it official. Jimmy Graham would be awesome. But probably a 6th rounder . . . 2. Danny Trevathan becomes official--we have the money and the scheme he wants. 3. Akiem Hicks--I think it's happening 4. Mid level players we haven't considered Between the Bears and Illinois playing at 4:30, I'm going to have a busy afternoon.

Meh. They all ask for a ton and I don't blame them. For some reason the Colts actually gave it to Allen. Good for Allen. As for Zach Miller, let's be clear: he did nothing in the NFL. He was out of the league for 3 years. Last year he had 34 receptions for 435 yards and 5 touchdowns. He's 32 in October. AND he's not very good at blocking. Take away the 80 yard reception where St. Louis crapped themselves, and we are offering Miller a minimum deal.

Not sure if this was mentioned already, but it's being reported there are 3 teams pursuing Jackson: Bears, Jaguars, and Raiders. Seeing the crazy money being spent already, I don't have a problem with waiting for the secondary market.

Is this a real rumor? The only place I've heard it is here.

As per multiple sources. He can still negotiate a long term deal until July 15th. This means he'll be attending off season workouts.

I read he will be paid 12 million annually making him one of the top 5 highest paid offensive linemen in the NFL.

Carey has proven he can be our bruising GL back. I should have prefaced that if we sign Foster, it would be well after the free agency date. It would be with the understanding that he's part of the committee. If he doesn't like it or bitches, he'll get the Martellus Bennett treatment where we put him on IR, Matt Forte has a lot of value right now. Arian Foster does not.

Loved him as what? A competent NFL back-up? I just can't see him starting more than a few games with any success. He looked pretty good in his 3 starts with the Bengals, but typically that's hard to sustain once teams get tape on a guy. I don't see him replacing Red Rider any time soon. He's a quality back-up and possibly a fringe starter. But when you are drafting a guy every year, you do it with the hope they will one day start. Please give me the name of a guy drafted after the 4th round who is more than a quality back-up.

Isn't there something in the NFL where if an NFL coach is fired, the team that fired the coach doesn't have to pay him if he's hired by another team? I feel like that had something to do with Lovie being happy to take a year off after the Bears fired him. I think Tampa Bay owes him something like 3 more years 20+ million and if he coached for another NFL team, he'd lose a portion of that. Yet if he goes to college, he collects 3-4 million from Illinois AND keep his NFL salary. Am I correct about this or am I imagining it? Also, it's already been stated that he plans to add his sons to the Illini staff.

I can't argue with anything you say except when you say you want to draft the QB position every year. When was the last time any QB draft after the 4th round emerged?

Didn't we start last season with AJ, Eddie Royal, Mariani, Marques Wilson, Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith? As a proud ISU grad, I remember being shocked yet happily surprised that Meredith made the final opening day roster.

Why would picking up Foster be dumb? Answer this: Does he make our team better? I'm not saying we rely on him as a featured back but as part of the mix. Matt Forte is worth more than the 5 years 10 million Frank Gore received from the Colts last year. That's why we passed. But if Foster would sign for 2-3 million for one year, wouldn't it be worth it? Not as the featured back but to split time with Langford. Langford has much to prove. I don't see any downside to signing Foster cheap.

As for the brother business, Michael talked about wanting to be united with his brother. In fact he went on the Today Show or something the morning of free agency saying he wanted to play with Martellus. Then took less money then what the Bears offered to sign with the Seahawks. Which led to the Bears signing Lamarr Houston. Are we sure the brothers want to play together?

What does it mean that Graham supposedly bitched in the locker room. Also, the Seahawks were significantly better after he got hurt. That being said, New Orleans missed him this past season and suffered as a result. Ultimately it seems like we'd be trading one pain in the ass for another. One whose a better receive but doesn't block. We wouldn't just be taking on Graham but I'm guessing he's a much bigger cap hit. While the idea is tempting we are better off passing.

I do love me some Lovie! The biggest argument for not firing Bill Cubit was, who the hell do you replace him with? Who would come to Illinois? BAM! Lovie Smith. This program is in the toilet and it's going to take years to rebuild. Even if Lovie is a bad college coach, listening to the score, fans are actually excited for the first time since we went to the Rosebowl 10 years ago. That is a positive. Last time we hired a coach it was Tim Boeckman . . . This bold move seems to confirm that Jaguars owner Shahid Khan is pumping money in to the program. Until recently, I never realized that he was not only a U of I grad, but he is a self earned billonaire who still lists Urbana as his current residency. Apparently he created a bumper design, where at one point, his company was making every bumper in the US. On a personal note, I'm a huge U of I basketball supporter and a casual football fan. I went to one U of I football game in November and I swore I'd never return. Assuming we hire Lovie, I want to go back. With basketball, it'll be interesting to see what we do with John Groce. Prior to today I was praying we kept him. I watched the Bears pay Lovie Smith not to coach to pay someone far worse in Tressman. I watched the Bulls pay Thibideau not to coach to pay someone far worse, in Hoiberg. Illinois paid Ron Zook not to coach to pay someone far worse in Boekman. And Groce is not the coach Bruce Weber is.

What's Foster's value? Forte is supposed to be worth well north of 5 million per year. Could we get Foster for 2 million? That's a big savings. I'm thinking of what Arizona did last year. They drafted David Johnson in the 3rd round, they had Andre Ellington, and then they signed Chris Johnson to a one year two million $$$ deal. To me it comes down to this: are the Bears better or worse with Arian Foster on the roster? If the answer is yes, then we at least consider signing him.

That would be awesome. Except, we seem to have reached Brandon Marshall territory with him. We will trade him or cut him and other teams know it. We gave up BM and a 7th to get a 5th. Complicating matters is Bennett wants a contract extension. Hell, we might be lucky to get a 7th for him. I agree with you that dumping him makes our team worse. I said the same thing when we dumped BM last year. Especially since it meant using our first round pick on a WR. But what we think and what the Bears plan on doing are two different things. After he made comments about not watching the Green Bay game and when he flipped out at practice causing us to IR him prematurely, it was a done deal.

I agree with you 100%. But we decided we were going to cut ways with him after his outburst. I'm guessing we would cut him if we didn't trade him The draft is thin with TE's . . . .

I think Fleener( I like Dewayne Allen better) would be a mid priced FA. I'd be good with either of those guys. I think the Black Unicorn is gone which makes us desperate at the position. I don't think Indy utilized the TE as much as they could have. There are several OLs that will fall in the mid priced FA slots. Matt Slauson was a great signing that came out of nowhere. I think Jackson will draw 10 mil, or maybe a little higher, and the Bears wont be paying that . If we go by what Pace states and with what he did last year, He will have one top tier player so no way we grab Jenkins and Jackson. I think Jackson will be over paid because of the SB performance, but look at his stats, he is not a 10 to 12 a year player. A very good player but I dont see that happening. Last year I'm thinking Pace had about 28 million in cap space. (I Googled it but couldn't find the number). This year it's at least 45 which includes paying Jeffrey and doesn't include the savings if we trade Martellus. He wants playmakers, so I can see him paying two potential studs. If we view Jackson as a playmaker who requires double teams, we will pay it. I think they would rather pay Trevathan 8 mil a year than Jackson 10-12 , that would leave the money for another upgrade somewhere else. While I'm not sure about Jackson, Trevathan is just a good player in a good scheme and not a difference maker IMO. Same could be said for Jackson. The strength of the draft is in the defensive line, so if anything we grab two guys for the front seven in the draft. We could grab two guys in the front seven AND still sign Jackson. I think we could sign Trevathan and then grab another ILB at a mid level price, like James Laurinaitis, or a Rolando McCain. I'm "meh" on all 3 of those guys. I think the only way they add a TE is if Bennett is chased. I prefer Allen to Fleener, but there is also Ladarius Green as a possibility. I think Bennett is gone. Ladarius Green couldn't beat out a 50 year old Gates. As far as the money goes you give AJ 15 mil, save some money to get a deal done with Long later this year that wackes a big chunk off. I'm somewhat confused about the Long deal. He signed a 4 year deal but there's a 5th year option? If it's a Bear option we're taking it. I am like everybody else on here and want all the big names but that just isnt going to happen. So one large and many mid level FAs. Can't wait for next Wednesday! I told my wife that I will be spending the evening in front of the computer.

I do agree with you on this point that Washington was stupid. Not because Washington was drafting a franchise quarterback but because they were drafting Cousins to push and back-up their franchise quarterback. Why not just sign one of those guys? Especially when the team only had 5 picks and they were already starved for young talent because they traded picks in previous years. Cousins was a 4th rounder taken 102 overall. It's the Tom Brady argument. New England was brilliant for taking him in the 6th round. Nah, they got lucky. Cousin has already been benched for being bad. I suspect he's more like Nick Foles and Josh McCown. Guys who show flashes of brilliance but can't sustain it.

Better question: Is Rolle done? We've seen lots of veterans getting cut for cap reasons. I haven't heard a thing about Rolle. Adrian Amos is the starter at free safety. He was good there but not at strong. If Rolle is on the roster, it's presumed he's the starter. That would mean we are bringing in a back-up or a guy to push the starters. We wouldn't be interested in any of the top in safety free agents. Is Rolle a Bear in 2016?

Well said and I agree. Not to mention, does he come to the Bears to be a 4th WR, or does he sign with New England? When did Roddy White become terrible? Is he done or can he have a resurrection season?

I know your post said sign eight. What if we signed 4 big names and filled in the rest with one year deals? I'm looking at 4 guys who are in the 27 year old range that can be productive starters for 5 years. 1. Malik Jackson: I know you all disagree, but shouldn't we be begging the Bears to sign Malik Jackson? We need difference makers that other teams need to scheme for. As Brad Biggs said in today's column: "He's a big pass rusher and those are hard to find. He has scheme versatility and was a wrecking ball in the postseason, which is why he'll get a huge payday." I'd be okay with giving him a huge payday. 2. Janoris Jenkins: He's a shut-down corner. Will be pricey, but we have 50 million to play with. One of him makes every position in the secondary look one helluva a lot better. 3. Coby Fleener: I love the idea of signing Fleener if we dump the black unicorn. There are few TE's in the draft and I loved how we utilized the dual TE sets last year . . . which also means we need to sign Zach Miller. 4. Offensive Guard: Sign a reasonable priced offensive guard. I don't know many because they are offensive guards. Basically if we sign 4 starters who are significant upgrades, with the draft, then we add players on one year deals at the minimum. I conceded this is pie in the sky thinking. But I want us to target difference makers who can start for 5 years and help make the players around them better.

So just to clarify: You are saying that hypothetically, at #11 even if the Bears view Elliot as a game changing RB, we should draft for need? You look back at the Adrian Peterson draft, and there's 3 teams who wished they'd have taken AP (and the Bears are still wishing they hadn't given up a 2nd rounder for Gaines Adams) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_NFL_draft Hey, if the rankings are real close, you take the position of need. But if you have a guy clearly ranked ahead of the others, you take the game changer.

Unless they sign RG3 and decide they'd rather use that pick to put weapons around him. Or they trade for Colin Kapernick. Granted, all this is sheer speculation at this point. I just get frustrated trying to project the draft before free agency starts. I gripe about this every year. Please pardon my bitching.