bradjock

Smokescreen??? This is pure speculation on my part, but we brag up Scott and I was convinced the Bears were targeting a guard based on rumors. Then we sign a starting LT within hours of the opening of free agency. What if we never liked Scott? Pure speculation.

You sure Webb ain't the starting RT??? You sure? We have a lot of work to do yet. If we'd signed Loadholt, who's the starting LT? Just asking.

We made a significant offer to Phil Loadholt to play RT for us. He resigned with Minnesota. If he signs with the Bears, J Webb is our starting LT pending the draft. I have no idea if we sign Scott or where Carimi plays. After he Loadholt passed, we signed Bushrod to play LT. Now we have have Carimi/Webb and a possible Scott battling for the RT position. It also makes the prospect of us drafting a tackle unlikely IMO. Who is the RT?

I agree with TE but not LT. We could decide not to sign Jonathon Scott. We could decide that Carimi could move inside. (The Bears like his versatility . . . that means Carimi sucks). Bushrod is a starting LT making starting RT money. What if we decide to keep J Webb on the left side??? We immediately have a lot of work to do at guard and linebacker. I find it hard to believe we won't find a deep threat WR in free agency or the draft.

Absolutely. The SCORE was talking about how he was drafted in the 2nd round as a talented pass catching TE, but be he had to become a blocker in the Dallas system. I love the signing . . . that being said, I was one who was convinced that Kellen Davis was going to be the answer at TE for the Bears. He had learned to be a blocker at TE behind Olsen, and now we just had to let him flourish as a receiver.

Wow. That seems pretty damn inexpensive for a starting LT who's coming into his prime and has been to a pro bowl.

Good point. I forgot we only have one linebacker on the roster. I was thinking about him playing the MIKE which is what has caused his value to increase.

I'd love this offseason but it doesn't seem realistic. Breaking down the predictions: Urlacher--I doubt he has many options and he'd be a returning starter. Jared Cook--love it! He's another weapon and solidifies a position that's been terrible since Greg Olsen was traded. Jason Campbell--he might be the #1 available quarterback in free agency and he stunk in limited time for the Bears. With all our needs, it would be irresponsible to pay him another 3+ million. Brandon Moore--Nice! He becomes the Bears best lineman. Idonije--No other teams had much interest in him last offseason and he's a year older. I hope he comes back. Nick Roach--If Roach is blowing up on the market, why would he return as a back-up?

How true is that about guards and centers? You also always hear that about safeties and running backs. The Bears drafted a safety every year for like 10 years straight. Not to mention bringing in guys like Archuletta and Merriweather. Chris Harris was good for a 5th rounder it was mostly busts. Currently our top 3 are all 3rd round picks in Major Wright, Conte, and Hardin. We haven't taken that many o-lineman, but Josh Beckman was a 4th round heir apparent to Kreutz. He might have exited the league before Kreutz did. Meanwhile Matt Forte was a high 2nd round pick. As for DeLaPuente, I'm skeptical and I'd rather we kept our pick. But we're at the point where we can assume we will find any gem late aside from a special teamer.

I agree. It's kind of a let down how quiet it is as we thought this 3 day "talking" period would lead to a lot of deals announced. Then the NFL said, "mum's the word." Thinking back to last year, the Brandon Marshall deal was settled a few days in advance. i work in a school, it was 3:00 and the students had been dismissed. I walk into my buddy the Cowboy fans classroom and he says, "Says on PFT the Bears have traded for Brandon Marshall." "Bullshit!" was my response. PFT has documented that tampering has been rampant since the combine. Like the Marshall deal, it's possible we already have a guy in the fold that nobody is talking about on here.

I would suspect we draft our next need. Eifert/TE or maybe Austin/WR. What stinks about draft-mocking this time of year is that we don't know what's going to happen in free agency. For example, we sign Jared Cook to a significant contract, there's no way we take a TE in round #1 making this a pointless discussion. My guess would be for Austin. With BM and Jeffrey, adding a big pass catching wide receiver is just adding more of the same. But how good would BM and Jeffrey be if we had a legit speedster who is a deep threat?

You got me. I am Phil Emery. Bradjock is just my secret identity.

Didn't Boote play Guard last season or am I confused? Boothe ain't that good . . . but he'd immediately become the best o-lineman the Bears have.

Maybe we are just being thorough. Maybe we contacted their agents about someone else. Otherwise, I can't even fathom why we are inquiring about Jennings and Wallace. The only other obvious answer is that it's a smoke-screen. But that's too stupid to even be a smoke-screen.

Good points. Although Spaeth has value as a good blocker and he's not an incompetent boob as a receiver. He just ain't fast. I don't know why we would cut him. I think his salary is 1.2 million. The one I'm confused about is Kellen Davis. Next year he'll be making the veteran minimum for the Bears or another team. He's not bad enough to be out of the league "yet" (but he's close). Why haven't we cut him or restructured him?

Again, hindsight is 20/20. IF we'd gotten a 1st and a 3rd and IF we drafted those guys . . . but no team was giving us a 1st and a 3rd. If they did in 2007, we'd have drafted Gaines Adams. While we are at it, in the 2000 NFL draft, I really think we should have drafted Tom Brady in the 6th round instead of Paul Edinger. Yep. That's what we should have done. I even said it at the time.

Like the Cedric Benson draft in 2005. Lots of cyber-bullying going on then. Lots of death threats. For all the crying, that was the worst top 10 draft in the history of the NFL.

You are saying we should pay Urlacher 5 million for the next two years each? When we have 3+ available cap space? That's workable, but is this where you want us to focus our free agent funds? He's not trying to break the bank but he's not worth 5 million. Unless you count jersey sales, but if you don't have one already, why would you buy one now? Urlacher was injured at the end of the Seattle game. Our defense didn't look much different without him. Do we beat Green Bay or Minnesota if he's healthy? I'm skeptical. In my garage-slash man-cave I have multiple Urlacher posters. I have "Eye of the Storm," the one where he has his arms extended, and the WBBM 780 poster with Dick Butkus and Singletary over an what appears to be a dead Green Bay Packer player. Hell, I'm looking at my daughter and she's wearing a 54 t-shirt as I'm typing this. I don't want to see Urlacher leave. But I'd rather we win. He sure as hell ain't worth 5 million a season at this point in his career.

New England always has guys leaving and then sucking. Under the Bellichick era the the first guys were Drew Bledsoe and Lawyer Milloy. I admit I can't think of any NE offensive linemen leaving and sucking . . . but the good ones seem to stay and the bad ones aren't wanted. I'm sure there have been some mediocre guys in this mix who haven't drawn much attention.

The Bear players you mentioned who are free agents, please tell me if you disagree with my projection based on what the media is saying. A lot of this is the general impression: Scott: He will return Louis: He will return Idonije: Gone Hayden: Gone Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have all 4 back. I'll add that I think Urlacher is gone. I'm just basing this on the impression the Chicago media has given me. I listen to the SCORE a lot and read the scribes. Idonije was on the SCORE last night and seemed discouraged he hadn't been signed. Hayden wants to be a starting CB. Urlacher wants $$$.

Except New England guys always seem to over-achieve in New England and disappoint whenever they sign for big money elsewhere. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is true at least 90% of the time. Aside from the DE/LB who signed with Baltimore a few years back (whose name momentarily escapes me) I struggle to think of anybody who has impressed after they left. The Bears did sign Brandon Merriweather after New England dumped him. Not good.

Yep. I'd have had a heart attack if we'd traded him. Hell, every now and again I go to youtube and watch Devin Hester highlights. It makes me so damn happy. Especially the one in 2007 vs. the Vikings were he's circled by 5 queens and somehow he just runs past them. I compare it to a Clint Eastwood movie where five gunslingers have him dead to rights, and so how he shoots them all and escapes. I think of my greatest football sports memories and Devin Hester is in so many of them. (Granted, my current #1 play is Tim Jennings with a pick 6 against Carolina in the 4th quarter last November but that's mainly because I had a bird's eye view). Hester returning the opening kick of the Super bowl? How can anyone say we should have traded him? Freaking ridiculous. I love everything he's done here. I think he's past the point of continuing to do what he's done, but man he's been great.

What's interesting is this is the 2nd report of the Bears looking at a guard within the last day. Not a tackle but a guard. Usually where there is smoke there is fire. For instance, last year we were rumored to want DE Mario Williams. We made a 50 million $$$ offer to DE Jeremy Mincey. When that failed we drafted Shea McClellen in the first round. Like it or not, last year DE was priority #1. We ignored Jason's warnings and ignored the o-line. It's not a surprise we are seeking offensive line help. What is surprising is that it is not offensive tackle help. It might be the cost, or it might be the belief the J Webb and Carimi are not as horrible as we believe them to be. It could be that we are keeping it a secret. It'll be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if we sign Levitre and then draft an OT in round #1. It makes sense as we can't replace the entire damn line in one offseason.

I mentioned this earlier but if we want to sign a guy for 7-8 million, we will find a way to do it. It's not a big deal. I really don't believe Julius Peppers will keep a 16+ million cap hit this year. I look for us to extend Peanut.

That's great! Although usually when they sign that quickly it means they are concerned they won't make that on the open market . . . and they are worried the Bears might rescind the offer. Melton was never exactly a "no-brainer" with the franchise tag. I was slightly surprised we actually franchised him.