bradjock

I hate agreeing with you Terra. But we had among the most cap space available and added exactly one starter. I do like the Michael Bush signing. We overpaid for a back-up QB. And we signed a bunch of filler players. That's it?

Agreed. With Knox's uncertainty we need depth at the position. The guy is a first round talent. For all we know he might start to blossom in our system. Not likely, but not impossible. I think what everyone is concerned about is that we've done nothing to upgrade the offensive or defensive lines. I hope we can at least bring Okoye back.

I'd forgot that till you mentioned it. I had to go back and look at www.nfl.com/draft/2008 Donny Avery was taken ahead of Thomas. It's a good reminder as to how foolish everyone is on their pre-draft speculation. I like how DMC, Jonathan Stewart and Felix Jones were all drafted ahead of Chris Johnson.

Everybody is ignoring the Pats would have to sign Forte to a huge deal or worry about a hold-out. At least 20+ million guaranteed. The Patriots have been notorious at having several backs at a bargain price. Now they are going to give up two good picks plus huge money for Forte? I don't see it. No way.

Agreed 100%. It's been tried and tested. Hester is best a kick and punt returner and used sparingly at WR. Unforuntately, the Trib also says Weems will handle kick returns and Hester punts. Begging the question, why the eff would we not have him return kicks?

We've got tons to do: 1. D-tackle--Okoye is visiting with the Bengals this week. If we lose him, how do we replace him? Anthony Adams? 2. DE--Peppers needs help. IMO we address the pass rush in round #1 of the draft 3. CB--Is Tim Jennings our starting CB? IMO, we'll address this in round #2 of the draft 4. O-line--can we PLEASE sign McNeil? Why do I get the feeling we'll say we're happy with the posiiton 5. Safety--Major Wright cannot stay healthy. 6. TE--We could do better than Kellen Davis It's imperative we address at least some of these issues in free agency before the draft.

Tribune says Tice has a plan to utilize Hester in the offense as a WR. Just for the record, he's the 3rd OC to say that. While it's a possibility, I don't think it's likely we'll draft a WR in round #1. The way WR have been going in free agency, I expect Floyd will be a top 10 pick.

Depending on how his rehab is going, an obvious reason for him to play is to get paid. Before the injury, he turned down a contract extension with the Bears worth 4 million per season. Then he gets injured. I feel awful for the guy to turn down that kind of money. He's not worth much until he can prove he can still play. If he can prove himself, it's not to late for him to get paid.

nfldraftcountdown.com has the Bears taking Fleener with their 2nd round pick #50.

For the short term that's true, but for the long term, that's easily the best course of action. Think about how ridiculous is was when Green Bay drafted Aaron Rogers when they had Favre, or when the Broncos drafted Cutler when they had Jake the Snake (why can't I think of his last name? I keep thinking of Jake the Snake Roberts who was the wrestler) If Ryan Tanehill is there at #19, we should at least consider it. It won't happen, but the NFL has placed little value on running backs this offseason. What if Trent Richardson was available? Do you pass on him? The Giants keep drafting DE's when they're loaded at the position. If you take the best player available, everything else becomes easier.

If we thought Fleener could be a top tier TE, you take him at #19. If he can be a weapon that can stretch the field and do ok blocking, that helps your offense. That being said, from everything I've read, Fleener is considered a bit of a reach at #19. If he's there in round #2, he'd be a steal.

My guess is he knew he'd be begging for work. Heck, LT is available and he's been more healthy and more productive than Barber. Not to mention Ced Benson. I remember him being a beast for the Cowboys, but as a Bear fan I'll alway remember him giving the Denver game away.

It comes down to this: You're making 7+ million this season. You can't say "good guys finish last" (and it's nice guys that finish last . . . not good guys). You are a top 5 highest paid NFL back this season. That's pretty damn good.

Yep. Just like when we signed Marion Barber & Chester Taylor & added Ced Benson to compete with Thomas Jones. I was THRILLED with all three of those transactions and all 3 sucked. I'm skeptical. What baffles me is we have many needs at starting spots & we focus on back-ups. We need to resign Okoye, I'd love to see us make a run at Marcus McNeil. Tim Jennings gets benched but it looks like he'll continue to be a starter. We entered the off-season with both lines needing upgraded and it looks like we'll wait until the draft. Dissappointing.

He may not necessarily be correct. It seems like that number changes depending on who you ask. I heard on the SCORE we were looking at Brandon Marshall's contract to make it more cap friendly. Looking at PFT's top 100 free agent list, there are 4 ok offensive tackles available. Marcus McNeil, Anthony Collins, Demetrius Bell, and Kareem McKenzie. There's also a few corners available. Granted, it's only a week into free agency, but we have so many needs to fill.

i believe that winston is a RT is he not? i am not sure how you fill that position seeing how we have a first round pick whose quality has not been determined yet. if carimi is a real viable option for the LT spot it would be an excellent pickup. Yep. Winston's a RT and a damn good one. John Tait was a damn good RT and he ended up solidifying the LT position for us for a few years. I have a hunch that Winston would be better at LT than Webb or Carimi. Either way, he'd be a HUGE upgrade. Bring in good players and figure out the rest later. If not mcneill a two time pro-bowl caliber player is a very, very good option if he passes a physical to fill the biggest hot-spot on our offensive line that can get a right handed quarterback killed with poor play. I'd be THRILLED with McNeil. I only mentioned Winston because he's rated higher right now. also of note... the packers center signed with the rams so scratch THAT option. Considering we have Spencer, I never thought we'd go after the center position.

Good analysis. I agree and it's also what the Chicago media seems to believe. I've held off getting too deep into draft coverage until free agency. Hell, last week at this time damn near everyone thought we'd be a lock to draft a WR in the first round. While it's still a possibility, it's FAR less likely. If the draft were today, like you I think we'd target a DE. I disagree the Bears have ruled out the notion of signing a big name guy. We can make it work and we have far too many holes to fill. Spending big money on a O-lineman or DE like Wimbly would solve a lot of problems.

Are you sure we have to have 4 to 5 million in cap space to go to rookies? I'll bet half the teams in the league don't have that much cap space right now. Last year it was reported we only had a million in cap space. Then we gave Merriweather 3+ million. How's that happen? We'll save space cutting Barber. We could cut a deal with Forte that would help him and save us cap space immediately. We can easily get this done if we're motivated.

Agreed. There's a good chance either Carimi or J Webb will turn out to be actually good. The odds of them both being good ranks up there with the Cubs winning the World Series IMO. Yet I get the imprression we don't want to sign a guy like Eric Winston to a huge money deal because we like Webb & Carimi. Signing McNeil would be a nice alternative. Cheapter than Winston yet if healthy, he's easily our best tackle. That being said, before we go after McNeil, we should do everything we can to sign Winston. It's concerning that we have major needs on both lines and the Chicago media seems to believe we'll be happy to upgrade them at the draft. Not good.

That may be a steal, but that's a helluva a lot of money to spend on a back-up punt or kick returner. I'm guessing we'll continue to utilize the duel threat, where if they kick away from Hester, there's another option to fear. We're just spending one helluva a lot of money on back-ups. i'll feel better once we upgrade the offensive and defensive line.

Damnit. I'd have liked to have had him. He'd immediately be the best guard or center on the roster.

Agreed. Going into free agency, after the WR position, I thought o-line and d-line help were a priority. Granted it's only the 3rd day of free agency, but we're not even rumored to be going after line help on either side.

We only want Weems to be a back-up receiver. We're talking about the #5 or 6. Dane Sanzenbacher should be worried. BM, Bennett, Knox & Hester are locks to be on the team if healthy. We could add one more.

No, great back-up QB's cost you 3 million. Guys competing to be the starting QB cost you 3 million. Good back-ups do not cost 3 million. You say one play can blow him up. The year Urlacher went down we sucked. Why not sign a 3 million $$$ back-up up for him? It's because when your great players go down, generally you're screwed. If Peppers goes down, we're in real bad shape. Are we going to pay the guy opposite of him 3 million? If you are paying back-ups more than your starters, generally you're screwed.

Maybe, but the TE draft class is terrible. I'd have said free agency, but that market has quickly dried up. Matt Spaeth is a great blocker, he's big, and he'll catch the ball if they forget he's there. Tice doesn't want a completely different look than Martz. We'll probably continue to make the TE position more of a blocking position.