bradjock

You can question the report, but for whatever reason, the Bears aren't thrilled with Forte. He's a good receiver and a good blocking back which makes him ideal in Martz's system. So why did we make rb one of our top priorities? The SCORE guys are predicting that Taylor will be the starter. Are we not thrilled with Forte's ability? Is it his work ethic? Why was it so important to get arguably the top FA running-back when there are a ton available? The article does helps explain why we were anxious to sign Forte's possible replacement.

Actually, Martz himself said shortly after being hired that if a TE can't block, he would just as soon have an extra WR out there. It was this interview that sent many running for the presses. The impression was, if Olsen can not block, and Martz prefers a WR to having two TEs, how does Olsen fit. Thing about Olsen is, as a TE, he is a big mis-match problem. LBs don't have the speed and safeties usually lack the size. If he is a WR though, much of the matchup issue goes out the window. Its one thing to use him as such on occasion, but we saw last year how CBs better matchup with him. For Olsen to be great, he needs to remain at TE. My thinking is that a combination of DA, Hester and Olsen is probably our best WR trio. That's why we keep him. I don't think so. From what I read, the staff actually loves his development thus far at OL, and actually talk about him more than most any other young OL in terms of position battles. I am not sure Manu is that unique. He is our best blocking TE, but I wouldn't say he is "that" unique. If he went down, Kellen Davis would be the most likely to step in. You lose some in blocking, though likely gain in receiving. You could be right about us liking Louis at guard, but you're way off about Kellen Davis being able to replace Manamumla (sp). Mana is an offensive guard who is listed as a TE and catches the ball 10 times a year. He's 6-2, 296 lbs. That's pretty comparable to: Lance Louis: 6-3, 305 Josh Beekman: 6-2, 310 Garza: 6-2 310 Kreutz: 6-2, 292 Compare that to our TE's: Olsen: Olsen, 6-5 255 Davis: 6-7, 262 Clark: 6-3, 249 There's no way in hell Davis can do the job of Mana. We might draft a guy to back him up, but considering it was rumored we'd move Louis to TE previously, I think it's a possibility.

1. Why does everyone assume Olsen won't fit with the Martz offense? We have 3 pretty good "receiving" TE's on the roster. The Martz offense typically calls for 3 WR sets. Doesn't Olsen or Dez Clark become the 3rd WR??? A typical offensive set would be QB, 5 o-linemen, RB, 2 TE's, 2 WR's. Seems like a no-brainer. 2. Manumaleuna is such a unique player, who backs him up? When we drafted Lance Louis we speculated he might become a blocking TE. Is he the guy?

That would mesh with the story we heard that the Bears had 25 million $$$ to spend this offseason. We dumped Pace which saved an additional 4 million. If we plan on dumping Vasher, trading Olsen or Dez Clark, it's not hard to see us getting to 33 million. It also means we'll be unlikely to make another significant move. Of course, if we don't do anything else, we've already had a pretty good off-season.

HIP-HIP!!! HOORAY!!!

IMO, it comes down to what is our #1 and #2 priority. Obviously our #1 priority was getting to the damn QB. Done. Goal #2 was improving our blocking scheme when the QB drops back deep. We did that. WR was not a top priority. If we don't do another damn thing in FA I'll still be happy.

So essentially what you're saying is that you'd have been even more pissed if we hadn't signed Peppers. The Bears would have been cheap. All we've heard since Lovie has been here is the importance of getting to the QB. We've done everything we can to accomplish that today. Look, it may or may not work, but the Bear's ponied up the dough and have done everything it takes to win. This is a day for celebration.

Prediction: Rosenass will declare that negotiations are off and he will never sign with the Bears . . . until 2 weeks from now when Rosenass reopens negotiations with the Bears. This is Rosenass we're talking about. That being said, we've had much better luck with Rosenass then Eugene Parker.

Living closer to St. Louis then Chicago I know that Rams tickets are readily available for every game. St. Louis is a smaller market. This could be exhibit A of teams dumping players to save money. I'm just speculating, but I really don't want to see the NFL end up like MLB and the NBA where you have bad teams like the Pirates and Clippers that lose year after year but still see a profit. That ain't right.

It depends on how you view it. The fact we're chasing Rolle makes me think we're out of the running for Peppers. I just don't see us getting both. Wow the Bears are major players in FA??? How the hell has this happened? I think 12 hours from now Peppers will have signed an Albert Haynesworth type deal and not with the Bears. That's dissappointing but okay. I'm rambling . . . love the speculation.

I like the rumor that Kampman has already come to terms with a team. I believe, but still. Really, why should the league enforce this rule? The Bears season ended 2 months ago. The Super Bowl was played over a month ago. What the hell else are teams supposed to do? What's even more interesting is that the Bears are in the discussion.

We keep hearing our secondary is god awful because the quarterback has time to drop back and eat a sandwhich. So if we could actually get to the damn quarterback, everything would dramatically improve . . . . in theory. DE is our top priority. If we don't get Peppers, by far the next guy available is Kampman, who's injured. After Kampman, isn't the next best DE available Wale??? Ugh. As for FS, there are a few "2nd tier" guys available we could target. But how big of an upgrade would they be? I'm just fearful of us spending a ton of dough on good but not great players and not being vastly improved.

I'm flabbergasted that the Bears intend to be major players. Especially when it would appear most teams will be going on the cheap. So what I'm wondering is this: Would we rather have a combination of Kampman and Rolle or should we go for broke and sign Peppers? Or should we try and fill all of these needs with good & affordable players? (I stay awake at night thinking, "Peppers could be that piece that makes the entire defense dominant again . . . or he could cause the team to implode") We should also factor in that several teams will be cutting payroll and there might be a ton of good players available at a discount. So what do we do?

I'm pretty sure we played or even started D Manning at SS towards the end of last year. Considering nobody remembers this, he must not have made much of an impact.

That's awesome! This does indicate, barring another move, Frank Omiyale will be moving to the outside. I also wonder if this means we're freeing up dollars for the eve of free agency. Pace was set to make 5-6 million. We keep hearing how the Bears will be somewhat major players . . .

Why is this insulting? I don't think any of our WR's will ever be mistaken for a true #1 like Larry Fitzgerald, Randy Moss, etc.. But DA is enteraining as hell to watch, Hester is explosive in a limited role, Bennett is solid and catches everything, and Olsen's good also. At this point in his career, I don't think Anquon Boldin's a huge upgrade over the guys we have. Dallas broke the bank to get Roy Williams. Williams has sucked and Miles Austin has been a gem. I want to see us develop what we have.

Maybe, but wouldn't you feel better with Westbrook, LT, or TJ on the roster? I'm just asking.

I'm happy as hell you're okay. I hope the aftermath doesn't get ugly. Be safe Chile.

If there's no new CBA by this time next year, why the hell would we get rid of Lovie when there might not be any football??? The entire staff, JA included, has 2 years IMO. And if we win the division in one of those two years, hell, they might all just get extended. It's happened before.

But we don't have to use him as a blocking TE. Use him as a WR. That's the key. Cutler loves him and Angelo desperately needs for his 1st round pick to be successful. We just need to utilize his strengths. Why would we get rid of him?

If that's meant to be a rip on the McKaskey's being cheap, that's unfair IMO. A while back PFT said we were in the top 10 when it came to already being committed to spending money in 2010. Everything would indicate we'll be an active player in free agency. That's good. Look, ideally we'd be like Daniel Snyder and just go nuts. But we're a far cry from the other end of the spectrum. I'm guessing there will be a ton of teams dumping salaries. Tampa Bay is likely to become the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NFL.

Thanks for the info! I've ignored the draft coverage because of our lack of picks. So we sign Julius Peppers solidifying the D-line and we take the best available FS in the 3rd round.

Duplicate post.

Yeah, I'd like to add an impact blocking TE, but I wonder what it would mean for the guys we've got on the roster. Maybe if we go with three running backs (Forte, Bell, and a new guy, maybe?) we can take that extra roster spot and carry 4 TEs. Otherwise, somebody would have to go, and I'd hate to lose any of our current TEs. Wolfe keeps his job because of special teams and AP is likely gone. IMO, Bell's very expendable and I'm not sure how he fits with Martz's system. I think of Marshall Faulk and the way Forte catches the ball and can operate in space, I could see him having similar success. I don't see that with Bell. One solution would be to keep 4 TE's and eliminate Jason McKie. I could be wrong, but I don't think the Martz system utilizes the FB position. I'd mentioned getting rid of Dez Clark, but he's a locker room leader and the best blocking TE we have. I'm also very worried that the coaching staff will do something stupid with Olsen just because Martz doesn't like to use receiving TEs. We need to adapt the scheme to the personnel, not the other way around. Agreed. Considering TE is our strongest and deepest offensive position, I'm guessing that's the first thing they asked Martz during the interview. I've heard Martz mention using Olsen as a 3rd WR. That makes a ton of sense. The article mentioned that what Martz does is comparable to what they run in San Diego and however they utilize Antonio Gates. Olsen is 6-6, fast as hell and has good hands. For a TE, he's not very good at blocking. So use him as a big WR.

Angelo wants athleticism and all pass rushers. Sounds nice until you see RBs killing you. I see no reason why we can't try to have 3 pass rushers on the DL, w/ one inside that can stuff the run. If we had 3 guys on the line who could actually pass rush, we probably wouldn't need a run-stuffer. Uh, yea, that is a very unfair comparison. Not just because Omiyale is a legit NFL player, as you say, but because he previously has shown he can play OT. That is where he was developed in Carolina, and played when a starter went down with injury. He played well enough at OT for us to throw a bunch of money his way. I think there is a belief that any OT can play OG, and if they can't play OG, then they can't play OT, but I disagree. There is simply a difference in the position. Some players play better in space, which caters to an OT. Also, OGs need much better knee bend for the quick leverage necessary, while OTs don't always play as low to the ground. That one game Omiyale started in his career before coming to the Bears must have been something. Question: We're we talking about Omiyale playing guard before we signed Orlado Pace? I ask, because the Pace deal never happens IMO if we hadn't traded for Cuter on April 2nd. When we signed Pace, we'd already had Scfaffer and Omiyale on the roster. Did we sign Omiyale with the intention of playing him at guard? I'll be honest. I don't recall that game. But I recall many others where he was simply abused, both in the pass and run. In fact, I think he was worse vs the pass than the run, and he was bad in the run game, so that says a lot. I think Pace is simply done. I was listening to the game on the radio and the announcers made a big deal of how Cutler startedgetting abused. You're probably right about him being done, but I can't help thinking that the staff may disagree with you. It seems to me like we're keeping Pace as an option depending on what we do in free agency.