Lucky Luciano

here is what i would do... first, after a long talk with tice that confirms chris williams is not and never will be your starting quality LT, i bring in marcus mcneill TODAY for a physical. if it looks like he can play football i would SIGN him today. that way you know for sure the status of the all important left tackle position BEFORE free agency even starts. this move should not burn up a lot of cap space and give us some serious cash to pursue the quality players once FA starts. once free agency starts if mcneill is not healthy enough to play this season the first thing i do is call jared gaither's agent and get HIM in for a physical and sign him as a top priority if healthy which it seems he is. he should command a medium to medium high+ priced contract. either of these LT's should give us plenty of money to sign a second tier player like meachem or royle to be our#2 WR. in this scenario above i then go STRONGLY for RFA ladarius webb. we have to give up our first round pick because of his restricted status and this i would do in a heartbeat for a top quality young CB. his contract plus the others should just about end our free agency with maybe some minor pickups like the center wells from green bay if possible. i then draft our future #1 WR in round 2 or move up into the lower first round if a WR looks interesting and won't make it that far giving up our 2nd third rounder.

what to do this offseason and what is available... #1 priority should be a LT to keep our franchise player off of IR. what are the options? 1. convert chris williams back to his projected position as left tackle unless tice won't budge on his quality evaluation of williams at that position. if that's the case we have another angelo bust. 2. it's always a thin market for good, young, FA left tackles. the only options i have seen both come from san diego and both have questions in regards to health issues. as i have not watched many charger games i am basing this call mainly on what i have read and not seen so take that with a grain of salt. A) marcus mcneill: a huge improvement over webb but has had some serious injury concerns with his neck. at 28 years old he would anchor our offensive line for the next 5+ years. if he passes a physical it could be a great FA pickup for emery but somewhat of a gamble (one i personally would make if he passes the physical). on the plus side we have webb who 'could' fill in TEMPORARILY for mcneill. jared gaither: a 25-6 year old mountain sized guy at 6' 9" and 350 pounds. a waiver wire pickup in 2011 by the chargers who filled in pretty well for the injured mcneill. has 3 years experience at LT, two with the ravens, and again should be a big improvement over webb. if he continues to get better we could hit the jackpot and he should be a good+ LT for 7 or more years. he has had back and neck injury problems so that becomes a serious issue again for emery to make a decision on. with the health concerns and limited experience, gaither should not call for a break-the-bank payday which helps us in the hunt for a WR in free agency. using the same scenario as above, webb could be a TEMP backup if needed. some interesting notes: http://www.revengeofthebirds.com/2011/7/11...n-jared-gaither http://bleacherreport.com/articles/698525-...offense-in-2011 http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/jared-gaither 3. the draft: as i don't watch much college ball anymore since they and the nfl have tried to squeeze the last drops of blood out it's fans, i can't say if there is a true quality player in our range at LT or not. if there is or if we could give up both thirds to move up for that special LT player i would do it in a heartbeat with our first pick if we don't get the young high quality FA's at that position. #2 priority should be to get a quality #1 wide receiver in free agency. with the amount of quality FA's this is where emery should put his emphasis. if for some obscure reason a #1 WR can't be found in free agency then draft one in the first round ONLY if... A) a left tackle hasn't been obtained in FA and one of QUALITY is unavailable to us in the first round. or... a high quality cover CB is not there for us in round 1. #3 priority should be a #1 cover CB free agency: we let a very good one get away last season and one of that quality is not available this year to my knowledge. there is a couple who MIGHT still fill the bill. brandon carr of the chiefs, ladarius webb from the ravens (RFA), cortland finnegan of the titans. although i have watched a few games by these guys i never focused on them and thus am not sure of their quality or type of player. if they are a true cover type corner and do it well i am very interested. the draft: if none of the above work out then i am looking for a cover corner in round 1 if LT is not an option. #4 priority should be offensive line which specifically includes guards and centers. free agency: nicks the G from the saints would be a top notch pickup and make us better nearly everywhere on the line. even if we got one of the LT free agents listed above at a reasonable price we should be able to afford him along with it. my next in line would be scott wells the packers center. even at 31 he would be a big upgrade over garza who we could throw back to guard to compete for a job at that position making us stronger with more depth on the line. this would give us time to draft some good players to replace wells and garza in the near future. a great stop gap move not to mention if hurts the packers. another G possibility if reasonably priced would be grubbs from the ravens. the draft: with no quality LT's or CB's at our pick (and a #1 free agent WR covered) i would draft a killer guard in the first round (maybe even possibly an exceptional center). if not an all world first round center then look at a center in round 3. so if i were emery this is my draft (all dependent of what we did in free agency) if the quality was there... round 1: LT, CB, WR, G or C. round 2: LT (only if high quality potential), CB (high quality cover corner), #1 WR, G, OLB, FS round 3-1: G, #2 WR, C, FS, OLB, DE, DT round 3-2: G, C, OLB, SS, DT EDIT: what i would do in free agency 1. get one of the LT's if they pass the physical. if not try to draft a high quality LT in round 1 or 2. 2. get a #1 WR. I can't imagine this not happening but if not then draft a #1 WR in round 1 or 2. 3. if no FA LT and you can any possible way afford a FA #1 WR and nicks, get him!! 4. if no nicks at G, get one of the FA corners along with a #1 WR 5. if no nicks or CB get wells from the packers with a #1 WR

i am not jumping into this moss or not arguments but to set the record straight i don't think you are remembering this correctly. peanut was mainly drafted because of his size to cover moss and the big receivers from green bay. at the time he did this very well especially against moss whom he seemed to have his number. peanut had more quickness and a bit more speed way back then also, which helped on these bigger targets. when the league started to change to smaller and faster receivers, of course we didn't seem to get the memo and flushed out our supposed #1 corners (like mcquarters) and made peanut our point guy from that time onward. that said... i believe peanut is winding down his career as a corner and is at best a good #2 CB and has been in that role from the start (although our current coaching staff has never believed it). that is just one of the reasons we have gotten our brains beat in over the years against good passing teams and never came close to winning a superbowl. in my opinion, right now, we need a true #1 cover corner that can play bump and run, man, off the LOS even in this garbage cover 2 system we run. someone quick, fast and hopefully at least 5'10" or larger. since like IDIOTS, we chose to ignore the very good to excellent free agent #1 corners (woodson and the more recent kid from oakland) that were on the market when hop-along angelo was GM, i would like to see a corner drafted #1 (if the quality restrictions i listed are there) if no real LOT is worth the pick. a #1 CB is the most critical need on defense we have right now and would make this team exponentially better all around.

per the score website and bradd biggs: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/27/rep...rs-for-jaguars/

just curious... how did my thread and flea's get combined into one thread?

what a joke this franchise is. http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette....-going-to-bears

if i heard correctly on the score, this guy blew the bears off and is staying in pitt if so, this three ring circus just doesn't quit.

your link is broken. try this one: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,0,775292.story is it me or does t-t-t-ted, the brain, phillips look like rasputin or possibly a blood sucking vampire trying not to feed off of curious george while on camera? anyway, at least we got cliff stein helping t-t-t-ted the brain in his search for a GM. they had me worried for a minute that there was absolutely no-one who had a clue about the game of football looking for our general manager. silly colts. don't they know haste makes waste? they should model themselves off of our president of football operations and really take your time to get it right. after all, what is six months when you are making this important of a decision.

ROGER GOODDELL in a statement to the Associated Press stated: "The Chicago Bears plan on using state-of-the-art 1960's drive-in technology with this cutting edge communications device. All fans should be able to tune in to FM 106 on their car radio to hear simultaneous play calls and Cutler's responses." "Also of note", Gooddell stated, "when the Patriots play the Bears, Ted Phillips, the Chicago brain trust, says the Bears plan to broadcast on a different FM frequency to confuse Coach Bill Belichick in case he happens to be listening in. So be ready to spin your dial when the Patriots come to town Bear fans!"

NFL commissioner holds press conference: ROGER GOODELL - "After reviewing the situation in Chicago last season, in which the Bears sideline rarely didn't call a timeout trying to get in an offensive play to their quarterback, the league has decide to allow an unprecedented TWO headsets in Chicago Bear quarterback Jay Cutler's helmet. Since it appears he will be at a league disadvantage by having a "running offensive coordinator" AND a "passing offensive coordinator" we feel it only fair that Cutler can hear both coordinators at the same time in stereo." "That said, we expect Cutler will be allowed to tell one of the coordinators to F*#@% off if he doesn't like his particular call."

ok, the only question remains then... is curious george mccaskey a complete idiot and ted phillips is only a human punching bag with a meaningless title? or is teddy, the brain, phillips running this carnival sideshow and HE is the complete idiot (which makes curious george even stupider for letting this guy do it)? or god help us, is virginia the REAL brains running this franchise and curious george is just a useless lump of sedentary flesh posing as some kind of amoeboid protozoan parasitic extension of her football knowledge?........

because "Ted" is the guy that set the parameters of this into motion. 1. lovie stays so the gm, whomever he might be, has to like it or leave it. 2. lovie smith stays the coach even IF a future gm thinks there are better options available. 3. lovie smith is involved in the process of who we choose as our gm. i'm sorry, but they have limited our choices from who would be the best GM to which GM is willing to work with a lame-duck coach he may not like or agree with in philosophy on the direction he wishes our team to take. "TED" also has limited WHO this GM can or should draft right out of the gate AND who he is going to find as assistants to work in this system. it appears the lame-duck head coach at this point has as much if not MORE control of this franchise than our new GM. so how many candidates with a clue will fit into that scenario?

well, then hope for dumb luck. didn't ted phillips give lovie AND angie his undying support in that 2009 *press conference? after 8-9 years of angelo he couldn't determine whether angelo could do the job or not? now suddenly 2 years later he determines angelo alone is responsible for the mess we have in chicago? if it took him 10-11 YEARS to figure this out what qualifies him to even think about choosing the NEXT gm and how long does he give THIS guy? till 2022? * http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-02...awards-ceremony

so the best we can hope for is sheer dumb luck. heaven help us, it's deja' vu all over again.

you are describing the job description of an accountant not a president of football operations. it is VERY important to have someone that has a clue in this capacity. do we want to hire another BAD gm? isn't this going to be HIS responsibility to find a replacement? isn't it also going to be HIS responsibility to judge the job that the gm he hires and replace him if he turns out a poor choice? isn't that how jerry angelo ended up running this franchise ship into a coral reef for over TEN YEARS? turn off some GM's? any gm that is a really good prospect will just laugh at these restrictions and not even bother with an interview unless he feels like being wined and dined by a mcdonalds happy meal is something he can't walk away from. wouldn't you? why tie your hands behind your back before you even sign the dotted line? just for curiosities sake, who would even recognize a good gm if they tripped over him? teddy boy? lovie? 'curious' george who is leaving it to these imbeciles in the first place? can you seriously believe a gm is going to come into chicago and ignore the people who hire and fire him and run this team the way he wants to? even with the 1-2 year stipulation on lovie, he is set up to fail drafting players that fit lovies scheme isn't he? that's one or two wasted drafts. i'm surprised they don't do it now. after all, he knows even less of how to be a gm than he does of being a coach. it only makes sense to me.

we have the never ending story of a lame-duck coach who no coordinator worth a dam and in his right mind would even consider. and like you said, how many OC's does cutler have to go through with this idiotic franchise? oh yea, we may get tice by default. someone who has never called an offensive game in his life. is 'curious' george really dumber than ted phillips? it is appearing to be the case.

huh??............. how does having a head coach in the mix of interviewing the guy that could fire him make any sense in the LEAST??? it's beyond stupid!!! like i said... AMATEURS are running this franchise!!

i think less appealing is an understatement. anybody remember angelo and jauron and his personnel decisions? his predecessor was fired for poor drafts. how does he draft for a lame duck coach he may fire next year or a system he doesn't believe in? how does he replace coordinators? what about scouts? what does he tell them is key for them to look for? where does he place his scouting department? what if lovie limps into the playoffs again does he have to extend his contract like jauron? like i have said in the past, ted phillips is the biggest detriment to this franchise. a president of football operations that knows virtually NOTHING about the job. the world is laughing george!!

well if that is the case and we get a free rewind, why not the teams we played also? do the chiefs never lose their starting qb, cassell?, for the season? do the raiders never lose their starting qb either? how about other players like key receivers or defensive ends? maybe offensive linemen?

agree. why put strings on the job before you even hire a gm. if you really intend giving him the power let him make the decision to keep or fire lovie. yet again this organization is run by amateurs.

cowher is still in the mix. jeff fisher is to me one of the better coaches in the nfl. he can actually COACH players to be better players. he can put together a good staff of assistants. his problem to me has been the owner/gm of the titans giving him garbage to work with and yet he still is competitive in one of the toughest division in the NFL while he was coach. so yea, i take fisher in a new york minute over lovie. same goes with cowher.

agree that a GM should control his personnel from the start. haven't we already gone the other route WITH angelo and jauron? in my opinion, i would hope a good gm, if we can land one, would be smart enough to cut lovie loose and bring in a better coach with some stability to this franchise. lovie just is not a coach i see winning a superbowl, or even giving us a chance to win multiple superbowls. plus he is a lame-duck coach that no 'good' assistants would want to touch with a ten foot pole. jeff fisher or bill cowher work for me for coaching choices. i would also like to see someone like tuna come in and replace ted phillips and given the reins to hire a GM.

really? while we had a very weak schedule this season, we only beat 2 teams with even a winning record with cutler, the lions once and the falcons. there is no possible way to say that we would be 12 and 4 if cutler wasn't injured. we lost 4 out of the last 5 games to teams without winning records. 2 of those teams were starting backup quarterbacks also, the raiders and the chiefs. the chiefs and seahawks were played in soldier field. we beat '0' teams with winning records and '0' teams with records as good as ours when cutler went down. so let me ask you, even with cutler healthy do you feel we were even close to being good enough to win a superbowl? even with every player like last season who was healthy do we have the talent to win it all? finally... we were outcoached and outplayed nearly all season. who hired/drafted our backups? who coached them? who penciled them in as starters? who watched them play on sundays and told us they gave us the best chance to win?

referring to an 8-8 season, losing 5 out of 6 games to end the season and missing the playoffs 4 out of the last 5 YEARS!! yea, who wouldn't want to to keep as many players and coaches together after that exemplary record?

the packers were on the *3 yard line. bowman is man out on the qb's left and is set just about on the goal line (three yards off the LOS). at the snap the receiver runs directly at bowman who takes a step or two back as he reacts. at this point the receiver breaks right to the inside (left on another TD series) just on or inside the goal line with bowman BEHIND him. easy uncontested touchdown that took only 2 or 3 seconds to complete from the snap. how this play SHOULD have been defended: bowman plays up on the LOS. at the snap he jams the wide receiver disrupting the timing of the play. after the jam he has to let the receiver by him and then trail him the rest of the way through his route. also by jamming him it should give the safeties time to react as to whether it will be a pass or run play and shift to help a corner in pass protection especially if the TE is covered. the safety plays deeper (unless he is in position to jump the route) and the corner plays in front. there is no "double teaming" the receiver at all pre-snap. if it is defended like we did, without any doubt it will be an easy touchdown OR defensive pass interference from the corner reaching over or holding the receiver to bust up the play. there is just no other way to stop that throw from the qb without the defender being in front of his man... ever. the fact that they ran this same play in exactly the same way THREE? times is inexcusable for our defensive coaches NOT to have understood this and left bowman on an island that did/will not ever work in that set. *this is all from memory as i have no way to watch the film replay of those plays so if it is incorrect someone state the lineup and how it unfolded.