Alaskan Grizzly

So was Shanahan coaching there when Weeden was starter or when they drafted Manziel? I was looking at his contract history, especially with Cleveland and Houston. It looks like in 2013 he signed with Cleveland (after being released by Arizona) for a two-year deal for $4 million (?). Going in he was expected to be a backup Weeden. Then in 2015 he was signed by Houston for 2 years $10 million. He "fought" back and forth with Mallett for the starting job and eventually led the Texans to the playoffs where he flopped. Eventually he was released and ended up in Chicago on a one year $2 million deal. With the situation unsteady in QB with who is going to be the starter does he have that much solid ground to stand on to demand $10 million? Is the market open for that? He knows what potential Shaw has and he's already signed. He also knows chances are that if he's (Hoyer) signed in Chicago he'll only be a placeholder for one maybe two years. If San Francisco is that desperate for a QB why wouldn't they just draft one? If worse comes to worse and Hoyer acts the turd, then we still have Barkley. I still wouldn't mind giving him another look personally.

Was watching a late broadcast of the Combine and saw some talk about a kid named Obi Melifonwu out of UCONN. Played Safety in college but looking like he'll convert to CB in the pros. Kid is huge at 6'4" and nearly 220# and "slayed" at the combine. Doesn't Fangio like him some big corners? http://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/3/6/14838...ngland-patriots

I used to make excuses for Cutler too. Until I saw how flawed he was. Hoyer is who we know he is. He's capable of being a Kyle Orton type QB not a Franchise QB, which is what we need right now. And he'll cost a lot less. I'm glad we agree on Watson and look forward to agreeing more.

Since I've been openly critical of Cutler over the years I'll pose the question of 'how much more screwed could we already be'? Take into account that until his injury, Hoyer was actually playing pretty well. He was playing smart and not turning over the ball and getting multiple 300+yd games. Problem was he wasn't converting a lot of that to TDs. Which could have been attributed to a few things. First thing; running game. Before week 4 when there wasn't much of a running game at least not until Jordan started cranking out 100 yard games. Even then it took a few weeks for teams to take him (Jordan) seriously and give the passing game a chance. But again, Hoyer and Howard never really had a chance to mesh too much as Hoyer was out before mid-season. Passing game. There really wasn't a consistent receiving group for Hoyer to go. With White in and out, AJ in and out and Royal out more than in, Hoyer had to throw to the likes of Bellamy, Wilson, Thompson and Meredith (although as the season wore on he proved his worth). Also throw in that once Martellus left for greener fields he had the fragile Miller and a host of unknowns at TE. I should reiterate that despite that he manged to still throw for over 300 yards in each of his appearances. Defense. We know that 'in order to win championships you need defenses' and I think it safe to say ours is almost there. If you take into account once about three years ago our defense was ranked near 30th in every category to last year when they were ranked 10th (?) overall; they've come a long way. If Hoyer holds true to form and maintains his ability to not throw games away (ala Cutler) our defense will be that much better, we'll still have Jordan and our receiving corps will more than likely improve. If not we'll have what appears to be a pretty talented player in Shaw backing him up (or perhaps vice versa). And if I have my way, they'll have the next Dak Prescott in Deshaun Watson chomping at the bit to play. All hope is not lost.

Hey it can't be all bad. Our last Spurrier coached QB got us to a Super Bowl. That guy Grossman.

Perhaps. But after getting White two years ago and signing players like Royal, Pace might be a bit hesitant in getting a player with a known injury history.

Ah yes., good eye. I remember that game well. Jeffery still won the MVP of that game despite being ejected. I didn't realize that it was Shaw hurling the rock. Guess that answers the question of whether he can throw the long ball. I'd have to say it would be sweet if we could reunite those two.

I think, if I had to knock Trubisky at all it was because of him only having one year starting experience. I kept hearing Mayock (eww) and Carr repeat that over and over. I suppose if Watson were not available, Trubisky would (considering those four that you listed).

That's it, I'm sold on Watson at 3.

It just occurred to me that Shaw and AJ played together at South Carolina. Or did they(?)

Personally think it's a great idea. Suspect Hoyer next?

I sure hope neither GB, Minny or Det get Fournette. Kids gonna be a beast in the NFL. At 240# ran a 4.51 / 40! Yikes

I don't think anyone's really suggesting they would prefer Foster over those guys, just that it would be cool to have him on the team. It's too bad we don't 'need' an ILB. Really though, how long has it been that we've needed a good safety? Since Mike Brown?

I hear ya for sure. But... they need other players in other positions. If only. You're right that Foster is one of them 'once in a few years' opportunity.

Not for nothing but I sorta wish we were in need of ILBs. Would absolutely love the idea of getting Bama LB R. Foster and Clemson LB Ben Boulware on the Bears roster. Talk about an awesome line backing corps. That would be snot jarring duo for sure.

I agree, for the most part. I think we have very capable veterans already on the roster. Those being Hoyer, Barkley and Shaw. What's more, they've all worked in the Gace/Loggains system already. And as we discussed not all that long ago, there was a list that identified the top three QB FA's. Of those two, Hoyer and Barkley, are on our roster already (the other - at the time - was Cousins). I have a hard time legitimizing the signing of someone else's backup QB or throw away IE: RGIII or Manziel without looking at what we got already. (As a sidebar: Anyone have some concern with all the connections to Cleveland we're starting to see with our offense? Hoyer, Shaw, RGIII, Manziel and Loggains have at one time all had exposure to Cleveland and somehow they've collected, or could, in Chicago. It makes me nauseous to consider). Anyhow, Hoyer's been down this road before. The "you get to be starter only if you prove yourself" role. That time being in Houston where he and Mallett had the battle royal for the starting position. Hoyer managed to win where he eventually made it to the playoffs before he fell flat. Anyhow, I'd agree that he'd probably make the most sense at least in being a game manager placeholder for the franchise QB draftee.

I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't more 'smoke and mirrors'. A few weeks ago it was Garrapolo. Yesterday it was McCarron. Now this? Are they trying to throw others 'off the scent' of their intent to draft QB in the 3rd or are they legitimately looking at all these backups?

I would hope they want to win now. I could end it there but started to think about how it was John Fox did it before. That is, how did he transform 1, 2, 3 win teams into super bowl contenders in the past? What was the common thread? Was there one? Oddly enough...there was. Looking at the Venn Diagram that is John Fox and a Super Bowl formula I noticed that each time he made a significant push for the Super Bowl he had changed Qbs from previous seasons. Not only that but it seemed they were retread QBs or backups in each instance. In Denver we know that Peyton probably had a lot to do with the teams turnaround, at least on the offense. But when he was with Carolina going in he had Rodney Peete who played ok the year before but in year two Fox decided to go with Jake Delhomme who until 2003 had been with New Orleans and been primarily a backup. We all recall what happened later that year with Delhomme as QB. I'm too lazy to see what was going on with his defenses in both Carolina and Denver but suffice to say both were pretty damn good. It would probably matter HOW the defenses got so good in both instances to make more sense of it. Did he build it through a draft or two like he's appearing to do in Chicago or just coach up what he had? Based on all that I suspect we'll see a QB like McCarron or *gulp* Garrapolo this year (and still maybe a QB drafted in later rounds as insurance) but suspect *gulp* Jason and others are right when they speculate he'll draft early and often for defense.

On the one hand I hear the name 'Osweiler' ringing in my head when I think of our team signing someone else's backup QB to be the starter. On the other hand Bill Polian thinks it would be a good idea to have teams consider McCarron their starter. (OF course he also thought Cutler would be the best FA available when available). I can't understand why Cincy is so steadfast on getting better than a 3rd or 4th round for him. They only chose him in the 5th round to begin with and it's not like he's lit it up in his 3(?) starts. Just good I'd say. I saw another article that proposed a 'player for player' trade. In this instance it suggested SF bring the idea of trading for McCarron in exchange for DE Armestead and a 6th(?) pick. Apparently Cincy is in need of some DL help. If we were to go that route do we have a player they might could use and a better draft pick? Say our 5th? Or maybe McCarron straight up for one of our 4th's?

Even more reason to question this. Of all the players you listed the only one, so far, that has worked out (in the place of the listed players) is Jordan Howard. Heck they thought Langford was the answer and the reason for Fortes departure. But then along came Jordan. Did Pace just luck out? I mean when you look at the other players; Bennett, Marshall, Jeffery and Cutler either gone or potentially gone you have; Miller, K. White, Meredith(?) and a player to be determined in their place. Of those two (Miller and White) have an even worse injury history than AJ. So again, should we start questioning Pace's judgement going forward or is there something he knows we don't?

Something just doesn't add up. Not to say Cutler was/is a good player but the team is suddenly looking at losing two franchise difference makers with nothing in return. Sure AJ has had his injuries and Jay can't seem to remain consistent but they are no doubt cornerstone players. If not in Chicago with another team. But to lose them both; again with no compensation doesn't make much sense. Something is going on and we're missing it. Pace isn't that naive...right?

Agreed.

But in theory, wouldn't you want to pick a higher value QB then assume the team will tank? Making it more realistic to pick at the top the following year and get the 'franchise QB'? As opposed to building up the team through defense and presuming they have a better record due to the defense being that much better? Weren't they rated somewhere in the top 10-15? With a scrub like Hoyer, Barkley or Shaw playing just good enough the team could find themselves in the middle to later part of the 1st round and out of contention for the earlier round draft spots. Besides that, holding out hope for next year has too many variables that would make me nervous.

I think everyone knows the team doesn't plan on going forward with him. Those that may have an eye on him will wait to see if any interest is garnered. Remember this isn't the first time he's been 'shopped'. A team like NE could consider it (extremely high possibility of no) if they were to lose Garrappolo (and get draft picks in exchange) then losing a sixth or seventh in a trade wouldn't feel so wasteful. You know NE does have a knack for turning turds into stars so why not Jay? Of course this is a wild hypothesis and more of just a 'for example'.

Ha ha very ? Not that anyone will believe this but I do hope he goes out somewhere in style. Perhaps he'll get signed on with a team as a backup (Tennessee?) and makes it to the Super Bowl before he hangs it up? I really didn't hate the guy, just the way he played most times. Wasn't there another thread about this somewhere? I still think the Bears are gonna end up releasing him in the end.