jason

Terms: -Urlacher has to resign with the Bears or the wager is off -Urlacher has to "play over 12" - (i.e. 12 games and 1 snap is "over") Whoever wins gets to chose the other person's signature for, let's say, the entire playoffs of next year?

What's funny is, he is EXACTLY what's best for the team. Part of the reason the Bears got Peppers was, no doubt, because of the atmosphere Lovie created. Like him or not as a coach, the players enjoyed playing for him. That permeated to other players around the league. It told them the Bears were an organization to play for. A family. Dropping Urlacher now, when we already know the disparity for contract is minimal, says exactly the opposite. On top of that, his play works out well for the other team needs. There are enough needs that it makes sense to hold on to him for a 2-year contract, and fix the more glaring issues on the team. You know, like multiple on the OL, Safety, TE, and OLB. It'd be different if he straight up sucked last year. But he didn't, and any representation trying to prove such is just false. He was average. You pay him as an average player, chip in a few bonus possibilities, and let him retire a Bear. That's how you do business. Signing someone else and dropping Urlacher like a bad habit may be better in the next 2 years or so, but long-term I believe it has a negative effect.

It sure does seem that way. I don't see how else you could propose offering the face of the franchise for the past decade a measly $2m contract. On his skill alone he's worth more than that. His skill, leadership, standing in the clubhouse, and knowledge of the defense, makes him easily worth more than that. But for some reason it's become popular to propose running him out of town early. If only this type of attitude was directed at the OL for the past five years. It's the $2M per year thing that is what's ridiculous. Especially when scrubs on this team have received more. Especially when backups have received more.

Friendly wager on that? Maybe a signature picture bet?

Exactly. I don't know where this Urlacher hate comes from all the sudden. Was he an pro-bowler last year? Absolutely not. Is he washed up? Absolutely not. If he were, the defense would have suffered tremendously.

My litmus test for this is: Where would he go in a fantasy draft? As a result, this doesn't really worry me that much.

There is a TON of FA LB help out there this year. The Bears should be able to wait it out and grab someone pretty decent as a stop gap for a late round (4-7) LB.

That's not a wildcard. A "wildcard" would be Jamarcus Russell. Cheaper too.

scs - Since you have ample time, would you be willing to do a play-by-play breakdown of what you believe happens? Give it a grade on each play. Use whatever scale you want (A-F, 1-10, whatever). Include N/A plays where you see fit. If you're willing to do this, I'll do the same over the weekend. I'd be interested to see whether your thoughts coincide with mine. Part of the problem on all this is "how" someone gets graded.

Or was it because your hard-on for Webb grew? Be honest man, tell the board how you know Webb. Is he a neighbor? Family friend? Did he donate time to a function you enjoy? There's gotta be a reason for you to so vehemently defend the dude while actively trying to downplay any possible replacement.

:whip Classic.

And it happened this past year as well. Read my signature line.

The opinion is not universal. I'd argue that overall Garza was just as bad, and Webb was damn close. Both Webb and Garza were below average in all facets of the game, with highs and lows spread throughout, but Carimi was downright dominant in run-blocking. His pass-blocking was just horrible is all. If you average out the performance entirely, I don't see why Carimi is not "rated" as somewhere around average, or at least comparable to Garza and Webb, neither of which had truly dominating performances last year.

Agreed. The idea of cutting Carimi after one year of play is just ridiculous. You just don't dump first rounders like that. There is a reason he was a first rounder. Let his talents develop and blossom for the Bears instead of elsewhere. On top of the injury he probably also had a little difficulty adjusting to the move to the right side, since he played on the left side since he was 12 or 13.

The idea is ridiculous.

I wouldn't mind that draft. Not bad. That sets up the OL with multiple possibilities and gets an eventual MLB replacement who many think is a first round talent.

Bushrod - rookie/FA - Garza - Louis - Carimi or Bushrod - rookie/FA - rookie/FA - Garza - Carimi That's how it should play out. With any luck the Bears can move down in the first, still get Warmack, then pick up Barrett Jones in the 3rd. Bushrod - Warmack - Jones - Garza/Louis - Carimi (that looks really good to me)

I'm just amazed at how quickly so many of you want to disregard the face of the franchise, the leader of the defense, the most important Bears player in the last decade, when the difference between his happiness being a Bear and potentially going elsewhere is probably no more than one million (he asks for 5, team offers 3, meet in the middle). Add to that is the fact that he wasn't horrible last year; he just had a down year with an injury to boot. There's absolutely no reason why - especially considering how hard he's going at it in offseason workouts - he won't come back stronger than last year, and put up 2010 or 2011 stats. It's even more insulting when he's judged on this pedestal, yet scrubs like the guys on the OL are viewed under some other microscope, as if their lack of ability is easier to overlook. Even in Urlacher's worst year, his production exceeds what everyone on the OL did last year. If Urlacher's tackle misses were as frequent as any of the OL's screwups there would be a highlight video of it made by some douchey packer fan. And then talking about money I see things like 2 million per year. Are you kidding me!? That's just straight up disgraceful. Without trying too hard, you guys want to pay him less than a RB that wasn't good, a OG/C who was rated the worst in the league, and a kicker!? GTFO of here. Bush - 4yrs/14m Garza - 3yrs/8.65m Gould - 6yrs/15.5m This is the first time in the history of posting on this board that I've been actually disappointed in fellow Bears fans. I don't have a problem with disagreements, but this is just plain disappointing.

They have more info, no doubt, but that still doesn't stop them from making countless bonehead moves. The draft has been figured as a 50% bet by Bill Polian, one of the best drafters ever. We could do virtually the same. I'm just sick of the attitude that these guys are infallible because they are in the NFL. It's just not true. We've seen how inaccurate this is over and over and over with the Bears over the past nearly thirty years.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

The thought sickens me.

It's not about the consistency. It's about the level of consistency and abilities. Nobody is consistent all the time, but some are more consistent than others. I'm sure both Webb and Bushrod expect to succeed every play, every game. So trying to glean some PFF comparison because Bushrod says he's inconsistent is just as incomplete as the PFF stats. Maybe Bushrod is just thinking of one play each game? Maybe it's one series each game? Maybe he'd like those to be more consistent.

Yep. Jamarcus Webb vibe.

I get it, but Chicago is not New England. And until Chicago starts to embrace the concept of offense, I just don't see how this dream scenario comes to fruition. I hope it does. And I hope Bennett/ERod turns into Gronk/Hernandez. I've just been a Chicago fan too long to believe it's going to happen.

Regardless of whether it's Brown or Ogletree, neither of them make me jump off the couch like when Urlacher came out. I'd be disappointed if either were drafted at 20. If OG is also picked up in FA, and our LBs are resigned, I think you have to go for the other OG spot. You can't take a chance on Louis being healthy and good since he was only decent when he was healthy. If the OGs are gone, you have to go BPA.