jason

Good point. The upgrade, of course, is that the TE in the game this year should serve as the 6th OLineman we heard so much about before the 2010 season when Manuseless was picked up.

Count me in on the "he needs to be resigned" side of the debate. Was Olin great last year? No. Was he serviceable? Yes. Was his performance most likely hampered by the fact that on his left was a guy playing out of position and on his right was a guy who probably wouldn't start on 25 teams in the NFL? HELL YES. Let's face facts. The OL was horrendous last year. Lord knows I've said it enough. But, in essence, Olin was the tallest midget, a guy who was better than the others not because he was great, but because the others stunk up the joint so bad. Losing him and replacing him with Garza or the UDFA rookie immediately makes the OL worse than last year...which is F'ing scary for Jay Cutler's health.

Earlier in that game...

Or opening his fat yap and guaranteeing a win. That's why I said "potential."

The 15 second mark of this video is why I'm excited about Roy Williams' potential:

Agreed. But we better freakin see something. Getting rid of the Bears' second best receiver (Olsen) and signing a questionable receiver (Roy Williams) doesn't do a damn thing for the offense if Cutler is getting hammered every other throw. We know that leads to throwing off the back foot, lack of trust with receivers, minimizing the play book (at least feasibly), etc. The OL was/is priority #1. If it's not addressed, the FO has learned nothing from the past several years, and certainly nothing from having Cutler on the bench with an injury during the most important game of 2010.

Odd that the pairing is both Shockey and Olsen, because they are nearly the exact same player. Both tall, fast, good hands, decent routes, subpar blockers, and never lived up to the promise of their selection. I'm not totally upset by this trade, but it would have been nice to see the Bears' FO swindle a little more out of the Panthers.

Two "of the worst." Omifail is definitely in the bottom 5 players in the league, and Webb was rated horribly this past year. Maybe he has potential to climb out, but he's still near the very bottom.

I would like to have seen the Olsen trade before the Bears' FO completely tipped their hand by stocking up on blocking TEs.

Please tell me you're joking with that argument. Clifton - Colledge - Wells - Sitton - Bulaga > Omiyale - Williams - Kreutz - Garza - Webb...and it's not even close. Clifton is worth ten Omiyales. Maybe 20. Colledge is better at OG than Williams. Wells and Kreutz are comparable at this stage in their careers. Sitton is the only player that might be worse than his counterpart on the Bears. Bulaga is far superior to Webb, despite the fact that GB fans don't seem to like him that much.

I don't like the fact they are concentrating on OT, apparently. If Colon or Bushrod get picked up, that automatically moves Webb or Carimi. Let's hope like hell it's not Carimi, because that would be just plain retarded. So why not just concentrate on OG?

I didn't realize they had the third most cap space. That being said, here's what I would like to see: 1) Resign Olin. He wasn't great, but he's steady, a leader, and the glue. 2) Sign Nicks. I don't care who he replaces; he's a massive upgrade at either OG position. 3) The minute after Nicks signs, I want to hear from the FO, "The Bears are happy to welcome Nicks to the Chicago family, and we'd like to announce that Chris Williams will be playing OT next year." This needs to happen because Webb is almost as bad as Omifail. 4) Sign whoever is left between Braylon Edwards, Randy Moss, Vincent Jackson, Roy Williams, etc. Basically, make the move to get a "big WR," and to get the hounds off of the FO's back. That'd be great.

Rarely do I agree with the Bears front office when it comes to player management, but I like this punter signing, and I also agree that WR isn't that great of a need. Fix the OL, and the Bears will soon have a Curtis Painter - or some other random WR who does well despite being unknown - of their own. No WR can excel when he's limited to less than half of the routes in the playbook because the QB is on his ass in less than 3 seconds every other play.

First of all, the wait time on Ticketbastard is atrocious. So slow because everyone and their brother is logging on. And then, the slap in the face...this is what I came up with: Section 208 Row 19 Seats 16 - 17 Description Price Level 4 CLUB LEVEL TypeFull Price TicketPriceUS $348.63 x 2 Nearly $700 for seats in the middle deck?! I'm sorry, but that's just F'ing outrageous. I can see paying $700 if I'm going to be on the bottom level within a few rows of the sideline, but at a certain point you have to draw the line. Looks like the NFL has priced out yet another dedicated fan. I'll be watching all games at home unless I can get preseason tickets in Nashville.

Carl Nicks - NO. Would be a massive upgrade.

Agreed. Not a big fan of Sidney.

Even though reports have him as stiff and somewhat unathletic, I like this blurb about Ricky Henry: Henry is known for his punishing blocks and a mean streak so vicious that he has sometimes struggled to control it, even against teammates in practice. That's the type of attribute that is difficult to teach in an offensive lineman And if I told you we had a center who was 6-2, 300 lbs, with the following description, you'd probably say Olin. But it's the new guy, Alex Linnenkohl. I like this pickup a lot, and see him taking over for Olin in a year or three. Sturdy pivot man whose low center of gravity aids him in leverage. Does not get moved off the spot by bull rushers very often. Extends arms immediately after snap in pass pro, maintains distance from defender. Strong help for guards when uncovered, extends arms to get push when tackle's shoulders are turned. Has some mobility to get in front of screens. Coaches laud him for his strong character, toughness, leadership, and work ethic. Plays through pain.

Hey Manning, don't like the Franchise Tag? Cry me a river, dickface. You're making megamillions and ensured one of the top salaries at QB every year the FT gets used. But that's not enough, is it? He wants to paid the most. It's talk like that that convinces me even more that the players still place finances above winning or team.

Interesting. I always thought Briggs needed to do a better job of wrapping up, but I was pleasantly surprised at the presence of Danielle Manning and P-Nut on the "sure tackler" list. Seems like they miss their fair share of tackles as well.

I'm ambivalent. I like that it saves the Bears for one more game. Less risk of injury. On the other hand, I recognize it's one less chance to tune up the engine. Less time to mesh. To get the offense synchronized. Not to mention the fact that I want to see 50 Bears' games a year, and would probably want more even then. My greed aside, I think this is probably good for the aging defense, and bad for the offense.

Agreed. If the season starts with Carimi playing RT and Webb playing LT, the coaches should be investigated for the attempted murder of Jay Cutler. There is no way Webb should be a starting LT in the NFL, nor should he be on the depth chart ahead of Williams at RT. And I'm not even going to discuss Omifail. As for the topic at hand, Moss only moderately intrigues me. I don't think he'd be a significant addition other than to the Bears' wallet.

This is a short blurb linked from Forte's twitter account. They both look good, but notice that Forte appears to be pushing harder (I like). http://www.twitvid.com/XHUGT

I will obviously be unhappy, but it's not for the reason you'd think. The reason I wouldn't like the picture being painted by this article is that it marginalizes Williams. Are the Bears giving up on him already? A first rounder they've tossed around? A guy who has been hurt? I think it should be Williams and Carimi at the tackles. This plays out pretty easy for me. Carimi was drafted to play LT. Period. End of discussion. It has even been confirmed by the media and the coaching staff. So that leaves RT open. Webb was rated the worst offensive lineman on the Bears, and maybe the worst in the NFL, last year and gave up a ton of sacks. The only reason he saw time was Williams's injury. I have way more faith in Williams at RT than Webb. The OL should be: Carimi - BLAH - Kreutz - BLAH - Williams Just because the OGs suck doesn't mean a former first rounder should be used as a utility lineman. The solution is to draft or sign competent guards so the square peg doesn't get shoved into the round hole.

Since this board was pretty pro-league when we discussed the current lockout, I'm curious as to where everyone stands on the James Harrison comments. Also, if the Steelers cut ties with him, would you want him on the Bears?