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It's a good problem to have, but all 3 of those guys, Welker, Brady, Belichek, if they all retire together on the Patriots, everyone will say "well, he wouldn't have been nearly as good without (Welker\Brady\Belichek). Welker generally gets the least recognition of the three, but consider that since he's been on NE, he's been responsible for 1 out of every 3 completions Tom Brady has thrown. He also had 111 receptions the year Brady didn't play, which means that even with Cassel back there, Welker still put up elite numbers. Anyway, my point is the only way to prove otherwise is to jump to another team, but why give up on a good thing? Money would be the only reason.

I'm going to miss exclaiming "Johnny Knox!" in a fast, clipped speech (like Johnny Cochran) every time he caught a pass. In fact, if Hester leaves us, I guess I'll have to do the same for "Delvin History". Brandon Marshall is a boring name.

If you're correct, and not exaggerating, everyone who coached/GM'd Hester on offense the year before last and the year before that should never be allowed to coach offense at the pro level again, because they certainly treated him like he had at least #4 WR talent.

I know you guys like Trestman, but it seems like counting our chickens before they hatch to start worrying about who Cutler will throw the deep ball to now that he's sure to have loads of time to stand in the pocket. And if all we need is fast, we've already got Devin Hester, problem solved. But my guess is we should be worrying more about our WRs being good. Marshall being that high a percentage of the offense was a refreshing change because it means we've finally got an elite WR, but it shouldn't be our long term strategy.

How'd you do with the recent "HarBowl"? That only lasted two weeks.

I agree. He hypothetically wouldn't command that much on the free market right now, which hurts his negotiating. He's already played through his twenties and the closest he's gotten to looking like a top QB was his first full season to start...a long time ago at this point. And think of it this way...if Trestman doesn't improve the offense, then who cares? We're not going anywhere with or without Cutler. If he does though, Cutler will probably benefit the most and he'll be markedly more expensive next year. Sometimes you gotta take risks. Thing is, I don't think Cutler will want to do an extension, just like Flacco didn't want to this past year, because Cutler knows all this too.

Behind Adrian Peterson almost breaking the single-season rushing mark coming of an ACL tear, it's the best football story of the year. And way funnier than the AP story. Really, they're both two of the craziest NFL football-related stories I've ever heard.

I don't want a "healthy FA LB that will play better and have more years going forward" if it means the centerpiece of our D and over this last decade-plus ends up in Buffalo. We can get a "healthy FA LB that will play better and have more years going forward" a year or two later instead (or draft one now and let him learn from Urlacher)...and not perpetuate the sad trend of dumping future hall of famers when another option looks marginally better. Whoever would replace him wouldn't likely be able to replace Urlacher's intangibles, including the history he represents. Now, dumping Favre for Aaron Rodgers I get, but is something similar to that really what we're going to accomplish in this year's free agency? Not likely...unless you're talking about the draft and learn strategy, which not coincidentally is exactly how Aaron Rodgers was developed.

Long ago I came to realize that my fandom is about more than just how talented the Bears are and do they win. I would've jumped ship back in the Wannstedt years and been a Patriots fan by now otherwise. In general, a team needs to do what they need to do to maximize competitiveness even at the cost of tradition or loyalty or even entertainment. But Urlacher is special, to say the least. And it would be one thing if he were terrible now or wanted an elite payday, but neither appears to be the case (our D was pretty great with him in there this past year). Butkus, Sayers, Payton...all played their whole career for the Bears...in the old days it used to be more common. But count me on the side that says Url needs to do the same.

HAa. Funniest Manti quip on these forums so far

I don't know if anyone's considered it, but wouldn't Hester have more chance having the offense make the best use of him and being developed better under Trestman than under Lovie? If he doesn't retire, maybe Trestman can get him to turn the corner. If we're assuming Trestman's good enough to turn around the entire offense, I don't see why not. We don't need Hester to become elite...just to be useful as a speed receiver from time to time. Also, you can guarantee our new special teams coach is going to want to take a crack at getting Hester back to form as a returner. He just inherited the statistically best returner of all time. What new special teams coach wouldn't have that at the top of his list?

What caused this?

Also, 2-gap seems bad timing as we transition from having elite linebackers and middling interior defensive linemen (in the past) to aging linebackers and high motor interior defensive linemen.

OK, now it seems like it's been awhile. Vasher's not even in the NFL anymore.

Man, it seems like just the other day (okay, year, but still...) that Tillman and Hester were signing new contracts. Where does the time go?

No one capable of functioning in everyday society, much less at the level he has, would consistently think, act, and speak such nonsense. There has to be a reason he didn't want to know (like being gay, which of course he denies). The other option is that he was in it, which is, indeed, pretty disgusting. ...especially when there are so many who've actually battled and succumbed to cancer who never got a tenth the attention or sympathy that his story got. Point is, this outcome is not simply the result of him reacting naturally to the circumstances he was in. As I said some many posts ago, there's something more going on here, and as it seems new info will continue to leak slowly, I'm content to wait. But just to clarify, that also means I don't agree with calling Manti "disgusting" when so much is still unknown. Maybe the topic title should have " ,allegedly" appended.

In Kellen's defense, if he had been targeted (44 times) as much as Olson (96 times), his YPRR could have been more like 1.37 compared to Olson's 1.82, which still isn't impressive, but it's at least not so pathetic (0.63). But that's sort of one side of a chicken or the egg argument. Maybe Kellen was targeted so few times because he's not very good and/or can't get open. It seems to me that a 'Yards Per Route Targeted' stat would also be helpful.

Some of you are so naive. Manti Te'o is a disgusting human because he killed his girlfriend Lennay in cold blood. No amount of lies and confused media will change that.

Yeah, I had picked up on the underwhelmed vibe...before the topic got thoroughly hijacked. But glass half full, possibly having a QB coach with a stronger signature could interfere with what Trestman has planned. So having someone who's worked under him before will help ensure that they are both on the same page. I heard Cutler's offseason regimen has already begun with him getting instruction to spend 5 minutes a day smiling at himself in the mirror and saying "You're worth it, and your teammates and fans love you".

I realize people expect Trestman to play a large part in helping Cutler, but nevertheless, Matt Cananaugh is technically the QB coach...chosen by Trestman. So is that a good thing?

We may not have to cut Hester. I'm no expert on the cap, but I imagine if he retires, we aren't obligated to pay him his prorated guaranteed money for sitting on his couch. Any of that guaranteed money would be paid back to us by Hester, effectively in return for us letting him out of his contract, and therefore it wouldn't cause a cap hit. Also, looking at that list makes it very clear how bad we missed on Kellen Davis. His cap is nearly half of Brandon Marshall's and he's not worth a tenth of Brandon's value on the field.

It's going to be me. And my answer to every question my receivers ask of me will just be "...the opposite of whatever Drake would've had you do. Now go get'em, sport", all the while smacking my gum really loudly and never leaving the shade of my golf cart.

No player makes winning ensue when they're not playing. I figured it was too wordy to keep adding "that he started", "Tebow-led", "that he QB'd", etc. to every phrase so I just did it some of the time and figured others would get the point that I always mean it in that context. Guess I was wrong. Notice I also mostly stayed away from phrases like "Tebow's record" or "He won XX games". That was on purpose. Teams win games, not quarterbacks. All a quarterback is capable of by himself is getting murdered out there on the field. Somewhere I heard someone make the point that by the end of the season, with Rex's job in jeapardy and McElroy being the direction Rex wants to go in next season, it would've been a lose-lose for Rex to let Tebow play. Tebow does awful, it's yet another embarrasing loss and Rex looks desperate. Tebow finishes the season with two wins..."well what took you so long Rex?"...and forget about starting McElroy next season withiout a distracting QB controversey. The key to Tebow will probably be to get him to accept himself at least in the role of part-time wildcat QB, where the D can't commit to either the run or the pass fully because Tebow can basically choose which it's gonna be right in the middle of the play. Hypothetically, Tebow is then happy; he brings his inspiration/luck onto the field on a regular basis, and he'd likely be a team player enough that his unquestioning support of the full-time QB strengthens that QB's perceived leadership in the eyes of others.

You have to almost be a little superstitious to believe in Tebow. The stats, and even a lot of what you see on the field, shows a bad QB. Yet everywhere he's been winning has ensued. Tebow-led teams have a better record in the NFL than Cutler's (64% vs. 57%) and Tebow has QB'd just as many playoff wins...and his college record blows Cutler's away. There is something about Tebow that makes others on the team around him step it up. That's my theory anyway.

With a name like Melvin Tucker, you'd expect him to be more southern than Lovie. Bet his middle name is Earl.