rockren

I'll go with Miami as he I believe he resides in Florida.

FWIW they didn't get Cutler! I believe the days of spending whatever it may cost are over for Washington after what happened with Haynesworth. I feel Washington may bid as much as anyone else...but that doesn't exactly help them seeing a player would have to want to play in Washington over Chicago....which is a tough sell IMO.

Especially after the Lions front office said they wouldn't place the tag on him...... Detroit is sketchy all around.

I hope this is true. It doesn't matter if we overpay for V-Jax....its what he'll cost is what matters. If it takes 4yr/50mil/16bon or 5/60mil/20bon..............I'd do either one to get Cut a target like VJax.

Agree 100% with your assessment.

I said over a month ago if Floyd runs in the 4.4s he'll be a top 10 pick and I'll stand by that for now. Vincent Jackson may very well be worth 12 mil a year to the Bears.

It's a shame because Tank and Tommie could still be in the middle for the Bears if it weren't for Tommie's health and Tank's brain farts. However, guys like Gilbert (3rd), Harrison (3rd), Bazuin (2nd) in recent drafts just haven't panned out for the Bears and that's okay. I'd rather the Bears keep exhausting these routes to put next to Peppers/Melton and company rather than using a 1st Round pick at this point in time when the Offense has bigger holes to fill.

It isn't an attack on Lovie as much as it is the organization should have more faith in him to develop a pass rusher on the outside....especially with Marinelli to help things progress. I should have pointed out Lovie and the staff has done a great job with Izzy in making him an okay DE opposite Peppers. I even like how Henry looks when the move him outside and allow him to pin his ears back on passing downs. I feel Lovie has done well in regards to his overall work in identifying talent to work with, but management bought him Peppers. Lovie needs to fill in the blanks with exhausting other avenues instead of using a 1st Round pick on a pass rusher.

Thanks for all your hard work, big man! The attitude and effort was always there with AA and hopefully he can be replaced with someone just as hard working.

That somebody had better be us.

I will be irate if the Bears draft a DE in the 1st Round. The Bears have paid a premium to get Lovie pass rushers throughout his tenure (trading for Wale, Adams and giving 90 million to Peppers). I'm not critical of the Adams move as I loved it and believed it would have worked....God rest his soul. With that being said- if the Bears constantly have to make moves to get pass rushers while he inherited a solid DE in Alex Brown....what does that say about Lovie's ability to develop talent? At some point- if Lovie is such a defensive guru, he'll have to make it work with having Peppers on the team and develop a Corey Wootten type guy to play on the other side of the HOF DE. I know I'm getting worked up over nothing, but the Bears would be admitting Lovie's lack of player development in regards to DEs if they have to draft him a pass rusher in RD1.

I believe the Bears are just quoting the company line and saying they believe Webb to be at least "good enough" to be their LT. The Bears can actually put teeth into that statement as they believed Webb to be their starting LT in the off-season last year and didn't really try to upgrade at all while keeping him the LT the entire year. With what is actually available in FA and what the Bears already have in Webb....I don't see the appeal in adding a LT via FA. The ideal and more likely series of moves would be to add one of the #1 WRs on the market via FA and hope a Mike Adams type falls to them at #19. The Bears could have that Mike Adams type battle it out with Webb for the starting LT spot. Of course Adams would eventually be the LT, but in case he isn't ready to be the starting LT W1- that would be okay. The Bears could then allow Louis to battle it out with Carimi for the starting RT spot. Again, of course Carimi would be the favorite....but health may prevent that and Louis filled in very nicely and I wouldn't mind Louis being our starting RT coming into next season. However, I would prefer Louis inside at RG with Carimi being our cornerstone on the right side for the next ten years. LT- Mike Adams type, LG- Williams, C- Garza, RG- Louis, RT- Carimi with Spencer being the backup C/G and Webb being a backup swing T. I wouldn't hate this lineup all that much.

Clifton has been playing on one leg the past 4 or 5 years....the output he has given has been incredible. I'd pass without even considering him in regards tp his age/health.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Steal for the Fudgies.

I want Emery to identify what WR he wants and go get him. I don't want the Bears to take the approach if indeed there are a number of #1 WRs out there- to just take one of the top WRs at maybe a better price. If Emery feels Bowe is the #1 WR on the market (my guess is that he does considering his KC ties...could be wrong, but I doubt it) and Bowe isn't franchised....pay what it takes to get him. I don't care what he's worth, but take the approach of that is what he costs. We'll learn a lot about our new GM very early this coming FA period.

I believe Finley would help Tice accomplish a lot of what he wants to do and would provide Cut with a huge target over the middle. Also, depending on who that Rookie LT is....I'm certainly not opposed to having that player come in and compete with Webb for the starting LT spot and eventually taking it over. Reference the #4 WR....I wouldn't have any problem at all if Sanzenbacher battled it out with a over/under 3rd Round pick for that spot if we indeed had a Bowe type #1WR, Bennett #2 and Hester #3 with Finley at TE. If the Bears focused a lot of their draft in improving the OL- that would be a hell of an off-season. I have no problem with Roach playing next to Urlacher/Briggs. I'm not familiar on whether or not Manny played the WLB or SLB in Cincy, but would only really be interested in throwing 4mil/year at him if the Bears did indeed deal Briggs to free up that money and add another draft pick.

In regards to Lawson, Bell and Royal.... That's over/under $11Mil in your proposed contracts. I'd rather throw $8-9Mil of that at Finley. I also believe Buffalo will throw A LOT more than that to keep Bell, but I respect your off-season plan overall.

I'm very excited the Bears finally came to their senses and brought in Bates to be Cut's QB coach. I certainly understand why they're apprehensive about doing so in regards that Bates could very well be gone next year should Cutler have a great year....that is something to think about. However, I'm thrilled with this choice. In regards to your list- I certainly agree with getting a #1WR and exhausting every possible avenue to do it. If Bowe isn't franchised (I would lean towards them not tagging him, but I really don't know) then Bowe would fill that role. As far as getting a complimentary WR- I'd say we don't need another WR if we got someone like Bowe. Earl could very easily be that complimentary guy and he should be as he is about to be paid like it. This is where Hester could really excel playing in the slot in his true role as a #3 as we could match him up against safeties or nickel coverages and he could actually get some separation which is imperative for him to catch anything. I'm hoping the Bears improve the OL, but I'm not sure major overhaul is needed as play improved as the season went along. Add Carimi back to the mix along with perhaps another 1st Rounder with LT capability (whether that's possible or not without trading up we'll see) and I'd be very happy with the OL coming into next season. What I'm really holding out for the Bears to do is make as big of a push for Jermichael Finley as they can. I realize two big FA splashes are extremely unlikely....but they lack playmaking over the middle of the field more than I've ever seen any team lack it to where they need to do something like this. In regards to the defense- they can have the rest of the draft for all I care after RD1 if it were to fall that way.

I agree Hester should be a HOF and praised Angelo for picking him....Briggs is up for debate, but he's been a big time player and a homerun of a draft pick regardless. I just wanted to touch on Angelo's drafts in that they didn't go the way we needed them to go. I graded both the 09 and 10 drafts very favorably due to them involving getting Cutler. I've been on the boards saying Angelo shouldn't have been fired and approved of him as GM. I believe Angelo has been pretty good in his FA pick-ups, but that would be another post.

No prob! I really enjoyed your piece and enjoy reading your work every week during the season.

Breakdown of Angelo's drafts: 2002: Alex Brown (4th), Adrian Peterson (6th) Overall this was a bad draft, but Gray and Metcalf contributed in spirts for the first few years and then fell off. AB was a highly touted pass rusher who everyone passed on because they thought he was a headcase....far from true. Adrian Peterson is about as good as it gets in the 6th Round. However, missing as badly as he did on Colombo considering how bad his knee was coming in and getting NOTHING out of Ro Williams.....this draft was a D+ at best. 2003: Rex Grossman (1st), Charles Tillman (2nd), Lance Briggs (3rd) This could have been Terrell Suggs at 4 as many Bear fans wanted.....but Suggs went 10th. Angelo dealt down to 13 hoping to get Jimmy Kennedy and put some young size in front of Urlacher but he went 12th to the Rams (and flopped). Haynes was as big of a bust as you'll find, but that was a shock to many scouts. He looked like Tarzan and played like Tarzan at Penn St, but played like Jane with the Bears. Rex didn't become what Bears fans had hoped, but he had his moments including helping the Bears to the Super Bowl in 2006 and that can never be taken away. Tillman and Briggs were absolute homeruns in this draft, which may have been Angelo's best picks. I give this draft a B. 2004: Tommie Harris (1st), Tank Johnson (2nd), Bernard Berrien (3rd), Nate Vasher (2004) I'm sorry but this was a hell of a draft. If it weren't for the injuries of Tommie Harris and Vasher (Both Pro Bowlers) falling out of football shape at the age of 26 and never getting back to it....they would have been starters even last season. Those guys helped make us a great defense in 2005/2006. Tank was a monster, but his legal problems came out of nowhere and that hurt him in Chicago. Berrien produced about as well as 3rd Rounders produce. All four of these guys cleared out way sooner than they should have and that really isn't on Angelo. I give this draft a B+. 2005: Kyle Orton (4th), Chris Harris (6th) The Ced Benson pick may have been Angelo's worst pick. Sure Benson has shown his Pro Bowl type talent in Cincy, but the Bears didn't need him! This could have been Derrick Johnson (however he went 15h I believe), but many Bears fans wanted him at 4 or a trade down to where it wasn't even worth it could have worked. The rest of this draft was absolute garbage. Harris was a steal in the 6th and contributed basically immediately and Orton did a fine job during his tenure in Chicago and helped the Bears finally land a real franchise QB in Cutler. However, this draft is a big reason why the Bears missed the playoffs 4 out of the last 5 seasons as it just didn't provide anything for the Bears to fall back on after their impressive '05 and '06 seasons. I give this draft an F. 2006: Danieal Manning (2nd), Devin Hester (2nd), Jamar Williams (4th), Mark Anderson (5th) Hester may have been the pick of the draft as he quickly became the best return man the game as ever seen. I credit Angelo on that pick because he knew Hester didn't have a position, but didn't care. Angelo said he was "Hesterized" at the combine and had to get him- boy was he right. Manning flopped as a Safety, but still is a top flight KR. I've even heard his play draw positive praise as a S in Houston (although I'll believe that when I see it). Jamar Williams and Mark Anderson were explosive athletes, but Mark Anderson was a flash in the pan who fooled us all. While this draft had a few bad misses- Hester has won more games on Special Teams than any player in the history of the game. I give this draft a B. 2007: Gren Olsen (1st), Corey Graham (6th) This draft was another utter failure. Olsen was a mixed result as a TE because he was a 1st Round pick. I do believe Olsen got a bit of a raw deal with the hiring of Martz- Olsen had plenty of opps to make Martz change the game to fit him, but Olsen didn't seize thos chances. I don't even want to talk about Bazuin and GARRET WOLFE IN THE 3RD so I'll leave it alone. This draft was a clear F. 2008: Chris Williams (1st), Matt Forte (2nd), Earl Bennett (3rd), Kellen Davis (5th) This was a great draft, but it pains me that we turned the 14th pick of the draft into an average G (I know peeps on this board love Williams inside, but I don't). Forte may have been Angelo's best pick as GM and this pick could have saved everyone's job for the next few years. Bennett is potentially a steal in the 3rd, but I think very highly of this pick. Kellen Davis was a very nice find in the 5th and I believe his best days are ahead of him. Without Forte this draft is a C at best, but with Forte....this draft is a B+. 2009: Henry Melton (4th), DJ Moore (4th), Johnny Knox (5th), Lance Louis (7th) Since this draft got us Cutler.....I loved this draft! However, Angelo screwed the pooch in trading out of the 2nd Round and ending up with two guys in the 3rd who never came close to contributing. Melton and Moore are players that I love and Knox is a guy who has produced beyond his element. Lance Louis may be the best pick of this draft should he play as we all love him as a G and I don't hate him at RT, either. Mainly because we got Cutler out of this AND still got some nice players....this draft is a B+ 2010: J'Marcus Webb (7th) Again this draft gets SOME credit because the 1st Rounder contributed to Cutler. However, I'll say it right now....Wright is a bust. He's slow. Really slow. It is still a bit too early to write guys off like Wooten and Moore, however time may be running out on them as they've seen limited action the past two seasons to where they should have seized opps by now. Webb was a great find in the 7th, but this draft has had two years now and I don't see it contributing. Angelo traded the 2nd Round of this draft to the Bucs for Gaines Adams, which I was a huge fan of at the time. I am going to give this draft a C primarily because it helped get Cutler and I believe Adams would have really helped the Bears. 2011: Gabe Carimi (1st), Stephen Paea (2nd), Chris Conte (3rd) This draft gets an Incomplete because it is far too early and I believe Carimi's injury really hurt the Bears. I like what I saw in limited action from Paea and I really liked what I saw from Conte. This could still be a fine draft, but it smells like Angelo's 1st draft IF Carimi turns into Colombo. My overall grade for Angelo in his 10 drafts: C- He inherited a HOF player in Urlacher and never drafted another one. A source for all of the Bear drafts: http://www.databasefootball.com/draft/draf...=chi&lg=nfl

If anyone here watched the Chiefs beat the Packers late in the regular season...the Chiefs WRs were giants and there was nothing that Packer secondary could do to defend them. Bowe, Baldwin and TE Lenny Pope went up for back shoulder throws and 50/50 balls and basically said to GB's DBs all game, "Yeah here is my shoulder pad in your facemask while I go up for this. I'm either catching this or you're going to fight like hell to knock it away." I'm sorry to generalize in a quote- but this is exactly what happened and Nicks made some similar plays in the Giant victory in the playoffs. Cutler hasn't been able to throw 50/50 balls to anyone other than Aromashodu and Olsen since he's been here....hopefully Emery identifies this right away and gets Cut some big WRs he can throw open when things break down. I approve of the hire and I'm on the bandwagon!

I totally agree in that when you bring in a new GM he should be able to bring his own coach. We've been over that 100 times, but I'll 2nd that with you just because it's the correct assumption. However, I do believe Emery will be a no nonesense guy with a successful stin with the Navy football program....if people think he's going to come in and be buddy-buddy with everyone, they'll be surprised.

I enjoyed your write-up, but believe this was an accident in crediting Orton as the Bears QB in '06 when they went to the Super Bowl. Rex played every game that year and brought us from behind to beat Seattle in the playoffs. I understand people hate Rex and call him a bust.....but he was a big reason we went to the Super Bowl that year and I friggin' hate when people try take that away from him.

Oh Ross will get his shot at some point....but my guess is he doesn't have the experience teams would like. I believe we'll hear his name called as a GM in another 5 years or so.