DABEARSDABOMB

I realize Williams did get that much time as a starting LT with the Bears, but if Tice thought he was better than Webb, don't you think he would have started him there? Or do you think Tice thought that Williams was the best LT, but that he was also the best guard option and when you factored all things in, he was better with Williams at guard and Webb at tackle cause he didn't think he had any competent guards? I'm just asking cause I'm pretty sure if Tice thought Williams was better than Webb, we would have seen him there. And I already know what you think of Webb at LT, so what does that say about what Tice thinks of Williams as a LT. Williams was a pretty good guard though (showed nice potential and was a good run blocker).

Probably won't get paid near as much as Nicks either. I'd be fine with Grubbs, a CB, and a B wideout (if they can't get an A wideout). Than focus on WR and DE in the draft.

McNutt had a 4.47 and was 6'2 (almost 6'3). I know a lot of people are high on him and I'd still really like him. I'd be fine drafting a wideout in the 2nd and 3rd (if we didn't take one in the 1st). That is how big of a need I feel wideout is for the Bears. Especially given the fact that it appears less likely that they will be able to find a wideout via FA. I'd sign a second tier wideout, draft 2 wideouts, and spend big on a DE (and possibly a CB). Or go oline and CB and draft a DE in the 1st round.

Update: Cap savings is actually 1.15M. Adams had a couple good years for the Bears. Seems like a good guy. I'm sure he'll stick on as a backup somewhere.

I'd be okay with him. Is he an RFA (or UFA)? I think I like Garcon a lot more. Robinson came out of nowhere after being a bit of a bust, but seems like he could be a good risk/reward guy. The big thing is, if you get guys like the above, you need to target a wideout early in the draft. Out of curiosity, anyone know what the Bears would get if they moved from 19 to say 26 or 28. Not sure if any team is interested in moving up (or even a team with an early 2nd rounder), but it could make sense (if you need a wideout and the top 2 are gone, you should still be okay with the 2nd round pick) and I assume the Bears would be able to get something pretty good to move down that much.

This frees up about $2M in cap space. This puts the Bears close to $30M under the cap (based upon Biggs analysis).

At this point, he is a borderline 1st rounder. Apparently a tremendous run blocker too and supposed to be a great kid. His major flaw is he just hasn't run a lot of pro-routes so he's unpolished. Showed above average hands during the combine. Mayock was talking about how he is going to have to go back and do more homework on this kid because he outperformed everyone (or almost everyone). Kid put on a show. Of course, he could be the next Haward Bay.

Stephen Hill, Georgia Tech. Lot of people like his upside and Cutler is the type of QB that can make his wideouts better. I think it is easier to strike gold on project wideouts when you have an above average QB (and Cutler is that). Prior to the combine, he was a 3rd round pick and we probably could grab him with one of our 3rd's no problem. Now, maybe not, but still, he's incredibly intriguing. He has a tremendous size/speed combination. Below are his measureable's from the combine. 6'4" 215; 4.30 40 His major flaw is he played in an option offense with crap QB play so he had very little utilization and is clearly very raw. Just 29 receptions last year with an YPC of something like 28.

I am now expecting the Bears to sign Royal + another FA (one of the B FA wideouts; maybe Reggie Wayne or Garcon) and draft a Wideout early. If Floyd is off the board and they don't like what is out there, I wouldn't be surprised if they move down and take Jeffrey (later on, or someone like Hill from Georgia Tech) plus a DE. A lot of talk that the Bears really really like the Illinois Defensive End.

This is not good news. Bowe is tagged; Johnson expected to resign. Desean Jackson tagged (although could be had via trade). Vincent Jackson still in negotiations with the Chargers. Saints have more cap space than expected (related to Colston). And Floyd puts up a strong 40 time (which makes it more likely that he comes off the board before 19). Will they have to look at Mike Wallace (and the loss of a 1st rounder). If so, could the Bears cut a deal to trade down (get another pick) and than sign Wallace (haha). Stevie Johnson - WR - Bills Free agent Stevie Johnson hopes to have long-term negotiations with the Bills wrapped up "within a week or so." "I don’t want to leave," he said Saturday. "I want to finish what we started. Hopefully things come together and we connect on this contract. It’s just about where I began in the NFL. I want to end there." Johnson's agent will meet with the Bills for the second straight day Saturday. An agreement is likely close.

Brad Biggs ‏ @BradBiggs Biggest thing I've taken away from combine to this point is #Bears are being comprehensive in preparation for coming weeks/months.

Bears visit with Illini DE Mercilus INDIANAPOLIS – Coach Lovie Smith provided indications that a pass-rushing defensive end will be an offseason priority this offseason and the Bears looked in that very direction this weekend, meeting with Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus during the NFL Scouting Combine. “Some of the teams that I’ve talked with – Bears, Chargers – showed interest, also the Bills,” Mercilus said. “They showed interest – a lot of interest – and those are just to name a few. It sounds good, definitely, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds and to continue on throughout the process and until draft day, see where I land at.” Pro Football Weekly projects the 6-foot-3, 26-pound junior as a first or second rounder, based primarily on his 16 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss last season, his first as an every game starter. Mercilus said that the NFL committee created for providing some guidance for underclassmen considering the NFL projected him as a third-round pick. http://www.csnchicago.com/blog/bears-talk/...mp;feedID=10330

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...ears-april-camp CHICAGO -- Chicago Bears right tackle Gabe Carimi said his surgically-repaired right knee is now pain free, and he’s aiming to participate in the team’s first offseason camp in April. “That’s what we’re looking for,” Carimi said Saturday night at a charity event for the Jewish National Fund. “We’re making good progress. Getting me out there as soon as possible is a major thing.” Carimi, the Bears' first-round pick in 2011, injured his right knee in the second game of the season. He tried to rehab the knee without surgery. But after a setback, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his knee in early November and went on injured reserve list. He had a second surgery in late December to repair connective tissue around his patella and medial collateral ligament.

They are 4th round picks though. Melton looks like he can be an above average DT in this league. If you get that out of a 4th round pick, you hit the jackpot. In terms of Wooten, he might get cut. Clearly injuries got him, but I haven't exactly since the Bears invest a top pick in a dlineman since Tommie (and prior to that Michael Haynes, who was drafted based upon Jauron's system, IIRC). Heck, as a franchise, the Bears haven't had many draft picks in the past few years that were in meaningful spots (e.g,. 1st/2nd round + early 3rd round). This year they will actually be in a decent position and it will be interesting to see what happens.

And Michael Floyd ran a sub 4.5 40, which means he might not be there at 19. Floyd is a beast and given what is going on, I won't be surprised if the Bears target wideout in Rd 1 and than sign one of the B FA Wideouts (and maybe bring back Roy).

Absolutely. I'm all over Martin if he's there. I'd even trade a few spots to get him. Rarely are you going to find a franchise left tackle outside of the top 20 picks or so in the draft.

I think the issue was that the 16-20M figure inintially thrown out around the media wasn't correct either. Now it turns out we are looking more at 28M or so and that figure includes a couple guys that the Bears could cut. Which basically puts the 46M figure as off (and the $20M figure off) by almost the same amount (since the $46M figure I believe was assuming the Bears would cut a couple of guys). That said, as the person who posted the $46M cap number from another site, at the time, it was by far the most complete source on what the cap was vs. anywhere. Additionally, the media (on other teams) has had some significant misses. For example, in the past week the Saints cap space has jumped by about $10M. Basically put, the media doesn't have as much great info as some of you think when it comes to understanding the cap and all of the space and franchises aren't necessarily going to flat out say what type of space they have (and the Bears have been completely silent since Emery took over). The only way you get there is by analyzing what was reported and what is available and having an understanding of the cap and everything. I'm not going to spend the time to do it but I'm glad someone on that site did and they have done so for years and been very accurate, much as LT (on this very site) is one of the best and knowledgeable posters when it comes to knowing the Bears cap.

I'm assuming that is where the London bridge is?

Chiefs have a ton of money to spend though.

Great thoughts AZ.

So now it looks like it is $28M. That looks to be a pretty thorough analysis too. Maybe with a few roster moves (e.g., cap casualties) you get to 30M but it didn't look like there was much room in that regard.

Would you rather spend 11M Bowe/Jackson or spend say 6M on Wayne & Garcon; Or Meachem & Garcon. And I don't know, maybe It costs more than 6M for those 2. But it might be a question that Emery has to ask, especially if he likes some of these 2nd tier wide-outs and thinks they can step forward. In Garcon's case, he has done nothing but get better and last year with a crap QB he still put up good numbers. Put him with Cutler and that should help. In Meachem's case, he's young, has tons of talent, and the question is, is his lack of production a result of all of Bree's other weapons or is he just not very good.

I think the major problem is that a lot of teams have a lot of money to spend. And of those teams, there are quite a few that could use an impact wideout. This means a lot of money is going to get passed around at the wide receiver position. And it leads me to believe you might be better jumping on guys like Wayne, Garcon, etc, and grabbing them for a little less, while putting more of an effort on a DE (even if that DE is an older guy like Mathis). Than the Bears can add a young wideout via the draft but still be in a good spot. Garcon could actually be a pretty big-time signing. Albeit, if I'm the Colts, I'm not letting him go. He's 25 and has gotten better each of the past 2 years. He isn't small (not huge either) and is pretty fast with solid hands. Whose to say he doesn't continue to get better and turn into a real nice wideout. Than there is a guy like Wayne, whose older, and probably wants to sign with a team that wins, and the Bears offer that chance. Add those 2 with a young wideout via the draft and you have a pretty nice corp's (without having to hit on the one of the big name guys). This could allow the Bears to sign a CB and DE. They'd also be fine to extend some of there young players like Melton. And probably could even look a bit at a FA olineman.

Oh, in no way shape or form, am I comparing Moose to TO/Moss in their primes. That would be insane. I'm mearley pointing out that when the Bears signed Moose, he was one of the most targeted guys in the league via FA. The Bears were extremely agressive and swooped in and signed him to a big money deal almost immediately. The deal didn't work out great, but Moose was our #1 on the superbowl team (well along with Berrian) and while at times he was inconsistent with a better QB we probably see a bit better production out of him. Sadly, he's the best wideout we've had since Booker (and that isn't a good thing; Moose was a pretty big dissapointment for the Bears). Moss/TO are not targeted. If they didn't have major attitude problems, I'd be all for signing these guys to incentive laden deals. The risk would be very low. If they don't pan out, so what, you gave it a shot. However, with these guys, they are cancers in the clubhouse, and that means even if they don't pan out, they could very well have a negative impact on the entire team. That to me indicates you actually have severe downside scenario's in giving these guys low-risk deals. Both were tremendously talented players and in there prime's, I'd put up with there shit (neither of them had actual off the field problems; For me, those are the things that I really don't put up with). Heck, even a couple years ago, I'd have put up with there crap. I just believe these guys are more than a few years past there primes and if I'm going to go that route, I'd much rather go with someone like Reggie Wayne. Especially when we know there is a good chance the Bears are going to draft a young wideout in the 1st 2 or 3 rounds. I'd rather have that young wideout learning from a guy like Wayne than a guy like Moss. Owens, well, I don't know if he can teach or not, cause I'd love him to teach. He is/was one of the hardest working guys in the league and fundamentally was rock solid. Not only was he a physical beast but he was a tremendous route runner. The type of knowledge and ability he'd have to teach, would be phenomenal, if it weren't for the fact, that quite frankly, he's socially incompetent. If guys like Stevie Johnson credited TO as a good teacher, than I might be a little more open to working with Terrell. I've long argued, you look at most of the top wideouts in the league, and at one point in time or another, they worked with other very good wideouts. Fitzgerald grew up around some of the best wideouts in the league (not in the NFL, however, he did have Boldin, who was legit with the Cards). Owens was tutored by Rice. Moss via Carter. There are exceptions to this, clearly, but I think a good wideout can immensely help develop other wideouts.

Supposedly some research was done on Hester's cap hit and most of the listing weren't correct. I can't even pretend that this is accurate. Basically put, I think the 44 number is probably a bit high, but after the Bears clean up some space on Omilaye and others, I think they will be close to 36M or so. Which actually should give the Bears quite a bit of flexibility. I'd like to extend Melton, work out a fair deal for Idonijie, Graham, Bell, Steltz and McCown (as you talk about). Forte should be somewhere around 6-8 M (depending on whether you franchise him or sign him long term). After you do that, even if you think 8 & 8, that is 16M. That would leave the Bears with about 18M to address some other areas. That should be enough money to sign one guy to a big time deal (even potentially 2). Or you could sign one guy to a big time deal and add quite a few other quality starters.