DABEARSDABOMB

I can point you to a great Sox page, but I got nothing for ya on the cubs. I think bleedcubbieblue.com used to be a site. Don't know if it is still around.

Lions are continuing to improve and Schwartz seems like a good hire. I like what they are doing (wish they weren't doing it though). The NFC North is going to be one tough ass division.

One important thing to remember is that the club is adding in two perennial pro-bowlers. Brian Urlacher and Julius Peppers. That will make a huge difference to our D or at least I expect that it will.

He's not just some NFL Network guy though. He was spot on and the first to report all of the Bears major news recently, so I think he's got a pretty good source within the org.

The ESPN talking heads all basically said how the Bears failed to address WR and Oline which were the teams two biggest needs. Well, I think they are sleeping a bit on the wide-out position and at the same time I think us as Bear fans are a little overly optimistic as to our talent. Clearly we could use an elite #1 wideout. Yes, we all hope DA is that but it was just a few games. And clearly the oline needs to get upgraded but those takling heads seriuosly need to shut up. We didn't have anyone out there to go after on the oline that would have been a significant upgrade and our oline did get better as the season went on. Which you would also expect given how many changes there were to our oline last season.

Playing in Chicago is going to be a huge change from Carolina and I think he'll thrive. He knows if he puts up big numbers in Chicago he has a chance to go down as one of the all time greats. In Carolina, he just couldn't get that sort of notoriety. I think he'll win at least 1 defensive player of the year award in Chicago. We all know he has the capabilities.

We have to remember if we made that deal, we would not have a draft pick until the 5th round. You just can't do that. I also think the Bears are saving there available resources for safety. The Rams safety would cost a lot and the Steelers safety won't come cheap either. And those are just flat out bigger need positions.

Boldin than signs a 4yr 28M deal. I would have been down with that. That isn't too bad, money wise, for a WR like Anquan.

Cards traded Boldin and a 5th rounder for a 3rd and 4th rounder from Bmore. I guarantee if the Bears had draft picks they might have tried to do this. But as of now, I think they know that they had bigger fish to fry.

-Bears brass believes success went to his head after rookie year. -They werent at all impressed with his work ethic last off-season as he spent most of his time in Tulane.

Biggs has said that the Bears are flat out not involved in any discussions for Boldin. Period.

Briggs: Excited, but how about a safety Chicago Bears linebacker Lance Briggs is following his team's free agent pursuits on Friday via the Internet, and while he liked what he saw early, he has a suggestion. The Bears set up interviews with top free agent Julius Peppers, as well as running back Chester Taylor. And the Bears have locked up tight end Brandon Manumaleuna for five years. "I'd be excited [to get Peppers]," Briggs said on "The Waddle & Silvy Show" on ESPN 1000. "Obviously, when you get a premier defensive end like Julius Peppers, he's going to help bolster any defense." Briggs was asked how he would like his defensive huddle in training camp to include Peppers, a healthy Brian Urlacher and a re-committed Tommie Harris. "That's the whole idea, and a safety," Briggs said. "I'm in L.A. right now, and I turn on the Internet to see what's going on, what the organization is doing, and to me it looks like we're making sweet moves right now. "I'm excited about everything right now."

They won't move Forte. He's got a lot of value in-house with his cheap salary. Plus you need 2 good backs in the NFL. They provide depth and major insurance in the case of injury.

Completely agree. He's a total class act and was a bargain.

Peppers contract is expected to give him 20M in up-front cash. 7M will go to Taylor in up-front cash and 6M to Mamu. That would be a total of 33M in up-front cash the Bears just doled out on Day 1 of FA. That is a huge huge statement by the McCaskeys!!!

5 yrs, 15M, 6M in guaranteed money is what I read from Brad Biggs. Thats good money for a TE, but if he is a great blocker, it will work out. An elite blocking TE to go alongside Olsen or Clark would signiifcantly increase our chances of putting up TD's in the red zone. I also think we are going to see Mamu used in short-yardage situations as a fullback on ocassions as well.

At least the org wasn't just cheap. They decided not to eat the money on changing coaches, but instead use that money towards potential difference makers within. I'm ok with that and I think the franchise has made some huge statements the last two years with the Peppers signing and the Cutler trade.

If it takes a 3rd round pick, I'd consider it. The problem is the money that the team will have to give to Boldin and the fact that Boldin has such a history of injuries.

Sounds like Manu signed for 15M with 6M in guaranteed money so he's definitely not going anywhere. So basically if we keep Olsen, Clark goes. If we move Olsen, Clark stays, imo.

Gotta love his attitude!!!

I think the Bears are going to shell out more than 25-30M, but I could be wrong. I think that was a figure to tell teams we are going to be agressive, without quite saying we have a blank check for the season. And I don't think the Bears have a blank check. I will also say that I'm pretty happy with the deals we have handed out and I don't think they will straddle the long-term future of the Bears. With a few other nice moves and some nice developments with current players, our defense could be rejuvenated. Lovie won't have any excuses assuming decent health because Peppers will make this defense so much more explosive.

I think this is better than having a Top 5 pick. But otherwise the draft is incredibly important. That said, I think the Bears have done incredibly well assuming this deal is done and finalized. If they can address the safety position and than maybe add an olineman than It'll be a dream come true. Who knows what else is planned, but the defense is already a lot better.

The need to free up money isn't from a cap perspective, rather a payroll perspective. Just because a guy has a cap hit of 4M, he might only actually have a true payroll cost of 2M or vice versa. The reason I say that is because you might determine you need to free-up your finances (ie moving someone like Harris or whomever could free up a few million in real cash) to make a move . Also, I do not currently support moving Harris because I don't think the Bears are actually set to pay him much money.

You are right. Lets hope these deals work out better than those did.

Also Terra, I think the reason the Bears jumped so fast on Taylor was because there aren't a lot of quality RB's out there in FA. LT is older and Westbrook is injury prone. Thomas Jones would have been tough given the relationship the Bears had with the back on top of the fact that the Jets still want him. Once Sproles was tendered at the highest level, the importance of finding a back quickly became key. On the safety front there are still the possibilities of Rhodes getting released, plus Sharper, Rams, and Steelers safeties all available.