DABEARSDABOMB

I think McKie is gone.

This is a great move. He's a very good blocking TE that will help us in red-zone two TE sets. He also gives the Bears the flexibility to at least consider a deal involving Olsen.

I just hope Shefter is right. If he is, we get Taylor and Peppers.

Bears apparently were told what it would take to sign him and ultimately backed out to focus on Peppers/Taylor. If they can hit on those two, the Bears will than turn there attention to Atogwe and Rhodes. And I won't lie, either one of those guys would be a huge upgrade at safety. Right now, I want me some Peppers and badly!!!

Nothing official, but Shefter believes that the Peppers and Taylor are close to done deals. I don't believe it until it happens though. But damn would those be two huge signings.

This would be huge as it would allow the Bears to make an impact signing before FA begins. That means they can hit big early (prior to later this evening) before throwing all of there attention at Peppers. If they land those two, I expect them to be a bit more quiet and re-asses the landscape before jumping after a TE (if they choose to move Olsen) and there backup RB.

Everyone is a spectator right now, 9 hours from opening of free agency. One source I trust said: "I expect the Bears to hit it big." source added: "This is it. There is no draft. They have to come out w/ 4 or 5 players. The #Bears will not be outbid. It's in their budget." All I can say is we haven't seen the #Bears, not under Jerry Angelo or anyone else, come out writing checks like that in free agency. So get your popcorn ready for tonight, or set your alarm. This will be interesting to watch. Can you imagine if they don't strike in FA?

I thought that was interesting that we would have met with the agent. That seems really stupid if we tampered and get hit for that.

I don't think the Bears are really that limited. Would the Bears want to openly say they have 50M sitting out there in funds prior to going out and negotiating with Peppers? Absolutely not. I think this is more of a negotiating ploy to basically let Peppers and his agent know that they can't just bend the Bears over.

A 2nd round pick for Olsen would be more than fair and I think that would be a good move or at least one I could get behind.

A top flight safety, pro bowl DE, solid olineman and quality backup RB would be a dream come true. I don't know if we'll get all of those, but I'm quietly excited about what free agency might bring.

Glad to hear you and your family are ok Chile!! And hopefully the international helps comes quickly and the rescue effortrs go as smoothly as possible over there.

I'd be really happy with Rolle/Peppers (Or Kapman) plus a good back-up running back (Taylor would be gravy).

Westbrook would be a nice back-up though if he was healthy. The guy can still play and is multi-dimensional (catch and run).

He'd be a nice fit and would help us in the redzone.

Good call NFO. You mentioned something and than I saw where Lovie mentioned how the Bears could really use a safety. I'd be exstatic if we could land a Peppers and Rolle for our defense. Those would be two MAJOR MAJOR upgrades.

I could be making a bigger deal of the article than it is. However, I haven't seen Haugh be so critical of the Bears recently so it really stuck out to me. Plus, all of the stuff we had heard that was negative regarding the Bears was from the media and it was based upon our perception of the interviewing process that took place the past month and a half. This was the 1st article from a pretty reputable member of the press where he talked about how the organization is in chaos internally and that was what really stood out.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-c...,5483403.column

Wow, Haugh laid into things pretty good tonight in the Tribune. I think we might see other changes happen, who knows.

I take it he gets ripped pretty hard? Hub Arkush said that Depaul was about the only respected guy in our front office with the connections around the league to get stuff done. This sounds really really bad.

I believe that could be why he was escorted out. That research (or what was written) stays with the team. All of those reports are with the team. Now he might have some info on what the Bears plans or, but I can't think of anyone all that concerned with what a middle of the pack team is going to do in the off-season. And ultimately only one team would benefit. The Bears have a shot at getting twice the information and lets be honest, anyone with half a brain could look on the Bears roster and determine our needs. It has been reported that the Bears brass has not yet identified the players they are going to target anyway and my guess is that is why they made the move when they did (they get his research, yet let him go before he knew too much about the off-season plans).

I read the opposite on profootball talk. They basically said it had more to do with Jerry bringing in one of his boys than anything else and that basically if Jerry hires his boy the Bears would have Depaul's research plus Jerry's boys research (which was done with the Seahawks) and essentially the club would have 2 weeks to look at both research and make there decisions on who to target in FA.

Sounds like he will be released in St. Louis. I think he'd be a real nice signing for our back-up QB spot (with Hanie as our 3rd stringer). Basically if Cutler went down and we were in contention, you go to Bulger, if Cutler went down and we are out of contention, you go to Hanie.

I'd be ok with the move.

Interesting. Sounds like we are going to hire the Seahawks former GM to replace Depaul.