DABEARSDABOMB

If Cutler continues his progression, he's a hall of fame QB and that alone will let me hand JA a lifetime contract, LOL. I was always one of JA's biggest supporters but I was quite upset with the way the off-season was going and all has changed. I still question Lovie but as a whole like Lovie and hope he can do it. I also know if he doesn't, having Cutler and the other players on this team will make the Bears the most attractive coaching destination out there and with Gruden/Shanny/Cowher all out there I know the Bears can get one of those guys (My top guy would probably be Gruden because he could come in and be the coach for 10 years but Shanny would be very close given his relationship with Cutler). In fact I think a Shanny/JA combo would work phenomanly, no one knows offense like Shanny and Angelo clearly has an eye for defensive talent so the overall combination would be tremendous. Plus Shanny is such a big name you could bring in whomever to control the D and would never have any major issues with the head coach being scared for his job because you have a big name DC.

For those out of towners, ESPN News will be broadcasting the press conference as well. I'll be tuned in.

I won't say breakout year, but I think you'll see Bennett have a 600-750 yard season which is very freaking good for a 2nd year player. I think you'll see 700-800 out of Olsen depending on his useage and about 800 yards out of Hester. The key is if they get a guy like Holt, I think your also looking at another 900 yards or so.

Waiting to get pictures of Cutler daunting Bears gear...and I am waiting for jerseys to go on sale. On a sidenote, I'm starting to think that the Bears are going to take Murphy from Florida unless they ink a WR prior to the draft. Been hearing that the orgs #1 focus is finding a WR and they are apparently going to be trying the FA front. No idea if they'll consider Plax or Jones but they have apparently been in contact with Holt.

Who is this Armoashodu guy? I've been out of town for most of the past two weeks, have I completely missed the boat on this guy?

I've heard that in Chicago there is a growing consensus that Urlacher hasn't exactly been overly excited about the move. Apparently on WSCR, Urlacher has been getting blasted for comments he made today. I've heard the comments he made on ESPN Radio and he definately didn't sound overly optmistic but he also didn't sound negative. Does anyone think this is going to be an issue? I know I've been pretty open on the fact that I'm 1000% behind Cutler. I'd give him a 100M extension right now if I had to. The guy is badass, I wanted him in the draft that year and I love his gunslinging attitude, overall abilities and his stats (including how freaking good he's been in the 4th quarter). The guys stats in his first three years are on par with every great NFL QB too. I hope we find out quickly because the last thing I want to see is Urlacher getting but-hurt as he is a leader whose opinion has a lot of weight with the team. I think Cutler should be welcomed with open arms and I would expect our defensive players to be freakin thrilled that the potential is there for the Bears to have a top of the line offense.

The question is why not if your Holt. You know you don't have any major competition so you could revive your career, you know you have a great Qb, and a great RB, and you will have some people familiar with you (Pace/Lovie). I'm thinking Holt doesn't want to play for a cold weather team and feels that overall for his career there might be better places for him to play and produce. That or he has some pretty fat offers (similar to what Housh got and that would surprise me) out there and the Bears aren't going to do that. If the Bears are going to give big money to a WR, than it should be Plaxico.

It sounds like the other team that had an offer similar to the Bears were Washington and Cleveland. Apparently the one QB the Broncos liked more than Orton was Quinn and he was available, but that Cutler's agent had a bad taste about the way Mangini handles QB's and that those close to the situation felt there would be a problem if he was traded to Cleveland (not necessarily with Cutler, rather that the idea was there and neither team wanted to deal with it). Apparently Favre had serious issues with Mangini and Cutlers agent is Favre's agent so there was already bad blood.

Most anyone who scouts the NFL all have said that Harrison has just lost it. Maybe he was out of shape or still recovering from an injury but I'd be hard pressed to truly believe that he has much anything left in the tank. The only positive he would bring is a veteran leadership (aside from his dumbass gun thing, the guy never had any issues and I've never heard anyone question him as a teammate). If you sign Holt, you could probably get away without drafting a WR early, if you sign Harrison, you still have to, imo.

I'd go five years but as long as the contract is written so that anything after the 3rd year can be written off with relative ease. To me a deal which effectively guarantees him about three years time in Chicago would be one beneficial to both sides and if the deal ends up being longer the Bears and Holt can than decide to renegotiate or do something from there. I think its relatively reasonable to believe that Holt has probably 3 more 800+ yard seasons in him.

I don't think anyone in New York would call him Plexi Glass, he played hurt and played well throughout his tenure in New York. In fact, I would be absolutely freakin thrilled if the Bears signed Plaxico. The question is whether he's going to spend time in prison and whether he'll face any suspensions. The guy was an idiot who shot himself, he had no other negative runs in that I'm aware of (but maybe I'm wrong). In fact, I guarantee if you polled NFL players you'd find that a very high percentage carry a firearm.

Whoops...Lions is correct.

Per Rotoworld This is as of 20 minutes ago so I believe this is a quote after Cutler and Pace joined the Bears. Still, I think Holt or Matt Jones would make tremendous sense and would allow the Bears to go with 3 WR's and Davis as a 4th and whomever as the 5th (Lloyd or someone that could contribute on special teams like Riddeau?) and would allow the Bears to take a high upside project at De in the 2nd round (a guy that has the tools to get to the QB) or to fill our need at the safety position or if a good tackle or guard prospect fell we could tab them and let them develop. If the Bears ignored the character issues with Jones or talked to him and decided he had changed, could you imagine the red zone weapons Cutler would have. Jones and Olsen would be unstoppable big targets that would be tough coverages in the red zone and than you have Forte who is another tremendous weapon with his ability to run and catch out of the backfield. That would be downright disgusting, imo.

I wish Kyle the best and I think he'll have a very serviceable NFL career. But right now I'm so excited about what the Bears got. Could the Bears have been okay with Orton, sure, but do they have the chance to be great with Cutler, absolutely.

LT, do you have a rough estimate as to where the Bears now stand in terms of CAP room this year. Gracias

Ya, what were the financial rammifications of the deal. Clearly Cutler is going to receive the largest contract in franchise history and by making this trade we are making a statement that the franchise will be built around him from this point onward.

But the Bears have two young WR's with potential and a young TE whose already shown a good amount of production and should get better (ie, Hester/Bennett/Olsen). Therefor, a 3 year stop gap would be perfect regarding Holt. Plus at this point in his career he would be much more likely to be willing to slide into a secondary type of role where he would still be incredibly effective and valuable and as he continues to regress we hope our young players continue to step up (and if Bennett or Hester don't develop as expected, you still have a vet you can lie on heavily and than address WR next year via FA or the draft). And the nice thing is, having a guy like Cutler, you can actually go in and address the WR position a lot easier since tons of WR's would love to play with a guy like Jay.

Thats where Olsen or potentially a Matt Jones could fit in nicely too. Given that we lost draft picks, I think we'll see the Bears make one more offensive addition on the FA front and than see them try to address the guard or tackle spot if someone slides in the 2nd round, otherwise the priority will be on a high upside project DE and a guy that can come in and start immediately at the safety position.

I hope so, because if he gets in the way, he's gone, imo. Heck, what better way to wake up a defense living in the past than getting rid of its so called leader.

Anyone that doesn't buy into Cutler can pack there bags, Urlacher first. Urlacher WAS the face of the franchise and he was a pathetic whiny little bitch that doesn't talk to the media and hasn't played at an elite level in a couple seasons. Cutler might also be considered whiny but he's a tough guy who in a short NFL career put up tremendous numbers in the 4th quarter and his first 3 seasons rank amongst the very best QB's first three seasons ever. Cutler is the organization and if people are going to get in the way of him, than see you. I want more Briggs and Cutler's than I want Urlachers thats for sure. I'm sorry, I hate Urlacher more than most Bear fans. Thats not to say I don't like him as a player or anything like that, but over the past few years he's been an anti leader. He makes excuse after excuse for the D and just pisses me off.

I'm not a Davis fan, I don't mind him at all as our 4th WR, but right now we have Hester and Bennett ahead of him and I'd like to get Holt and put him ahead of him as well. If you go with those three I'm very content. I will also admit that I think every WR has gotten quite a bit better today. No longer will they have to ask questions or deal with different QB's. They now have one QB (hopefully he doesn't get hurt or something) and will be able to really build chemistry. Hell, look around the NFL, did you guys notice how the Packers seemed to constantly develop WR's, same with the Niners constantly finding them with Young and the Broncos being able to find them pretty well with Elway, Colts with Manning, etc etc etc. I think its a trend that great QB's can make it far easier for WR's to develop and succeed. They might not be the only reason but I think there is a higher chance you are able to get the most out of your WR's if you have a legit QB and the Bears finally have that. I'm so freakin excited.

Given what has happened, I wouldn't be opposed sticking with Hester, Bennet, and a guy like Holt. Hester and Bennett are both young and we can see how they develop this year along with a good veteran that I could pencil in for about 800 receiving yards. Combine it with a young TE like Olsen and a steady vet like Clark and I'd be quite content on the Bears not taking a WR and instead using our early picks on the safety spot and our future RT (whom we could develop slowly). I'd obviously have no qualms about going with a WR, but given the QB we have I could live with the current set of weapons plus Holt (since I expect all to be much better with Cutler here).

This is a different Chicago Bears. My whole image of the franchise has changed in one fell swoop (err trade).