DABEARSDABOMB

I think the fact that the media is harboring on this and blasting them for there inactivity might be a good thing. I don't always think the fans or media are right, but in this instance I think there is good reason to bitch. Clearly upgrades need to be made and the Bears have the financial resources to do so or should and if they don't, they need to sell a portion of the team to someone with the ability to put in the salary necessary when options are out there. I'm not saying to be like Daniel Snyder and I'm also not going to ignore last off-season where they spent an assload, although I think some of those signings were mistakes and felt so at the time. The media complaining will get fans ticked and that will put pressure on Phillips, Angelo and Lovie and I think thats a good thing cause a little bit of pressure can be pretty motivating at times.

Mortsensen and Clayton have both reported that they believe the Bears have some interest, but I think it was Clayton who said the Bears might not have the ammo to get the deal done (ie, enough draft picks).

Oh, I'm not implying you use him as a QB. He's not as quick as Vick, nor does he have the arm Vick has, but he's a very good athlete as a whole and I think he could make some nice things happen.

In fact, last season, Matt Jones played in 12 games (I believe he was suspended for at least a couple, if not 4 games) and put up over 700 receiving yards. Over a 16 game season he would have had just over 1000 yards. The guy had his best season last year, and I realize he was just released from jail but he would be a hell of a weapon for Orton (6-6 WR with good athletism). Him and Olsen would be matchup nightmares and you still have the speedy Hester and the steady Clark, plus Forte.

Ya, I se the Trib saying 3yrs 4M but that just doesn't make sense. There is no way another team in the NFL wouldn't offer more than that for St. Clair. I have to believe that it would be 3yrs 12M, but maybe I'm wrong. 3yrs 4M would be an awesome deal for a guy that could provide such great depth at both guard and tackle (both tackle spots).

I thought long and hard about Harris. I know the Broncos were kind of interested in Haynesworth so they might very well be interested in Harris. Clearly Harris is one of our better players but at the same time, you build your franchise around QB's, not defensive tackles and Harris play has clearly dropped since his injuries happened. I love Harris attitude but as a whole would be completely down with moving him if it got the Bears Cutler. Not certain about the cap rammifications for trading Harris (how much that would hinder the Bears from being able to pick up guys that could semi replace him via FA or the draft this year) but Cutler's salary is small so that wouldn't be an issue (although the Bears would clearly have to sign him to an extension).

This is a guy that a lot of people had pegged at points in his career as a guy with star potential. He never truly emerged into that and he had some off the field problems this past season, but as a whole he's the opposite of any WR's we have. The guy is a beast of a target with good hands and he seems to be a very good red zone target. He clearly is a step down from Holt, but again would be a significant upgrade over anyone the Bears had at the WR position last season. He's also still young enough that he could in fact have a few 900 yard plus seasons in him.

White is a very versatile player who might turn into a pretty nice playmaker. He won't necessarily be a star, but he's a guy that you could give reps at Wideout and in a wild-cat type of role as kind of a guy that people had to game plan for a couple times a game.

The Broncos have Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, I don't think they'd have much interest in Hester. If you are going to trade a player plus picks, it would have to be one of our defensive players, plus high draft picks. I personally would give up a 1st and 2nd this year or this and next years first no problem.

That's a pretty good haul.

Lyman wasn't a high pick though, I think he was a 3rd rounder at the earliest. They liked his athletism and gave him a shot there. In the case of others, you could make a case that the position changes might have been due to them not being able to pick it up at a more difficult position or the more needed position and than they moved them to another similar position. FOr example, at the tackle spot, its not that difficult for a tackle to become a guard so I don't see that as being an issue. You typically start guys at tackle and if they don't make it move them to guard, however, in certain instances you already have enough tackles so you'll start a guy at guard and if things go well and the tackle spot opens you might ultimately move them to guard. Omilaye probably fits better or projects better as a guard so the Bears will use him there unless they have to use him at tackle (clearly a plan B or C at this point). Idonijie could play both positions. The Bears ultimately felt it was best for him to be able to play on special teams and the line and to do that they felt he would be best suited as DE, imo, as opposed to a DT since at that size it was tougher for him to really be a valuable special teams player and regardless he's a bench guy. In the case of Bowman, there isn't a huge difference between CB and Safety. Sure there are tackling differences and obviously CB is the tougher of the two positions, but if a guy can tackle, there is really little reason that a CB couldn't transition over to FS. Bowman is far down on the depth chart but the Bears like his ability enough to try him at free safety, not a big deal, imo. As a whole I think the Bears have done a pretty good job and there has typically been a pretty good reason for the switch, imo. CLearly you'll have failures but I can't think of a ton. Heck, look at Haynes, you could say that was a failure, but the Bears tried to move him to another position when the first one didn't work to try and save face (obviously neither ended up working, but you can't blame them for trying to get him in at multiple spots).

Roosevelt Colvin and Brian Urlacher are two good examples of moves. I know you had mentioned them but its hard to ignore both of there successes following the change. Azumah was a darn good CB and probably wouldn't have made it as an RB. Hester was primarily a CB in college, yet in the NFL he looks like he'll be a pretty solid WR and the Bears weren't cheap by giving him big bucks with the hope that he'll fully develop into a top flight WR. I actually think its a credit to the scouts and coaching staff that the team is able to identify guys and turn them into a successful player at another position. These are guys that probably wouldn't have made it in the NFL had they stayed at there original position.

Looking back, I don't really know that you could make the case that Minny's offer for Berrian was a brain fart. The guy contributed more than any of the FA wr's last year and overall did a very good job despite having no one to throw him the ball.

I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact that Orton wasn't able to practice that much during the 2nd half of the season due to his ankle injury so it would have been difficult for him to develop much of a rappore with Bennett as well. In general I think it is pretty typical for WR's to have problems adjusting to the NFL speed and its a position that typically has a 2-3 year development window compared to other positions where players are more likely to make immediate NFL impacts. I'm excited to see what Bennett can do, but I also want to see the Bears get a very good vet and another talented young WR so that we can finally say the Bears WR corps at least has talent, maybe it won't have production, but please give them some guys with the talent to develop into playmakers.

Rumor is Cutler's list of teams include the TItans and Bears with the Bears potentially being his preferred destination. He's worked with Williams and Bennet in the past as well so I really think Cutler would be a tremendous fit. A 26 year old QB whose about to enter his prime is a very valuable asset. Plus, if Lovie sucks this year the Bears can go out and spend the money on Shanny. Cutler instantly becomes the best QB since Luckman and clearly has the best abilities of any QB in franchise history. I"d give up this years and next years first rounder to get him too. The Bears have money to pay him as well and than still go out and target a veteran WR like Holt or to go after a guy like Matt Jones whose a solid WR that would be a nice compliment to the other WR's the Bears have. I realize we would lose a top pick, but man, Cutler could be taking snaps in Chicago for the next 10 years and thats a pretty damn valuable thing to have.

I"ve changed my stance, I want Jay Cutler and Holt and I'll be a very happy camper. Potential franchise QB's don't grow on trees and one is available and we are atop his list. I don't care if we had to give up two first round picks, I would be all over Cutler.

Damn, I would be very content with that draft.

Tell me about, everyone was pushing public out of college. I opted for Pulblic and just finished up my first full year as a senior at Deloitte, but today was my last day. I left for a position in private, which will start in three weeks and am going to go back for my MBA in September at USC (going to do the part time program, which will enable me to take classes in Irvine, which is where I live, for the first 1/2 years of the program). I heard all about the job security but right now its been ugly, all I've seen are severe layoffs since I started but luckily I was able to survive them and still ended up finding a good job to leave for. I'm hoping to go back to Deloitte though after my MBA but on the consulting side. I definately agree with you on the experience aspect though and I look forward to getting to work with two major systems at my new gig (going to be a senior analyst right now, but they told me that they have a manager spot groomed for me in 6 months, who knows whether thats true or not).

So the Bears aren't going after holt and talk about the need for a #1 WR. Why not show it by putting in a serious offer for Boldin.

The Bears are content. It's too bad too, because Weaver is much better than McKie.

I'm ready to be royally pissed. Holt is a perfect option for a team with a young QB, no WR's (although one or two have talent...Hester/Bennett) and some good TE's and a young RB. How can you not give him the money to come in and be our #1 while grooming some of the younger WR's (hopefully we still draft someone early too). I just don't see how you don't go after him, because his addition just makes the entire offense so much better. It helps Orton, it helps Forte, it helps all the other WR's and it helps our TE's. It is a no brainer. Oh and the Bears have tons of cap room.

Hey madlith, do you work in public accounting or did you ever? I'm an accountant too.

I think it would have been pretty tough to get Buenning involved since he was new to the system, wasn't truly 100%, and the Bears were winning and getting respectable play out of the guards (although I think we'd all say Garza sucked). This is the off-season where he will have a chance, imo.

The Bears have the worse WR corps in the freaking league and probably over the past decade. They are absolutely horrendous and I know you continue to believe that it is the coaching staffs fault and think that our receivers have loads of talent but I've seen numerous experts talk about how bad the Bears WR corps are and I'm going to give them the nod, especially since we have few high end draft picks and no one that has every screamed star to me (Berrian was the closest thing we had). Turner did an above average job last year with absolute shit and I mean shit. Lloyd was someones garbage, years removed from doing anything worthwile. Booker was slow and past his prime, Bradley flat out didn't practice nor did he ever stay on the field (he did have athletic ability though), Bennett (who knows), Davis (blows...wasn't even a WR for most of his career, IIRC), and Hester (a project, albeit with good talent). He also had a developing QB, a rookie RB, and a mediocre oline (at best). Hell, Turner is about the only OC over the past 15 years to make the Bears offense look explosive and he did it with Conway, Graham, and Erik Kramer...not too shabby. How about Angelo go out and actually get some high end WR's and give his QB's the ability to freaking succeed and for the offense to score.

It's a good theory. We definately hadn't heard either of these guys names anywhere and I assume JA had both of them on his radar all along.