DABEARSDABOMB

In reality we didn't though. A CB with his technique would never have went on the first day. He went when he did because of his special teams ability and lucky for us he panned out with that in his first year. I don't know if we can truly rely on him to continue to be such a dominate return man but I do think he'll continue to make the opposition really strategize with our kicking game. Still for Hester to be completely worth it, he'll need to turn into at least a nickel CB and a good one. For him to turn into a bargain/steal, he'll have to develop into a #2 CB with big play capabilities. He has the tools to do that.

Hutchinson wasn't franchised. He was actually given the transitional tag or something along those lines that basically enables the team to match any contract. The Vikings put some ridiculous poison pills in it though that would make it pretty much impossible to match the Vikings offer. I do recall a few franchised players getting dealt and I think you can deal them for less than the 2 first round picks but if a team flat out wants to sign our guy (and not negotiate with the Bears for draft picks) than they would give up there first 2 first round picks they have (this years and next years most likely).

Hesters return was absolutely amazing though.

It is going to be tough to keep Scott. He can go elsehwere and be a full time starter while with the Bears he'll likely be behind Tank and Tommie (if they are both healthy and sane). We also have Dutsy back. Scott is our best run stuffing DT but he's good enough to start for a number of teams and I think this is his situation to get a nice pay check (nothing huge) and get him enough money so that he can have a good life if he is wise with his money. My guess is barring some set backs with Dusty/Tommie/Tank we'll probably end up drafting another DT to join that crew.

Wow that would be a shocker to me. Harrington did a pretty good job at the helm for the Dolphins. He wasn't great but he wasn't horrible (sans a game or two). I guess it will be Daunte or that young QB they were playing late last season in Miami.

He also never focused on one position in college. They threw him everywhere becuase of his athletism and while it was great for Miami it is bad for the team that got him. Because of that he's very raw and wasn't able to develop his techniques in college so he'll have to start from the fundementals up at the CB position at the NFL level. I think he's still a few years off, but he has the ability to be a very good CB although right now you'd be hard pressed to find a worse corner in the entire NFL.

The Chargers are apparently going to let Donnie Edwards go. He could be a solid replacement for Briggs.

I think I can call myself a disgruntled Bears fan. Not because of the Bears but because of all the crap I've heard, now I'm always on the attack when people say crap cause I'm so sick of it. That doens't mean I didn't love this season, because this was an amazing season, just not as amazing as I feel next season will be

I'd imagine we will finish the season with as difficult of a non divisional schedule as any team in the country. At lesat we get Dallas, New York, Denver, KC and New Orleans at home and I'm definitely going to try and make it to the Charger game, maybe even the Raider one (depending on my work schedule). Philly, San Diego, Seattle, New York Giants, Denver, KC, New Orleans, Dallas are all teams that I'd expect to be in the thick of things for the playoffs so basically we have no cupcakes aside from the Raiders. Washington isn't good but they aren't terrible either, imo. We will definitely earn a playoff birth if we get in next year (and I still think we are fully capable of doing that) but our divisional games are going to be huge becuase we can't afford to lose games to the Packers/Lions/Vikings.

They also played in systems that were wide open pass happy offenses that are not exactly considered pro-style offenses. I think those are solid comparisons with the difference being Brees had better footwork while Grossman has the better arm. Yep, Brees has excellent footwork and pocket presence. I don't think Rex's will ever be that good (pocket presence/footwork) but he should continue to learn and improve and I'm hoping that after having a full season where he stayed healthy and got to play he'll be able to work on getting a little more quick and at the same time he'll mentally be ready/more willing to move in the pocket and ocassionally step up and take off (just slide before taking the big whack). You can't tell me that Phillip Rivers is a guarantee or that Steve "Brittle" McNair isn't a concern. New Orleans now has Brees coming suffering a second significant arm injury (although this one will only sideline him two months. I buy New England and the Patriots but other teams have question-marks too, albeit sans San Diego the other teams guys when healthy are better than Rex at this point.

Ya I think Miller is a more toolsy guy which is something I like. Most places I've read have Olsen rated as the #1 TE on the board but with so many teams drafting TE's the past couple years it seems likely that one of Olsen/Miller fall to the Bears, in fact its even in the realm of possibilities that if we do target one of those guys we could trade out of the first round a few slots to a 2nd round pick and pick up an extra 3rd round pick (similar to what we did last year). I think that extra pick could come in real handy when it comes to potentially finding a backup LB that can play both MLB (if Urlacher goes down) or OLB (this is assuming Briggs comes back) and than get an extra olineman (ie draft a guard and a tackle) plus of course find a safety and a TE.

I think right now everyone is speculating. I know usually you have a few different numbers come out and its based on what certain people are estimating that the NFL sets the cap at. In addition, some sites will list the amount the team is under salary while others subtract out the rookie cap and give you an amount that the team actually has available to give to non draft picks (since usually at least 5 mill or so goes to draft picks).

But franchising them gives us the option to gain additional draft picks or make a trade which is a major plus. IIRC a franchise pick means we get two first rounders (if a team only has one this year than it means we get one this year and one next year) and with 23 million to play with we'd have options. I think we either resign Briggs or hopefully find a way to get at least a first rounder and a 2nd rounder out of it (hopefully two firsts).

I'd be a big fan of either pick. However, if we were going to go the route of olineman I'd prefer to sign Steinbach (thus giving us our younger guard) and than draft a tackle to eventually replace Fred Miller and if the guy we get ends up being good enough, move Tait back to the right side. Olsen is a pretty damn good TE. The guy has very very good hands and would be a great guy to have behind Clark. Clark is a ridiculous blocker and could teach Olson and I can't see the two of them not getting along since Clark is getting up there in age and by the time Olson is truly ready (at least 1 year, more like 2 years) Clark will be the type of guy that is more of a split time TE. I'd have no problem with that. Anyone know how Olsen's blocking is? I thought I remember reading he's pretty good at it for a collegiate player but I think we all know that is a key to the system we run so whoever we draft better have the skillset to project into a good blocking TE.

I think this was the most mature thing to do. Yes, he's guilty without a fight but it will also allow this incident to die down and basically let him pay the price. A public court case, which he would have probably lost, would have just given weeks to months were the media could continue to berate him. This way he can let the past officially be the pass, pay the consequences and move on and hopefully never make these mistakes ever again (both for his sake and the franchises sake).

As Per Profootballtalk.com. It seems like we have a ton of dough to spend once again. Although it seems like a helluva a lot of teams are quite a bit under, when supposedly, most GM's say that every team spends their entire cap amount. Here's the list: 49ers: $38 million under Bills: $33 million under Titans: $33 million under Cardinals: $33 million under Browns: $29 million under Packers: $28 million under Patriots: $28 million under Saints: $27 million under Bears: $23 million under Rams: $23 million under Chargers: $22 million under Buccaneers: $21 million under Jaguars: $21 million under Bengals: $20 million under Jets: $20 million under Seahawks: $19 million under Cowboys: $18 million under Lions: $16 million under Vikings: $14 million under Giants: $14 million under Dolphins: $13 million under Texans: $10 million under Raiders: $8 million under Eagles: $8 million under Falcons: $8 million under Chiefs: $6 million under Broncos: $4 million under Colts: $2 million under Steelers: $300,000 under Redskins: $100,000 over Ravens: $1 million over Panthers: $2.5 million over

The more I think about it, the more I am beginning to think Rex is our guy. The guy had a stellar first year as a starter. Just look at the stats of other great QB's in there first year and compare them with Rex's. Yes, people will point out that he did make some of the same mistakes a few too many times. But I'd also like to point out that Brett Favre still makes some of the same mistakes. I'd also like to point out that Peyton Manning, Favre, Marino, Elway and the other greats also made the same mistake multiple times early in there career. Those QB's also showed that they could be very good QB's at certain flashes early in there careers. I'd like to think that 6+ 100 QB rated games would be exactly those flashes. My personal hope is that Rex works on his footwork this off-season. This will make him a more consistent passer (he is accurate, but when his footwork goes haywire he ocassionally gets out of whack) and will enable him to move better in the pocket. In addition, better footwork will make him a better passer when he rolls out of the pocket or is on the move. Lets talk about his strenghts: Arm Strenght - one of the strongest arms in the leauge and that was evident with some of the long TD passes he threw this season as well as the TD pass he through in the super bowl where he had to throw a bullet to Moose to thread the needle Accuracy - Rex throws an accurate ball and a great spiral. He throws a great deep ball and the only time's he is a little haywire on his accuracy is when he gets pressured heavily and gets out of whack. He does need to improve his accuracy on screen passes. Weaknesses: Speed - He is not fast but he could be more mobile. You don't have to be Michael Vick but Rex doesn't use his feet enough to give him extra time or at least make the defense think twice about him potentially leaving the pocket. He needs to improve on taking advantage of situations where he can roll out of the pocket and buy more time as well as the ocassions where he sees there isn't anywhere to throw the ball but he has a hole to run for some yards (and slide slide slide...don't take the hit). Picking up Blitzes - Rex still needs to work heavily on picking up blitzes but what first young starting QB doesn't? It is inevitable that he will be seeing new blitzes and the only way to speed his reads is to go through the motions and see it in person and than review film with the coaches. The more he sees it the better he should be and I expect to see him improve exponentially in this regard next season. Average Skills: Reads - Rex generally makes the right read, the problem is sometimes he'll get antsy and miss his guy. But when the going gets tough he tries to get a little more agressive. However, when Rex trusts his reads (in non blitz situations) he generally throws to the right guy.

I think a lot of it comes down to how the QB coach is working with Rex on his footwork. Rex has great throwing mechanics and he's a very accurate passer. The only thing really preventing him in regards to consistency is being able to make quicker reads (he does make pretty good reads or at least solid reads, imo) as well as being able to feel and move around the pocket (and that is footwork at its finest). Rex improves with that and stays healthy I really am not concerned.

Interesting to see we are going to have a new defensive line coach as well as a new assistant offensive line coach. As far as the dline I'm guessing someone in the Bears was not happy about the way the dline performed as a whole (lack of pass rush). That said someone deserves some credit for the development of Mark Anderson. I'll be interested to see who the squad hires to be its next defensive line coach. I'm not majorly concerned about losing the offensive quality coach and I'm glad to see he'll be an offensive coordinator at Central Michigan. I'm hoping those will be the only guys that leave the staff and that we'll add some quality guys to replace them as well as be able to get the Rons, Toub and everyone else's contracts taken care of (and Lovie's/Angelo's too).

I can't really comment on this as I really am not sure just how much of an effect the QB coach has on the QB. Wade Wilson seems like a good guy, but maybe there are better guys. I think the important part is that Wade/Rex have a good relationship. However, if there was one thing I'd be concerned with it would be the fact that Rex's footwork has not improved that much over the course of the season and that is the one area where I'd expect a good QB coach to help out with. Obviously Rex is probably a bit stubborn in that he's one of the few players in this league capable of making very good passes off his back foot (although when you do this you are also liable of underthrowing a ball or having a ball float on you leading to a turnover) but still I'd expect improvement in that area.

The Pats have given big money to guys though. I realize its not often there own guys but they did make big money signings to Colvin and they are now one of the apparent front runners to go after Briggs. I also think the Pats have paid a bit as of late for who they let go. With Branch they probably are in the Super Bowl as opposed to the Colts and would have had as good a shot of any at winning it all. Rosie Colvin yes, but Warrick Holdman while decent was never special and most Bears fans knew it. The problem was Angelo made a big mistake with the check box fiasco and we had to give Warrick more money than we wanted to which meant we wouldn't be able to give Colvin (a stud) the money he deserved. It turned out Rosie got hurt and missed a good chunk of time but he was an elite player. While Colvin was the better pass rusher, Briggs is an elite OLB in every sense of the word and in my opinion may just be the very best at the position (from an all around standpoint). The guy plays the run tremendous, does a nice job against the pass and finds himself in position to make plays time in time out. When we have big 3rd down stops you see Briggs in on the play just as often as you see Urlacher in on the play. Don't think for one second that Briggs isn't a special player, yes we have Urlacher and having the two of them makes the defense fun to watch but without Briggs this defense goes down a notch (unless of course we replace him with someone but I am not sure who we'd be able to pick up and if we replaced him with someone I'd like it to be a very fast athletic LB who would be an effective pass rusher). Rosie Colvin yes, but Warrick Holdman while decent was never special and most Bears fans knew it. The problem was Angelo made a big mistake with the check box fiasco and we had to give Warrick more money than we wanted to which meant we wouldn't be able to give Colvin (a stud) the money he deserved. It turned out Rosie got hurt and missed a good chunk of time but he was an elite player. While Colvin was the better pass rusher, Briggs is an elite OLB in every sense of the word and in my opinion may just be the very best at the position (from an all around standpoint). The guy plays the run tremendous, does a nice job against the pass and finds himself in position to make plays time in time out. When we have big 3rd down stops you see Briggs in on the play just as often as you see Urlacher in on the play. Don't think for one second that Briggs isn't a special player, yes we have Urlacher and having the two of them makes the defense fun to watch but without Briggs this defense goes down a notch (unless of course we replace him with someone but I am not sure who we'd be able to pick up and if we replaced him with someone I'd like it to be a very fast athletic LB who would be an effective pass rusher).

This would be a great situation for Jeff but I think this is more leverage. Barring us acquiring some front line QB, we are not going to be handing the job over to anyone with the potential exception of Grossman. If we did acquire someone, my guess is we'd make it a wide open competition with no one being guaranteed of the job. In Carr's case I see a guy that is young enough and talented enough to be a franchise QB, so that works. In Garcia's case I see a crafty veteran and while Garcia did a great job with Philly we have our own crafty veteran already on the roster who I personally believe is more suited to run our offense and he's also already familiar with the system and the players (Griese). If we pick up a new QB it should either be a star (don't ask me how we get one) a late round draft pick (personally I may not even do this because I'm happy with Orton as a 3rd stringer and think he has some potential), or a young guy that has been on a bad team but could use a second chance (Carr).

I'd imagine there is almost a zero chance Wade Phillips is going to hire him to a run a 3-4. If he wants out it is so he can run his own system and he won't be able to do that in Dallas. My guess is he sticks around and the Bears will give him an extension and maybe let him add a couple new wrinkles to the defense (obviously we stay cover 2, but have a few more blitz packages and more importantly those blitz packages need to be effective (because I think we are a very innefficient team whose blitzes rarely seem to work).

I think so, this place was going crazy on draft day.

What a dumby. This guy did get his 5 minutes of fame though since he's in a ton of newspapers and was on Cold Pizza. My guess is the judge will not allow him to change his name.