Ravens back out of the deal - will be interesting to see what the new going rate for Crosby is.  

Yep - perfectly good with this move.  Same with CJGJ - no desire to bring him back either. Both were very flawed players, but I do appreciate the big plays Wright made.  Also - just seeing the deal he got, shows you the league saw the same thing on tape.  I do wish Wright all the best though.  

2 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

I would not be happy if that is WR 3.  He's a huge step down as a wideout.  Production pretty low past 2 seasons.  He's a solid 4/5.  I think it comes down to, do they believe in Jahdae Walker as the #3 or we see them use a pick or make another vet signing here as the money starts to dry up and some solid vets are still sitting without preferred destinations.   

I'll put it this way - they lost Moore, Oz, and Duvernay - and only added Raymond. Jahdae Walker fills one of those spots - but there is still a major role to fill.  

3 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Good returner, but very dangerous as a slot WR. Speedy, good hands... I think he is probably WR3

I would not be happy if that is WR 3.  He's a huge step down as a wideout.  Production pretty low past 2 seasons.  He's a solid 4/5.  I think it comes down to, do they believe in Jahdae Walker as the #3 or we see them use a pick or make another vet signing here as the money starts to dry up and some solid vets are still sitting without preferred destinations.   

We say he likes speed - for the record Edmunds is quite fast and similar age. This is a solid move but It is far more of a lateral move. Reality is right now they have kind of treaded water at LB corps, but slightly more cost effective, while doing the same at safety - but certainly got younger and quicker at safety position.  I'd argue DT is a bit better too as the new guy has a bit more burst.  

Offense is worse overall - our new center is not as good as Dalman, and no Moore replacement (not that it was expected - we need to see our existing talent step up) and they are replacing his funds / pick to go to defense.  

It comes down to - can we execute in the draft - I think they can and certainly hope they can. I'm glad they are where they are - I don't think they made any bozo moves and overall given what room they had I think they've done a solid job. They do need to address the secondary though - even with Gordon/JJ/Smith coming back, I think it would be nice to add a bit more there (or bring back Brisker on a 1yr deal). 

Defensive line I expect to be addressed via the draft.   

Don't know much about him - but they needed to address special teams. BJ is familiar with him and he seems like a solid return guy / 5th wideout.  Had some pretty good years early in BJ's tenure with Lions but his pass catching production is down quite a bit past 2 seasons (special teams production still pretty darn good).  

Riq Woolen is a name I like for the secondary. 

I think Brisker will be back and DB is a huge position of need still. But overall pretty please with today’s outcome.

Totally good with this. I think I saw it is 5M with another 5M in incentives based upon starts. Good move and Jones should have a ton of motivation to parlay a healthy offseason into a big season into a big pay day (and eventually a comp pick for the bears :))

Rashad Gary officially available. Solid add on defense if they go after him. Draft interior in round 1 and than safety, lb and secondary. 

Odafe Owah is one more name to watch. Had real productive year after moving to Chargers. Prior year had 10 sacks. Former 1st rounder and still young (26).

Some names we haven’t talked about, but that are younger:

Jaelyn Phillips - 26 - First healthy year in a bit but with a regular offseason could see this guy ascending. Former first rounder who crushed it before being slowed by injuries. Still has some prime years left. 
 

Kenneth Walker / Etienne - If poles wants to go younger either of these guys fit the bill. Given Month deal, you should be able to move Swifty. Etienne isn’t much younger. 
 

Bryan Cook / Koby Bryant - Top safetys on market entering is his prime. 
 

Joseph Ossai - sack numbers not there but ascending. Quite a few pressures. 

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

So I guess now we're looking at Hendrickson or something similar (maybe a DT?). And we have picks to stock the defense.

We will of course sign a bunch of cheaper free agents too to "fill holes" before the draft, but some won't end up starters by mid season.
 

I wonder is they surprise us and sign a DB and than go dline in draft. I’m totally on board giving Hendrickson big money for 2 years presuming he gets a clean bill of health. Dude gets to the qb. 

Phew - quite happy not to have seen the Bears next to that trade. 

17 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

You are correct none of us know anything. Until they do something, we can only assume they fix any position in house.

I have read several people that said his injury could be faster recovery but that is just an opinion with Ozzy. I think what will let us know is by their actions. If they don't bring in a FA but re-sign Braxton that makes a statement.

They could draft a LT at 25 but that answer is 6 weeks away. I think they might do both,cover themselves with Braxton or another FA and draft one but maybe not at 25. 

What I think this means is we are not spending big money on a LT in free agency. The signing of Bradbury shows they are making cap type choices. 

Poles can surprise us , the Bradbury move was out of left field.

I actually think the trade for Bradbury tells me they are being mindful what they spent on center - which to me tells me they are potentially looking at making a double digit per year signing somewhere (or acquiring a double digit contract).  

15 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

You are correct none of us know anything. Until they do something, we can only assume they fix any position in house.

I have read several people that said his injury could be faster recovery but that is just an opinion with Ozzy. I think what will let us know is by their actions. If they don't bring in a FA but re-sign Braxton that makes a statement.

They could draft a LT at 25 but that answer is 6 weeks away. I think they might do both,cover themselves with Braxton or another FA and draft one but maybe not at 25. 

What I think this means is we are not spending big money on a LT in free agency. The signing of Bradbury shows they are making cap type choices. 

Poles can surprise us , the Bradbury move was out of left field.

I figure they made the move to put Thuney at LT in the NFC Championship game. It tells me they probably don't have a ton of confidence in the in-house solutions (including Braxton).  With Decker out there and Trent Williams potentially there - certainly see a scenario where front office and coaching staff said - lets go upgrade the LT position, knowing any of those moves are short-term measures but elevate the room while buying time to evaluate Trapillo in the long run.  I also wonder how Benedet would fit at a guard position over time - he looked very athletic and was great in run-blocking.  

43 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

There are also different offensive systems, and a player might shine in one, and be a detriment in another?

I've never seen tape on him (yet! lol) so i have nothing substantive to add about the player, but I do trust Roushar and Johnson to know what they're looking at?

Very fair - I do think this offensive coaching staff gets a bit of the benefit after last season. Heck - out of the gate people didn't like the Jonah move - but it looked good in hindsight (or at least after the 1st year).  Maybe this is a better scheme fit plus helps allow Poles to attack some other fronts.  

43 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

You gotta figure between BJ and Roushar that they know what theyre doing.

Also, PFF is random, and i put no faith in anything they say positive or negative. Theyre the ones that said Charles Leno was a top ten LT LOL And I dont mean they predicted that during the draft, I mean they RATED him that during those seasons where he was absolute trash for us. PFF means nothing.

I also missed that it was a pick next year. Feels we can't look at this in a vaccuum and got to see how the broader off-season plays out. Might just help them know they have one part situated (or at least an option) that then enables them to be more comfortable with some other moves.  Even if that is - this allows them to basically assess Newman as the center while knowing they have a potential fall back plan.  Knowing that may mean they go aggressive at an LT or Hendrickson or something else.  

I don't really get why they are giving up a 5th round pick here? He's a former first round pick (I believe), but other than that I don't know much about him.  How are you rated 30th on PFF but give up 0 and 0.  If he actually is a top 12 center than I stand correct and am fine with it, but in general, these doesn't seem like the type of player we should be giving up a 5th round pick for.  

I think I'm getting my arms around going big on a center. Ensure our interior and oline has a few difference maker(s).  Right now this would mean we had 3 - Thuney, Wright, and Lindy.  1-2 years from now - it would shift to 2 as Thuney will age (could even be this year).  If you get Lindy, than I personally would also say go for Decker on a 1yr bridge deal - but with us upgrading the interior (Lindy > Dalman), I would be perfectly fine if instead we opted for a competition from who we have as well.  

Draft D all the way - unless you have a high grade on an LT option. 

Find a few starters on D as part of the 2nd wave of free agency. This could include bringing back 1 of Byard/Brisker.  

Assess FA running back / ability to get younger + pick up draft asset (ie if you think you can get 2 years younger and spend similar to Swift money on a FA - get them and flip Swift for a low round pick)

 

Note: The above helps strengthen foundations across the team while enabling a ton of flexibility the following year - where the Bears would have ample cap space (more benefit from Moore trade, plus Ayo/Jarrett flexibility).  Probably looking at moving JJ (hopefully after he's rebuilt his value) at that time too - as the team can be a bit more aggressive given more cap space + assets (and hopefully another good draft building / creating a stronger ascending foundation).  

16 minutes ago, adam said:

That is true, I was thinking more hypothetically, if the Bears had a better pass rush, they would have been significantly better last year.

For this year, I don't know if you can wait until after the offense is "great" though. I am not saying that means Crosby, but I wouldn't complain if they did it, as long as they didn't give up too much.

In my mind - the goal is to win superbowls.  I'm not saying to wait - I'm saying focus on building foundational blocks today vs. pretending we are near final state and should give up 2 high draft picks plus major cap space on a strong player who is about to be on the back-end of their career.  I just don't like the strategy - at all.  The Bears aren't in a spot where they need to go "all-in".  They are a year ahead of where they thought they would be with Ben - but they still have a lot of foundational work that needs to be done - don't loose focus of that for the wrong reasons.

If Crosby was 25 or 26, I would have a different answer for this.  If they could get Crosby for #25 or a 2nd rounder - same thing, zero problem there - cause I can see how you can make everything fit into a broader picture.  

14 minutes ago, adam said:

I agree, but on the flip side. If the Bears had Crosby vs <insert random Edge player> across from Sweat all year, they probably win 2 more games, and beat LAR. At that point you are in the NFCC, so there is not much higher to go. 

Technically - Crosby was hurt. I'm not saying he gets shut down - but I don't know that I go as far as to say that they win the game with Crosby and I don't think they win the super bowl either.  I don't think Crosby puts us over the top. Quite frankly the Bears aren't yet 1 player away. They need to see more growth on offense and they have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball.  

Courtney Cronin reported that she expects the Bears will receive the comp picks.  We'll find out later on today I think - but I'll take that at least as a positive sign...hoping that means she had heard from someone at Halas Hall who maybe had gotten some initial intelligence from the league.  

44 minutes ago, Bears4Ever_34 said:

I really hope the Bears didn't clear up over 30 million in cap space to not make some sort of splash signing/trade. They just lost 3 quality starters this week. If they lose out on Lindenbaum or Crosby, it's going to put immense pressure on Ryan Poles to nail the draft again to replace a lot of these guys. They still need 2 safeties on top of a C, LT, and pass rusher—and now WR3. 

It may not be sexy - but - if they nail the draft I think that is a big win and it is important. I also think we have to recognize the goal is to build a long-term winner.  Getting Crosby and using a bunch of assets helps the team in the short - but I don't know that it puts them over the top and in 2 years+ I think it actually puts them behind the 8 ball.  

It goes back to - they need to take a balanced approach to team building.  I think they need to identify and find young ascending talent, especially on the defensive front. But they also have to identify some more young and ascending talent on the oline.  The cap situation is very different now - which is great - gives them flexibility - but quite frankly - they swung big on Jarrett and Ayo - and we aren't getting that value either - but thankfully they can walk away from that in a year.

The piece that excites me - if the team uses this year to add more young talent - than you look at where they are a year from now - they have a ton of cap flexibility (this moves didn't just clear cap space now - they create even more flexibility a year from now - ie Moore saved $16M this year but I believe $25M next year).  We can get too worked up on the quick fixes - and I'm okay if they supplement that with a targeted add or 2 - but I'm also okay if the primary focus is on multiplying draft picks and focusing on wave 2 of free agency (and even monitoring the trade front). Feels like with where the franchise is - jumping out of the gate (unless they have deemed Lindy or Tray or a safety) must haves - that at some point there will be less money and some quality guys out there and you can be more cap prudent getting those players (knowing the goal has to still be finding impact players via the draft).  

Note: I support going all in for the Ravens center - purely because when Thuney starts to degrade maybe you have the young C, Wright as your higher paid guys whlie you have some other younger talent hopefully ascending around the line.  But again - that requires investment's in the trenches.  

Hoping tomorrow bears get some good news. Comp picks get announced.