DABEARSDABOMB

So I read this somewhere - but evidently Bears can potentially adjust Foles contract and subsequently trade him (for a conditional 7th or whatever) at a $1M cap hit. I don't know if that is actually true - but if it is - I have to imagine that is a move we will see and it would make the Dalton deal MUCH more appealing - in the sense that Dalton is either the back-up / bridge guy depending on what else the Bears do at QB. I.e. - getting Dalton and moving Foles (at $1M hit) - basically puts you in the same position we entered the day in - except I presume the team feels that Dalton > Foles (and I would agree with that assessment) - but this also means the team still has the exact same ability to swing big and/or trade-up in the draft (if they want to go down that route). Basically put - I expect Bears will move on from Foles (in a strategic manner that has minimal near / long term implications) and basically be in a slightly better spot than they were yesterday....but one where at the very least - they know on paper they already have one guy who is better than what they had a year ago (or lets hope he is). If Dalton actually is the guy and we go into next year with Dalton/Foles - welp - in that case - pretty likely outcome that we have a new regime in '22 anyway and in that case - at least they didn't do anything to hurt the future.

I get it. 5M is a lot of money to pay a returned...even one as good as Cordelle. At least sounds like he isn’t leaving on bad terms. I liked his personality a lot.

Nice

After seeing that article on cap space - why do I need 3 1st round picks - get it done and we can maneuver the cap in a year that is a buyers market and get Russell + have $30M of cap space without gutting the roster. Heck yeah - lets go. If it doesn't work - in 2 years spin Wilson and let him launch you into a rebuild (cause unless his arm falls off of he has an Alex Smith type of injury - you will be able to recoup what you pay). I'm super fired up!!!

Seriously - how amazing would it be to get 2 1st rounders for arob. I'd run to the bank with 1 haha.

I'm 100% on board with the Winston angle - has the upside I like.

I just heard Schefter on ESPN - as of now - he is saying all indications are the league the deadline is going to stay tomorrow (Tuesday). Doesn't seem like the league wants to push things back - despite the cap uncertainty.

I think the issue is Diggs was more of a full market move - where as anyone signing Arob kind of has to play out the whole franchise thing and so that naturally lowers his value. Said another way - Bears don't have the same leverage Vikings did. If you look at Jarvis Landry - he is probably most recent/relevant comp - franchised & traded - and Dolphins got a 4th & 7th round pick for him. But Pix - I hope you are right - cause that would be way better. Leverage matters though - and the good news is - the FA WR crop is pretty thin - but the flipside is - this is a deep wideout draft.

I like Corey Davis a lot and if it were up to me I would franchise and trade Arob. It will be a near-term step down, but its a deep WR draft so take a couple shots there. I would love a 2nd rounder for Arob in that scenario and that is possible - but my guess is maybe you get a 3rd this year and a 3rd next year or something.

A lot more smoke popping up on Wilson - seems like Seattle is ready to move on as well - and they previously were close to trading him (evidently) in 2018. Writing seems to be on the wall there - Bears and Raiders would in my opinion be the 2 most likely possibilities. I think Saint would be all-in as well - not sure if they have the cap space to pull it off - but I would not bet against them (either). Raiders made public stance on Carr - not sure if that is to increase his trade value or to truly reiterate they are happy with him. If Raiders are out - as long as Wilson sticks to his list - one would think it would put the Bears in a really really good position.

So I just want to point out one stat of Wilson and where he has ranked amongst all QB's each of the past 4 years. The stat I'm cherry picking is TD's. He's been top 3 each of the past 4 years on TD's. This is purely passing TD's - Wilson is also pretty nimble so doesn't even value his rushing yards. 2020 = 2nd 2019 = 3rd 2018 = 3rd 2017 = 1st

I’d say the opposite - the misses of first round picks are higher than anyone wants to admit (whether you are Ryan pace or someone else) vs the importance that the qb position is. If I converted it to Leonard Floyd, Kevin White and Roquan Smith for Wilson or Watson - what would you rather have. That is basically one hit (Smith), one ok (Floyd) and one bust (White). I’d take one Watson or Smith over that. I’ll actually go one step further - let’s take the last 3 first round hits - Smith, Fuller and Kyle Long - again - I’ll take one an over those three. You can still put a good online and other things around said player. The Bears issue with Cutler was never that the trade or Jays cap space prevented / hindered their ability to deal with the line or provide Cutler with the right protection and weapons, rather it was the front office and coaching staffs inability to prioritize that. Plus obviously fact that they thought Jay was going to be a top 5 special QB but he wasn’t. And while football is a team sport - having a top 5 qb increases your chance to be a perennial contender - big time.

You are probably 100% right on the above. But if you are Pace - is that seriously how you are going down? With Gardner Minshew and Nick Foles again as QB? Maybe that is okay if Pace thinks highly of Minshew (in fact if he does - great - I don't fault this at all). But otherwise - what are you going to do - tell McCaskey's at end of the season but but but? No - you can't do that. If you are Nagy - you might have an out - if you somehow were .500 with those turds as your QB all year - whether Bears keep you or not - you probably have a resume that gets you another coaching job. You could pretty clearly state you have always been .500 or better despite below average QB play and maybe you directly lay some of that blame on front office that never got you what you needed / pivoted despite whatever feedback you gave (it was pretty clear Nagy was done with Trubisky a whole year ago and Fole was the best the 2 could come up with). But bottom line - Pace and Nagy know they need to find a QB. Pace literally has no excuse - if he doesn't deliver an answer at QB or a different path to a winning team - he's toast. Unless of course he's cleared it with McCaskey - such as - look - I could do X or Y and we can go there, but here is the downside so my preference is this plan - but it will take a bit longer - are you committed to doing such. For now - I'm going to assume - Bears are going to go down one of these paths: - Acquire potential reclamation QB who they pair with a mid round pick (i.e., sign Winston, trade for Minshwe/Mariotta + draft in 2nd / 3rd round whomever they like best) - Make a big strike (i.e., Carr, Wilson, Watson, type of QB (Jimmy G or Cousins I suppose would fit into this list - but much less preferable) - Acquire QB with 1st round pick (trade up or one falls - doesn't matter - but if either shows promise - than Pace/Nagy hitch there hat on that progress) The "big strike" is most expensive, probably highest floor - because this team in the short team is pretty good with a major upgrade at QB and while not having draft picks hurts - it probably hurts more in 2 or 3 years than it does in 1 year (and maybe you can supplement those lost picks in years 2/3 with an expanding cap - cause revenues will normalize and cap probably has a big jump in years 2/3 - especially with new tv dollars coming in). Safest bet is to trade up and get one of the young QB's and just hope they don't look like instant dumpster fires. That should be enough to buy at least a year and if you are ownership - probably easiest to sign up for because yes you've given picks away, but you certainly aren't giving up the same # of assets that it would take for the "big strike". Anything other than the above - I just don't see how Pace could do it, unless he got an extension none of us knew about - in which case I'd be going about this entirely differently.

Haha - I almost said the other scenario - trade / acquire big name guy only to have him get hurt in camp - but I figured I didn't want to put that sort of negativity out there lol. I also think the above scenario is still probably the most likely (i.e., Bears drafting a young QB) - really if you are Pace/Nagy - you really just need them to show some glimmer of hope and you probably can justify a rational for why the org should be patient with you at that point vs. changing directions. I have to think Mac Jones stock sky-rocketing had to catch the Bears off-guard though, cause reality is it almost means no matter what the Bears do at QB - they are going to have to give up assets (where as right at the start of the off-season, they probably would have guessed they had a shot at one of the top 5 QB's when they pick at 20.

How are the Bears getting up to 13? I see we still have the 2nd and 3rd round picks - so are Bears trading next years 1st rounder to move up 7 spots? I do think you probably landed on the spot at play for where the last of the 1st round QB's goes (as I think you have a few other QB needy teams right behind the Chargers & obviously Chargers should capitalize on this move since they have the QB position addressed).

Just like with Watson - I don't think any price is too high for the Bears to land a franchise type QB. It is going to be expensive - but at that point - you focus the rest of your energy on making the rest of the roster better knowing you have found an individual talent who will also make others better. But my expectation is - any trade for Wilson or Watson probably ends up costing 3 1st round picks (or 2 1st rounders + 2nd rounder + someone at Roquan Smith type of level).

Alex Smith was pretty lousy last year. I am probably the biggest Foles disliker on this entire forum and I would take him over Smith as a starting QB and I've been on the record numerous times that the only scenario where I accept Foles as the starter to open camp is because the team has invested in a high upside young QB that it likes (i.e., 1st round pick) who they aren't quite yet ready to throw the feet to the fire on. I don't have an issue with Smith persay - cause maybe another off-season physically helps him, but in my opinion he is purely a back-up level player at this point. If the Bears didn't have Foles - I would be all over signing Smith to be on the roster - because I think he's a very capable back-up and just a good lockeroom guy to have around.

Yeah - the other two are just as bad as Mitch. Darnold I'm 100% on board with - if he is on the market.

I'm so annoyed - this was such a great deal for the Colts. They bought low on a QB who has been an above average QB all but his last season in the league and did all of that with sub-par lines and horrific wide receiving.

I just have a hard time over focusing on 2020. I can pretty easily make a long list of excuses to account for Wentz having the year he did (it was a historic regression - so it isn't like we have a sample size to evaluate bounce backs). But between 14 different starters on oline, no receivers, disgruntled & ugly offensive coaches, and throw in COVID protocol and oddities and that is a good starting point. He threw picks like he has never done in his entire career. Past 3 seasons - he was top 5 in terms of interception percentage. So nothing about his past would say he is a turnover machine (at least not from an INT perspective - he fumbles the ball a TON - which is a concern).

Lets not forget - we have DeFillipo as QB coach - and he was Wentz QB coach when Wentz was at his best. I'd say Nagy has some pretty good inside info from that perspective on Wentz as well. Additionally - the other team rumored to be on Wentz is the Colts....yes the same Colts team with Reich as HC, who worked extremely closely with Wentz back when Wentz was at his peak. It is kind of odd - but to me fact that Bears/Colts are in - with 2 people who worked pretty closely with said player - would tell me they don't think that highly of Pederson's opinion or have enough inside info to tell you the dumpster fire that the Eagles were.

For anyone who can ignore 2020 (which is just 1 year). This is Wentz from 2017-2020: 4th in TD% 3rd in INT% 5th in QBR 9th in YPG 8th in Wins Yes Please is all I can say.

One Rumor is - Bears trade Foles, Miller, and 1st round pick for Wentz and 2nd round pick; but also some reports that no 2nd round pick coming back. To be honest - the deal (with a 2nd rounder) - seems like a total no brained. It basically costs the Bears $16M to get him (because they don't have to pay Foles). This puts Robinson in full pay plus still gives you a chance to enhance oline and draft another wideout. A ton of smoke here. We'll have to see - but Wentz is a really good guy to take a shot on. When he's been on - he's played at MVP type of level and in both 2017 and 2019 was absolutely fantastic. For anyone that just jumps to his 2020. First - just look at the Eagles WR corps - it was AWFUL. His 2 best wideouts were an undrafted FA from a couple years ago (Ward) and a 6th round pick who was cut by Lions/Packers before making it to Philly. The oline was bad - very bad at pass blocking and the ground game had some talent - but no 1000 yard rusher. The only plus on the Eagles offense is their TE corps - which is legit. Add in what by all accounts was a disaster out culture and just a messy offensive room (with too many voices) and obviously a bad HC/QB relationship and I can pretty quickly make excuses for that 2020. If you go to 2019 - Wentz was 5th in TD's, was stellar in red zone and on 3rd down (top 5 in both) and was top 3 in INT %. Oh and he did that with a oline that ranked around 20th in passing and a WR corp that had ZERO talent due to injuries. His top 3 guys were all injured. Oh and he was stellar in close games too (1 score situations) and was stellar against top 10 defenses. Just read this link - sums up 2019 pretty nicely. I'm not saying Wentz is a top 5 QB - but 2020 was the only time since his rookie season where he wasn't a top 10 NFL QB. Oh and the cap hit will be far less than top 10 pay and will only look better in 2 years if he performs like 2017-2019 Wentz. https://www.discussthegame.com/posts/5f2587350b0cf30004326d7a

It is why my preference is sign Winston as a flyer and draft a QB. If Winston is great - fine, you found a QB. If he isn't - by mid year you turn the keys to the new QB. If he isn't good - new regime takes another shot next year.

Its hard to say - the year before Wentz was absolutely fantastic and with total garbage around him. Wentz has his warts - but Philly has put pure junk around him. If he didn't have the rumors of being not that great in the clubhouse - I would be more fired up about Wentz., Even with that in mind - I am 100% okay acquiring him as long as the price isn't crazy. If the Bears got him - they could cut him whenever they want - as I believe Philly is on the hook for all the guarantees. In fact - for whomever acquires Wentz - the contract isn;'t bad - basically Bears get Wentz around 25M per year for years (and can cut whenever they please with no implications). I believe that $ amount would be about the 16th highest paid QB in the league. So I'll probably bet Wentz is at least average to slightly above average; he's at worse been that every season of his career except this past one. And he has had a few seasons that were stellar - the one where Foles replaced him from injury - he was on pace for the MVP when he went out. Bears have never had a QB who we could ever say that about.