DABEARSDABOMB

Howard looks like he's got some potential. Want to see him the new starter.

We just had very little to start at the beginning of the era (that wasn't older veteran talent that was going to go downhill by the time we got competitive). We just made the decision to get bad real fast and start opening up tons of spots to see what young talent can develop. I'm going to be patient with the process.

More than anything, we made a huge investment in a franchise QB and gave him a million coordinators and invested minimal resources into the talent pool (until Emery got here and at that point, we did clearly make some investments) around him. Bottom line though, zero continuity and poor weapons. Cutler deserves plenty of blame too and this is all in hindsight (and none of us truly know what the outcome could have been), but I can't think there would be many QB's who would have excelled given the same circumstances.

Agreed. I just view Cook as a guy who was taken relatively late, so if a team wanted to trade for Jeffrey now and gave us picks in this years upcoming draft, great. Now I would do a deal that would involve Cook & a 1st round pick (IF our front office thought Cook had some potential). It isn't like Cook was a 2nd round pick or something. He was a 4th round pick. I'd also look at the Patriots and say if they want Jeffrey and a pick from us, I'd trade them Jimmy G.

We don't need a McCown or Orton, we need to find an above average QB. And I agree with everything you said and have been saying the same thing, now is the time to move on from Jay (albeit, I want it to be at the end of the season with us trading him). I was more ripping McPhee for his behavior and the people who are ripping Jay for anything other then his performance on the field.

So the guy who has had a hard time playing cares more? This is just ridiculous. This whole Jay doesn't care schtick is pathetic. IF you want to rip him, rip him for his play on the field, but he is who he is and the guy has proven he's a tough SOB who takes a ton of shots, etc. Back when he got pissed at Martz, he was classless, now he tries to keep a calm demeanor and more of the same. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I said I'd trade him for a 1st round pick +, but what we were talking about in this thread was a complete diservice, imo, to the value that Alshon provides.

I still think we should be able to trade him for something (as long as he plays reasonably well). Now if he really regresses, then nope, we won't get anything for him (and in that case, well, we'll just cut him anyway). Totally time to move on. I was fine moving on from him this year (in fact I was one of the biggest proponents on this site to trade him this off-season because I feel we need to remove the bandaid and rebuild and that means we need to get that QB. I do like Jimmy G too though and am perfectly fine moving a high pick for him.

I don't like the idea of trading Alshon and think we should sign him to a long-term deal or trade him for at least a 1st round pick (in the off-season). We don't know whether he can prove that he can stay on the field or not, but what we do know, is when he is on the field, he is a game changing wideout and one of the best wideouts in the league. Dude makes plays and is still very young and should remain an extremely productive player over the next few years (including years where I hope we are back in contention and rebuilt). I see no logic to dump Jeffrey (a young, talented wideout), when we have lots of cap space and are talent deprived. Dumping him means instead of using draft picks on other needs / voids to fill, instead we have to use said picks to address another void (that we created by dumping Alshon).

Agree. And while they haven't directly stated it (and you don't necessarily want to cause that gives different notions to the players, especially in a league where turnarounds can happen faster then say baseball), their moves have certainly stated it. They moved away from guys who would have helped us in the next year or two, to create opportunities for guys who can help us 3-5 years from now. My timeline is that if next year we don't start seeing signs of a turnaround (recognizing we'll probably have a new QB, so the record might not reflect it, but I'd hope we'd start seeing more core type players emerging and a general positive direction).

Yes - I supported Cutler. I've long said you can win with him and I believe that to this day. I don't think we will have the talent needed to win with him until he is really old. Please note, I'm not saying we will win because of Jay, but that we can/could win with him.

Said another way, the reason we weren't doing it, is because we thought (mistakenly) that we were still contending. Bottom line, we didn't start rebuilding until year one of John Fox and it was the first time we had rebuilt since the beginning of the Lovie Smith era.

No they haven't. They weren't rebuilding during the Lovie Smith era and they certainly weren't rebuilding when they hired Trestman. Lovie was fired because they thought they were a playoff team and so did the fans and we didn't play to that level. We have been trying to contend for the last 10+ years (with the exception of last year). Expectations were very high during the Trestman era and during the vast majority of the Lovie Smith era.

My view is, let Fox and Pace build the thing up, then when you need to, you can always move away from Fox (as he is getting older) and groom the eventual replacement. That said, we are a ways from that discussion as this thing is going to take time.

Fox has a history of developing talent. Look at all the defensive talent he developed in Denver. This is a new front office and coaching staff and they inhereted a real mess. I would hope that next year, we start to see the arrow move upwards (albeit slowly), but I think this team was so decimated (especially in the sense that it had so few young, home grown players whose arrows were pointed up), that it meant the rebuild was going to be a much longer process then usual (we tried to be mediocre for so long, that it put us in a spot where we forced mediocrity through veterans and that means you don't get the picks to get the top talent, and then we whiffed on later round talent under Emery / Trestman) so we really were in an awful spot. The defensive coaching staff is pretty damn proven so they have a track record to trust, however, offensively, I think there are real questions with Loggains. I do think that stability in general is a good thing and when you look at the better franchises they seem to be more patient in general vs. less and wonder if that actually leads to some of the success (vs. just the underlying individuals running the ship). I.e., look at the Browns, restructuring every 2-3 years essentially means you never are able to see a strategy through and thus it is almost impossible to successfully rebuild.

All while generating zero pass rush (and we knew we were going to enter the season that way and we knew Floyd wasn't going to start his career as a dynamic QB crusher). The key is we do have some young players on this defense who could become playmakers, most noteably Goldman & Floyd. Unfortunately, Goldman is injured now and Floyd, well we know he was going to be a little bit of a project in some sense. We also have Bullard that I'd probably highlight as a younger player with potential up arrow and Amos (who has been hurt). Trevathan is now hurt, but looks solid and can still be part of a core a couple years from now and Freeman looks like a fantastic move, albeit, how he will hold up with age, who knows. Secondary is still weak and pass rush still needs to be enhanced, but we know those things. When they were showing the lineups it is extremely noticeable how much turnover we've had between this year and last year (both on the offense and defense) and I think it takes time to adjust to that, but we also need to know some of that turnover involved a move to younger players and with that there will be growing pains. We absolutely need to address QB long-term (and I've been saying that) and I don't know what the Bears plans are here.

Why would I want Gabbert. He's a bum. I'd give up a lot for Jimmy G.

Front offices need time, they need at least 4 years, imo. You just can't whack that quickly twice with a front office. We need to stick to the plan and acquire talent an develop young players.

One thing I want the Bears to do, not overreact. This is going to be a long process and we need to stick true to that process. We need to recognize we were totally devoid of talent and it takes time to fix it. We need to show some patience. This includes being patient and hoping that Jay comes back from his surgery (by the way, he injured his hand vs. the Texans apparently) on his thumb and can prop up his trade value a bit.

Texans looked really good again in week 2. We'll see what happens tonight, but it should at least give people a little better hope entering tonight's game (and more longer term), given how much the Texans D got after Alex Smith and the Chiefs.

Jimmy Garapalol (or however you spell it).

Zero interest. Want to see what the young guys can do. We were literally so devoid of talent last year (especially young emerging talent), that I essentially view this as year 1 of the rebuild.

Yes. I think we need to get a QB of the future and he's looked good and I say why not. I'd have traded Cutler to the Vikings though because I don't think we can truly start rebuilding without trying to move forward on a QB (and this is coming from someone who has no issue with Cutler). I just think by the time our defense has the playmakers we need, Jay will be too old, and we'll then be trying to hit reset on a QB. I say, why not pull the bandaid off sooner.

I agree with you. I'm not judging to any permanent conclusions based upon the preseason.

Clowney has supposed looked really really good this preseason so we might be regretting this statement.