adam

The biggest issue is his knee. It is a ticking timebomb. After Ogunjobi, I can understand why Poles went the safe route. Also, SF will probably only use Young as a rental and let him leave and get another comp pick for him as they really don't need to sign any FAs this offseason. They are in better position to do that. The Bears are not and needed to solidify the edge position since Mack/Quinn were traded. Poles is literally reading the "GM 101" rulebook. Just like the Moore trade, this was a no-brainer, with 2x 1sts, they could afford to give up the 2nd.

I prefer Sweat, but #35 for Sweat vs #97 or higher for Young is a super value and low risk. They are using a comp pick, so it is free chicken for them. The Bears can't afford for Sweat not to work out or not stay healthy. If he does, that's two top 35 picks wasted in back to back years, which is hard to recover from when you are rebuilding. You can't miss on any of your top picks. If Young plays well, that's a massive win for SF, if he doesn't, it literally does not hurt them at all. With so many holes, I really hope they don't need to take a QB. Use one of those on top 5 studs, then trade down and gain back a 2nd.

Actually, I don't know if they commit more early picks to the defense after this. Technically they just used a 2nd on an Edge with this trade, used a 2nd on Dexter, and a 3rd on Pickens. They really need to address OL.

Poles got fleeced, the SF pick is a 3rd round comp pick and the Bears gave up pick #35 for a player 3 years older. That difference is a mid 2nd round pick. So the Bears gave a mid-2nd round pick MORE than the 49ers for Sweat over Young. I hope Poles was right on this one unlike the Claypool one.

This is another easy button move. Only CAR or ARZ had a better 2nd rounder compared to the Bears, and the leap to a first rounder is huge. This makes me think Poles is safe for another year, because I doubt they would let him do this if they were planning to fire him. Sweat is a good player, but has never made an All-Pro team or Pro Bowl, so he is one of those fringe Pro Bowl guys, like top 10 in the conference. He is 27, Young is 24 and Burns is 25, so this is likely only a 4-year deal type player as he would be 31 at the end of a 4-year deal. It seems like Poles shrinks the window with this type of move. What is the point of trading draft capital for a guy and extending him with a huge cap hit unless you believe you will be competitive in the next 2 years, right? Also, if you are using up cap space in 2025 and beyond with with this move, doesn't that hint that you expect not to be paying a QB on a 2nd contract in that window? This is definitely a logical move, it addresses a need, but at a pretty hefty cost (early 2nd rounder + huge cap hit with extension), so now Poles has to be right on all the big ticket signings from here on out, otherwise the Bears will be stuck in mediocrity for the foreseeable future. With all that said, Edge is no longer the worst position group now with Sweat, Ngakoue, Walker, Robinson, Green. Pushing everyone down the roster helps. Now who drops off the 53-man?

Mixed feelings on this. Bears 2nd is going to be high. How will Sweat play on a line without studs next to him?

That would make the pick value difference of a late 2nd rounder, which would be better for the Bears. However, I doubt they get anything higher than a 4th back if they only give up a 2nd (I could be wrong, but I am sure there will be other teams willing to give up a 2nd straight up for Young).

If he is asking for 20+, then goodbye. I would say 17M is the max. The issue is Poles keeps bleeding talent. Smith (1st Round) > late 2nd Rounder+5th; early 2nd rounder > Claypool + 7th > 6th. So Poles turned Roquan #8 pick into a late 2nd rounder and a 5th, turned the #32 pick and a 7th into a 6th. Now Jaylon (#50 - 2nd rounder)? He needs to at least get a late 2nd or something like a 2024 3rd and 2025 4th. You have to pay someone. It just seems like Poles is not loyal to picks that weren't his. Kmet is the only one done and Johnson is arguably the best of the group that needed an extension. Now if Poles can add Young or Sweat and a mid round pick for Johnson, then I would be ok with that because Edge is a massive hole on the team right now.

My fear is that Poles is going to start to getting desperate, and may overpay. If he gave a high 2nd rounder for Claypool, who was a WR2/3 at the time, what is he going to give up for a top Edge Rusher?

Yeah, how can you expect to stop someone with that big of a cushion on every play. So you are not covering anyone while you are not pressuring anyone. So frustrating. With all that cap space, this is the team that Poles assembled.

So when does Poles get any blame? He has taken a 6-win, 49-sack team and transformed it into a 5-20 team with 30 sacks (in its last 25 games). How much more to do we need to see of Flus and his stellar defense? Flus' defenses have beaten Brian Hoyer, Sam Howell, Davis Mills, Bailey Zappe, and Trey Lance. Only one of those QBs is still currently starting in the NFL, and even when the Bears beat Howell, he still threw for 388 yards.

Flus needs to go, worst defensive performance in a long time. He used zero timeouts the entire game. Tried an onside kick, then didnt call a timeout when LAC was running the ball. Then took a knee when they got the ball back. That is the perfect time to get young guys some reps. I am so done with Flus. Velus needs to be cut. Worthless. Drops a TD that could've swayed the momentum.

Yeah, not much separation tonight, and absolutely no one helping him out. Too many drops. If I am throwing up a contested ball, it needs to go to Moore, not Mooney. Mooney needs to catch that but he has not been the same since the injury. If they can trade him for anything, I would pull the trigger. Bagent has looked good for his 2nd start as a D2 rookie, but he would need the rest of the season to really assess him, but that ain't happening. I am sure Fields will come back for the Saints game. Bagent's 232 passing yards would be the 6th highest of Fields career in 31 starts. That's pretty crazy. The refs did not help in this game either, they never called anything on the Chargers. Nothing new for the Bears, but it really makes it an impossible task to comeback when the refs are calling everything on you and nothing on the other team. This really makes me not want to watch these games. Bears back to having the 1st and 3rd pick.

Bagent evades some pressure, then on the next play over throws receiver for an easy pick. I have no clue what he was looking at, but a receiver was open, he just sailed it. This game is already over.

The defense looks like hot garbage, Herbert does not have an incompletion. Embarrassing performance so far. Every level is getting beat on defense, no pressure up front, LBs leaving too much space on Ekeler and underneath, CBs playing soft, and Safeties non-existent so far. Just an all around terrible start for the defense.

Bears down 14-0 early, refs handing the Chargers first downs left and right. Unbelievable. They have yet to call a penalty on the Chargers, yet the Bears have like 6.

Velus is such a waste of a draft pick/roster spot. Taylor can easily fill in for whatever Velus brings to the table. Yeah, come on Kmet, that was a great play by Bagent, and Kmet runs short of the sticks on an out route? Come on dude. Both of those calls on Patrick were ticky tack, and are borderline calls.

Refs don't waste time screwing the Bears on national TV, they did it on the first play of the game. Mooney catches a great deep ball from Bagent for 41 yards, he fell down catching it but was untouched when he caught the ball, he got up and started running for an easy TD and they blew the play dead again (just like the Moore play). Then the offense goes nowhere and they punt. Then on defense, the defense is too bendy and lets up an easy TD drive for LAC.

One of the worst scenarios was a CAR win and ARZ loss, and that is exactly what happened. The Bears now have the 2nd and 3rd picks in the 2024 draft. 1. ARI 1-7 2. CAR 1-6 3. CHI 2-6 4. NYG 2-6 5. NE 2-6 6. GB 2-5 7. IND 3-5 8. DEN 3-5 9. LAR 3-5 10. WAS 3-5 The only good thing is CAR will play an easier schedule just based on their division, so if they tie with ARI, then they would get the better pick. The Bears have had the easiest SoS of the top group and 3rd easiest in the NFL (NO, ATL). They still have to play CAR and ARI which will bring their SoS down even further, so they will always win the SoS tiebreaker.

Watching GB lose 4 straight is so nice. GB is in shambles coming to the realization that Love is not it.

Especially if Jackson can't go. Two backup safeties? No real SS on the roster after Brisker.

Ugh CAR won. Not good, now they have the same amount of wins as ARZ who may not win again. The Bears currently 5th after NE and NYG losses. A Bears win tonight would drop them to 8th (unless Denver beats KC) and only a half game from 12th. A Bears loss would keep them locked in at #3.

Yeah, I have too many subscriptions, but that is a good one for sure. If you want more than the aggregated stuff that goes around, it is a great site.

Which makes the Denver loss hurt that much more. However, nothing really matters if they lose on SNF, because at 2-6, you are essentially eliminated.

Very cool. Now the Bears need to get your son a win after what they did in the 2nd half against Denver. Part of the defensive improvement has been due to Gordon coming back, and Brisker and Stevenson playing better. The LBs seem to be finding their niche, and our young DTs are slowly improving. Now if our Edges could get going, we would be set. The Chargers have the worst passing defense in the league and #1 WRs torch them. I expect Moore to have a big day. If Bagent plays mistake free football, this team will be a tough out, especially with how good the running game has been lately. Now we get Foreman + Johnson for the first time. Secretly, this is the pairing I wanted from Day 1. Ekeler scares me, especially with screens out of the backfield. Besides him, Allen is great, but the CBs have been keeping WR1s in check. I am going to go Bears 27-24 on a late Carlos Santos FG for the win.