adam

Oh I am sure we would be happier with the process if the Bears got more picks. However, in general, it doesn't necessarily help the lesser teams. Better teams are also more likely to trade for veterans who are on the last year of their contracts, then reap the benefits of that trade when that player signs elsewhere after the season. That is a very common theme. To me, at most it should be only for players coming off their rookie contracts with their original teams.

I think the OLine will come down to how they rate Jenkins and Borom. If they like both, they really could just go OG within the first 3 picks. Otherwise, you really need 2. I also could see a 3T or CB in the top 3 as well. Trading down with one of those 2nds and picking up a 3rd or 4th would be huge.

If that is the case, there will be a top OL or CB available at 39. I still think that is a prime spot one slot ahead of Seattle with 2 straight picks. Someone will want to jump in front of them.

I could have sworn some of those guys were cuts, not all UFAs.

You are spot on. If they wanted parity, they would not give out comp picks and reward teams for losing players. In some cases, teams with bad cap management actually get rewarded for losing a player they can't afford.

I am really hoping for at least one trade back and the ability to pick up at least a 4th or potentially another 3rd. The sweet spot of this draft seems to be between 30 and 80. Our 39th pick is super interesting. Seattle has the next two picks, so there is a good chance they will pick someone that is #1 on the board for a few other teams. I could see teams wanting to leapfrog them to ensure they get their guy. So hypothetically, would you select Jalen Pitre, CB from Baylor at #39 or would you trade back with someone like ATL (has 2x 2nds and 2x 3rds), CLE (has 2x 3rds) or PHI (has 2x 3rds, 3x 5ths) for their 2nd and a 3rd or 4th? To me, unless a top WR or OL falls, I am looking to trade back.

I am just going off what the Colts looked like and what I think they are going to do. I am not saying I wouldn't personally do it, I would be good with OL, WR, or CB in the 2nd. Last year the Colts had Kenny Moore and Xavier Rhodes at CB. Just for simplicity's sake, Rhodes was 26th and Moore was 50th in PFF rankings. Neither were elite and Johnson was at least equal to, if not better than both of them. If they pair him with Graham and the newly acquired Tavon Young, they should be fine. I assume they will still draft one, but depending on how they view Graham will be the ultimate determination on who they draft in the 2nd. For me, this year is all about Fields, they have to do what Cincy did for Burrow. Give him weapons and build a solid O-Line. To me, you have to go either OL+OL, OL+WR, or WR+WR in the first two picks unless the value is not there.

Yeah, I highly doubt they do after looking at the Colts defense recently. It's gonna OLine, WR, or DLine for both 2nd rounders.

I would be good with 62 and 135. Who knows if Quinn will have another season like he did last year and he obviously is not in their long term plans.

This is a no-trade BPA (top-rated PFN rated player available): 39. Lewis Cine S Georgia 48. David Ojabo EDGE Michigan 71. John Metchie III WR Alabama 148. Erik Ezukanma WR Texas Tech 150. Terrel Bernard LB Baylor 186. Shaun Jolly CB Appalachian State No OLine, ouch.

I have seen some stuff about Cam Newton pop up, but Foles would be a solid backup in Indy (Ryan) or Jacksonville (Lawrence). Both teams have past connections with him.

The way they sounded in his press conference, it looks like they brought him in to play Center. I don't know if that was an agreement in the contract, but everything points to him playing center. However, if he is open playing Guard, then Tretter is a no-brainer.

For WR, they should grab Tajae Sharpe and Adam Humphries. Other options: DeAndre Carter, Kenny Stills, Keelan Cole, or even Damiere Byrd. At LB, sign Kitchens and Kyzir White and consider Kwiatkoski as a rotational LB. At S, Terrell Edmunds, Tartt, or Neal. For IDL, sign Jonathan Hankins and/or Danny Shelton. At CB, look at Moreau, Nelson, or Xavier Rhodes.

This is my list, grab a OG and and OT and we have a solid line: Ereck Flowers, LG Trai Turner, RG Michael Schofield, LG Daryl Williams at RT Nate Solder, LT Eric Fisher, LT Duane Brown, LT Riley Reiff, LT

A few trains of thought. You also don't want massive turnover year after year as it is hard to build any continuity. It is great that they have cap space next year, but they could've easily loaded Bates' contract in a way (either this year or next year) that would've made it a lot harder for the Bills to match and not hurt the Bears cap very much. They just elected not to do that. Which is fine as long as there is a Plan B and C. If Poles can get one OT and OG from above, plus add at least Sharpe or Humphries at WR, an upgrade at CB, a new SS, and Sam LB, I will feel a lot better. That is 6 more at a minimum to go.

Missing out on Bates really sucks. I am surprised the Bears didn't make it more difficult on the Bills for this year. First two years only $8.8M? Come on Poles, $17M total? If you are signing the guy to a 4-yr deal, you could've easily front loaded it making it harder for Buffalo to match. $4.4M AAV for the first two years was nothing for Buffalo to match. So what is left? Not many guys with decent snap counts from last year. SFAs: Ereck Flowers, LG Daryl Williams at RT UFAs: Trai Turner, RG Michael Schofield, LG For UFA Tackles: Nate Solder, LT Eric Fisher, LT Duane Brown, LT Riley Reiff, LT At this point, the Bears need two of these guys, an OT and an OG. Let's go Poles. In WR news, Auden Tate signed a 1 year deal with the Falcons. So that market is drying up quickly too. Tre'Quan Smith also re-signed with NO. Tajae Sharpe and Adam Humphries are two guys I would target. Sharpe had one of the best percentages against man cover and Humphries has been extremely dependable from the slot. Add those two to Mooney and Pringle and you have a very solid WR1-WR4. Newsome and Brown battle Coulter and others for final one or two slots and you draft at least one early.

Shenault for Foles straight up?

Not yet, they have until Tuesday, but hopefully we hear something on Monday. They will have to restructure some contracts, so if you start to see news about restructures to Diggs and Allen, they are probably matching the deal. Hopefully not though because Patrick and Bates are an upgrade over Mustipher and Daniels, especially in this system.

That is pretty wild, so 16 players from the 53-man will be UDFAs. If you add the draft picks, the Bears would only need 35-40 players before the draft.

We are so accustomed to a flurry of moves by Pace over the last few years that this patience is not normal for us. However, I like the approach. Rarely do teams that "win" free agency actually win when real football starts. What is funny to me is if you look at the biggest moves of the offseason, none of those teams are in the top 5 for Super Bowl odds after the moves: 1. Denver for Wilson, still not a top 5 team 2. Chargers for Mack, still not a top 5 team 3. Raiders for Adams, still not a top 5 team 4. Miami for Hill, still not a top 5 team 5. Cleveland for Watson, still not a top 5 team 6. Indy for Ryan, still not a top 5 team Most of those moves have massive contracts, guaranteed money, and will hamstring the cap eventually. The Chargers and Dolphins, from the group, have the best shot with QBs on rookie deals. For the Bears, add one more OT and WR in FA and the offense is already better than last year. Add a couple more in the draft, and there could be a bigger than expected improvement. The defense's drop-off is overrated because we lost some big names, but not really a lot of snaps. Flus and Williams did more with less in Indy.

Going into the draft, I would be perfectly happy if the offense looked like this: Fields, Fisher, Whitehair, Patrick, Bates, Jenkins, Kmet, Mooney, Pringle, Humphries, Monty with subs: Borom, Mustipher, James, Horsted, Tate, St. Brown, Herbert, Evans, Blasingame

I am thinking Auden Tate and Adam Humphries. Both should be cheap, Tate with a lot of upside and Humphries is really dependable in the slot.

This will probably be a draft day deal. There is no reason to cut him now as they don't need the cap.

The more I do these, the more I feel like Poles has to trade back with one of the 2nd's and add at least another pick. If they could also get a 6th for Foles, that would be a huge bonus.

It's a 2 yr deal for $4M, so probably around $1.5 - $2M cap hit his year. If Foles is cut, the Bears would save $3M on the cap, so they gain $1-1.5M in cap space this year with a new backup QB. If they trade Foles, I think they will only save $4M ($1M more) since they just paid him a $4M roster bonus. So that plus his prorated bonus ($2.66M) would be against the cap ($6.66M) leaving $4M in savings. Right now for a team looking for a vet, he would be extremely cheap at $4M with only one year left on his deal. I would not be surprised if the Bears held onto him until they at least got a 6th for him.