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Thoughts? GM: Ryan Poles (KC) AGM: Ian Cunningham (PHI) HC: Matt Eberflus (IND) OC: Luke Getsy (GB) QB: Andrew Janocko (MIN) RB: David Walker (DET) WR: Tyke Tolbert (NYG) TE: Jim Dray (ARZ) Asst TE: Tim Zetts (GB) OL: Chris Morgan (PIT) Asst OL: Austin King (LV) Off. Quality Control: Omar Young (EIU) DC: Alan Williams (IND) DL: Travis Smith (LV) LB: Dave Borgonzi (IND) DB: James Rowe (IND) S: Andre Curtis (SEA) Ast. DB: David Overstreet (IND) ST: Richard Hightower (SF)

I was thinking that with the full organizational changeover that Poles is not going to go into 2022 expecting to win the SB. With the cap space vs the number of holes to fill coupled with the lack of a 1st rounder, he may stretch this out a little longer. If he does plan to do this, he won't be signing any big-name FAs, will probably trade down in the draft, and will trade away assets to gain cap space and draft capital. The players that would mostly impact the 2023 cap are Mack, Quinn, Jackson, Whitehair, Goldman, Cohen, and Trevathan. The hope is you can move away from most of these guys before the start of next season via trade or cut. I figure Goldman and Cohen are cut candidates this year. Jackson and Trevathan could be post-June 1 cuts, and Mack, Quinn, and Whitehair would be trade candidates (as long as Poles didn't see them as key contributors in 2023-2025). Another name to consider for a trade is Monty. He will be in the last year of his rookie deal and is more than likely not getting paid by the Bears in 2023. So do you trade him now and get something for him or roll the dice and hope he signs somewhere in 2023 so you get a comp pick in 2024? Depending on how they view Whitehair, he may be in a similar boat. Cody is going to have a $14M cap hit as an OG in 2023 (6th highest OG in the league). By start of next year, the Bears could potentially have over 20 key contributors playing on rookie deals: 2023 draft class (6), 2022 draft class (5), Fields, Jenkins, Borom, Herbert, Graham, Tonga, Kmet, Johnson, Gipson, and Mooney. As long as they keep drafting 4-5 key contributors a year, that number should stay around that level consistently. Thoughts?

I didn't know that. I know Poles and Cunningham do from their times at KC and PHI. I would have to check on the other staff.

Bears add Smith from LV (coached when Mack was there): This is where we are at: GM: Ryan Poles (KC) AGM: Ian Cunningham (PHI) HC: Matt Eberflus (IND) OC: Luke Getsy (GB) QB: Andrew Janocko (MIN) RB: ? WR: Tyke Tolbert (NYG) TE: Jim Dray (ARZ) OL: Chris Morgan (PIT) Asst OL: Austin King (LV) DC: Alan Williams (IND) DL: Travis Smith (LV) LB: Dave Borgonzi (IND) DB: James Rowe (IND) Ast. DB: David Overstreet (IND) ST: Richard Hightower (SF)

I hope he gets another chance. He just needs to pick a good OC. McCown as OC?

With the blue chippers, I am assuming those are players you could trade for something. I think you could get something for Mack, Quinn, Roquan, Fields, Johnson and possibly Jenkins, just based on his potential (similar to Fields). I don't know if any team is going to trade much more than a 6th or 7th for Mooney or Monty.

Looks like RB coach may be the only primary position coach left.

Add Jim Dray as TE coach from ARZ.

This is where we are at: GM: Ryan Poles (KC) AGM: Ian Cunningham (PHI) HC: Matt Eberflus (IND) OC: Luke Getsy (GB) QB: Andrew Janocko (MIN) RB: WR: Tyke Tolbert (NYG) TE: Jim Dray (ARZ) OL: Chris Morgan (PIT) DC: Alan Williams (IND) DL: Rod Marinelli? LB: Dave Borgonzi (IND) DB: James Rowe (IND) Ast. DB: David Overstreet (IND) ST: Richard Hightower (SF)

Who is Rod? Rod Marinelli? A poor ST Coach? Hightower is coming over from SF and that unit literally won the game for the 49ers against GB. A blocked FG and a blocked punt and TD in a playoff game? Also, the Bears have better returners. SF had Trenton Cannon for KR and Brandon Aiyuk for PR. Herbert and Grant are a big upgrade. I am not worried about overall ST, that is dependent on kicker, punter, returners and coverage unit. Here SF was 21st, Bears 11th: https://www.lineups.com/nfl-team-rankings/special-teams SF had the most kick returns by opponents which led to the most kick return yards. That was partially due to Gould not kicking into the end zone for a touchback. If you use averages, SF allowed 23.1 yds on kickoffs and the Bears allowed 21.4 (1.7 yds). For punts, SF had a net of 40.7 on punts and Bears had 38.5 (2.2 yds). So combined, SF had better coverage units by 0.5 yds. FGs? 49ers 84.4, Bears 86.7. The 49ers weakness was their returners, not necessarily the unit as a whole. SF also had 3 takeaways on ST which was tied for the league lead.

Based on their current deals and snap counts, you almost have to resign Daniels and Nichols. The Bears need to upgrade at Center, CB, and S, and will now need another a different type of LB for the 4-3. Trevathan is not it. If they cut Goldman, I could see them re-signing both Nichols and Hicks.

Based on most bang for your buck, these are the cheapest positions based on average salary: FB $1.7M TE $2.3M RB $2.4M G $2.8M S $3.1M CB $3.3M Trade and cut candidates are Foles, Jackson, Goldman, Cohen, and Graham. 1. Foles is in the last year of his contract, so that makes it appealing to some other teams. A trade would free up $8M, and a pre-June 1 cut is $3M. Since he is on his last year, post June 1 does nothing. So to me, the only options for Foles is trade or cut. I can't see Poles carrying Foles for $10.6M with the other holes to fill. 2. Jackson has a $15M cap hit for this year. Outside of a restructure, a post-June 1 trade designation would free up $11M. The only other viable option is post June 1 cut saving $6.1M. 3. Goldman has an $11.8M cap hit. I don't think he fits the Eberflus defense and was terrible last year. A pre-June 1 cut and trade have the same value for the Bears, they would save $6.6M in cap space. I could see a team giving up a 6th or 7th for him. Either way, he probably has the highest likelihood as a cut candidate. Post June 1 would save a whopping $8.8M but that wouldn't be able to be used until after June 1st. 4. Cohen has a $5.7M cap hit and hasn't played in 2 years. He would save the team $2.2M pre June 1 cut and $4M after. I feel like he is most likely going to be a post June 1 cut and the Bears can use that money for late free agency, in season moves or roll over to 2023. 5. Graham is another option for a post June 1 cut. Anything pre June 1st and the Bears save zero. So they would either keep him on the roster or do a post June 1 cut. That would save the team $3.5M. So my guess would be the following: 1. Foles pre-June 1 cut - save $3M 2. Jackson restructure - save $5M 3. Goldman pre-June 1 cut - save $6.6M 4. Cohen pre-June 1 cut - save $2.2M 5. Graham post-June 1 cut - save $3.5M Cap savings pre June 1st = $16.8, post June 1st = $3.5M. Total cap savings $20.3M. The Bears currently have $28.6, so they would start free agency with $45.4M. That would be amazing. That is without touching Mack's which has a $30M cap hit. With 3 yrs left and a void year, I can see them moving some money to future years and save 4-6M this year. That would put the cap over $50M which would be 5th in the NFL. You could easily get 2-3 top FAs, 2-3 mid-tier FAs and a few vet minimum guys for that amount. Also, Goldman would be the only "starter" to replace. Foles, Cohen, and Graham were all backups or didn't play last year (Cohen).

Wow that would be huge, and he has obvious connections to Flus.

It is going to be interesting to see what happens with the current guys. How many guys are getting re-signed, cut, etc. I wonder what Poles thinks of Jenkins and Borom, are they his answer at tackles?

And they didn't have many great players on the line either, but that would make sense. If Flus thinks that was a weakness due to the coach, I am sure they will look elsewhere to fill.

This is where we are at: GM: Ryan Poles (KC) AGM: Ian Cunningham (PHI) HC: Matt Eberflus (IND) OC: Luke Getsy (GB) QB: Andrew Janocko (MIN) RB: WR: Tyke Tolbert (NYG) TE: OL: Chris Morgan (PIT) DC: Alan Williams (IND) DL: LB: Dave Borgonzi (IND) CB: James Rowe (IND) S: Ast. DB: David Overstreet (IND) The Bears have decimated the Colts defense, lol. Nagy brought 0 coaches with him from KC.

Feb. 3: East-West Shrine Bowl Feb. 5: Reese’s Senior Bowl March 1 through 7: 2022 NFL Scouting Combine March 8: Deadline to apply franchise or transition tags March 14: Start of the “legal tampering” period where other teams can begin negotiations with pending free agents before their contracts officially expire March 16: 2022 NFL new year officially begins, and all player contracts from 2021 officially expire Free agents can officially sign with new teams Teams can officially engage in player trades 2022 contracts go into effect April 28 through 30: 2022 NFL Draft

With Doug Pederson being hired in JAX, I would assume Nagy will get an interview there too. Nagy mentoring Lawrence, lol.

This is where we are at: GM: Ryan Poles (KC) AGM: Ian Cunningham (PHI) HC: Matt Eberflus (IND) OC: Luke Getsy (GB) QB: Andrew Janocko (MIN) RB: WR: Tyke Tolbert (NYG) TE: OL: Chris Morgan (PIT) DC: Alan Williams (IND) DL: LB: Dave Borgonzi (IND) CB: S: Ast. DB: David Overstreet (IND) AST: I really like the diversity, already 7 different teams are represented with the worst team being the Giants, but like others have said, not much you can do with Daniel Jones, Glenneckon, and Fromm. It will be interesting to see who the others end up being. Feels like a solid staff so far.

I didn't think about that lol. What a terrible job, and it's almost guaranteed to fail.

Andrew Janocko is the new QB Coach: Coming over from Minnesota. More intel for the Bears, now two hires from division rivals.

With Cunningham coming over, this seemed inevitable. I hope he has success there, and if not, at least the weather is nice in Vegas.

That's what makes these evaluations so tough. Just have to trust the process and see what happens. On the flip side, I have seen a lot of praise for him as well.

The Vikings lost out on Fields, drafted Mond. Lost out on Poles, hired Adofo-Mensah, and now thought they had Harbaugh in the bag only to hire O'Connell who goes from OC that didn't call plays to HC. He was the WAS OC in 2019 when they had the worst offense in the league lol.

I don't know what to make of him. The Giants WRs were terrible last year and Golladay was one of the worst. WR Coach has to shoulder some of the blame for that. Hopefully he is better than Furrey.