adam

I guess you would have to look at a player's performance after he goes to a new team, how many starts they make, and maybe how many Pro Bowls (I don't like the Pro Bowl voting though). Guys like Marshall, Bennett, Slauson, Bushrod, Garza, and Cutler would all have to be considered successes for either their production, longevity (Garza), or accolades (Marshall). You could also use Pro Football Reference's AV or PFF's. In reference to building a guy, I believe that is true, but the numbers do not support that at all. The great teams you would think of in the last decade all were on the bottom half of draft efficiency and success.

I agree that we probably could have done a better than JA and staff, but draft success does not correlate to anything. It in itself has no value unless coupled with good coaching, the right scheme, and an above average team to begin with. Looking at the top 8 teams from 2004-2013 (top chart), there were only 4 SB appearances, and 1 SB win. The Giants, Patriots, Steelers, Ravens, Saints, and Colts, all good to great teams during that stretch all finished in the bottom 12. So you have to question the value of "drafting your own". What seems more important is picking up other teams undervalued players on the cheap. Now if you just take Pro Bowlers into account, the Bears drafted 7 in 71 picks, above the league average of 5 in 79 picks. Comparing that with the teams listed above: (NYG 5/71, NE 8/88, PIT 5/84, BAL 5/80, NO 9/60, and IND 4/82). Only NO had a better impact player ratio than the Bears. Again, the numbers don't really tell you much. There are just too many variables to draw any conclusions. The only common sense fact is the earlier you draft, the better chance you have at getting a player that sticks. However, that player starting for you has little impact on your team's success. Our offense is a great example, Cutler, Marshall, Bennett, Bushrod, Slauson, Garza, more than half of our offense was not drafted by us. I bet if there was a Free Agent analysis done, that those players would have a bigger impact on team success than the drafted players.

No I got it, but I was giving a *sighed* response hoping that we did not release him just to not pay him. We must need the space for somebody because now we have an open roster spot.

Yeah plus Izzy I guess.

DL depth never hurts.

Who are we clearing money for?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/salary-cap-no...00805--nfl.html Unless we want to restructure some of those convertible deals, we are done in FA.

I doubt we can match Seattle's offer; just like Bennett, he will probably sign with them today.

He will have a lot more run responsibilities as a 3-4 DE, so we will see how that works out. They also signed Raji who was the worst DT in the league last year.

Yds per Reception? Hixon 13.4 vs Hester 12.9, more Receiving TDs in 2013 and 2012, 300+ receiving yards in 2012, 50% more receptions in 2012. Just using Hester's last year as a WR vs Hixon's last full season, which is 2012, Hixon clearly dominated Hester in every category. Hixon also has never fumbled. As a returner, it is not even close, but you could make a mild case that Hixon is a better WR if you only look at certain stats from certain years that support your argument.

Great post scs, but they both had less sacks than Peppers, so these duds are clearly downgrades. Also, just because Houston and Young had more tackles than Peppers doesn't mean anything other than the opposing team ran near them more often, clearly exploiting them both.

The DE's were part of the problem. Teams ran outside or at our DE's a lot.

Yeah but our Rushing Defense was the root of the problem. We were in the middle of the pack for Passing Yards against, but had one of the worst Rushing against totals and per carry average against ever. If you look at Houston and Young, they are actually really good against the run and decent against the pass. Per sack numbers don't tell the whole story with these guys. They had a lot of pressures and tackles for loss. These guys will rarely lose contain or get overpowered. They are clearly an upgrade over what we had last year. The new guys are 26 and 28, so we got younger, and cheaper. If we can take that extra money and upgrade elsewhere, it is hard to see this as anything less than a "C'. My biggest complaint is the lack of a true starting Safety.

Woo hoo, what a relief, I still feel like Peanut has 2-3 good years left in the tank.

Interesting that you mention him as I read this on PFF this morning: Seems like a logical acquisition for Emery as well. Would cost between $3-$4 per year based on other contracts handed out.

Our top 3 signings were all seen as "+0.5: Common sense shines through" Lamarr Houston (DE) to Bears: 5-year, $35m with $15m guaranteed The Bears’ defense needed help and in Houston they have added a versatile and productive defensive lineman in the hope of reinvigorating a unit that struggled in 2013. Houston’s top quality run defense (+14.9 in 2013) will be a welcome boost though he isn’t quite the top-drawer pass rusher that they might be hoping for. That, however, is reflected in his price tag and he will be a solid and productive contributor so long as the Bears don’t expect him to turn around their pass rush single-handedly. If deployed correctly this has the potential to be a bigger hit than just a “+0.5” grade signing. Ryan Mundy (S) to Bears: 3-year, $3m with $650k guaranteed After some solid early season displays with the Giants, Mundy was pushed out of the starting lineup by the returning Will Hill and found chances hard to come by after Week 7. He started his only season in the big apple with a bang earning a +3.5 grade (+2.8 coverage) in the Giants defeat to Dallas. This isn’t a flashy signing but considering how the Bears’ safeties played last season this can be nothing but a solid upgrade if he is able to win significant playing time. Willie Young (DE) to Bears: 3-year, $9m with $3.95m guaranteed Last season was the first that Young saw a really sizeable body of snaps over a season. Formerly a situational pass-rusher, Young played 801 snaps a season ago – more than any other Lions defensive end – and graded well as both a pass-rusher and against the run. The Bears will be handing him a starting role and hoping that with another year of experience he can continue his upward trend and become a really impressive player at the position. At the very least he looks like a significant upgrade over what they had a year ago. https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/...cy-deal-grader/

My biggest concern is the Secondary, and Mundy and Jennings are not the answer.

Rosario re-signed per PFT. What a weird set of transactions. http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Bears-...te-Rosario.html

Good signing, Emery fits both new DE's in the cap space gained from Peppers cut.

The Safety market has pretty much dried up with Clemons, Allen, and Major Wright listed as the top available Safeties. Allen and Peppers are the top DE's remaining. So essentially we can only get backwards at this point at those positions unless we get Jared Allen. We also have to replace or re-sign Melton, Wootton, and Tillman.

WR Domenik Hixon told me this morning that he is on his way to Chicago to visit with the #Bears. https://twitter.com/JosinaAnderson/status/444082385421103104

Starting Day 3, not much has changed. We have huge holes over the entire defense and can't go into the draft expecting to fill them all. We still need another DE, DT, CB, and S. I hope we can address one of those where we can go into the draft with some options.

As expected, McCown to TB. We seem to be going backwards this offseason.

2 yrs, $10 million, $4.75M this year, $5.25M next year https://twitter.com/MikeMcCartney7/status/443812046514040832 He was obviously priced out of our range.

Bad players are still bad, why waste anything on this guy? This guy was out of position or missed a tackle more than Conte, Steltz, or Wright. Even if this is for depth, the minute he hits the field we get worse.