adam

I think the Browns were in there too. Right now there are about 6-8 teams that could use an RB like TJ: Detroit - lost Kevin Jones to injury (Dre Bly requesting a trade?) Houston - Ron Dayne? (How about a trade - Carr+Pick for TJ?) Cleveland - Their best RB is Droughns NYJ - Best RB is Washington NYG - Lost Barber, Giants looking for 2nd Back to share duties with Jacobs Oakland - Jordan + TJ (Moss for TJ?) Baltimore - Status of J. Lewis Buffalo - McGahee on the trading block

He has a ton of experience with the Cover/Tampa 2, so he should be able to assist the LBs a ton.

Oh no, the "What Ifs"!!!!! You could say that about almost any team at any position. If you have that mentality, you need two starters at every position "just in case" which will never happen. Quality depth is great to have, but situations like this never last long because most of the time the players are not happy with the situation. I don't recall any RB duo that lasted more than a few years. Watters and Garner Dillon and Johnson etc These type of situations usually ended with the veteran guy moving on.

Jones wants an extension and the Bears do not want to commit, so he is requesting a trade. The Bears are wasting Benson's cheap years from the rookie contract. Once that is up, the Bears are going to have to pay up. So they are at the point where they have to choose Benson or TJ, not both. I am sure if they trade TJ, they will probably draft an RB, someone that could come in immediately and be a 3rd down back. Having two starting backs is a huge luxury, but it rarely features two guys that are fairly young. Rhodes is older than Jones and was also arrested for a DUI. Dillon is also older and is either going to retire or move on. So these situations rarely last more than a year or two. That would be funny if the Bears signed someone like Marshall Faulk as a 3rd Down back to a cheap contract. He didn't play in 2006 and has ties to Lovie in STL.

Lovie was the Linebacker's coach in TB from 1996-2000, and Nickerson played there until 1999. So they had 3 solid years together.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...earnt23.article Nice to see the team filling in the coaching vacancies. Now they need to work on Lovie and some players.

Lovie speaks:

This is a huge article that talks about Jones, Briggs, Mike Brown, Ruben Brown, Boone and Scott. It sounds like the Briggs situation is going to get ugly, they don't have an agreement with Ruben Brown, they expect Boone and Scott to both be gone, and they must evaluate Mike Brown's injury situation. The more I read this stuff makes me believe the Bears Super Bowl window is closing fast, if not already closed. I am being pessimistic, but with all the new coaches and what looks like new players, it will be hard to repeat with such a difficult schedule. http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...bears-headlines

From what I have read from multiple articles is that the initial comment by the agent was more posturing than anything. The difference is the agent wants more money in 2007 by getting an extension and increasing the salary to 5+ immediately, which would be more than double and almost triple his current salary. Instead the Bears want to keep his salary close to the current amount for 2007 to honor the first contract, then escalate it after 2007. This is where they are disagreeing. Now this is all speculation from what I have read, but it seems pretty realistic.

Thats why I said I would take a 1st and a 2nd in a heartbeat. If it is something less, I would think they would wheel and deal. If he is going to cash in on FA, there will be teams willing to pay and get him a year earlier.

Yeah, I would say any team without a coach or with coaching issues would look to sign him. If the Bears don't get this done it will be a huge mistake. The right thing to do would be to sign him as soon as possible and end all the speculation.

Yeah, that was the speculation at first when they actually didn't give him a position.

The only issue with Briggs is he seems to now be a one year player. The Bears almost have to move him to salvage something. Otherwise they get him for one year and he is gone anyway, and they don't get anything for him after 2007/2008. If no one is going to offer the two first rounders, I would take a 1st and 2nd for him in a heart beat. At least the Bears could sign a FA, then use the extra picks to move up in the draft or to fill more holes.

Garrett was named the Offensive Coordinator on Tuesday: http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/article...;cid=1113762427

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=3094

UPDATE http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?STORY_ID=3093

Yeah, I cannot understand why the Sox or Bears don't pay their players or coaches, especially after successful seasons.

You can have Briggs for that much money, that is crazy. He is good, but not that good. I would love to get a couple of picks for him.

Hell, 1st time coaches with zero experience are making 3-5 mill a year. Lovie has won back to back Division titles and an NFC Championship in just 3 years. The only way that this would be an issue is if he was looking for a super long deal like 7+ years, or was wanting something more than 6 million a year. If not, I cannot believe this is even an issue. He is the first decent coach we've had since Da Coach.

This is seriously ridiculous. There is no reason they can't resign him to a 5 year deal for 6 million- a year. There has to be something going on behind the scenes. Ugh.

The LB Corps has arguably been the best unit for the Bears over the last few years. Even the other LB's have been very solid on Special Teams. I assume that another year together will make this unit even better and more consistent compared to 2006. The only difference will be that the schedule is definitely tougher. If they come close to the same numbers they had in 2006, then it will be a successful year.

Most of the ones I have done in the past were just Mock Drafts with no future picks or current players involved. It made things pretty simple and without any questionable areas. Otherwise, you have to know valuations of current players and future picks, which just complicates everything. I have done of few of these and there are always some questionable moves which takes the fun out of it.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...-home-headlines I know this was already mentioned, but now it is official.

There was definitely something going on behind the scenes because taking a position lower than the one you're at that quick just doesn't pass the common sense test. He must have known this was going to happen and had the Charger's position ready to go. I just don't understand why he would go from a Coordinator to a LB Coach to make him a better candidate as a Head Coach. He will get 3-4 experience but thats about it. Head Coaches rarely come from the LB Coach ranks.

I don't think this will affect the Bears public image that much. Rivera wants to be a HC, and signing a long term deal with the Bears when he could be gone after every season puts the Bears in a tough spot. Just think, every single NFL coaching vacancy will bring interviews and uncertainty. Then Rivera can just bolt when he wants to and the Bears have to scramble and fill vacancies. This way they can make the moves to solidify the coaching staff for several years.