Remaking the bears 2021

[Stinger226]

Next year we will be in cap hell with no QB and a below average team. The players with some cap relief that we will need to choose to cut or keep.

                      dead money      cap savings

Hicks                    1.5                    10.5

Fuller                     9                        11

Leno                      5.1                      6.2

Massie                  3.9                      5.4

Skine                      3.3                      2.8

Graham                  3                           7

Players we cant cut due to dead money   Mack-Trevathan-Whitehair-Jackson-Goldman-Quinn     total= 118 mil in dead money. No cap savings

Foles would be 10.3 dead money with no cap saving if we cut him.

 

we have to cut some good players, who would you choose?

For me:  Hicks-Fuller-Leno-Skine and Graham are a must. Maybe Massie for one more year if we dont get to draft a replacement. He was average when healthy.

       The Oline------ Draftee-Daniels-Mustifpher-Whitehair-Massie or draft pick.  Other choice would be Draftee-Whitehair-Daniels-????- Massie

Then do we want to pay Robinson the 15-18 mil he will demand? With a rookie QB we may need to franchise him for help. If we get a rehab vet (doubtful) let him go for a 3rd round comp pick. Then we will be forced to keep Foles as the backup QB.

After I check out GM and coach choices and go over the draft will comment on them.

For now we have a 1st,2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and if we let ARob leave a 3rd comp. The first two picks have to be a OT and QB prospect in what ever order. After that fill spots with who we cut.

 

[BearFan PHX]

We will miss Hicks if we let him go.

I think we can survive Robinson leaving better than Hicks.

[Stinger226]

The problem, Hicks is the best situation for cap savings and now the last 2 years he has had some injury issues.

[adam]

2 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

The problem, Hicks is the best situation for cap savings and now the last 2 years he has had some injury issues.

I think you move on from Leno, Massie, Skrine, and Graham, then have Fuller and Hicks both restructure to save a couple of mil without pushing too much into future years.

[Stinger226]

If we keep then, then I think we have no room for resigning AROB. The cap is set to lose 20 mil with the covid this year.

[adam]

5 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

If we keep then, then I think we have no room for resigning AROB. The cap is set to lose 20 mil with the covid this year.

Yeah so you are basically swapping Fuller+Hicks for ARob. That doesn't seem like a good trade-off for a comparable cap hit. ARob is going to get paid, I just don't think it's with the Bears.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

24 minutes ago, adam said:

ARob is going to get paid, I just don't think it's with the Bears.

Probably GB... that’ll be our luck. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Stinger226]

34 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Probably GB... that’ll be our luck. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Dont say such things. 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

3 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Dont say such things. 

I think GB wants Will Fuller, tried trading for him.  That would be a deadly with Adam's.  

[Stinger226]

Makes sense, Adams and AROB are similar WRs.

[adam]

I thought the Bears had cap issues, but the Saints are close to $100M OVER the cap. The Eagles are $70M over, the Falcons $38M, Steelers $32M, Packers $27M, Rams $25M, Chiefs $24M, Raiders $15M, Texans $14M, and Vikings $11M.

I honestly have no clue what the Saints are going to do. They can't cut enough guys. They are going to have to trade a ton of guys like Thomas and group him with a bad contract, and then give them away for basically nothing. 

[Mongo3451]

I've seen enough of Mitch the last 3 games to know we can win with him for a season.  My choice is still to draft OL and DL before we get the next guy.  Give it to Mitch and Foles again next year, then draft our future QB.  I'm going to stay on record on this matter.

Cut Massie, Skrine, Graham and Harris.  Trade Fuller and Hicks if you can.  Time for a youth movement.

[Stinger226]

If they run the same type of scheme they run today, rolling him out, slants(quick passes) and stay out of 6 step drops, he can succeed. I dont think they keep both although Foles will cost 10.5 mil in dead money, so I think they keep him as the backup. If they show they play to MTs strengths the rest of the season, maybe . 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

57 minutes ago, adam said:

onestly have no clue what the Saints are going to do. They can't cut enough guys. They are going to have to trade a ton of guys like Thomas and group him with a bad contract, and then give them away for basically nothing

And they have an interesting ‘problem’ with Brees and Taysom Hill.  To me Brees is becoming expendable...fast.  Last year Bridgewater was 5-0 (?) playing for Brees while he was hurt and this year Hill is 3-0.  

[adam]

13 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

And they have an interesting ‘problem’ with Brees and Taysom Hill.  To me Brees is becoming expendable...fast.  Last year Bridgewater was 5-0 (?) playing for Brees while he was hurt and this year Hill is 3-0.  

Who is taking on $36M for Brees? If they cut him that is over $22M in dead money. They are 100M over the cap, so even if they cut him, that saves just over $13M. They would have to do that with another 6-8 starters, then have another 4-5 to restructure just to make it under the cap with a roster of about 40 players. 

[adam]

13 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

If they run the same type of scheme they run today, rolling him out, slants(quick passes) and stay out of 6 step drops, he can succeed. I dont think they keep both although Foles will cost 10.5 mil in dead money, so I think they keep him as the backup. If they show they play to MTs strengths the rest of the season, maybe . 

Trubisky would have to be willing to take a lot less (under $10M to fit him under the cap). 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

7 hours ago, adam said:

Who is taking on $36M for Brees? If they cut him that is over $22M in dead money. They are 100M over the cap, so even if they cut him, that saves just over $13M. They would have to do that with another 6-8 starters, then have another 4-5 to restructure just to make it under the cap with a roster of about 40 players. 

Well, Hill losing yesterday to Philly helped them a little.  Soon he can go back to being a gadget player when Drew returns.  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

7 hours ago, adam said:

Trubisky would have to be willing to take a lot less (under $10M to fit him under the cap). 

How does a Franchise tag work in that scenario?  Is it better to buy time that way? Maybe for as long as the next two years rather than paying him a contract?  That is while they sort out the rest and determine if they want to keep him long term?  

[adam]

22 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

How does a Franchise tag work in that scenario?  Is it better to buy time that way? Maybe for as long as the next two years rather than paying him a contract?  That is while they sort out the rest and determine if they want to keep him long term?  

I don't think franchise or transition tag is an option. For a QB it is projected to be around $23.5M for the franchise tag and $21M for the transition tag. Now for someone like Prescott, it makes a lot of sense. You don't have to pay him $30M+ like most of the top 10 QB salaries. For Trubisky, however, it would not make sense, nor do they have the cap space to sign him.

Earlier in the year when I looked at the cap (after the Cohen extension), I realized that it looked like the team was deciding on ARob vs Trubisky, but both was never going to be an option. Then when the actual cap came out, it made neither being signed or extended the most likely outcome.

The only way I can see that changing is if somehow miraculously the Bears win out and sneak into the playoffs with Trubisky leading the way. However, Trubisky might then play himself into a bigger contract that leads him out of town anyway. So it just seems like there is no scenario where either A. they can fit him in the cap or B. he plays good enough to justify the new contract. Those two things are mutually exclusive.

[Stinger226]

On 12/13/2020 at 1:23 PM, adam said:

Yeah so you are basically swapping Fuller+Hicks for ARob. That doesn't seem like a good trade-off for a comparable cap hit. ARob is going to get paid, I just don't think it's with the Bears.

I am trying to figure what they will do. Someone has to go, If they restructure all the big money contracts, I still dont think they would have enough to keep AROB. Maybe franchise him and try to trade him? Not sure the time frame when the dollars take a hit to the cap. A few of the cuts are obvious but will need to cut a few go of the top  players. I was reading where this will probably be a cap reduction of 20 mil, and because 2021 could still be a problem will not go up the following year. That will mean tough cuts or redoing a lot of contracts. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

8 hours ago, adam said:

don't think franchise or transition tag is an option. For a QB it is projected to be around $23.5M for the franchise tag and $21M for the transition tag. Now for someone like Prescott, it makes a lot of sense. You don't have to pay him $30M+ like most of the top 10 QB salaries. For Trubisky, however, it would not make sense, nor do they have the cap space to sign him.

So more than likely he’ll become an FA? Since they declined his 5th year option is he still an RFA or UFA?  

And while watching the Browns - Ravens tilt tonight I can’t help but think if Cleveland makes the playoffs they’ll be out in the first round.  Why?  Because Cody Parkey is their kicker...he’s missed one FG and one XP.  How he’s still kicking in the league is beyond me. 

[50england50]

I still don’t know if the Bears have a true idea of Mitch’s value considering the offense isn’t designed to his strengths and the oline as been awful. 
 

Is there any scenario which is good for Mitch and the Bears that we can resign him. 
 

Would the transition tag be out of the question. If we drafted a QB in the first round what would the salary be. 

[Mongo3451]

1 hour ago, 50england50 said:

Is there any scenario which is good for Mitch and the Bears that we can resign him. 

I believe so.  He's not going to command a huge contract.  For Mitch to be successful we need to stack both O and D fronts. 

[adam]

Based on a 1/3 of the league being in cap hell for next year, I expect there is going to be a ton of short term deals with super high guarantees. 

In a way, the teams with a ton of cap space will have an extra advantage like never before because some teams are going to have to cut guys or trade them for peanuts just to get under the cap.  The following teams will have over $20M in cap space:

JAX - $75M - need QB
NYJ - $68M - need QB
IND - $58M  - need QB
NE - $58M  - need QB
WAS - $47M  - need QB
CIN - $35M
MIA - $26M
CLE - $22M
BAL - $21M
DAL - $21M - Prescott?
LAC - $21M 

Cincinnati is really postured well with some nice cap space AND a QB. 

With how much cap space JAX has, I would seriously consider trading one of our Mack ($26M), Fuller (20M), or Jackson ($11M) to them just to reduce the cap hit.  I doubt they would take Quinn or Leno, but those two are boat anchors right now.

Pace should be fired for this alone, in 2021 Mack and Quinn will account 23.5% of the cap, with Mack, Quinn, and Fuller accounting for 36.5% of the entire team's cap space. 3 players out of 51. The new GM will have to fit 48 more players in 63.5% of the cap, that is absolutely insane and borderline criminal.

[50england50]

Pace has made some mistakes but I felt when we resigned Fuller it was a need which I was happy with. I think he earned his contract and is one of the few successful 1st round picks we have had. 
 

Signing Mack was something I was ecstatic about at the time and definitely after the Green Bay game. In hindsight I think we over paid. Again is there anyone who argued with Pace when Mack was signed. 
 

I can see the reasoning for signing Quinn because Floyd wasn’t getting it done. Probably was wrong because of the financial implications of Covid and the projected cap reduction. 
 

Has the NFL made an announcement that the cap will reduce this year. I think that will be harsh because the pandemic was something no one could predict and if the teams are forced to get under the cap ultimately the product will suffer.