2023 NFL Free Agency Open Thread (Pinned)

[Alaskan Grizzly]

PJ Walker signed as backup to Fields.

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Null

[Stinger226]

3 hours ago, TravD said:

Not a popular opinion, but I'm very unimpressed with Poles as a whole this offseason so far. The T.J. Edwards signing I really liked. They got great value in their first signing.  Edmonds I feel was way overpaid. I'm not going to deny ignorance, but to be honest,. Nate Davis was good on a running offense, which is what the Bears already had, but can he pass block? Walker was on a 1 year prove it contract, and had one good year after how many in the league? I know he isn't paid well but PJ Walker as the back up QB? They had a chance for a franchise QB, we traded for the maybe 25 WR in the league and unknown picks. Our RB position just downgraded by a mile, and we have to face him twice a year for a reasonable price compared to Walker that probably won't start, and even if he does wouldn't on most teams. 

I was expecting more, if they really believed in Fields enough to trade out of the one., I thought they would make him prove it. I know it's early but the bad O line is the same. Everyone agreed he needed more blocking  and better receivers to prove it.  They added a low end WR1 if you consider 2's like Higgins and Waddle in the league I'd guess he'd be closer to 32-45 instead of top 16.  RB is worse. Defense is just as horrible and probably still a downgrade over the start of last season with Roquan and Quinn. 

Have you ever heard of Akim Hicks? He was with 3 teams after 4 years before he took off. Some make it and some don't. They spend hours studying these players so I plead ignorance because I don't. Anyone you sign on the first couple of days are over paid, free agency is like that. He's easily between 15-20 as far as ratings. Do you watch a lot of football? Name the top 24 WRs? So is free agency over? I thought it was just getting started and we have 4 players in he top 64. This draft will net us. 4 to 5 starters. Last year he had 5 picks and no number one . He ended up with 11 picks and 5 starters out of that group. So far a B.

[Pixote]

10 hours ago, killakrzydav said:

Man, that’s so telling on brown imo

It appears everyone had Brown pegged correctly. Poles wanted him at RT, he wanted to be LT. Simple as that. We got outbid for McG by Denver, then this guy refused to accept our offer. Here is an interesting quote from Brown:

Quote

"I'm super thankful for the opportunity to carry on my father's legacy and be a left tackle," Brown told NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo following his decision to join Cincy. "It was important to be able to play that position and play for a winning team and a winning quarterback. Who Dey!"

 

[dawhizz]

8 hours ago, TravD said:

Not a popular opinion, but I'm very unimpressed with Poles as a whole this offseason so far. The T.J. Edwards signing I really liked. They got great value in their first signing.  Edmonds I feel was way overpaid. I'm not going to deny ignorance, but to be honest,. Nate Davis was good on a running offense, which is what the Bears already had, but can he pass block? Walker was on a 1 year prove it contract, and had one good year after how many in the league? I know he isn't paid well but PJ Walker as the back up QB? They had a chance for a franchise QB, we traded for the maybe 25 WR in the league and unknown picks. Our RB position just downgraded by a mile, and we have to face him twice a year for a reasonable price compared to Walker that probably won't start, and even if he does wouldn't on most teams. 

I was expecting more, if they really believed in Fields enough to trade out of the one., I thought they would make him prove it. I know it's early but the bad O line is the same. Everyone agreed he needed more blocking  and better receivers to prove it.  They added a low end WR1 if you consider 2's like Higgins and Waddle in the league I'd guess he'd be closer to 32-45 instead of top 16.  RB is worse. Defense is just as horrible and probably still a downgrade over the start of last season with Roquan and Quinn. 

I have to say I feel the same way. The trade of #1 was great, but free agency has been very suspect IMO. He had the most cap space in the league, has spent about half of it, and has upgraded 1 (maybe 1 1/2) units on the worst team in the league almost a week into free agency is not great. LB is unquestionably better. Offensive line is better but still missing a competent starting C or RT. He’s made additions to QB and RB but I can’t say either of those units are markedly better than they were. You bring in a DE who played 40% of snaps last year and did well, but so did Muhammad the year before he hit here, so is the D-line noticeably better now? I guess there’s still time and money, but most of the big fish are gone and fear do the Bears really have to show for it?

[adam]

This is only the beginning of Year 2, still a lot of work to be done. Look at the 2019 draft, the Bears should have several key contributors from that class on the roster. They don't. So in order to fix deficits like that, it takes more than one year.

The team has huge upgrades at WR and LB and ultimately only needs upgrades on the O-Line and D-Line going into the draft. My assumption is Robinson/Gipson will rotate on one Edge, leaving the other DE a need. For DTs, they still have Jones, and now Walker who can play both DT and DE. So there are probably 2 more needed here, I am assuming one more free agent and the rest of the DLine addressed in the draft (2 picks). For O-Line, they got Davis, so they probably only need one more, a RT (1 pick). After those 3 picks in the trenches, they can go RB, TE, and CB. They can get 4 of them in the top 64, and with another trade down potentially have 5 in the top 64.  

So if they can sign 2 more legit starters in FA, they have enough draft capital to address the other needs early in the draft. 

Needs priority (some free agents remaining):

1. DL x3 (a ton of holes here to address) - Ford, Robinson, Ioannidis, Gaines, Ngakoue?
2. RT - (Borom is not it) - Isaiah Wynn? - or go Center with McGovern?
3. CB (Vildor the weakest link) - Rock Ya-Sin?
4. RB (RBBC for Herbert/Homer) - Foreman?
5. TE (Compliment to Kmet) - Schultz, Moreau?

What else is there to address?

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, dawhizz said:

I have to say I feel the same way. The trade of #1 was great, but free agency has been very suspect IMO. He had the most cap space in the league, has spent about half of it, and has upgraded 1 (maybe 1 1/2) units on the worst team in the league almost a week into free agency is not great. LB is unquestionably better. Offensive line is better but still missing a competent starting C or RT. He’s made additions to QB and RB but I can’t say either of those units are markedly better than they were. You bring in a DE who played 40% of snaps last year and did well, but so did Muhammad the year before he hit here, so is the D-line noticeably better now? I guess there’s still time and money, but most of the big fish are gone and fear do the Bears really have to show for it?

So you're saying you would be happy if we paid McG 87 mil and Dremont Jones 51 mil ? It will. prove to not to be a good signing this year but McG is very  average. It would have been a upgrade for us. but bad value. We actually brought in a DL that had more sacks in less than half the snaps . 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, dawhizz said:

I have to say I feel the same way. The trade of #1 was great, but free agency has been very suspect IMO. He had the most cap space in the league, has spent about half of it, and has upgraded 1 (maybe 1 1/2) units on the worst team in the league almost a week into free agency is not great. LB is unquestionably better. Offensive line is better but still missing a competent starting C or RT. He’s made additions to QB and RB but I can’t say either of those units are markedly better than they were. You bring in a DE who played 40% of snaps last year and did well, but so did Muhammad the year before he hit here, so is the D-line noticeably better now? I guess there’s still time and money, but most of the big fish are gone and fear do the Bears really have to show for it?

Admittedly I have been skeptical of some of the choices made.  But then again, that's probably why I continue to sit and watch the Bears play each season from the comfort of my living room.    

However if for nothing else Poles has shown that he's frugal and so far been able to do reasonably well with regards to the draft. Last year he went in with 5-7(?) picks and ended up with 11.  I'm throwing random #s but I do know he started out with less than he ended up.  Anyhow, of those picks 4 ended up as starters (Brisker, Gordon, Braxton Jones and Gill) and 3 had significant playing time (V. Jones, Robinson and Ebner).  Most all those guys, save Gill, were from the top end to middle of the draft.  Along the way he shed some money heavy vets; Mack, Hicks, R. Smith and Quinn among them.  I should add he found a diamond in the rough with Sanborn then tried to bring in a few former 1st rounders on bargain contracts (Leatherwood, Rieff and Harry).  Not to mention with that trade of the overall 1st round pick not only did he snag "our #1 WR" with Moore but also kept us in the top 10 for this year's first round AND got us another 1st for next year.   Now will all these players work out in the long run?  Still remains to be seen. But that's true with any pick regardless of their order (Fields prime example).

One other critique I've had since Poles started last year was all the players on defense they seem to be stockpiling (draft last year and so far FAs this year) but then again our HC comes to us as a former  DC so that makes some sense.  However he's been doing pretty well at keeping the skill players on offense intact.  One thing we led last year was rushing yards and I don't see that dropping off a lot next season.  Really the focus for Poles going into the draft should be along both lines and he's got plenty of draft picks to address them with either as trade bait of just by making smart draft picks.  

[Mongo3451]

Poles... "if it's not a fit, they don't come here".

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Andrew Billings DT signed

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

11 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Andrew Billings DT signed

 

I had to ask “who”?  Then looked him up. He’s a big dude.  Perfect for clogging up the middle.

 

[BearFan PHX]

This is a classic space filler move. Like Reiff, Schofield etc - no GM wants to go into the draft with any glaring holes. You take a rookie, and they develop until they can replace the placeholder - could be in camp, could be in November.

I suspect we have Leatherwood as a placeholder at RT right now, which allowed to avoid desperation early in Free Agency.

We will draft D Linemen, and we will draft a 3T, maybe not with 9 but in the first four picks. We will draft a RT too, again somewhere in the first 4 picks.

But you can take it to the bank that the 9 pick will go to 3T, DE or OT and that player will be an excellent starter for us.

We will sign more lower paid free agents on the DL and perhaps on the OL before the draft too.

But if you're looking for that big name stud on the DL or OL for our future, that players is coming in the draft.

[Mongo3451]

1 minute ago, BearFan PHX said:

I suspect we have Leatherwood as a placeholder at RT right now, which allowed to avoid desperation early in Free Agency.

That'll never happen.  Leatherwood may have the highest pressure per snap ratio in NFL history.  If he makes the team, outs as a backup guard only.

[adam]

I expect more of these 1 and 2 year deals for guys with some upside. Billings was one of the better DLinemen on the Raiders last year. As a rotational guy on mainly 1st and 2nd Down, he will eat up some space.

Poles doing his research:

 

[BearFan PHX]

25 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

That'll never happen.  Leatherwood may have the highest pressure per snap ratio in NFL history.  If he makes the team, outs as a backup guard only.

We are not disagreeing. Im saying Leatherwood is a placeholder to be replaced by a draft pick. In other words that we dont have to sign another $3M one year contract with someone who is also terrible just so we dont have a hole at RT going into the draft.

[AZ54]

7 minutes ago, adam said:

I expect more of these 1 and 2 year deals for guys with some upside. Billings was one of the better DLinemen on the Raiders last year. As a rotational guy on mainly 1st and 2nd Down, he will eat up some space.

Poles doing his research:

 

We're trying to replace Mike Pennel as the 4th DT.  It's not a high bar to get over to find someone better.  Hopefully he's done that.  

[adam]

Just going off lost snap counts, Walker and Billings replaced Watts and Blackson. Now the Bears still need a replacement for Muhammad at DE and Pennel. 

[AZ54]

14 minutes ago, adam said:

Just going off lost snap counts, Walker and Billings replaced Watts and Blackson. Now the Bears still need a replacement for Muhammad at DE and Pennel. 

I figured Walker was going to be exclusively a DT for us but Poles said they liked him on the edge to press the edge and then he can kick inside on some passing downs.  In one of the film studies I've come across they said that Flus wants bigger DEs who can set the edge and keep that between G and T as small as possible on run plays.  Maybe that is the plan for Walker and our first real DT signing is in fact Billings.  

[Mongo3451]

40 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

We are not disagreeing. Im saying Leatherwood is a placeholder to be replaced by a draft pick. In other words that we dont have to sign another $3M one year contract with someone who is also terrible just so we dont have a hole at RT going into the draft.

I kinda think we are in disagreement.  Leatherwood is not even a backup at the position.  He's been relegated to guard and is hanging on by a thread at that.  We still need to sign and draft someone that can play right tackle.  I'm guessing the veteran will have had experience at both.

[adam]

There is the vet TE (Getsy special):

 

 

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Mongo3451 said:

I kinda think we are in disagreement.  Leatherwood is not even a backup at the position.  He's been relegated to guard and is hanging on by a thread at that.  We still need to sign and draft someone that can play right tackle.  I'm guessing the veteran will have had experience at both.

fair enough. i just think our starting RT is coming in the draft. So we can disagree over whether Leatherwood is holding the space open, or if the space is empty, but I think we will get our RT in the draft.

You may be right tho, if Poles signs another $4M a year type RT before the draft on a one or two year deal.

[BearFan PHX]

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

I figured Walker was going to be exclusively a DT for us but Poles said they liked him on the edge to press the edge and then he can kick inside on some passing downs.  In one of the film studies I've come across they said that Flus wants bigger DEs who can set the edge and keep that between G and T as small as possible on run plays.  Maybe that is the plan for Walker and our first real DT signing is in fact Billings.  

I think Walker only played inside on passing downs. He was a rotational player, so a lot of his highlights came when he was on the field in passing situations, inside. And thats why his film makes him look like a DT, but i dont think he ever played DT on 1st or 2nd and less than 7?

[ASHKUM BEAR]

1 minute ago, BearFan PHX said:

fair enough. i just think our starting RT is coming in the draft. So we can disagree over whether Leatherwood is holding the space open, or if the space is empty, but I think we will get our RT in the draft.

You may be right tho, if Poles signs another $4M a year type RT before the draft on a one or two year deal.

I would say Borum is more so the place holder over Leatherwood.  They gave him a few snaps and it didn't work well at all.  But RT will most likely come round 1 or 2.

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, adam said:

I expect more of these 1 and 2 year deals for guys with some upside. Billings was one of the better DLinemen on the Raiders last year. As a rotational guy on mainly 1st and 2nd Down, he will eat up some space.

Poles doing his research:

 

These signing are sneaky good. These two can help keep blockers off our LBers. People go blah but these two were high rated DTs . They are not the game changers but that's what the draft will bring us.

[BearFan PHX]

2 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I would say Borum is more so the place holder over Leatherwood.  They gave him a few snaps and it didn't work well at all.  But RT will most likely come round 1 or 2.

If Borom is still under contract, then yeah, youre probably right, its him.

Id love to see Cody Mauch playing RT for us. Maybe they're gonna try Jenkins at RT again too?