The same year Justin was ranked in the top 100 by his NFL peers, Byard was ranked #34.

https://youtu.be/4uakGtPPsBI?si=FHZwHMhFQU3px0e3

 

That was the year he was running - and he's great in the open field. After that, they told him not to put any moves on approaching defenders, but to slide instead, and that took away his best weapon.

Also once defenses realized he couldnt punish them for not playing honest in the middle, they had schemes to contain his run too.

And now we know why we didn't sign McKinney.

Signed for 4 years / 68 Million

17M / yr vs 7.5M / yr

 

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

And now we know why we didn't sign McKinney.

Signed for 4 years / 68 Million

17M / yr vs 7.5M / yr

 

right - too rich. Im happy with the guy weve got even though we will probably have to draft his replacement next year.

Since we’re on the subject of “too rich” FAs (and I know this would be better placed on the Swift post): 

 

What's so nice is we have money to pay other players, other teams are running out. 

2 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

What's so nice is we have money to pay other players, other teams are running out. 

That's because we are (or were) bad. Good teams cant afford to keep all their players because together they're worth more than the salary cap.

We cleared the bench of a lot of the players that Poles didnt bring here. There are only a few of them left now. (cough)

When our rookies from the last couple of years grow up, we wont be able to keep them all either but it'll be ok if we dont emotionally hang on to them too long, and let them go when they still have trade value. usually a year before a big payday.

A few players you keep no matter what they cost, top of that being QB since its the most important position on the team - get that right, and youre in it as the players around you come and go.

Here are the only non Poles acquisitions left on the team:

Justin Fields
Khalil Herbert
Teven Jenkins
Jaylon Johnson
Cole Kmet
Darnell Mooney (?)

You can see how he feels about Herbert as a starter since he just signed a starter ahead of him.

Teven is good when healthy, but you can imagine him being replaced for next year, this is the last year of his rookie deal.

Johnson and Kmet played themselves into big contract extensions.

I have no idea what the disposition of Mooney is right now.

And then there is Justin.

4 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

That's because we are (or were) bad. Good teams cant afford to keep all their players because together they're worth more than the salary cap.

We cleared the bench of a lot of the players that Poles didnt bring here. There are only a few of them left now. (cough)

When our rookies from the last couple of years grow up, we wont be able to keep them all either but it'll be ok if we dont emotionally hang on to them too long, and let them go when they still have trade value. usually a year before a big payday.

A few players you keep no matter what they cost, top of that being QB since its the most important position on the team - get that right, and youre in it as the players around you come and go.

Totally agree again, except for the cough.

1 minute ago, BearFan PHX said:

Here are the only non Poles acquisitions left on the team:

Justin Fields
Khalil Herbert
Teven Jenkins
Jaylon Johnson
Cole Kmet
Darnell Mooney (?)

You can see how he feels about Herbert as a starter since he just signed a starter ahead of him.

Teven is good when healthy, but you can imagine him being replaced for next year, this is the last year of his rookie deal.

Johnson and Kmet played themselves into big contract extensions.

I have no idea what the disposition of Mooney is right now.

And then there is Justin.

Agree again and if Mooney doesn't get money somewhere else, he may be back on a cheap deal.

Don't forget Patrick Scales ? 

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Agree again and if Mooney doesn't get money somewhere else, he may be back on a cheap deal.

Rumor has it that KC is interested in signing Mooney. He would fit right in with the dropsies 

Also, a big drop,  Mooney declined a 3 year extension from the Bears before the 2023 season.

32 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Rumor has it that KC is interested in signing Mooney. He would fit right in with the dropsies 

Also, a big drop,  Mooney declined a 3 year extension from the Bears before the 2023 season.

dodged a bullet on that one.

With Jonathan Owen’s signing Poles has remade the safety group.   I’ve been drafting a safety in mocks Rd2 or 3. That’s out the window now.   I haven’t felt this good about the DB group since the Mike Brown heyday. This D needs one more pass rusher.     Find 2 somehow and watch out. 

46 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

With Jonathan Owen’s signing Poles has remade the safety group.   I’ve been drafting a safety in mocks Rd2 or 3. That’s out the window now.   I haven’t felt this good about the DB group since the Mike Brown heyday. This D needs one more pass rusher.     Find 2 somehow and watch out. 

With only 5 picks , Poles will be selective with his picks but pay attention to his board. WR, DE, DT, OL  Last year he moved up to draft Stevenson after taking Brisker and Gordon the year before. He had Stevenson rated high. If 2 WRS are there, he may do that. He will be open on his decisions. Last year after the free agency and draft he brought in Ngakoue late. There will still be a free agency period to get something he missed on.

4 hours ago, AZ54 said:

With Jonathan Owen’s signing Poles has remade the safety group.   I’ve been drafting a safety in mocks Rd2 or 3. That’s out the window now.   I haven’t felt this good about the DB group since the Mike Brown heyday. This D needs one more pass rusher.     Find 2 somehow and watch out. 

right - find a DE and a DT, and the D is complete.

And the offensive roster is going to take a big jump forward this offseason too.