Anyone see we signed UDFA Ian Wheeler to a 3 yr contract? Its not guaranteed so we can still cut him anytime. Dont know if this is true, only seen one post on it and it is not listed in the Bears transaction page. 

Wasnt listed on NFLTradeRumors transactions page either. 

That was probably a post by his dad. wishful thinking

46 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Anyone see we signed UDFA Ian Wheeler to a 3 yr contract? Its not guaranteed so we can still cut him anytime. Dont know if this is true, only seen one post on it and it is not listed in the Bears transaction page. 

Wasnt listed on NFLTradeRumors transactions page either. 

That was probably a post by his dad. wishful thinking

You could be correct, I found several sources saying he is a Bear. Here is a link below to an article on WindyCityGridiron:

Bear Bones: Interview with Bears UDFA Ian Wheeler

If you do a "Google" search, you will find videos and articles.

26 minutes ago, Pixote said:

You could be correct, I found several sources saying he is a Bear. Here is a link below to an article on WindyCityGridiron:

Bear Bones: Interview with Bears UDFA Ian Wheeler

If you do a "Google" search, you will find videos and articles.

I know they signed him but most UDFA contracts are not 3 yrs. They is a standard UDFA contract unless a bonus is attached. 

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

I know they signed him but most UDFA contracts are not 3 yrs. They is a standard UDFA contract unless a bonus is attached. 

Sorry, misunderstood. It is odd 3 year deal. I thought most UDFA are 1 year prove it deals. Must think highly of him.

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

Sorry, misunderstood. It is odd 3 year deal. I thought most UDFA are 1 year prove it deals. Must think highly of him.

I dont know if its true I haven't got an offical confirmation.

Here is the up to date current rookie camp attendees. 

https://www.shawlocal.com/bears/2024/05/09/chicago-bears-officially-sign-9-undrafted-free-agents-host-24-more-for-rookie-tryouts/

Ian Wheeler RB/KR signing is for the new kickoff rules.  Bears will need to KR specialists and Wheeler must have been ID by scouts for this purpose.  All UDFA sign 3 yr deals according to this video.

 

22 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Ian Wheeler RB/KR signing is for the new kickoff rules.  Bears will need to KR specialists and Wheeler must have been ID by scouts for this purpose.  All UDFA sign 3 yr deals according to this video.

 

I also just read that the reason for his signing was primarily as a KR specialist. I saw on social media (X) that he signed a 3 year deal for 2.830,000 (which seems pretty damn good for a UDFA). It didn't mention a signing bonus, not to say there wasn't one.

 https://x.com/HBCUSports1/status/1787959598877729275

Believe it or not that is actually just a minimum wage contract for the NFL.  Go look at min salary for each year.  No risk to the team whatsoever.  If he makes the practice squad it’s done on a different deal.  
 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cba/minimum/

The league minimum for rookies is $795,000 and for players with at least one year experience is $915,000 a year, and $985,000 for two years experience.

So the least the three year contract could be worth is $2.695,000 so we gave him an extra $135,000 - so i guess it's a slight increase, but not much.

We probably had to outbid someone else? But not by much.

5 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

Believe it or not that is actually just a minimum wage contract for the NFL.  Go look at min salary for each year.  No risk to the team whatsoever.  If he makes the practice squad it’s done on a different deal.  
 

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cba/minimum/

ah youre right, the increases over the years make up that $135k. You beat me to it AZ and you got the numbers right.

This is a threat to Tyler Scott, right?   Or is it Velus Jones?

I hope it works out for him!

6 minutes ago, CrackerDog said:

This is a threat to Tyler Scott, right?   Or is it Velus Jones?

I hope it works out for him!

I'd say Homer and Jones are both in jeopardy. Scott will hopefully prove to be the WR we expected when we were excited about him last preseason as a possible sleeper. Maybe with the new WR room, he can get help reaching his true potential.

12 minutes ago, Pixote said:

I'd say Homer and Jones are both in jeopardy. Scott will hopefully prove to be the WR we expected when we were excited about him last preseason as a possible sleeper. Maybe with the new WR room, he can get help reaching his true potential.

Agree. Im not sure who our punt returner is though, that's a possible role for Scott too. He did it for us, but muffed a couple so they took it from him. Maybe with another year's work he can do that.

54 minutes ago, CrackerDog said:

This is a threat to Tyler Scott, right?   Or is it Velus Jones?

I hope it works out for him!

Teams will most likely use two men deep on KR returns. I would guess it is competition for Homer or if the Bears trade Herbert.  

Poles put a team together to review the new Kick Off rules and to review the team to make sure they were ready for it. My guess is Jones and Wheeler/ Scott will be on the field. Plus Wheeler is a sleeper being a small school complete RB. 

2 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Teams will most likely use two men deep on KR returns. I would guess it is competition for Homer or if the Bears trade Herbert.  

Poles put a team together to review the new Kick Off rules and to review the team to make sure they were ready for it. My guess is Jones and Wheeler/ Scott will be on the field. Plus Wheeler is a sleeper being a small school complete RB. 

I'll bet we see a lot of innovation on kickoff returns. the best technique probably hasnt even been thought of yet.

55 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I'll bet we see a lot of innovation on kickoff returns. the best technique probably hasnt even been thought of yet.

I guess the best way to see it is to watch XFL.  I imagine the Bears identified returners, blockers, coverage and a kicker that can pin point to take advantage of this.

"The ball ideally will drop between the 20-yard line and the goal line, called the "landing zone," where the receiving team will have one or (more likely) two returners. If the ball lands in the end zone or goes out of the end zone, the resulting touchback will be spotted at the 30-yard line. If it's kicked out of bounds, the ball will be placed at the 40.

No one but the kicker and returner(s) can move until the ball is caught or hits the ground. That will create an admittedly awkward few seconds when 19 or 20 players are standing still while the ball is in the air"

40 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

I guess the best way to see it is to watch XFL.  I imagine the Bears identified returners, blockers, coverage and a kicker that can pin point to take advantage of this.

"The ball ideally will drop between the 20-yard line and the goal line, called the "landing zone," where the receiving team will have one or (more likely) two returners. If the ball lands in the end zone or goes out of the end zone, the resulting touchback will be spotted at the 30-yard line. If it's kicked out of bounds, the ball will be placed at the 40.

No one but the kicker and returner(s) can move until the ball is caught or hits the ground. That will create an admittedly awkward few seconds when 19 or 20 players are standing still while the ball is in the air"

oh for sure, but since it's so new, people are going to find loopholes and techniques that we havent thought of yet. Im not really sure how I feel about it yet. If it feels normal, then OK, but if it turns into some weird new thing, Im gonna think its a bad idea.

11 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

oh for sure, but since it's so new, people are going to find loopholes and techniques that we havent thought of yet. Im not really sure how I feel about it yet. If it feels normal, then OK, but if it turns into some weird new thing, Im gonna think its a bad idea.

I can see NFL minds adding more twists to it than the XFL has.  It won't be boring and it should generate shorter fields.  There are even people suggesting the Steelers use Justin Fields as one. 

As for the Bears, UDFA Ian Wheeler will have a good chance making the team because of this rule change.  LB Carl Jones also has a window with his athleticism for coverage. They have some decent players against in this crop and a handful will stick at least at the practice squad level.

$5M in cap savings if they cut Borom and Homer, that would bump the Bears up to $17.5M in effective cap. They always leave some operating income, so that would probably leave them to sign a guy or two up to 9-10M in total. 

3 minutes ago, adam said:

$5M in cap savings if they cut Borom and Homer, that would bump the Bears up to $17.5M in effective cap. They always leave some operating income, so that would probably leave them to sign a guy or two up to 9-10M in total. 

that sounds about right. there are several DE options. might as well wait until at least one of them is willing to take a cheaper deal, or maybe until the one you really want is ready, or signs somewhere else.

We got a whole bunch of OL in too. Between the Free Agents, the Draft and UDFA, there are a bunch of them. Maybe one will surprise us. If they all have potential, it's a lot of lottery tickets, maybe one will hit.

7 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

The league minimum for rookies is $795,000 and for players with at least one year experience is $915,000 a year, and $985,000 for two years experience.

So the least the three year contract could be worth is $2.695,000 so we gave him an extra $135,000 - so i guess it's a slight increase, but not much.

We probably had to outbid someone else? But not by much.

 

7 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

ah youre right, the increases over the years make up that $135k. You beat me to it AZ and you got the numbers right.

?

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

oh for sure, but since it's so new, people are going to find loopholes and techniques that we havent thought of yet. Im not really sure how I feel about it yet. If it feels normal, then OK, but if it turns into some weird new thing, Im gonna think its a bad idea.

Hard to imagine anything worse than watching touchback after touchback.  What is the point of paying millions of dollars for coaches and players and running a non competitive play?   

5 hours ago, Pixote said:

I'd say Homer and Jones are both in jeopardy. Scott will hopefully prove to be the WR we expected when we were excited about him last preseason as a possible sleeper. Maybe with the new WR room, he can get help reaching his true potential.

I think Scott will surprise us in a good way this year. 

2 hours ago, AZ54 said:

Hard to imagine anything worse than watching touchback after touchback.  What is the point of paying millions of dollars for coaches and players and running a non competitive play?   

sure, but the other (possible) side of the coin is some BS touchdowns that change the outcome of games, where the better team is edged out by a fluke kickoff.

I'd argue there is nothing 'fluke' about a KO landing in the 'zone' and returned 80-99 yards for a TD. If that be the case, were the TDs scored on KO returns before the NFL screwed the fans with their 'safety' changes all flukes? 

I'm thrilled with the new KO rules, and am anxious to see how the NFL implements it in preseason, changes that will be made to fine-tune it, and the final version when we kick off the season. KOs had become totally boring. Time to go get a drink or, get rid of one in the BR. Gone were the days when I got excited over seeing a KO return. This change is welcome by me!