After it was mutilated by Andre Johnson in the season finale, it was hardly a surprise that the Bears’ secondary was the first area specifically addressed by the team at the start of its offseason, beginning with the firing of DB coach Steven Wilks. According to team sources, a few more major changes could be in the offing in the defensive backfield, with the likely release of longtime starting CB Nate Vasher, whose play has declined significantly, at the top of the list.

We also hear the team just might consider moving CB Charles Tillman to free safety, provided they could pick up a decent corner in free agency.

PFW

PFW

This is what I have been saying all along we need better one on one players at the corner...A lock down physcial guy on both sides.

Why not go out and get 2 corners as upgrades, and put Vasher & Tillaman as our Safety Tandem? Just a thought. I know a lot of posters have been saying Tillman would be an excellent Safety. Vasher's play at DB has slipped, but would his ball hawk skills translate into a Safety position? If so why not move him also instead of cutting him.

Why not go out and get 2 corners as upgrades, and put Vasher & Tillaman as our Safety Tandem? Just a thought. I know a lot of posters have been saying Tillman would be an excellent Safety. Vasher's play at DB has slipped, but would his ball hawk skills translate into a Safety position? If so why not move him also instead of cutting him.

I say go and get FA Asomugha from the Raiders and FS Jones from the Browns and put Payne at SS and Vasher or Tillman at nickel and let either Tillman/vasher or Graham fight it out for the other corner. Cut Hamilton and I hate to say it but let Mkie brown go

Why not go out and get 2 corners as upgrades, and put Vasher & Tillaman as our Safety Tandem? Just a thought. I know a lot of posters have been saying Tillman would be an excellent Safety. Vasher's play at DB has slipped, but would his ball hawk skills translate into a Safety position? If so why not move him also instead of cutting him.

 

Starting with Tillman. I've been an advocate for him going to FS for a long time. If he moves there, he'll be a pro bowler again. With Tillman at FS, that would leave Vasher at SS. That aint happening. SS's have to hit people and Vasher went to the Deion sanders school of tackling. I would suggest Vasher stick as a nickle, as he has better ball skills than Manning. If Vasher is on the team as a backup, he'll need to take a pay cut.

Vasher's gonna be cut. We lose out on about 4.7 million, but it's the right move. Also, if we plan on moving Tillman to FS, hopefully we plan on bringing in a new DC who's gonna change up the scheme.

Vasher's gonna be cut. We lose out on about 4.7 million, but it's the right move. Also, if we plan on moving Tillman to FS, hopefully we plan on bringing in a new DC who's gonna change up the scheme.

 

I would prefer they try and trade him (Vasher) even if it were for a conditional 3rd. At least we get something out of the cap loss.

no one's gonna trade anything for him, considering the contract he has and we want him out of town.

I say go and get FA Asomugha from the Raiders and FS Jones from the Browns and put Payne at SS and Vasher or Tillman at nickel and let either Tillman/vasher or Graham fight it out for the other corner. Cut Hamilton and I hate to say it but let Mkie brown go

They cant go after a guy like Asomugha considering how much money they have invested in the position already. You cant pay three corners that kind of money and even if we cut Vasher we would have the cap hit. I could see us drafting a corner or going after a middle of the road type guy in FA, just not the best one out there.

They cant go after a guy like Asomugha considering how much money they have invested in the position already. You cant pay three corners that kind of money and even if we cut Vasher we would have the cap hit. I could see us drafting a corner or going after a middle of the road type guy in FA, just not the best one out there.

Yes they can, if you have a better option than what you have already you can do it.....now if the Bears are dead set on winning they can do alot of out the box moves. JA say already that he is not scared of cuting players.

Vasher's gonna be cut. We lose out on about 4.7 million, but it's the right move. Also, if we plan on moving Tillman to FS, hopefully we plan on bringing in a new DC who's gonna change up the scheme.

 

By Rotoworld's figures getting rid of Vasher will create $6.9M dead cap. It can be spread over the next two years by cutting him as a June 1st designation, but Phillips and/or the owners are still going to ask tough questions about the total wasted money.

 

It "only" costs the team $2.9M to keep him around to see if he comes out of the funk he's been in. That's what I think Angelo will decide to do.

 

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Agreed. While I don't have his cap numbers in front of me, most deals get easier to "eat" as time passes, so I would think we give it another year to see, and at that point we can make a decision.

 

Vasher didn't play well, but could the same not be said of most? Maybe his play stood out, but I still don't see the reason to cut him, especially if we up in the air on Tilliman (FS or CB). While we have Graham, it isn't like we are loaded w/ talent at CB.

 

By Rotoworld's figures getting rid of Vasher will create $6.9M dead cap. It can be spread over the next two years by cutting him as a June 1st designation, but Phillips and/or the owners are still going to ask tough questions about the total wasted money.

 

It "only" costs the team $2.9M to keep him around to see if he comes out of the funk he's been in. That's what I think Angelo will decide to do.

 

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i think releasing him will be a mistake only because of the financial reasons. Keeping him at $2.9 even as a '2nd string' type role is probably the smartest thing to do. I really hope Angelo addresses the DB situation with our #1 pick regardless. You would think at least one of Jenkins (CB), Moore (S), or Mays (S) will be available via the with our 18th pick.

Agreed. While I don't have his cap numbers in front of me, most deals get easier to "eat" as time passes, so I would think we give it another year to see, and at that point we can make a decision.

 

Vasher didn't play well, but could the same not be said of most? Maybe his play stood out, but I still don't see the reason to cut him, especially if we up in the air on Tilliman (FS or CB). While we have Graham, it isn't like we are loaded w/ talent at CB.

Looking at the numbers, and our depth at Dback, they will keep him. Probably as a nickle back, unless he shows that this year was off due to the injury.

Why not go out and get 2 corners as upgrades, and put Vasher & Tillaman as our Safety Tandem? Just a thought. I know a lot of posters have been saying Tillman would be an excellent Safety. Vasher's play at DB has slipped, but would his ball hawk skills translate into a Safety position? If so why not move him also instead of cutting him.

Vasher has the good natural instincts of a safety but his poor tackling ability would make hinder him at the safety position imo. However, I am a big fan of moving Tillman to the safety spot. I believe that would give us a very strong duo with Tillman/Payne (or Steltz who the Bears are still quite high on). The McBride could slide into the nickel position and Graham looks to be a nice corner so the Bears would just need a nice FA signing who could start at CB (not necessarily a star, just a quality starter whose comfortable in the cover 2). I truly believe the pass rush and safeties are the most important positions in the cover 2 when it comes to defending the pass.

Vasher's gonna be cut. We lose out on about 4.7 million, but it's the right move. Also, if we plan on moving Tillman to FS, hopefully we plan on bringing in a new DC who's gonna change up the scheme.

Wait, the Bears aren't going to cut a guy if it is actually going to increase there cap hit this season, imo. If thats the case they would be better off keeping Tillman at the CB position and moving Vasher to the free safety position or keeping Vasher as the nickel corner.

By Rotoworld's figures getting rid of Vasher will create $6.9M dead cap. It can be spread over the next two years by cutting him as a June 1st designation, but Phillips and/or the owners are still going to ask tough questions about the total wasted money.

 

It "only" costs the team $2.9M to keep him around to see if he comes out of the funk he's been in. That's what I think Angelo will decide to do.

 

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In that case it would be dumb not to keep him around. That is a lot of cap room to just have "dead".

i think releasing him will be a mistake only because of the financial reasons. Keeping him at $2.9 even as a '2nd string' type role is probably the smartest thing to do. I really hope Angelo addresses the DB situation with our #1 pick regardless. You would think at least one of Jenkins (CB), Moore (S), or Mays (S) will be available via the with our 18th pick.

Remember, a big reason our secondary looked worse this past season was the inconsistent and most of the time awful pass rush by our defensive line/linebackers. I'm not about to invest a #1 pick in a CB unless we've already added a pass rush specialist and/or upgraded the QB/WR position (all bigger needs than our CB's, imo).

I completely agree DBDB. Our oline and WR is our biggest need. If we address those we can still address our D through FA our in the Draft. From what I know this year the oline is supposed to be pretty deep in the draft class. That is how we should spend our 1st round pick.

I don't like the idea of moving Tilman to safety.. that is unless they intend to make that move permanent no matter what happens at corner.

Lord kows they've screwed with Mannings head to the point the guy thinks he's the Karma Sutra of the defense.

If they move Tilman to safety, they'll move him back then wonder why he sucks at corner..

I just don't like it..

 

How about drafting and signing some better quality players around him.

That goes for all our potential stars. They need help.

By Rotoworld's figures getting rid of Vasher will create $6.9M dead cap. It can be spread over the next two years by cutting him as a June 1st designation, but Phillips and/or the owners are still going to ask tough questions about the total wasted money.

 

It "only" costs the team $2.9M to keep him around to see if he comes out of the funk he's been in. That's what I think Angelo will decide to do.

 

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No, it would be 4.7. He got a 9.5 million signing bonus which spread out over 5 years is exactly 1.9 million a year. So, he has 7.6 million left in bonuses, but if you subtract his salary for 09/10 from that, 2.9 million, and the amount he would make in bonuses anyway, it comes to a total of 2.8 million that we'd lose. So, we'd owe him 7.6 million, but in all reality, we'd only lose 2.8 million in cap, or we could spread that out over 2 seasons as you said.

 

Considering he's come in out of shape the past two years, played like shit, and JA probably wants to make an example, it makes a lot of sense that Vasher could be and will be cut.

If Tillman is moved to FS and Vasher does get cut, that means we won't have to draft a FS but we will have to draft a CB with one of our first 6 picks OR sign a FA, like Dunta Robinson (I wish Houston would let him walk but I don't see that happening) or Asomugha (same with him- no way Oakland lets him walk). I like what I saw out of Bowman and Graham but I'd hate to go into next season with 2 CB's who aren't too experienced.

I don't like the idea of moving Tilman to safety.. that is unless they intend to make that move permanent no matter what happens at corner.

Lord kows they've screwed with Mannings head to the point the guy thinks he's the Karma Sutra of the defense.

If they move Tilman to safety, they'll move him back then wonder why he sucks at corner..

I just don't like it..

 

How about drafting and signing some better quality players around him.

That goes for all our potential stars. They need help.

 

 

I don't think there is much in Manning's head to screw up. He's simply not bright enough

to be a DB in the NFL. Let him return kicks and play on special teams. He's proven he can't

play in the secondary. A 2nd rd draft pick who most likely could have been drafted in rd 4.

Another Angelo reach.

I agree. It seems that Manning has been moved positions every year and sometimes twice during a year. I love the fact that he just goes out there and does his job and doesn't complain. I think we should just leave him where he is irght now. He was really starting to play pretty well down the stretch except for the Houston game.

Why not go out and get 2 corners as upgrades, and put Vasher & Tillaman as our Safety Tandem? Just a thought. I know a lot of posters have been saying Tillman would be an excellent Safety. Vasher's play at DB has slipped, but would his ball hawk skills translate into a Safety position? If so why not move him also instead of cutting him.

 

Pix, I was thinking the same as you about moving Vasher to safety, but considering he sucks in run support, and great at ball-hawking, he'd be ideal at free safety. Hell, he'd pretty much lost his job to Corey Graham to begin with, so what's there to lose? He looks as though he has better speed then Mike Brown, Kevin Payne, Steltz, or any other FS candidate.

 

Not to mention, I think we've found our nickel-back in Dannieal Manning. He looked great there towards the end of the season, until the last game when we tried playing him as the FS also, which he once again proved he couldn't handle.

 

I disagree with moving Tillman. Tillman will never be great, but he's good, and he's by far our best cornerback. Sure he got burnt by Andre Johnson, but who didn't this season?