jackie hayes

Sounds like a 4-year extension. The extension itself is worth $5.5 mil per, meaning he'll average about $4.75 mil per over the next 5 years. That's a very reasonable deal for the Bears, especially considering the delay of a year before the bigger numbers kick in.

He did well, but not that well. 4.48 in the 40, 22 reps, 38.5" vertical. One of the best dbs in terms of lifting. But Chris Houston, damn. 4.32 and 27 reps.

Not to speak for dasox, but I think the durability issue comes mostly from the fact that he is a little smaller than ideal. nfldraftcountdown has him listed at 5-11 and 193 lbs, which is pretty lean for a rb.

Linebackers going today. Poz w/ 22 reps, Timmons w/ 25, Willis w/ 22, Beason w/ 19, Antwan Barnes w/ 31. Barnes also kicked ass in the 40, putting up a 4.40. Willis got a 4.49, Beason a 4.64, Posluszny a 4.68. The bp numbers are from nfl.com, the 40 times from rotoworld.

Brady Quinn is not working out, but apparently he did the bp, and did 25 reps (!). Yup, Brady Quinn kicked the ass of some linesmen in the bench press. Also, according to a couple stories, Darius Walker got a 4.5-something in the 40 and Gary Russell utterly f'd himself with a 4.8+ 40. HE OUTDID CLARETT. Dayyum...

Bowe is kicking ass everywhere. Higgins had a very disappointing 40.

No problem -- but, if anyone can find a link with ALL the drill measurements, I'd be grateful. I want to see how Miller and Chandler bungled the rest of it up. nfldraftcountdown.com now has the 40 times, but no bp except for the top players, etc. Not sure about Brown and Buckhalter. What a crappy year to find a new rb.

28 reps. Thomas did pretty well in everything. This is the link I've been using. It seemed to be the best in terms of updating. Among the ots, Brandon Frye and Tony Ugoh did very well. Derek Schouman put up great numbers for a te. 4.74 40, 27 reps, close to the top in broad jump, top vertical. I'm most curious about what the rbs will do. It looks like a weak group, but I want to see what the second-tier guys (esp Walker + Russell) will manage.

I think a third is the best the Bears could do. I doubt that'll happen, even. He's only got a year left on his contract, and he's a 7th-year rb. That's some mileage, even without all the pt that other rbs get.

Chandler was a little light on the bench, too. 16 reps. Olsen is gaining a ton of ground on everyone else.

No, we just won't get a first-round pick, period.

Scott Wright's take on Olsen:

Mr Blalock, Mr Kalil, congratulations, you are rich men. Speaking of players linked to the Bears, Sears didn't do so well on the bench. With this, Olsen is gone before the Bears pick. Those are fantastic numbers.

Well...the reason is less coverage. Send a lb, the holes in the zone get a good deal bigger. If you don't have a lb deep, there's a big 15-20 yard play area in front of the safeties. Otherwise, you have a no-man's land somewhere in the short area. I'm not saying it can't be done, but there is a "real good reason" to not send someone almost every down. Basically, we need Tommie Harris playing. After Urlacher, Harris is the most important player on the d. There's no scheming that can make up for a loss like that.

Lovie quoted as saying he believes Jones will be a Bear next season. Fwiw.

What can we expect in return for Jones? Obviously nothing too high, but is a mid-round pick reasonable?

That's f'n nuts. The good news for him is that if he's truly worth that much, he shouldn't have too much trouble finding a team willing to trade more than a first rounder for him. Good luck with that, lol.

Yeah, I used to dislike many of his decisions. Especially Kordell Stewart. But it seems like he's done much better since he's been able to work with 'his' coach, so I'm won over.

Well, you said he "never" makes good signings. 4 of the 5 starting olinemen are his signings, and each one was a good signing. Kind of an important part of the team. Desmond Clark has been at least a decent tight end, better than we had o/w, I'd call that a good signing. Thomas Jones? As for the draft, come on. He has booted some, but that's because it's such a crapshoot. But just this last year, he nabbed huge pieces of the SB run in Hester and Anderson. Angelo's done a great job overall. That doesn't mean he hasn't done some things wrong -- it's definitely a concern that we have to rely on fa so much for the oline. But a guy who assembled the talent for a SB run can't be doing it all with smoke and mirrors.

We just went to the SB. I don't think we'll get him for anything less than 5. Totally agree. His oline signings have been disastrous.

The rumor at profootballtalk.com was that the Bears offered a contract which would average out to less than $3.2 mil. Brian Billick will average a little less than $6 mil over the next five years. When the agent says, "we are being more than reasonable in this market", I take that to mean that they're not asking for more than Billick. And $3.2 mil (if true) had to be a lowball initial offer, just to see if he'd bite. Doesn't seem far enough apart to cause a problem.

I think we should be able to trade both. This is just sort of an honor system thing, anyway. If someone truly makes a joke if it like that, I imagine the 'commish' could just kick him out. Jmo. Even if we're only trading current picks, it's possible to turn it into a lark. If we're only doing 2 rounds, someone at the top of the third round could trade all their remaining picks for the last pick of the second, for example. The point is to do what you think will make your team strong, not to just get lots of good rookies.

Lb coaches don't usually become head coaches because they don't usually follow this path to becoming lb coaches. Rivera's situation is unique, and everyone will remember that when Coughlin, or whoever, gets fired next year. He doesn't know the 3-4, so they weren't going to make him the dc, but it says something that he got hired at a place he just interviewed.

More importantly, does anyone want to move up? Those are always more rare.

Chargers are going with Norv Turner, as per FoxSports.