BearFan PHX

I agree. You cant reliably find franchise QBs without high draft picks. We dont really have the chips to make that happen this year. I think that for all practical purposes, Mitch and Nagy get another year to make it work, or not. I would be shocked if Pace is allowed to AND chooses to trade next year's first rounder, so it is what it is. Not saying he should either, just saying he doesnt have big ammo to go find the next big QB. We may well sign a mid tier backup to challenge Trubisky, and he might even play well. But the odds are that the only QB that can take us to the promised land this year is Mitch, and that'd have to be the surprising upside of Mitch. It IS possible, and I'd LOVE to see it. But more likely we will be rebuilding the staff and looking at a QB this time next year. They'll be playing with their backs against the wall this year thats for sure, and they will be easy to root for. We should see a lot of hustle.

thanks Grizz. That does answer it! I think that when a team and a player, especially a QB, have discussions, they discuss the team makeup. If the team needs OL or WR or something, they probably have to convince the player that they are going to fix those issues.

If Eli is retired, is it tampering to talk to him? I honestly dont know.

yeah, but it wasnt against the rules to meet with Trubisky, the only risk was showing their interest to other teams who might leapfrog them. In this case, it'd cost us a high draft pick if we were caught, so I dont see it. Not saying people dont do stupid things, they do, I just doubt it in this case, but of course I have no proof.

it seems unlikely that they would meet in public where they could get caught. And it's not like Eli is such a hot commodity. We may well have interest in him, but I dont see us flaunting the rules so stupidly, but people have done stupid things before...

+1 for logic. It's like the articles about the Bears trading Mack that don't even mention the cap implications. So much internet BS these days. Cant wait for March 18th!

good info! thanks for that!

I think most times trading back is a good thing. The exceptions are when you have a loaded roster and youre looking for that one or two guys who can take you over the top OR if youre drafting a QB or a pass rusher and you have your eye on someone special in the first round. But the Bears this year, and most teams most years are in a position where trading down is probably a good thing. But that's the problem. To trade down you need a partner who's looking to trade up. And that's rarer, so you end up losing value in the trade to make it work, and then you arent really ahead. If Pace can find a good trade down deal, then Im with you guys - he should take it. But lately I've been playing with the draft site games without doing any trades, and boy, is our cupboard bare this year. I haven't been terribly critical of Pace so far, and I will wait to see this year's roster before I make judgements. He's made a risky play, and if he has a plan that works, more power to him. But I can see from here in early March, that there is a good possibility that I will think Pace really whiffed. I would like nothing more than for Pace and Nagy to make me eat my words.

actually, any of us can do this. If you quote someone, you can just type inside the quote - whatever you want, and delete whatever you want. It can say anything. It's good that we all know this so no one thinks someone said something they didnt actually say.

probably right - which is another way of saying that if someone DID, we should jump all over it.

Im with you there.

Fair enough - thanks for saying! We can agree to disagree on Leno. For what it's worth, in today's Sun Times, there is an article about draft choices, and the article says the first pick should go to Leno's replacement. To be fair (and Stinger will like this) the plan they outline is starting the rookie at OG and letting Leno play at OLT until the rookie is ready. In that case, I'd have been right that Leno needs replacing, but Stinger would win the bet! Damn! LOL But Im just saying, it isnt just me that thinks this.

yeah I think thats all I'm saying. If someone offers a 3rd for him, you jump on it. I still think changes are coming on the OL (duh that i think that hahaha) March 18th and soon thereafter will be very interesting.

yeah Ashkum, so the big disagreement is on Cohen, and I just think he has trade value worth investigating. I dont think any of us are really that far apart.

I'll add this, two years ago I said we should blow up the WR roster. Everyone here told me I was crazy. We were all crying about losing Kendall Wright and Cameron Meredith. And I was right. Pace cleaned house and we got a lot of new WRs, and our WR group was great. I think what's happening here is that we are Bears fans, and so we grow attached to players on the roster and get defensive thinking that cuts or trades are being disloyal or something. But you have to do what's best for the roster, best for the Bears. ANd I think changes on the OL are coming, and I think Floyd will get restructured or traded. Amukumara and Gabriel are already cut. So this is all about Cohen and Patterson? Neither is even a starter at their position. And again, Im not even saying to cut or trade Patterson, Im just saying you have to listen to offers.

No I didnt say anything about getting rid of either of those two players. But the idea that someone had a bad season isnt a reason to keep them either. Which player(s) are you talking about, because I see each as a unique situation. I am not saying trade everyone, and I am not saying keep everyone. I'm saying I (and half the sporting world) called the release of Prince and Gabriel. It is equally expected that Floyd will not play next year under the current contract. None of this is controversial at all. So what are we talking about? Cohen? He tries to outrun the whole team and ends up getting pushed out of bounds too much. And hes too small to run hard between the tackles. And Patterson? I LIKE Patterson. Im not even saying to trade him, Im saying its something to THINK about, but it's right on the line. Hes worth something to us for sure, and we could probably get something for him. Im really not understanding why you guys think Im saying to blow everything up, cuz Im just not. But when you say we have to step forwward with the talent we have or blow everything up, I dont agree. There are other plays that are neither of those two things. ANd that's what Im discussing.

We want to get rid of big contract guys who arent playing at average levels. That's what it's about. Floyd is definitely one of those. He's gonna get $13Mil for this year. No way he is worth that. You may say we should rework his contract. Ok cool, but that's the same as cutting him and then resigning him in free agency, and out of every possibility is he the best option for the same money? What if you got a 4th round draft pick if you promised to sign ANY free agent except Floyd? That's a trade scenario. If it helps,. I'm all in on extending Robinson. He's great. Im very excited to see Mack, Hicks, Goldman, Smith, Jackson and Fuller. I really like Trevathan too, but he is getting older, and may be too expensive. Some like Kwit as a replacement, others like Pierre-Louis. If we can find a way to keep Trevathan, so much the better. I think we were right to cut Amukamara. $9Mil was way too much to pay for him. You can find a free agent who will play better than he did for cheaper. Same with Gabriel, especially with good players like Miller, Wims and hopefully Ridley too. So trying to paint me as a negative nancy is really not gonna work. There is lots of talent on this team to be excited about. Hell, I havent even complained much about Trubisky, and I dont think Ive criticized Pace much either. I think Nagy has real problems. I think Leno is atrocious. I think those are not radical opinions. This isnt an emotional thing about either loving or hating the team, nor is it about generally having a negative outlook. It's about how awful our OL was last year, and how it made everything else worse. Amukamara and Gabriel are already gone. Floyd is serious trade bait. So what's this grand charge about? That I think we wont resign Cohen after next year so better to get a pick now? That I recognize that Nagy didnt utilize Patterson much and I think his value is useful elsewhere? Or simply that I think Leno was awful? He WAS awful. He was terribly horribly awful. I havent heard anyone here say that Leno is GOOD. The only argument I hear is that he has $7Mil of dead cap space so we have to keep him. If you beleive, as I do, that our entire season fell apart because of Leno, then it is foolish to trade a whole season away for $7Mil in cap room. I heard the same arguments before we cut Parkey too. In his case it was $5Mil. Maybe we are looking for a trade for Leno too. Anyway, there is a lot of good on this roster, and I think we could have a playoff year, but we need a few things, and to my eye, OLT is a big one. Lastly, I'll add this. I think Whitehair is decent, and I expect Daniels to look better next year too. I can live with Massie for one more year, so I'm really just looking at Leno and someone has to come in for Coward, because he didnt belong there either. It was Long's demise that did that, I dont think they ever planned on him being a starter. Anyway, int he NFL you have to give to get, and in a good trade both sides get value. Trading doesnt bring us closer to an overhaul, we lose one player, but we gain another.

hmmm, maybe I want to trade everyone so the odds are higher Ill win the bet hahahah Its like this thought Ive had for a while now: When I was a kid, I used to dream of being the Bears GM. In a way we all still do. We have things we hope will happen etc. But I realized I'm not good enough to be the GM. I probably couldnt put together a Super Bowl winning team no matter how much I think I know what Im talking about as a fan. Then I got a new dream. My new dream is to be GM of the Packers. Because i KNOW I could ruin a team. THAT I could do.

oh crap did I lose the bet already?

well it depends of course. Floyd is due $13Mil on the cap this year. No way we should pay that. If we think about restructuring him, then he is just another free agent really, and there are plenty to look at. And if you can get something in return, even better. Therefore he is trade bait. Cohen is similar in that he isnt a core player, but some team may want to trade something for him. The alternative is keeping him one more year and then no re-upping him. Better to get something. The real question is Patterson. He fits what you're talking about. He is a good player and has value to us, and presumably another team as well. He costs $5 Mil on the cap, which is probably just about right, but if you add in some draft picks, then he's worth trading. You mentioned the holes created by these guys leaving. Floyd and Cohen dont really leave big holes. They werent filling them anyway. And if you trade them, you get draft picks you can use to get players, or better the picks you have by packaging. For Patterson, the question to me is whether you can take his value (and I admit he def has value to our team) and put it at another position that we need more. Im good with keeping Patterson too. But if it was the difference between a great OLT and not, Id take the OT.

Yeah, I can see keeping Patterson too. Im just saying, you can get a returner for less than $5 Mil and year, and if you put that money into the OL, you'll probably see more wins as a result. Also, Im not saying that trading good players is the key to success! That's silly! Im saying that we shouldnt be shy about trading players who have some skills if we can get value for them. Im saying we havent been used to having excess talent to trade, so we feel pain when we think of trading anyone that can do anything good at all. But you only have so much cap space to go around, and if you shuffle value from Cohen to the OL or TE for for instance, it might well pay off better in terms of wins. The question I think you have to ask at this point, trying to fix a roster and avoids going into full rebuilding mode, is whether any of these guys are CORE players you build a team around. And if they arent, and you still need people like that, then a trade is worth considering. We need real help at (in no particular order) OL, TE, QB, OLB, DE, CB, S and ILB - holding on to value at RB2, KR/gadget and and OLB thats really more of a backup is hard to justify in the light of those other pressing needs. That's all Im saying.

I would trade Cohen, Floyd and Patterson. Both are good players that have something to offer. The Bears have been such a bad team for so long, that we aren't used to trading good players. Teams like the Patriots do it all the time. If you think about it, you can't get much in a trade if the player you're trading isn't worth something too, so you only get value in trades when you trade players that are good. If moving those guys gave us what we needed to fix the offensive line and put another playmaker on defense for example, then it'd translate into more wins than keeping them would. Hell, if they amounted to enough that we could trade one of our 2nd rounders plus what we got from those guys and get into the middle of the first round for a real QB, that'd be worth it in the long run too. I do see value to our team for each of them. I see upside, and I see talent. But none of them is a core player you build your roster around, and until that is set, having fancy toys is a waste of money. Last year should have proved that.

I dunno if you can believe anything Pace says at this time of year - and that's as it should be. I agree with Stinger that he probably has a bunch of contingencies, and some of the include moving on from Mitch. So, we will just see how everything falls. (And replace Leno of course) hahahaha

yeah, I think I was only incivil with one member, and he's not here anymore. We can even disagree strongly (although I dont think the leno issue is all that passionate for any of us) and still do it with a smile. I love this board.

Just for the record: I said: "I say Leno doesn't start at OLT on snap #1 of the 2020 regular season, you say he does" And Stinger said "The only presser is not because of injury." so if Leno starts at another position on the OL, I win the bet. Also, I am totally enjoying this discussion, and if it isn't clear to readers, I like and respect Stinger, we just disagree, as sports fans do.