BearFan PHX

yes. Ive been waiting for Claypool to show up. This is good news.

I agree we are definitely not one D lineman away - we have holes all over. But if the mission is to build a superbowl winner, you do need at least one true blue chip All Pro D lineman on the team. Its OK to start building with major pieces, even as other holes need filling too. Otherwise you end up with a 10-7 team that wins one playoff game and youre trapped in the cycle weve been in for decades. I dont want to be decent quick, I want to be dominant and sustainable.

I agree with both points.

Maybe they let Fields play, but without any scripted QB runs. Let him grow as a pocket passer if you can protect him.

Yes for sure Manning did. He has a bit of an excuse which is that Brady was in his way in the AFC. Rodgers is a choke artist when it comes to big games - Im hardly the first person to say it.

I'm just saying, Rodgers underachieved. His ranking on all time QBs is higher than his influence on winning games that matter.

I think that is more than fair.

I cant help but wonder if they arent looking at the draft ranking too. Either way, it looked like they wanted to see Fields be a pocket passer this week, and the pass protection was just awful. Wanting to work on his passing against the Falcons was a smart game plan - not to beat them necessarily, but to develop Fields. Unfortunately, it got out of hand. Also, looks like Claypool is taking a while to learn the offense. Yikes.

LOL Mongo

If you think a player will be elite, you dont trade down, if there is a run on QBs, we might be able to drop down a couple of slots and still get one of the blue chip DLs. That is if you value them equally of course. You can operate from fear that you'll reach for Aaron Donald and get Tommie Harris instead, but if you are in position to take your swings, early on in the tenure of your GMship, then you gotta go with what your scouting tells you and swing for greatness! Conversely, if your intel says neither of the DLs are that good, and there's a player at a different position you like at a slightly lower pick, you trade out. I think it all comes down to the internal ratings and projections. But if you think it's Aaron Donald, you gotta take him.

absolutely. I dont see us trading down if we can grab a blue chip DL. Best case, the QBs go 1, 2 and we can trade down just a spot or two and still get the player we covet. But if that doesnt happen, and we just take a blue chip DL, that's a huge win for our future.

100% - and we are putting a major top of the first round draft pick stud on the D line.

and even on the play he was injured on, before he was injured you could see his legs were heavy.

It's a fair point, but Tom Brady does exist, and Aaron Rodgers wants to be considered in a similar tier with him. Each will be top 25 all time QBs. And yet for all of Rodgers' productivity he doesn't have the SB appearances that Brady, Montana, Bradshaw etc have. Even Eli Manning has more. Hes a talented but selfish player is my point. Boo Packers - looking forward to seeing them coming back down to earth.

absolutely. they won a lot of games, and looked really good, but in fact, if you have all those HOF QB years and dont win superbowls, it kind of means you suck at everything else. Imagine what Nagy might have looked like with a younger Rogers bailing him out. We might have been fooled into thinking he was a decent coach. This is a real indictment of the Packers organization. Come on Bears, let's turn the corner and NEVER go back.

Lucky cheesy bastards lol I cant wait to see them fall back to earth, as we take the north and never give it back!

Imagine having two top 20 all time QBs back to back. Packers fans have no idea what it's like to be a regular football team. Meanwhile, many years we would have begged for just a regular football team. Now, let's dominate.

I agree that he may well be here next year if we cant find a good trade, or we need him as a stopgap hole filler. I dont think that we will be more of a playoff team in 2023 than 2024 etc so Im not sure i buy that argument. Also, we definitely are not hurting for cap space, but Poles will want to be smart with what he does spend so we dont end up back where we started. I think if someone will give a 3rd rounder for him, we will trade him next year. This staff clearly isn't shy about starting rookies.

well a lot of his contract would go against our cap, so for a trading team hed be a reasonable price. $13 Million and $14 Million for them for each of the 2 remaining years. We eat the rest.

I understand that Pace got the better of the deal, but if Im Poles, all I see is a guy scheduled to count $18 and $19 Million against the cap for two years, and an associated dead money cost, along with whatever trade value he can get. Its true that Poles has a LOT of holes to fill, so EJac might get one more year, and Ejac doesn't suck, at some price hes worth keeping. But he wont play out the next two years of his contract in Chicago barring a renegotiation that brings his cap number more into line. I'd take a 2nd or a 3rd for him.

Yeah but if Roquan wasn't worth $20 Million, how is EJac worth $19 Million? We are not used to seeing good players get cut here, but we arent used to winning either. Ejac is a good player, maybe a 12 or 13 Mil a year type guy. Might we keep him one more year becasue we have too may holes to fill, and a surplus of cap room? Maybe. But I dont see him as a 2024 starter at all. Not at this $ anyway.

dont sleep on Morrow - his elite speed provides coverage down the deep middle which is crucial for the Cover 2 - just like Urlacher did.

My guess is that we will be very active in Free Agency before the draft, and that will affect our draft needs. We'll fill roster holes as best as possible to leave room for draft flexibility and Best Player Available scenarios. No question our defensive line needs the most love, but OL is a real need too. We will also need another CB. Those are the raw needs; 3T, DE, OT, OC, CB We will also want: LB, WR, TE, RB, S Since we have so many holes, it will be interesting to see how Poles fills them before the draft. They wont all be studs, but these hole fillers have to be legitimate options, because you're gonna have to roll with a couple of them - you cant draft every position with a winner.

It's fun to watch actual competence for once. The story of the 2023 & 2024 Bears is going to be fun to watch.