BearFan PHX

+1

I must be missing something, did Jordan Howard get a contract adjustment? (Im assuming Im misunderstanding)

I dont care that someone used to be a Packer - raiding their larder makes me happy. I would pass on Matthews because he will want more money than his productivity warrants at this age, and he isnt an ascending player with a window that matches the one we are opening. That said, if Pace disagrees with me, you should take Pace's opinion over mine.

There is literally no way they can keep Parkey. If they keep him then Pace is tied to him. If he blows a big game, a playoff game etc, then Pace is gone. He may be a fine kicking option for any other team, but politically, you just cant be the guy that said "lets keep him" and then if he fails in a regular way, youre super screwed. Pace is tied to Trubisky, he wont let himself get tied to Parkey. He just cant.

oops, my bad - I misread you. of course youre correct, now that I understand what you were really saying.

is that possible, $8 million a year isnt the top 50 v the cap? if we had 50 at 8 mil a year, thatd be $400 million dollars a year, but the cap is $189 million. even good second tier free agents are getting more than $5 million a year. I just looked and $8 million a year makes him our 9th highest paid player. https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/chicago-bears/

I agree I think we will keep him if the best we can get is a 6th rounder. But he may hold out too, for a trade.

Also, we are likely to trade Howard, so you have to consider that they will have capital to include another player, maybe on defense though. Last year I said the WR corps would be completely revamped and everyone disagreed. Now I say Howard is probably gone.

It is a good time in Bears fandom, and I can confidently say that you are right, they know better than we do. That hasnt always been true lol, but it sure is now.

oops my error - Donatell, not Donatelli, and you're right, he left to Denver. There is some talk of Ed Reed, I like that idea if he wants the job. Pagano is a great hire. Go Pace, Go Bears!

if we lose Donatelli, then yes by all means.

I agree I wouldnt trade him for a 6 or a 7.

The question isnt whether the Bears want Howard, but whether Howard wants the Bears. Howard is a tough feature back. He wants to be getting 1,300+ yards somewhere getting 22+ carries a game. He simply wont get that here because of our offensive scheme. So one assumes that after next year, when he is a free agent, he will sign somewhere with a more power running centric scheme. Now the question isn't whether Howard is good, but whether if he was a free agent after this year, you'd spend a 3rd round pick to keep him for one more year knowing he'd be gone after that. If your answer is no, then you understand why trading him now is a good option, especially with Hunt out there. Te Pats have been doing this for years; trading GOOD players in the last years of their deals, and thriving as a result. We all like Howard, we'd all like to keep him on the team, but if hes leaving anyway, it's foolish not to get something for him now.

no one is really answering my question though. Youre all answering the idea of keeping Howard, and I AGREE, if we could keep him, he'd be great to have going forward. But WHAT IF you KNOW he will be gone after next year? Would you turn down a 3rd round pick to keep him for just one year?

I like Howard. If I knew we could resign him for a fair price and keep him going forward I'd be all for it. But this isn't a running featured team, and the odds are that Howard will want to go somewhere more running back centric after next year. Then the question becomes whether keeping him for one more year is worth a 4th or 3rd round pick. If Pace really likes him he should try to extend him this offseason, and if he cant, then he should consider a trade before the draft. The question here isnt "is Jordan Howard worth a 3rd round pick?" because we all agree he is worth more than that, the question is "is ONE YEAR of Jordan Howard worth a 3rd round draft pick?" and that is a very different question. Answering it correctly is the difference between the Patriots and the pre-Pace Bears.

I really like and respect Jordan Howard. Understand that 2019 is the last year of his current deal, and he may not choose to stay a Bear after that. I would love to keep him, but the Patriots would probably trade him rather than keep him one more year. And Hunt might be a real option as a replacement.

Let's Go Bears!!!!

I never liked "hoping the other teams fumbles and we squeak out a win" - I got addicted to football watching the 1985 Bears, and they didn't hope to get a table scrap from another team's mistakes, they went out and took the game. In dominant fashion. With a couple exceptions, like Brian Urlacher's performance against the Cardinals ("we let them off the hook"), this team hasn't dictated to anyone in decades. Now, at long last, we are a real team. Of course we aren't the only real team in the league, there are maybe 4 or 5 of them. But we have the possibility of defeating, on our own terms, any team in the league, and the window is just opening, we are early on that path. This is extremely fun to watch. I hope we go on a tear, and destroy the league for years to come. It's about time we had a dynasty in Chicago Football.

amen on both points. need does play a role of course, and I did project the Bears would take an inside linebacker, but for sure, Pace has done a good job of filling niches with free agents etc so that he doesnt have to take a particular position, but allowing it to fall to him that way if it does. From the squad to the staff, Pace has done a great job for us, and I think we can all really thank Ernie Accorsi, who changed the trajectory of this franchise in a month a few years ago. Once you get things going the right way, you attract better coaches and free agents. This isnt going to be a one year wonder. Pace has opened a window for us that doesnt show signs of closing any time soon.

Trestman had some good route concepts, and got guys open with them his first year, but he had lots of other problems, and lost the team early. Nagy is the polar opposite.

yup, this was supposed to be Trubisky's learning year, but then we signed Mack, and the window opened, and here we are at the end of the year, and Trubisky has learned a lot. He has more to go, but he might be ready to take the next step and lead this team deep into the playoffs. The fact is that there is no team we can't beat. We would be a decent matchup for anyone, so yeah, we are legit super bowl contenders. Finally.

good point!

this will hurt us though. I like McManis, but there is now a chink in the armor.

YES

i dont think anyone thinks Trubisky played well tonight. The question is will he continue to grow? I am all on board with Trubisky. I see progress and more good than bad. But to be good you gotta do 15 things right. I see him doing 13 or 14 things right, and the results are still not great. At this point, right now. But I remember when he was doing 7 things right. I think hes getting close. I also applaud Nagy for how he isnt a "dont make any mistakes first" kind of guy. Hes trying to teach mitch to be an assassin, not Trent Dilfer. He wants him confident and aggressive, and he knows the path there will be rocky. I believe in his heart of hearts Nagy thought this would be a growing year. I dont think he imagined we'd be as far along as we are this year, especially before we signed Mack. But the window opened early. Everyone knows the formula is to get a young QB and surround him with talent. Well if you do that, then the young QB will be the weakest link, for a while, until he gets it. He gets a lot, but he's just not fully cooked yet, and that's OK. Nagy knows it's OK, and Trubisky knows it's OK. That's all that matters. But god help our opponents when the light comes fully on for Mitch, because scoring 40+ points a week is very possible with just some more even play by Trubisky. Soon.