AZ54

I was surprised to see him call out David Montgomery and Roquan Smith as two players who always gave it their all. He said he does not plan to ever be involved in day to day football operations but that's a pretty clear statement about what he wants to see on the field.

I'm good with Desai sticking around.

You got Montgomery and if you run and don't make it at least you keep them pinned near goal line.

Leno getting cut is a wake up call that it appears he answered. After several subpar seasons in Chicago he had to go. You can't assume he'd have played well here without fighting for that new contract. We just don't know but the decision had to be based on his performance no differently than the subpar performace you are using to justify cutting Goldman. Pace has only had one HC. He was forced to take on Fox because the owners wanted a veteran HC with such a young inexperienced GM. They also hired Pace really late that year and he had to use the previous scouting organization for his first draft. Things got a little bit better after he got his setup in place especially in the later rounds but not the early rounds. Nagy was his first fully-in-charge HC hire. I don't know if Pace is staying but it sure feels like we'd have a lot more rumors if he wasn't because his replacement has to hire a HC. The last rumor I recall was about Trace Armstrong and that was weeks ago. Have to disagree with this statement: "also signing several vets and none have worked out." Hicks worked out very well, Quinn just set record for sacks, Trevathan worked out very well his first few years he's just too old now. ARob was a good signing until he went into "me first" mode this year. He has brought in many cheap FAs who contributed on the field: Blackson, Ifedi, even Jason Peters, Damien Williams. Not saying there weren't misses just that the blanket statement that they were all bad isn't correct IMO. Get ready because the Armstrong/Harbaugh rumors still persist: https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/another-layer-to-persistent-trace-armstrong-rumor-just-surfaced/

I get that we could replace his past performance but unless we go with high draft pick we're not likely to find a replacement with as high upside as Goldman. We get $6.6mil from cutting Goldman and we have to replace all 3 starters up front: Nichols, Hicks, Goldman https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/ufa/defensive-tackle//

I'm not cutting Goldman because I'm expecting he can return to form. At the top of my reasons is that we only save $6.6 mil in space for 2022 and a reasonable replacement in FA will cost more than that. Of course keeping him around depends on next years D scheme and if we go to 4-3 then yes he's gone. If we stay 3-4 we'll need him and he's not easy to replace. Or we replace him using a Rd 2/3 pick which I'm also against doing. As I go down the list of contracts I see Roy Robertson-Harris at $7.8mil/yr which I find shocking and a sign of things to come if we try to backfill Goldman in FA. I might have a chat with him about restructuring his deal but his agent will tell him what RRH got in FA and I doubt he'd want a pay cut and could just let us cut him. A comparable player Brandon Williams at age 32 in Baltimore picked up $13mil on a 1yr deal this year. In summary, as I see it, finding a comparable or better replacement for Goldman in FA will only cost more than we'd save, or more in draft capital than I'm willing to use because of critical needs at WR/CB/S. I don't see Tonga ever having the endurance to be a starter but he could prove me wrong after this offseason. In any case he'll never have the lateral movement skills Goldman has when he's at his best. I'm taking my chances that the new coaching staff sparks a Quinn-like resurgence to his former high level of play. Tackles Fumbles Def Interceptions Rk Player From To Solo Ast QBHits TFL Sk FF FR Yds TD Int Yds TD 1 Eddie Goldman 2015 2021 1.5 0.7 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2 Brandon Williams 2013 2021 1.5 1.1 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

I just read something where he had to take time off from football due to mental health issues. While I believe he made the right decision for himself that's not something I want to take a risk on with a 2nd day pick when we really need a solid player opposite Mooney, or elsewhere on the field. Get into 5th Rd territory then we can talk. Keep in mind with one year left on his contract we'd be stuck in a bad spot because until we know his mental health status and if he can handle a full season, and how well he can still play, it'd be very difficult to commit to him long term and extend his contract. Of course that depends on what he's asking for but rarely does a player want average money or just a 1yr extension. That means we'd either be getting a one year rental for our pick (very bad even for the 5th Rd pick because it means something went wrong and we're willing to walk away), or an unhappy player stuck on an expensive franchise tag who might be in the ARob space with average-good performance but wanting top 10 money with a lot of it guaranteed. For a 5th Rd pick, who are not likely to be contributors in their first season, I'd take that contract and risk off their hands. Then again there are the occasional Larry Boroms to be found in the 5th. If we made that deal I'm still going into the draft with WR among top needs as if we didn't trade for Ridley. If Ridley can play well and our draft pick contributes then we're in a good space. Add in Jakeem Grant and one of Dazz Newsome/Byrd to round it out.

Funny how everyone quit asking about Cohen’s return shortly after Grant arrived.

Never said he wasn't a good coach. Go to the way-back machine and you can dig up many posts from me saying he should be the next Bears HC .... that's from when he was at Stanford the year before he left them for the NFL. The back story on him in SF was all ego-maniacal and I don't think the Bears owners want to deal with that. More than anything it was his ego that blew up what he had going in San Francisco and cast him back into the college ranks. Even then he carried some of that with him to Michigan. It's entirely possible that he's matured but I doubt the owners want to take that chance. Those of us old enough to remember Ditka's HC years here might consider the risks of a volatile personality acceptable because there are some similarities. Enough similarities to explain why the two struggled to get along in Chicago. I know that he'd be better offensively than Nagy but you're still going to get some oddball plays here and there that make you wonder what he was thinking. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/columnist/dan-wolken/2019/12/01/michigan-ohio-state-jim-harbaugh-doesnt-get-it/4346892002/

You got it right. Quinn has done this despite not having the 80's Bears defensive talent alongside him. I'd put Mack, Roquan, and even Hicks when he's healthy on par with some of those guys but only Roquan has been on the field for much of the year. Plus with COVID rules he's often had to deal with 2nd and 3rd string players getting called up short notice. He also didn't benefit from a good offense taking early leads to where he can just focus on chasing QBs. Plus, like Dent he's playing on one of the worst grass fields in the NFL for half his games.

No chance the Bears want his dysfunction.

Baker is learning a bit how Justin Fields felt in that game as he got sacked 9 times tonight.

Say what? It’s there a new fridge in town?

That sucks Watching Andy play QB is boring and it does feel like someone is protecting Fields.

Congratulations! She’s a cutie and will bring you many special moments.

This is a good start but is focused on our top needs CB/WR/S. There are many other players to keep an eye on this game. https://thedraftnetwork.com/articles/chicago-bears-2022-nfl-draft-cfb-players-to-watch More names... https://sports.yahoo.com/2022-nfl-draft-5-college-football-playoffs-themed-predictions-171145930.html

That's tragic. My heart goes out to his son. JD was one of those constants I relied on for years in Bears media coverage and he will be missed.

We've already seen some of Mahomes when he loses his elite weapons and he comes down to earth. He struggles too with INTs when his pass protection breaks down. He's really good when he gets 7s to pass like he did against Pittsburgh this past weekend. Rodgers too can be more human when his surrounding talent drops a bit. Just take Adams off the field and the offense looks much different. Both Mahomes and Rodgers have elite arm talent and still make insanely good throws during their "average" games. In some aspects Fields has shown some of that as well. Brady on the other hand does not have elite arm talent but it's enough these days and he's accurate. He just seems to keep on truckin' regardless of who is on the field with the caveat being when he has Gronk you can't stop him. Or maybe nobody can stop Gronk. Brady is so good on the field he might even be able to make Nagy look good as an OC. He's so good at the quick decision and throw that your only chance is to cover up receivers early and then hope the pass rush gets there before they break open. He knows the weakness of your coverage and who and where they'll get open later in the play.

My confidence level is not as high as it was at the mid-point of the season but even then that was all based on optimistic hope. I still see some signs of progress but signs of him not seeing things well enough. Even the easy things like screens. Further he appears to be playing somewhat distracted, disinterested, or maybe it's just plain frustration with this offense. Something is clearly upsetting him and that shows in his post game comments where he talked about the lack of discipline on the offense. I think it was after the Vikings game he said maybe it's time for players to run some laps when mistakes are made in practice even if it's him. Whether he intended to or not, that's calling out the coaches. I think Fields has no respect whatsoever for ARob. Mooney has been working out with Fields after practice since training camp and it shows. ARob has been headed for his car as fast as he can. Considering ARob was supposed to be making Fields job easier, Fields has come off that target and we've seen him even more focused on Mooney, Byrd, and most recently Grant. There have been more TE targets in his last 4 games as well which is something everyone was asking for weeks ago. I'm glad he's been starting so many games. For next year I hope he fixes the slow processing time, perhaps we'll get a glimmer of hope for that in the last games. Maybe a new offense and coach will help with that but I understand the caution in expecting a big leap.

The LT/RT is the situation is much more fluid these days with teams moving pass rushers to either side, or even keeping their best pass rusher on the left side to attack the (usually less agile) RT. Both of our young OTs have already shown starter traits so that's great, just need consistency which should come with experience. I agree, coaches should put them in whatever slot gets us the best output on the field.

I don't agree. Winning matters. I want to know for which players it matters too and these are the times where players true character shows. That's why I loved the inspired effort by the defense in the Vikings game. If the team or coaches started tanking for draft slot then what kind of effort would we see from Thomas Graham? I wasn't able to watch yesterday's game but give me Darnell Mooney fighting for 10 extra yards instead of just getting the first down and then protecting himself in the middle of the field. Give me Byrd elevating in traffic for a 2pt conversion at the end of the game. Give me Quinn on a record setting sack pace despite having a depleted Dline for the second half of the season. Give me Roquan Smith all over the field making tackles, even as he battles a nagging injury. We can argue about talent for next year (Byrd and others) but part of the calculus in any player evaluation is if winning matters to them. In these meaningless games we get to discern that. That's why there is nobody here (that I know of) asking for ARob to come back. He's made it clear he is not for winning, just focused on a new contract. It's not that I don't understand the benefits of draft position but IMO there is a greater benefit to having the right players in the locker room with a winning mindset and work ethic both on and off the field. There will always be the obvious athletic traits needed to play in the NFL but you do well when you can find this winning trait in draftees. That's how players like Hunter Renfrow and Darnell Mooney become legit NFL WRs above their draft status.

On Montgomery's TD highlight Borom is playing LT so there isn't much reason to watch this game.

Is Jenkins playing? I don't have the game broadcast and nfl.com isn't working either. Took me 20min to figure out why Fields isn't playing.

I agree and I think that's the difference between what we see in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson. When it's a QB run, it's a clear QB run. All that cuteness makes it more difficult for Fields to digest what's going on and forces him to think too much. That pitch option is probably why he wasn't carrying the ball as tightly as he should have been. I'm not excusing the fumble because he saw the contact coming at him and there's no excuse for not putting his left hand over the ball.

I think that's fair. When i watched them live in a game in AZ Eddie Jackson't athleticsim stands out among all players on the field. He just has to decide if he's going to use that to his advantage or not. So far it appears not.