AZ54

Yes but first they are aFA and have to choose our practice squad or they can go to any other team.

I'd be surprised mostly that we'd take the risk of leaving him exposed to where another team can snap him up. Maybe those rules have changed with the new CBA?

Quinn >> Floyd. Prince = Johnson but hopefully by late in the season Johnson will be the better player. HHCD to Gipson I'm not sure but I don't think we are any worse and might be a little better there. The CB depth and fight for roster spots might be the best we've ever had. We start Fuller/Johnson/Skrine then Shelley, Vildor, Burns, Toliver, Roberson, and off the practice squad Denmark and Joseph fighting for perhaps 2 or 3 spots.

As expected. Decent signing and some added competition that is much needed.

I don't think signing Gipson has anything to do with Denmark moving to Safety. If that's a decision the coaches think is best for Denmark and the team they'll do it. Its not like Bush, Lucas, or DHC are players we must have on the 53. If he struggles in the transition he can go back to the practice squad. Whichever way they go with Denmark there is some real competition at the bottom of the roster.

Good fit. While Ginn doesn't have the best hands no player last that long in the NFL without knowing the details of their job. He should be a good mentor for Mr. Mooney, or at least someone to watch first-hand to see how it's done, how the route is run. I don't think Wims makes the roster this year. I expect Ridley to take his place as a backup WR. ARob, Miller, Mooney, Ginn, Ridley, Patterson and we still have Cohen who is really a slot WR with part time RB carries. We can stash someone like the 6'4" Thomas Ives on the practice squad and he's eligible to bring up to the roster on game days.

After drafting Johnson and Vildor I'm not even sure Burns makes the roster. CB battle in camp is going to be one worth watching....if they let fans watch that is.

This is exactly why I'd like to keep Vildor at CB. If he ends up our backup CB he's already shown he'll compete against the best WR and won't back down. That's a whole lot better than the backups that backup at the LOS at the snap.

He might have the tenacity to play in the box but I'm not sure someone who weights just 190lbs will last an entire season there. I also tend to think he's a better CB (than he would be safety) and that position has more value. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2884073-kindle-vildor-nfl-draft-2020-scouting-report-for-chicago-bears-pick —Tape shows him giving up a lot of catches to players who won't make the NFL. —Not very tough at the point of attack; inconsistent effort as a tackler, which led to too many missed tackles.

From https://overthecap.com/compensatory-draft-picks-cancellation-chart/ it looks like we'll be earning three 6th Rd, and one 7th Rd comp picks next year. We signed KPL and Nick Williams last year as player nobody expected anything from yet both played well enough for their new deals to earn us comp picks. Chicago Bears Compensatory Free Agents Lost: 5 Compensatory Free Agents Gained: 1 Name Rd. APY Rank Name Rd. APY Rank Nick Kwiatkoski 6 $7,000,000 320 Robert Quinn 4 $14,000,000 118 Nicholas Williams 6 $5,000,000 402 Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix 6 $3,750,000 427 Chase Daniel 6 $4,350,000 469 Kevin Pierre-Louis 7 $3,450,000 548 Non-Compensatory Free Agents Lost Non-Compensatory Free Agents Gained Cornelius Lucas $1,900,000 731 Barkevious Mingo $1,187,000 894 Jordan Lucas $1,000,000 1107 Jason Spriggs $850,000 1262

Space eater. Abdullah is more of a DE type.

Yes, welcome home.

Ultimately that will be his true value. Everyone is looking for some special attributes that says he's elite. He doesn't have that but he does have a good bit of all you want from a TE at either the U or Y position. Down the road that will make it tough for teams to know which defensive personnel they want on the field. Kmet has already shown he can line up inline, as an H-back and block or go on a route. Or he can line up as a WR either in the slot or even out wide. He doesn't have to be great at those roles just good enough that you must respect him. Do you defend him with a LB (run expectation) or Safety?

Apparently we signed this guy. We've had big powerful men before who never made it because they didn't have the foot speed. Granted this is a highlight film but I'm surprised at how well this guy mirrors some of the DTs, and how quickly he adjusts to pick up stunts. We'll see what Castillo can do with him.

If nothing else having him available lowers the price for all the other FA safeties.

In today's college game this is an unreal stat: "In his final seven games with Utah, Johnson allowed only 112 yards combined." full quote below: Pro Football Focus: B+ Analysis: PFF was especially high on second-round cornerback Jaylon Johnson, with Mike Remmer writing: "Johnson is one of the most instinctual corners in the entire draft, and he goes to a landing spot in Chicago where that ability can thrive. We saw Johnson's grades improve every single year of his college career after he saw 506 snaps as a true freshman back in 2017. In his final seven games with Utah, Johnson allowed only 112 yards combined."

My wife would disagree.

By the way I'm perfectly good with the fact we stayed put. I always felt we had a good chance to get a rookie who could be a legit starter at 43. And after Rd 1 it was clear that we had a great chance to get two ....and we did. In fact I think we did better than I ever anticipated with Johnson at 50. I thought we'd end up with someone like Chinn who might have been a starter but would have more growing pains.

I think they can do better on cap hit if they let him win the job and then just negotiate a new deal. He'd have to really light it up to make that a losing proposition and in that case they always have the franchise tag at their disposal. If he's just a bit better than Foles he's not going to get a huge deal and they could do something like a 3 yr extension. Of course if he can't beat out Foles then he's gone.

I think Horsted has the inside track as a backup U TE over Holtz who is more redundant behind Kmet and Harris. If we decide to keep 5 TEs that will all be based on special teams performance but cutting Braunecker says some money. Bears must still be hoping for that conditional pick for Shaheen.

I may have to stand corrected. Mooney says he's a good route runner and Matt Nagy said he's a good route runner. I'm ok with being wrong and it gives me a bit more optimism he'll be able to contribute part time this year.

I read a little bit on them and it seems there is some reason for optimism on both maybe to develop as backups some day.

Never knew about that Mon 4pm rule. Very interesting as Pace sees several decent FA Safety options still available and decides to wait for that 4pm bell to ring.

It's the offseason, people just aren't all that creative in what they talk about, so they find something simple and go after it. I don't care how many TEs we have in the offseason. I'm far more concerned with how many "good" TEs we have.

Voice of optimism.