AZ54

From what I've read he's a career backup S, and a decent one at that but also good on special teams. I'd say we have our depth at Safety now with Bush and Lucas but we need a starting partner for BoJack. I'd love to see Vonn Bell on this defense but I don't see anyway we can afford him. He's another player in the mold of Trevathan not real flashy but smart and in the right position to do his job.

We'll be drafting a RB. The kid from Memphis Antonio Gibson or later AJ Dillon are my targets on day 3. We have to draft someone from Memphis don't we?

Never felt he had the athletic tools to do much. He's only good in a straight line, doesn't really have the size or strength to do much head on either. He's not that much different from Irving.

Just searched nothing yet....but Spotrac did list his value at $1mil so maybe you are right.

I suspect he's earning at least $3-4mil.

Yes we could do that with this defense. Just make it elite because all the right pieces are there. Get a running game and let it ride with a mediocre QB. Many Superbowls have been won on the back of a great D.

Pace is laying low as usual. There have been rumors over at DBB that Robinson's extension has been agreed upon but not announced because the Bears have to complete some other deals to clear cap space. No matter what Pace does we won't find a lot more space. Burns' deal might prevent us from signing one the best remaining safeties. https://twitter.com/dabearsblog?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^embeddedtimeline|twterm^profile%3Adabearsblog&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdabearsblog.com%2F

Where did you find this was min deal? I know it's one year but I haven't found the dollar value yet.

Pace is filling out the bottom of the roster. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2020/3/21/21189114/chicago-bears-bring-back-isaiah-irving-free-agency-edge-khalil-mack-robert-quinn-outside-linebacker

I can't imagine Pace locking up that much cap space on two safeties...and for many years to come. Somewhere soon he has to get spending on a QB or we ride with a rookie/Foles next year, and the year after, and the year after.

He was playing decently his first two seasons and he can flat out run. We talked about him a lot as a possible option for the Bears when he was in the draft years ago.

Wow this is surprising. He can run with anyone but was always a bit light on the tackling side of things. If he can get his technique down we might have something but at worst we have added experienced depth behind Tolliver. It's really similar to what we did with Prince a few years back. Toss in a rookie on day 3 to fill out the roster but we could also be done here: NB Skrine with Shelley as his backup, CB: Fuller, Tolliver, Burns, and for depth/practice squad we still have Denmark and Joseph and this signing from the CFL Tre Roberson (not expecting much from him).

Not much on that list is worth getting excited about but neither is Graham. The only one I'd consider would Joseph and I think he got overpaid equally as much as Graham... about 50% more than I expected. Joseph has never even played a full season gets you 1 INT a year and gets between 40-50 solo tackles. Ebron's stats match up very well with Graham's. Certainly we could have had similar performance on the field for less money and I expected us to go that direction. The only thing I can think of is we really wanted Graham's leadership for the young TEs on the roster. Over at the Colts Chris Ballard worked for the Bears for years and was always held in high regard. When he publicly said we have no interest in re-signing Ebron it was about as damning a statement you will see from a GM on a player. Whatever happened there, and they had QB issues, it is clear Pace was aware and didn't want Ebron in our locker room. Regardless I'm still not happy about paying $8mil/yr for Graham. If he can help the young guys Horsted and Holtz to improve then he just might make me feel like he's worth $6mil/yr.

Yes we're seeing comp picks headed our way like never before. Even last years castoff Jordan Howard picked up 2yr $10mil.

That would have been much more appropriate. I know there was some desperation there and it really seems like Nagy pushes Pace's buttons at this one position. We over-spent on Burton when he was a FA too. In the meantime there hasn't really been any development from the players on the bottom end of the roster. All I can say and hope for is that Graham was running better in the 2019 highlights I saw as compared to what I remembered. Hopefully the Bears have him lose a bit of weight to gain back some quickness and speed. Let the other TE (Harris not Shaheen) handle the heavy inline blocking job.

Welcome. Since we have been quiet on the OG front early in FA it appears Bars is going to get a chance to earn a starting spot at RG. I'm sure he'll have some competition either in the form of a second tier FA (i.e. RG from 49ers) if they aren't too confident in Bars. If they are more confident in Bars they might wait for the 3rd wave of FA and sign a vet on a cheap 1yr deal. We'll likely add at least one draft pick to the mix as well with an OT in Rd2 or 3 (trade back) being the most popular choice here. Leno must have competition this year, with the only disagreement coming from those who would have cut him in week 10 last year.

It's a low rent 1yr deal indicating they clearly don't view him as a starter nor even a core special teams player.

Exactly. That's a good sign they are looking for a SS who is a better fit with Jackson.

Surprised he just got another 1yr deal worth $4mil with $2.5 guaranteed. Back with his old HC too. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/cowboys/2020/03/19/dallas-cowboys-ha-ha-clinton-dix-sign-nfl-free-agency/2882362001/

It's all true but you can't always isolate on one reason for things to go poorly in the NFL. It's just too complex or we wouldn't have teams spending all this money on large coaching staffs. Andy Reid was fired for the same reason...didn't run the ball enough. Now he's headed to the Hall of Fame. People learn and evolve and that's what you hope for when you hire someone with experience. All I meant with Lazor is that he's had years of good success running the football. Some without. We'll see what he draws up for the Bears and if Nagy can call those plays.

Stop calling me surely.

At some point along the line everybody coaching in the NFL was fired from a previous job....see Andy Reid. That does not mean they didn't have success in their previous roles. We have two key coaches on offense who have proven they can put together a good running game and they've done so across multiple seasons. https://www.chicagobears.com/team/coaches/bill-lazor https://www.chicagobears.com/team/coaches/juan-castillo "Lazor most recently served as the offensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2017-18 and as the quarterbacks coach in 2016. Under his leadership, the Bengals' offense in 2018 finished third in the NFL in red zone scoring at 71.1%. The Bengals rushing attack averaged 4.69 yards per carry, which was fourth in the AFC." "Prior to Cincinnati Lazor spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins from 2014-15. In his first season in Miami, his rushing attack averaged 4.7 yards per attempt, ranking second in the NFL, led by Lamar Miller's 1,000-yard campaign. The Dolphins averaged 24.3 points per game and 350.1 yards per game, which was the franchise's most in both categories since 1995." "Castillo most recently served as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator with the Buffalo Bills from 2017-18. Under his watch, the Bills' rushing attack ranked in the top 10 both seasons. Buffalo finished sixth in the NFL and second in the AFC with 126.1 yards per game in 2017 and fifth in the NFL with 124.0 yards per game on the ground in 2018. Prior to Buffalo he spent four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, serving as the run game coordinator in 2013 and offensive line coach from 2014-16. In 2015 Castillo guided an offensive line that helped produce a then-franchise-record 4,271 net passing yards and the second-most total net yards (5,749) in team history. In 2014, Castillo led an offensive line that allowed just 19 sacks, the second fewest in team history at the time, ranking behind only Denver (17) that year with the fewest in the NFL. From 2014-15 the Ravens allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL (43). He originally joined the team as a consultant prior to Super Bowl XLVII in January 2013."

Foles restructured his deal too but not sure what this means for his cap hit. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2020/03/18/chicago-bears-breaking-down-quarterback-nick-foles-restructured-contract/ ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Foles has already restructured his contract with the Bears, which includes three more years and $21 million in guaranteed money. Foles also re-worked his contract so that could void the deal with the Bears after either of the first two seasons. --------------- For Foles if Trubisky performs and becomes our starter long term he has the option to leave the team, which is fair. Otherwise it appears Foles is our bridge QB until we draft or sign our next QB. If that happens in 2021 Foles can then void the deal and leave the team after the season.

Because it's funny..who is to blame for Brady leaving NE? https://twitter.com/i/status/1240483951258591232

Found this... https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2020/03/19/chicago-bears-restructure-offensive-lineman-cody-whitehair-contract/ Whitehair’s base salary in 2020 is $5.1 million, which means that with a restructure the most they could save would be $3.352 million.