AZ54

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.

Completely missed this news yesterday. Anyone know any details? https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/1240451182209859584

Jimmy Graham blocking. Love the second one where he puts the DE airborne into his own bench.

Strange but true.

Without the injury Bars was reportedly a 3rd Rd prospect. If we had drafted him there I think there'd be more confidence in him. Many are hoping we draft someone at RG in Rd 2/3/4 this year to fill the spot so it could be a similar skill player with some question marks. Regardless I agree he needs good competition for the job.

Packers lost Bulaga. He's been fighting through injuries in recent years so on the downside of his career but he's been really good for them for years and they don't have a replacement on the roster. I know they'll find someone else who can hold just as well the question is will they be flagged for it.

Doubtful. He knows he has to fill out a roster and they won't all be Pro Bowl players. He just signed a $15mil backup for his starting QB. He cut Floyd immediately after signing Quinn. I"m pretty sure he'd make other cuts if it were feasible (i.e. Leno) but we still have to field a team. He built a top 5 defense and they might have been back in the top 5 last year without the injuries to key players. Even with that our defense was 4th in points given up last year and 8th best in yards given up/game. Quinn makes the pass D much better. Now about that offense and the running game. Lots of coaches lost their jobs and were replaced with proven experienced coaches who hopefully can get a running game going to mitigate the risks at QB. If Trubisky regains his form from the just the 2nd half of 2018 season we'll be ok. That wasn't great but we won with it and nearly won a playoff game. In 2019 Trubisky played as if he was still suffering from the two concussions on that FG kick.

I think it was predicted but Jacksonville had to eat a big cap hit and that wasn't entirely clear they would do that. Plus there was a ton of smoke on the Derek Carr or Andy Dalton to Chicago deal that stayed above the fold (for those old enough to have actually read a newspaper). I think if Carr was available he'd be here and Trubisky would be gone. With that off the table it meant we figure out best deal for Dalton or Foles. Anyone asking for Cam only remembers him when he won the MVP and not the broken down version who couldn't throw. Anytime you have no option but to make a QB change his throwing motion after shoulder surgery it's not a good sign. How many of us can change a lifetime sports habit?

They have $39mil in cap space why let go of a backup who can get 7 sacks? Is there something that isn't public knowledge yet? He seems like a good guy and they once though enough of him to give him a mid-level contract extension. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/nfl/lions/2020/03/17/detroit-lions-reportedly-parting-ways-devon-kennard/5068700002/

Get a veteran SS in there to compliment Ejack and those ILBs and we're in a very good spot even with Tolliver at CB. We have enough to do that. Would you add a year to Akiem Hicks contract and throw a guarantee at him of $15mil? I would and I'm pretty we sure can find a way to drop his cap hit off the $11.8mil this year by at least 3 or more. Extend Cordarelle Patterson for a year or two? Likewise with ARob. Cut Braunecker, Shaheen frees up $2mil and of course that money gets spent on low level replacements but it's a chance on someone else who can be more productive, someone who could hardly be less productive. Trade Cohen for a 4th Rd pick? None of it is big $$ but can give us enough to sign a FA SS and RG for depth and to challenge Bars for the position. One of the 2nd Rd picks is a trade back for sure and with 3 picks in Rd 2/3 and 5 picks on day 3. Day 2 we can grab an OT, WR to replace Cohen, and CB. Day 3 gets us a RB, TE, Edge, IOL, and Safety help. I'm wondering if there is more confidence in the young TEs Horsted and Holtz than we know. Not high expectations but enough to jettison a player like Braunecker, and possibly Burton.

...and all they got for it was to give up one future Hall of Fame player on the Dline and a bunch of chatter about how badly they needed to trade JimmyG to the Patriots and sign Brady. FWIW they got the Superbowl on the strength of that defense and a running game.