AZ54

No doubt.

= Skrine + whoever else we get with the extra $1.5mil in cap savings. I think we'll be fine and it's nice to see Callahan get paid.

He's here tonight and tomorrow which is interesting and I'm sure Jason is happy to see this. I expect somewhere in this trip he'll spend some time with Eddie Jackson. As a player I view him as better in coverage than Amos but not as good at tackling. HHCD had his fair share of coverage lapses too but he's a better playmaker when the ball is in the air. In that sense he always seemed to be more of a FS than SS and Jackson is not leaving that role. If Pagano wants multiple inside-the-numbers coverage options behind his blitz schemes he'll have them with HHCD, Jackson, Skrine, Roquan, Floyd, and Trevathan. What he's looking for in his next contract is hard to guess now that he's been on back burner for a bit. Pace wouldn't be talking with him in person this much if they weren't somewhat close on contract parameters. Would Pace do a deal for HHCD similar to what Amos got? https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/bears-reportedly-courting-free-agent-safety-ha-ha-clinton-dix-amos-redskins-free-agency-rumors

Pace does not like to go into the draft with a "need" so you can bet we'll sign someone at safety. The only question is at what cost.

A lot of what I've read on Skrine is that he's a pretty good NB but has some struggles when asked to play outside CB. He's not that big and I don't think he's that fast. His combine forty was 4.48 yet he's very quick which is what you want inside. He ran an insane 6.44 in the 3-cone drill. Keep him inside with the slot receivers and he should be fine. http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/buster-skrine?id=2495343

In some ways we just upgraded from Josh Bellamy.

This is a surprise signing for me. It definitely gives Nagy some options when calling plays. https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1105609284795154433

I'd prefer having Amos here but not at that price. Over-paying for a good player at a non-critical position is how a team gets into trouble long term. So if someone was going to overpay I'm glad it's the Packers, and now two years in a row they went after Bears DBs. If there is someone who knows how to exploit Amos' coverage skills its Matt Nagy. In summary the Packers moved on from HHCD to pay Amos $37mil. Even though I always felt HHCD was over-rated, I never saw that coming.

Good speed but nothing great, good hands, and has a bit of wiggle to him. Goodbye Mizzell and Cunningham.

I suspect Pagano had a ton of input into this. I don't know much about Skrine but his little highlight clip from a few years ago shows he's going to play with some attitude. Which probably generates some penalties. I'm not surprised Pace had his plan B set and pulled the trigger early. I assume the word is Callahan is drawing significant interest and quickly priced himself out of contention for the Bears. Pace wasn't going to wait around and then lose out on the best tier 2 FA NB, at least the one he wanted. Most here wanted Callahan back over Amos (assuming we can't have both) because we viewed the NB spot more critical to the success of the defense than SS. In a way Pace validated that assessment even if Skrine is a downgrade.

Tyrann was a bigger play guy but he's just not as quick as he used to be. He was never a fast guy either. He still has the play smarts but I'd rather stick with the reliable Amos before taking a gamble on the often injured Mathieu.

I agree, there no point with just a 6/7 in return.

I see Pace trading Howard and moving up into the top of the 3rd Rd to draft a RB named Miles Sanders.

Tyrann Mathieu is not the same player he was 4 years ago after all his injuries. If we sign him it will be a repeat of all the other vet safeties we brought in on multi-year deals and then let go after one season. There is a reason the Texans' fans don't want him back.

I think it's possible Acho comes back on a one-year deal, or maybe I should say I don't think Pace would mind having him back on a 1yr vet minimum deal.

Pace is trying to scoop up the best FA kickers he can find before the draft. Then he's going to bring in another one or two after the draft and let 'em battle it out. I hope it works.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/bears-cutting-olb-sam-acho/ As expected and we gain 2.1mil in cap space.

Yes it does, and that's why I think Isabella's going to go higher than initially expected. The Combine also boosted Tarik Cohen into a 4th Rd pick when everyone had him pegged later.

I've liked Callahan for years but I get the sense we (Pace) are accepting that we'll likely have to move on to other options. We just had one of the best defenses in the NFL and that always draws attention to your FAs. It's hard to think someone out there won't throw some good money at Callahan. Please don't throw out the option of Ty(also)rann Mathieu. Injuries have taken their toll and he's not what he used to be.

With legit 4.3 speed I think he goes in the 3rd Rd, and maybe late 2nd. Remember the Rams traded up to draft Tayvon Austin in the first round, and Austin ran a 4.34 forty. IMO he's a little bit different from the smaller Tayvon Austin types who have a good forty time but it's largely because of their initial quickness and they don't have long speed. Austin is still fast, and is probably quicker in his cuts (see better 2yd shuttle time), but Isabella can fly. He'll need some scheme help to get open at times but that's nothing for a guy like Nagy or Belichick. He'd be perfectly fine in the Taylor Gabriel role in our offense. We have other needs so I'm not expecting us to draft him unless he falls into the 5th Rd. At that point anything is possible. ...and against Georgia he was able to get deep a couple time albeit likely against the 2nd string. I have no reason to think Georgia's backup defenders aren't talented athletes.

Where does Andy Isabella end up? You can't help but think Belichick already has a plan in place to draft him.

That's awesome.

If we're not going after an RB1 I like Pollard more than Henderson. Henderson has a nice skillset and could handle more snaps but Pollard actually has the smoke that Mizzell falsely advertises. Pollard could backup the role Cohen plays in the offense and probably special teams, or he can backup Howard. If we were to lose Howard to Injury we can just bring up a guy like Nall to handle the tough yards.

https://officialize.com/@roquansmith/blogs/blog/reflections-of-my-rookie-season?utm_campaign=twitter&utm_source=social&utm_medium=social

https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2019/2/28/18245085/chicago-bears-meeting-running-backs-nfl-combine-draft-bryce-love-benny-snell-miles-sanders-rumors The Bears have already met with four running backs that could be available in the mid to later rounds, and they are Stanford’s Bryce Love (per Mark Grote), Kentucky’s Benny Snell (per Mark Grote), Washington State’s James Williams (per Patrick Finley), and Penn State’s Miles Sanders (per Christian Shanafelt). Sanders said that he and Tarik Cohen would make an effective duo in Chicago.