AZ54

Willie is a good guy, both as a player and as a person. Cleary he's what Fox wants in his veteran players. I never expected he'd fit into this new system but he proved me wrong late last year but I'm glad we have him around a couple more years.

At this point in his career I have no interest in bringing him back as a returner. If nobody else signs him and he wants to retire as a Bear that would be great. Then we let the Hall of Fame discussion begin in 5 years time.

That was my favorite memory in part because I live here in the Phoenix area. What a fun week that was after the game.

Pace is really sticking to his plan to rebuild with youth. I'm expecting some good things from this year's rookie class. I don't predict stars but feel confident we have many who will show they belong on an NFL field. If that holds true then this contract situation gives Pace the ability to long-term sign the right players once he knows who they are.

If there was nothing behind this such as a suspension or police incident then this is a very good sign we don't need him. He won't offer depth as a DB. Other return options like Braverman should be productive as a WR.

There is not much to get excited about but if he is healthy Silatolu will provide very good competition for the interior line. I don't know the extent of his last knee injury or even if it was the same knee as his first injury. All I can say is that whoever ends up as our backup players on the Oline they should be more talented than Ducasse or Omameh. http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/07/20/i...offensive-line/ Also in that article is a line about Grasu not being on solid ground as the starting C. Nothing too new here as Ramirez was being asked to push Grasu for the starting job but it does make clear that our best 5 Oline are going to start.

..and so it shall be: http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/07/20/c...a-chicago-bear/

Love the video! http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17102480...nut-punch-video

No. I'm glad Pace refused to overpay. Jeffrey's performance overall does not put him in the elite group of WRs. Yes having him on the field makes us a much better team but Jeffrey refuses to participate with the team in the offseason. Even his trainer publicly criticized the Bears (at least NFL teams in general) for their training methods. That's the same trainer who got Jeffrey in shape last year and we saw how well that worked out. Last season it was pretty clear that Jeffrey was not doing what he should have done off the field with the training staff to stay in shape or get healthy again. A player wants the organization to commit to him while he refuses to commit to the organization. I understand all the injury concerns with practicing in voluntary OTAs but that does not prevent Jeffrey from training in Chicago and being around the team to check in with the training staff on occasion. Kyle Long trains in Arizona but he managed to make it all work out. I prefer to put big money toward players like Long who exemplify what Fox wants on and off the field. If Jeffrey performs well we can tag him again next year and try to work on a deal. We can also tag him and trade him. If he plays well this year (not even lights out well) we'd get at least a 3rd Rd pick but more likely a 2nd Rd pick for him. If he plays well that might go as high as a late 1st Rd pick. OTOH if he ends up missing games again this year due to injury his price tag will come down to our range. Then we can decide if we still want to deal with these injuries every year as he gets older. If the injury trend continues the games missed for each injury increase as a player gets older.

Please elaborate on those facts about Gase in Miami. At least for me (very tired after a 14hr day) I'm not sure how to interpret this.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...er-or-solid-wr1 I think his analysis is spot on.

I'm going with 2 levels on this. Rookies and vets Rookies/Defense: Bullard Went back and forth a bit between Roy Robert-Harris and Bullard but I think Bullard is far more prepared to step in and play today. He has more quickness and more length than Sutton and he takes his place in the rotation. I think Ferguson takes the early snaps, both in early season games and on early downs later in the season, as Bullard settles into the NFL but when we need pass rush I think Bullards stands out among our Dline. Rookie/Offense: Braverman This kid is a hard worker who takes nothing for granted. I don't think he takes Royal's place but with Wilson injured I think he takes Mariani's spot and gets reps as our 4th WR. Versatility matters deep down the roster so he'll also earn this via punt and kick returns. Vet/Defense: Bryce Callahan We're rebuilding so many vets on this team are in just their 2nd season. Bryce Callahan. He flashed a lot of good plays last year and when he was the field the entire defense looked better. I think this year everyone comes to understand how valuable he is to our roster. Vet/Offense: Charles Leno I can't say I'm 100% confident in Leno but there were quite a few times where he matched up well against good competition last year. If one thing was made clear last year it is that Cutler is the key to all things on offense. The team trusted Leno enough to not go after a LT early (or at all) in the draft bringing in just a journeyman to be his competition. I think he shows us that trust from the front office was warranted.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...n-longterm-deal It is now close to crunch time and we'll soon know what happens. Based on this report it seems Jeffrey's agent has released that the Bears are not offering anything close to what Jeffrey wants. It appears the Bears are settled in around $12mil/yr and Jeffrey wants much more. I presume that is around $14mil/yr. Earlier in the offseason I put Jeffrey's value around $12mil/yr but these things often take on odd trajectories. I don't see Jeffrey belonging among the top 5 at all (obviously he's there at the moment based on the Franchise deal). I think he belongs somewhere among 6-10. Hilton sits at the top there but has the smallest guaranteed money followed by Baldwin with a similar deal. If the Bears are offering around $12mil/yr I'd say they are right where they should be and the bigger discussion is the guaranteed money. Jeffrey deserves more than 1yr (amount of annual salary) guaranteed IMO. How much more? I still think both sides will come to a deal but it will see the Bears able to move on after three, perhaps just two, seasons. That would mean a guarantee of around $24-25mil. Probably going to see the Bear want offseason workout guarantees too. From www.overthecap.com here's the list of WR $/yr: 1) AJ Green $15mil/yr with $26.7mil guaranteed 2) Jeffrey $14.6mil/yr with $14.6 1 year deal 3) Julio Jones $14.2mil/yr with $35.5mil 4) D. Thomas $14mil/yr with $35mil 5) Dez Bryant $14mil/yr with $32mil 6) Ty Hilton $13mil/yr with $11mil 7) Doug Baldwin $11.5mil/yr with $12mil 8) Keenan Allen $11.24mil/yr with $20.6mil 9) V. Jackson $11.1mil/yr with $26mil 10) Fitzgerald $11mil/yr with $22mil 11) Maclin $11mil/yr with $22.5mil 12) Allen Hurns $10mil/yr with $16mil 13) R. Cobb $10mil/yr with $13mil 14) J. Nelson $9.7mil/yr with $11mil

After the surprising selection of Callahan as the 7th best NB in the NFL by SI.com now we have Ike Taylor naming Fuller and Porter as the 5th best CB tandem in the league. I happen to like Ike, although I don't always agree with his analysis. While this doesn't mean either is a top 10 CB it is at least an indication that there was some good steady play on both corners in the 2nd half of the season. The merry-go-round at SS and lack of good play at ILB last year certainly didn't help either of our CBs. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000067...nerback-tandems There were plenty of plays late in the season where I thought Porter was playing too far off his man but perhaps he was just shading a bit toward Prosinski or HJQ to help them out, try to prevent the big play? Maybe that was the plan going into the game? In any case our starting CBs have gotten some surprising respect this offseason. With the new ILB crew and some better players up front I'm looking forward to see how this all comes together.

I thought he played well last year and it was noticeable when he was out of the lineup late in the season. I still think we needed an upgrade at CB somewhere in the offseason but on the other hand this roster had so many holes it was impossible to fill them all. I'm glad Pace didn't over-spend on the FA CBs that were out there. Better to let the young guys we have develop and see what shakes out than to commit too much money to someone near the end of their career and who may not fit the culture we want.

I don't think it's as simple as just give a guy more reps. How then do we explain the bottom half of the league's starting QBs for which teams are always looking for replacements? I truly believe if a guy has talent he'll very quickly rise to 2nd string player. There he gets enough reps to show what he can do. Maybe not enough to be as proficient as the starter but if he truly has starting potential you're going to see it especially if you're starting QB is struggling. Every offseason we find backups and a couple starting QBs available. In 2016 it was RGIII, EJ Manuel, Kap, Chase Daniel, Drew Stanton, Fitzpatrick, Osweiller. Fitzpatrick has shown he can be a decent starter/backup yet he's still on the market. Despite many starter reps among that group nobody was kicking the door down to get one of them signed except for Osweiller. 2015 had: Jake Locker, Mallett, Mark Sanchez, Matt Moore, Hoyer, Shaun Hill, Josh McCown, Tebow, Clausen, Ponder, Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Schaub, Gabbert, Colt McCoy, and others. Once in a blue moon someone finds a 3rd string guy who can be a starter (i.e. Warner, Romo). Despite that there are far more big money failures when signing backups to be a starter: Matt Flynn, Charlie Whitehurst,

There were times last year I don't think Cutler even knew the WR who were in the huddle. Handing the ball to Forte even on a 3rd and 6 might have been the best option. Often stats leave out things that are needed to frame the game situation. 3rd and 6 on your own 25yd line is not the place for a mistake, especially when WRs on the field might be wilson, Mariani, Meredith, Bellamy. I don't have an issue with playing it safe and taking my chances with Forte or Langford to avoid the big mistake in that area.

SI.com put up a list of top 10 slot defenders and surprisingly Bryce Callahan is ranked #7, just one spot behind Tyrann Mathieu. http://www.si.com/article-list/nfl-positio...ide-cornerbacks

The NFL can't find enough decent starting QBs, many teams have serious questions at backup QB. By the time you get down to the Connor Shaw type of players no amount of development time will make a big difference.

I've been reading some of the stories about Buddy today. One of my fondest memories is being at the '85 playoff game against the Rams. It was cold and I still remember those guys walking around with no shirt on that are seen in the video. You can't play defense the same way today (watch Wilbur Marshall destroy Henry Ellard at 3:25) but back then Bears defenders were all in on every play and that came from Buddy's leadership. There have been other great defenses since then but none have had this combination of an attacking style, physical dominance, and tactical superiority over what an offense wanted to do. The 2000 Ravens came closest in my mind but they were not an attacking front with just 35 sacks. Put another way, the '85 Bears D under Buddy Ryan changed the way offenses played the game...forever. No other defense since that time can make that claim. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000063...ses-of-all-time

He does a very good job breaking down McPhee's game. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzfVBuCfGz-oF3aOCGgO5g To reference Jason's post about concerns with Floyd keep in mind what you see McPhee cannot do (as compared to Von Miller in video) and what we know Floyd can do as he gets upfield quickly. Where Floyd will really need added strength is holding himself upright as he bends around the edge. I think that's the component of his game he'll have to work on the most.

I think what you were told is largely correct based on how he played in college. I wasn't too hot on picking Floyd in the 1st Rd because there is so little on tape of him beating OTs off the edge. It was also obvious he was only used as a part time pass rusher and otherwise ran all over the field in different roles so he never had time to focus on edge rushing. He does have the physical traits you want in a speed rusher off the edge. On film he has an explosive burst and covers a lot of ground with long strides very quickly. I was critical of his 3-cone time but after learning he was sick that day and unable to finish all the drills there is reason to believe that was far from his best. The best evidence that poor 3-cone time was an aberration is the fact the Bears brought him in for a 2-day visit during which he ran a full set of drills. I wasn't aware of that prior to the draft. Coaches, scouts, and GM all saw up close what he can do so they have a better idea of his ability than we were shown. Overall Pace and Fox have done well identifying talent in the last two offseasons so they get a little benefit of the doubt. Then there is Fangio, a coach who proved to me he can best utilize a players talent last year. Given how well the defense played last year with so many misfits and lack of talent was impressive. Fangio watched Floyd run those drills at Halas Hall so he knows what he can do and how to use him. And Fangio wanted him drafted. Nor is Fangio that concerned that he's a guy who excels at converting speed to power. That was a bit surprising as Fangio generally prefers bigger OLB. Floyd will get stronger but he'll never be like McPhee who is just plain violent and the point of attack. OTOH McPhee will never be like Floyd either and lacks upfield burst and bend around the edge. There's a lot of wait and see, but Floyd, who can cover TEs, could develop into a great chess piece around the LOS. It will take a couple seasons for us to see that potential. I see that as his floor but you don't draft a guy 9th overall for that role. He has to justify his draft position by developing into a double digit sack artist. That's Floyd's sole focus now. Unfortunately neither of our OTs will be the best challenge for him so I'll be skeptical of positive reports out of training camp. I believe we have the right staff to help Floyd reach his potential but I'm still in wait and see mode.

Here you go...long term contract talks opened up again... http://bearswire.usatoday.com/2016/06/21/l...alshon-jeffery/

Jeffrey was pouting a bit last year but he will collect at least $14.5 mil this year. One day he'll wake up and realize he wouldn't have that if Brandon Marshall were still here. I don't see any way the team would have put $10mil/yr into an aging Marshall with his attitude and signed Jeffrey to a long term deal. One way or another Marshall was never in the long term plan for the Bears once Pace took over. They made the early decision to move Marshall but it was going to happen last year or this year to make room for Jeffrey's new contract.

Yes, that would be nice but at this point what other options are there? Seems like a low risk/ and perhaps low reward scenario. At best I'd say he's being looked at to replace one of Housler, Lee, Braunecker, and on the outside perhaps the FB Lasike. Lee sounds like he's installed as the best blocking TE and that's not Moeaki's strength. This may well have more to do with special teams performance than TE skills, assuming those are relatively equal. We committed to Miller as our starter with the money we gave him and outside of the rumored offer to Gresham we've done little else to pursue replacing him as the starter. I don't count the TE from NO we gave an offer to as a serious effort at finding a starter. I agree that having Miller as our #2, or least having two TEs capable of being a decent #1 would be great to have. We're stuck waiting another year for that to happen. However, I don't think this story will be complete until after training camp and all the final cuts around the league are done.