AZ54

Yes, there is a reason, they already have the pieces in place to fit a guy like Browner into their scheme. They can work around his short-comings and benefit from his strengths. We don't have any pieces in place on defense and so I prefer to find guys, young players, that are more versatile in their skill set. Once we get the safeties behind him and the pass rush in front of him to cover up his mistakes then if we want to grab a thumper at CB go ahead and do it. I don't want to take that chance with Brock Vereen back there and Jared Allen getting bear-hugged by a LT.

I think as fans we understand that but as I said in another thread I don't believe Gase came here to coach a bad team for 2-3 years. He was a HC candidate, a strong one, and 3 years on a bad team will put back behind the rest of the crowd. Then he'll need another 2-3 to make a name for himself again. I believe either they feel they can make it work well enough with Cutler at the helm or they have a good backup plan to get someone else that can at least be average.

Excellent All-22 film breakdown of McPhee's sacks last year. Gives good insight into his skills and how we can expect Fangio to use him all over the defensive front. http://chi.scout.com/story/1525345-all-22-...ell-mcphee?s=25

Rolle was a 4.6 guy when the Cards drafted him. I can't imagine he's anywhere close to that now and for a FS that's not good. He was a good tackler and smart about the game but at this point on his 3rd contract I prefer to get younger unless he's on a deal with a low cap hit with no long term committment for the Bears (i.e. easy to cut next year).

I don't like him. Just big and physical and that works great if you only need to cover for 2.5 seconds.

Not a good fit for where our D is headed but he's a good guy and I wish him the best.

If you are developing a QB it's usually because you don't have a good one. It's hard to be patient these days in the NFL. Plus, and I agree with this, a guy is going to learn best from playing. Maybe a year to learn and adjust to the offense but sooner than later you gotta hit the field to learn it. It's rare to see an Aaron Rodgers situation and that only happened because Favre retired 7 or 8 times.

That is true.

He's ok, fills a need and will bring stability to the new system. Knowing all the OLB talent early in the draft, pursuing him early in FA makes me think we are a little more serious about using our 1st Rd pick for a QB. Feels like we have hedged our bet a bit with this signing.

I'm pretty sure we could make a list like that for any conference. Mannion is at best a 3rd Rd pick, maybe a 4th-5th Rd. I don't have any problem taking a guy to try to develop but if you take that guy in Rd 1 you are betting on that working out. I just don't like some prospects like Hundley because I never see him reading defenses well. Petty puts too many throws in the dirt for my tastes.

Then let's say hello to Dan Williams. If nothing else this indicates we are not looking to overspend for a player.

I know I'm interested in Mariota. It seems the Bears are too. http://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-football...ing-many-levels

I still like him as a prospect to develop. Bucky Brooks has him listed as the 5th best QB prospect but more often I've seen him listed as a 5th or 6th Rd pick. I think he'll go earlier than that. http://www.nfl.com/now/share?id=b8a84934-a...d1-138c9ee5f566 http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players...84/sean-mannion

I find that hard to believe. Kaep wasn't very good last year and with his mechanics it's hard to say if he'll ever put it all together but who else are they going with unless they really are interested in a Cutler/Kaep trade.

I liked Reed when he was at Arizona, haven't seen much of him in the NFL. He is a limited player in terms of athletic ability but he's a good football player. Mason Foster seems like an ideal fit for what we need on our roster: Smart, leadership on the field and locker room, and a good downhill tackler. I'd be pushing hard to sign him.

Wow, amazed they paid that much for a safety. Definitely not the Belichick way.

I like him as a backup or if we end up with a rookie QB, and I'm only talking about Mariota here because I don't like any of the others and Winston is unachievable, then as a stop-gap starter.

Gregory and Ray are the studs and Fowler and Beasley are average.

Sometimes guys do take less money to stay with their current team. We all know FA players have their agents test the waters and find out what teams are considering signing him for. It's not a hard and fast contract deal but they'll toss out terms such as "we want to be around 4/15. Bears might say thanks but no thanks. If teams are willing to play in the same neighborhood then they agree to talk on opening day of FA. In this case, Ingram's agent might have found out nobody was that interested in giving him a $20mil deal for 4 years. The Saints may have upped their offer a bit and come in close to what the agent feels is market value and he signs early. The worst thing that can happen to a FA like Igram is that he gets little interest early in FA because his asking price is too high and he sits at home for 2 weeks while all the big money contracts are signed.

Because they aren't good QBs. Just my opinion but I've never liked Hundley in the last two seasons. Petty doesn't have the arm and might as well stick with Fales (similar skillset) before I take him.

FS. If Peanut has to stay in the box taking hits on RB too often he definitely won't make it through the season.

I wasn't that high on Ingram anyway and to keep him around before he tested FA they likely paid him very well. The position we most need to fill via FA is safety.

What Kyle Long said publicly regarding Marshall is what he should have said. What he said behind closed doors might be different. That doesn't mean they are mutually exclusive (i.e. he's lying about what he tweeted). While he respects a guy he might be wise enough to see that what he was doing did have a negative affect across the locker room. I love my kids but that doesn't mean I love everything they've done. As for Martellus... he has his own drummer but again Marshall does have some good qualities and Bennett respects that about him. He may ignore or dismiss the other issues for whatever reason.

http://chi.scout.com/story/1524412-bears-h...wn-rebuild?s=25 Marshall is gone and Cutler and Forte are on the trade block and the whole world knows it. Giving away Marshall for a mere 5th RD pick means we want to move on now and we'll just about pay you to take our players and their big contracts away from us. This much cap space puts anyone in FA in play and this is the best FA year in a long time, maybe ever. If you are going to go all in like this to remake a roster now is definitely the time to do it.

I don't like the deal. That said I also don't know the plan. Giving away Marshall for a mere 5th Rd pick means we are clearly moving on in all aspects. I expect we'll give away Cutler and Forte too. Knowing that just what can you do with $55 million dollars in Free Agency? Knowing that what is the plan at QB? Pace might have time but there is no way Fox, Fangio, and especially Gase came here to see their careers languish behind a QB who can't play. Gase for one has HC ambitions and almost got there this past offseason. Bridges with players like Forte, Cutler are already burned so we've shown our hand and we're all in. Revamping the team in the NFL always starts best with the most important piece and that's a QB. I don't believe these guys plan on having a top 10 pick for 2 or 3 years in a row hoping one of those years we get the right QB. Clausen only signed a 1yr deal so he is not the answer. Mariota? Could we trade Cutler to the Titans and swap picks in the 1st Rd and then draft Mariota? If that came to pass, along with $55mil in FA, we'd have a brand new team in just one offseason. Whisenhunt went a long way with an emotionally battered QB in Kurt Warner. For those who say that Warner is a HoF player don't forget how his stint with the Rams and NY Giants ended. Don't forget how he struggled for several years in AZ to beat out Matt Leinert but eventually, 3 years later, winning a starting job. His record in the Superbowl season was just 9-7. Warner's INTs were usually among league leaders and there were plenty of arguments on the sidelines between Warner and then OC Todd Haley. All I'm saying is Whisenhunt managed to put that all together and make it work then later he traded for Kevin Kolb and lost his job. He might prefer the devil he knows best in Culter over an untested rookie QB. Nobody who saw Mettenberger play last year could think he's their long term answer and sitting at #2 is a rare opportunity. Whisenhunt still gets an elite defensive player at #7 something no team (like the Eagles) can offer late in the 1st Rd. If not Mariota then who? I don't view Hundley or Petty as good options, I suppose I could be wrong. We've already seen Cassell traded so we passed on that option. There are no obvious FA answers and I can't think of another backup out there that would be worth prying away from someone.