AZ54

At this point in his career I'd say he was signed to be a backup DT, most likely to be used for passing downs.

I don't think that's the case. Emery has stated publicly that they told Melton's agent to shop around in FA and then come back to the Bears and let them see what they could do. Henry is out shopping. We may have given the agent some ideas where we were at but I doubt it was anything more than some wide open parameters.

I don't see us a being done. We only have 3 DTs on the roster: Collins, Paea, and Ratliff. I think we are still waiting to make a decision on Melton and if that fails we will sign one other DT to join the backup rotation (Kevin Williams 1yr?). Then we're off to the draft for our DTs. After last year's debacle I don't see how Emery could not load up on more options at DT. In terms of salary cap space we still have option in cutting Weems and/or Bennett. We already hedged that bet by signing Hixon.

Per past conversations there was not much room to restructure Peppers deal. He only had 2 years remaining, 2014/15. The best that could have happened would have been him being cut and then signing with the Bears for that same deal. I would not have paid him $8.5mil for 2014. Instead of Peppers for his $10mil in cap space this year we have: Houston $5mil Young $2.66mil Tillman $3.5mil Ok so that adds up to $11mil but it would not have happened without freeing up Peppers cap space so I'll take that 3 for 1 deal. I think it's just an added bonus that Peppers has a $8.5mil cap hit for the Packers this year.

First wave of FA is over. According to NFL Network 50 (or more) of the top 100 FA have signed with teams. He has three teams interested in him: Dallas, Seattle, and Minn. The Cowboys do not have a lot of cap space and still have a few spots to fill. Here Melton has tons of opportunity for little money. The Vikings have cap space but Melton either got no contract or didn't like what they said. Based on reports it was no contract offer. On top of that the Vikings have Floyd at the 3T spot so Melton is going to be a backup and I can't see the Vikings spending big on Melton now. Little opportunity for likely medium money. Seattle has opportunity and has a good amount of cap space left. I can see Melton landing here unless the Bears beat their offer in a significant way. Chicago has a lot of opportunity and medium to low cash. We might be willing to go a little longer term on the contract

I never forgot that. Injured player sitting on his sofa ripping on another injured player for an injury he knew nothing about.

He's moving inside to play DE in a 3-4 front. Slausson + Long = Not worried. Especially not worried if Peppers is still performing at the level he did last season. In fact, at that level it makes him a target to run at. I can't believe they gave him $8.5million for this season. They are clearly hoping he returns to form and that's a gamble we rarely see GB make.

I like what we've done too. It's just not sexy but OTOH we didn't break the bank on any single player. I think we've built a good foundation to add talent to in the draft, not to mention next year. We still need more help at DT in FA ideally Melton follows Tillman and returns home.

After reading this, and listening to his interview and press conference, and watching some highlights I think Houston still has room to improve, quite a bit of room. I preferred Bennett but I think we've seen his best, or rather he is at his ceiling. Whether or not we can get Houston to hit his ceiling is another debate but I believe there is much to be gained with this guy. With his combination of size, strength, and quickness his ceiling might be higher than Bennett's. http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...b7-a50769584c36

Prefer we sign someone a lot younger. Now is the right time to get someone in the pipeline that is cheap and good.

Glad to have him back. Now sign Melton and we're ready to go find a few more depth players for the D and off to the draft.

Emery is doing exactly what I thought he'd be doing. Staying away from the sexy names, and let's be clear even Michael Bennett doesn't fall into that category and signing good players. We have not broken the bank on anyone. That doesn't mean these guys are guaranteed to play up to their new contracts but I think they will. What he is doing is building a solid base, one from which he can add the speed element and better talent via the draft. With these type of players mix in a guy like Donald (I'd take him even if we sign Melton) and we're in good shape. Find a surprise gem to speed rush from the outside (say a guy like Washington develops) and we're in great shape. One thing is sure, we are throwing a lot of darts at the DE position: Willie Young, Houston, Trevor Scott, and Austin Lane. Toss in our returning guys like Washington, Bass, and Cheta Ozougwu (had to look up the spelling) and you have one heckuva competition heading into training camp. We know Young and Houston were signed to be starters but behind them it is wide open and we could add a draft pick to the mix.

Perhaps I missed it. When did you see them protect our QB?

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/article-1...92-b8a903aa7c4a http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/vid...41-1e1c2de08499 I like the guy, seems like a class act and I like his approach to his opportunity to be a starter. We'll see what he does on the field. ...and goodbye Major Wright as Mundy wears #21.

Hard to get excited about a guy who had 55 yards receiving last year. OTOH I like the fact the team is kicking the tires on some bottom roster players. We need more than we were getting out of a guy like Weems. I can't say Hixon represents that upgrade, I honestly have no idea what he brings to the table at this point in his 9yr career.

I think Allen is actually hurting his value by stating he'll sign for what he wants or he retires. If I'm the GM the fact he's thinking about retiring at all makes me stop and think twice before committing big money to him. That may be a ploy to get more money or it might be real. The last thing we need is Sedrick Ellis version 2.0.

Add in a guy named Julius Peppers.

Revis is just 28, he is not over the hill. I'd pay him as I agree, having him take out a #1 WR makes the rest of the D better including our safety position which would be relied on much less to help out one side of the field.

Bushrod's contract appears to be what the average good LT are signing for this offseason in Veldeer and Saffold. Although Saffold might be getting that bucket of cash to play OG. We may have been a year early but Bushrod is making market value.

Comparing a team with $28mil or thereabouts in cap space and few needs against us with $10mil in cap space and a ton of defensive needs should not yield any expectation of similar results. Denver is in an enviable position. We got the biggest need covered for a reasonable cap hit this year and that leaves us some flexibility to fill several other positions on D once the initial wave of big money is off the table.

Isn't Biggs the guy who said Bennett was on his way to Chicago? FA is a very fluid time and teams go fishing in several directions at once not knowing which line will make the catch. Then you have to adjust your budget and hope you can bring in the next target. Meanwhile the teams that didn't get the early bite now have more cash than you. I don't think we were in the market for Allen early on, or really all weekend but that doesn't mean it didn't change. Does Denver wish to have Ware over Allen? Also, we had the #2 scoring offense last year. I believe we are a Superbowl contending team if we fix our defense to just average. Not much different than Seattle taking an average offense to the Superbowl on the back of a great defense. Certainly comparable to Denver making it to the Superbowl. If we end up with Houston and Allen I'd be very happy with our DE situation.

It's time to draft a good young RB to backup Forte. I don't see Ford as being that guy. We need both youth and low cap hit on a player that can contribute 10-15 plays as well as fill in for a few games as the starter.

I watched a few games in slo-mo last season and it was painful seeing Peppers get pushed around by a single blocker all season. He was so easy to run at, and really had never seen that before from him. I can understand losing some burst and not getting to the QB as fast as years past but he looked like he was either hurt or didn't care last season. I haven't seen much of Houston play but based on what I've read of his run defense and seen of him in highlights the answer is yes, he's an upgrade over the Peppers we had last season.

I agree, he's worth looking at but have to wait and see what Baltimore does with him. From a talent standpoint he's outstanding on the field.

Michael Bennett reportedly signed for less than what we offered. Before he signed, and after Griffen signed, there was talk of us needing to pay Bennett $10mil/yr. I didn't want to go there. He ended up around $7mil/yr which I'd have agreed to. We were reportedly offering closer to $8.5mil/yr which is getting to high for me. Allen said to be heading off to Denver but we'll see. I"m not that interested in him because I know he wants to be full-time starter and at this point I think he might be best as part time pass rusher. If he signs early in FA he is likely signing for more money than I'd want to pay for his services. More to my point is that there are several ways we can improve our Dline, largely because it was so bad, and I'd rather not be forced into an expensive box to fix one position (Dline) so early when we have so many needs on defense. I realize Bennett is the better pass rusher between him and Houston but either will help. If signing Houston means we end up with a significantly better FA CB (even Tillman) then it's a plus IMO.