AZ54

I read somewhere he is still running with a limp because his leg muscles are not all firing correctly. I don't expect him back at all this year, if ever.

I'm ready. Questions: Does Shea McClellin have enough speed and quickness to get around the corner? Can our safeties play? Can Webb or Williams standout enough to flat-out win the LT spot? Where will Alshon Jeffrey fit in among the WRs and how well does he know the playbook?

Cutler will be at least $15mil/yr probably more but he won't get extended this offseason as he has a deal for 2 years. I think the money goes elsewhere first. Urlacher is a tough call. If he's playing well this year I'd like to see the Bears given him a 2yr extension mid-season. I can't recall how much cap space we have left but it would be nice to roll his bonus into this year. Melton is the other player I'd like to see the Bears lockup early (assuming he's playing well). Even if he is playing similar to last year's performance I still think we must have him around for depth the following years. In that case his extension shouldn't cost too much and if it does demand big money it will likely be best to get it done earlier than later. I don't want to go into next offseason with big Toe and Paea as our only DTs on the roster. How much leverage will Melton have then if he's played well?

It's the reading comprehension thing I guess I missed on in grade school but these words were in the original post which you agreed with: ----------------------------- "They’ll compete for a wildcard this year if all these things go well for them, but they are NOT a threat to the Packers in the NFCN. GB wins the division this year by 3 games. At the very least." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All things weren't going well for us last year and we competed very well for the division title until week 10. In week 1 we started Webb at LT. Then we lost Carimi for the season. Then we put Omiyale at RTurnstyle which then forced us to put our still learning RG at RT. In week 2 we lost our best WR Bennett for something like 6 games. In week 5 Peppers almost blew out his knee and was never the same the rest of the season. Clearly it all went downhill once Cutler went down but until that point we were competing despite some very significant losses on a roster with no depth at many positions. We still have holes at starting positions and spots with little depth but we have improved in many areas. I think we can tolerate losing Cutler for a few games much better than last year. We can lose Earl Bennett for a few games much better than last year. With Alshon Jeffrey we could probably survive losing Marshall for a few games too. I don't see Tice having to be a perfect play caller to be better than Martz was. As if that's such a high threshold. Packer fan says we are ZERO threat to their team and I disagree. They are the better team but 3 games better? I haven't even gone into their weaknesses and in typical Packer see-no-evil-hear-no-evil-speak-no-evil style neither did he/she.

Being critical of the Bears is fine, we do a great job of it and it's our job as fans and it is why I like this board. Siding with a Packers fan who will only criticize our team while ignoring their own weaknesses is not what a Bears fan does. I'm not visiting a Packers site because I'm not a Packers fan. Besides, what intelligent discussion will there be? How their DBs are going to cover Marshall? Or how Marshall is headed to jail? Cutler's pouty face or how Cutler was on pace to throw for well over 4000 yards last year despite playing in Martz' bad offense? Who will their LT be? You would think with all of criticism leveled at our Oline he'd be quick to point out this one glaring issue for GB: THEIR LT RANKED LOWER THAN WEBB ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/cam...-162815456.html 3. Is Marshall Newhouse the answer at left tackle? In relief of Chad Clifton, he was good enough for the Packers to score the second-most points ever last season. That can't be underestimated, but Newhouse's baptism at left tackle was anything but smooth. He didn't fare well against Jason Pierre-Paul, Jared Allen and Tamba Hali - the league's premier ends. On Pro Football Focus' grading scale, Newhouse ranked last overall among offensive tackles. The job is his to lose.

It is ridiculous having to come on this board to defend the Bears against so-called Bears fans who are now nothing but shills for Packers fans. To simply side with Packers fans that they are better and offer only a critique of our team yet do ZERO analysis of their last ranked defense and other issues can only mean one thing...that's where your heart lies. 32 Green Bay Packers 16 22.4 359 1,049 411.6 6.3 22.4 83 195 43 4 16 25 122 948 29:31 19 7 Even if we had the worst record in the NFL I'd still want to kick the tar out of GB and I'd never ever bow down before one of their fans like that.

Nothing strange about bringing in bargain basement competition for the 3rd RB slot unless you are willing to accept (without competition) all the fumbles Bell had last year.

More details on the deal and the more I read the more I like it. This is about right where I hoped the deal would fall. Guaranteed money matches the two years of franchise tags and if he's still playing well Forte has two more years of security beyond that. Win win IMO. Now we have a solid 1-2 punch at RB for the next couple years. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0,5130163.story ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The base value of Forte’s contract is $28.1 million and it maxes out at $31.5 million, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. The contract guarantees $17.1 million – essentially what the Bears would have had to pay Forte if they paid him the franchise tag number of $7.742 million this season and tagged him again in 2013 at an increase of 120 percent, per the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. According to the source, the contract will be worth $9.8 million in 2012. Forte stands to earn $6.3 million in 2013 bringing the value of the first two years to $16.1 million. Had the Bears paid Forte the franchise tag in 2012 and tagged him again in 2013, they would have paid him $17.03 million. Forte will earn $6.6 million in 2014 bringing the three-year total for the deal to $22.7 million. He stands to earn $7.8 million in 2015, the final year of the contract bringing him to $30.5 million over four years. There is another $1 million he can earn in incentives/escalators to bring it to the maximum value of $31.5 million. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's just what we want them to be thinking and I hope the arrogance carries over to their team.

Suntimes has a list of the top RB contracts: http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...matt-forte.html They have Forte's contract listed as #8 of 9.

Pathetic that it took them this long to figure out how the basics of growing grass.

Forte settled for less years than he wanted and less upfront money than he wanted. Bears gave more money upfront than they wanted and higher annual salaries so they ended up in the middle. I think the deal was little bit high but I'm glad it is done and now our biggest distraction will be deciding who plays LT. Even though I think we overpaid a bit I certainly don't agree with Rosenbloom that this is a bad deal for the team.

Maybe I misread the title of the thread: 4 Reasons Why Alshon Jeffery Must Start, Over Devin Hester

I given him credit, he is adamant and unwavering in his sight-unseen support of Jeffrey. Since it is the dog days of summer we have nothing else to talk about so we say the same things over and over and over. Maybe Forte's contract talks will heat up again.

I would make sure Jeffrey learns how to be in the right spot at the right time but he'll need some playing to help him get there. Until he earns it I wouldn't put him out there full time and bench a guy like Hester or Bennett.

Manning never had good instincts but he had athleticism that helped make up for it. I wanted to keep him around but we weren't going to pay him what he received in Houston. On the other side of the equation is the system...is he a better fit for what they do?

1) Firing Angelo 2) Firing Martz 3) Trading for Marshall 4) Signing Jason Campbell Our season won't be over the minute Cutler gets injured. We've never had this kind of depth at QB and at best we've usually had a player like Campbell as our starter. With just one offseason and the fact he hadn't really put his organization together it is too soon for me to say hiring Emery is one of the top 4 moves but items 3 and 4 point to a good start. Emery has expanded our scouting department and is changing the scouting process so it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next couple off-seasons.

After winning 2 SB I think Eli is a top 5 QB, and he beat the "best" in both of them. I think Cutler is a top 10 QB. I can't think of anyone behind him who did more with less talent then he did last year.

If Melton gets good enough to where teams need to double team him off the snap then that's a welcome surprise. I'm sure Peppers would thank him.

I won't pick Hardin, he sat out a year with an injury and he's learning a new role. That will take time. On D I think it will be Henry Melton. It will be his second year playing at this weight and position plus this time around he has a full offseason to work with Marinelli. The addition of another fast edge rusher in SMC helps Melton too. On offense, tough call but I don't see it being Rodriguez. He might play a part in our offense but first has to beat out Kyle Adams. Rodriguez should be the better blocker so I expect he'll do that but will he be a better WR? If Rodriguez is used primarily as a blocker he won't appear to have that much of an impact. I'll take Chris Williams. He's been a work out warrior the last two summers and it shows. Now he's headed back to his more natural LT position to compete for a starting job. He's also at a point where his next contract looms so he is fully motivated to make it work at LT and he has a full offseason with the coaches to get it done.

I kept waiting for David Terrell (1st Rd pick) and the more recent Devin Thomas (2nd Rd pick) to have their names mentioned. The reality is that most teams selecting a WR in Rd 1 have a big need for a WR so there is a reason they see the field early. Plus they need them to develop quicker and since they are losing teams it is not going to affect their W-L percentage. Their eyes are on the future. We have a little bit of a luxury in that we don't have to have Jeffrey as a starter on day one and we have a playoff ready team. It would be great if he earned it but I don't view it as an absolute unless there is an injury. You stated that people are insinuating Jeffrey will be "sitting" but I haven't seen anyone saying he should just sit on the bench. Most here feel he will (and should) get some playing time from day one and that he will progress throughout the season and earn more playing time and hopefully be a starter by season's end. Hester is going to be a part time WR for us. That means plenty of opportunity for Jeffrey to line up outside with Bennett in the slot.

I didn't say you wouldn't see him on the field. I don't care how tall he is if he runs the wrong route or runs it incorrectly. When he does run the right route if he doesn't run it well enough to separate every catch is going to be contested. Not all DBs cover like Zach Bowman. Give him some time to grow and learn the role, if he does the basics well enough then he could start but I'm not expecting that coming out of training camp.

I would love to see Alshon earn the starting role coming out of training camp but I don't see it happening. We are running an entirely new offense and we (fingers crossed) expect to be protecting Cutler with a lot more quick passes. We can't afford mistakes early in the season and I think Cutler will be most comfortable with his veterans out there. Alshon has a lot to learn and now add to that the audibles that Cutler will be calling. As the season progresses and he is more familiar with the offense then I could see it happening.

Keeping two WR solely for special teams is a waste IMO. At least one of them needs to be able to contribute on offense on a short term basis when someone is injured. I've been saying there is room for competition at Thomas' roster spot. Weems was given too much money upfront to be let go unless he totally bombs. Slot 6 is open for competition among Sanz, Thomas, and any other WR in camp. If Thomas thinks he can hang his hat on the fact that he's good in kick coverage then he better look over at the defense where there are two rookie CBs and a rookie safety all looking to earn a roster spot and playing time. They all know Corey Graham made his mark as a special teamer and it paid off for him. There is also a chance we'll go with 5 WRs and keep 4 TEs in this new offense.

I doubt Chicago would be a Superbowl city. We might have had one there but the reality is there are lots of other events in the week before the Superbowl and reasonable chances of good weather helps. Even if events are not outdoors, as many are, people have to travel all over the city (sometimes across the state) to get to these events. The Vikings will build another domed stadium but I can't see them hosting a Superbowl.