AZ54

Where did you hear that about Louis?

There's a reason his nickname was Mount McKinnie. They grabbed a former LT from the Colts, who was replaced himself, to take the spot of McKinnie. He can't be in any kind of shape at all.

Not good, especially for a guy not known for his work ethic.

Given how some were performing they deserved to be paid little. We still have room to add another Oline, CB, and even a vet LB if they are so inclined, plus take care of Forte.

Of course we have to extend Forte's contract. We also have a bunch of retreads, i.e. Roy Williams, who if they play well we will want to sign long term.

One thing about these first few days, the coaches will get good looks at the UDFAs and other young guys before all the FAs join in.

Absolutely true and rarely do they get credit for it.

Last season every time I watched a play in slo-mo Kreutz is getting blown up in 1on1 situations. I can't recall seeing him block anyone 1on1. He was always an undersized C and relied on his quickness to keep position on bigger DTs, or get to one side to assist an OG who was beat. At his age he's still undersized but doesn't have the quickness he used to have. I really respect his career with the Bears, he's one of the great ones. However, it seems clear nobody else is willing to pay him what the Bears were offering so the comments about the Bears being cheap, or trying to short-change him is totally wrong. They offered him more than market value because he had more value to our team than any other team and he refused it. As a team we had to move on because we have areas to address and you can't leave that money sitting there committed to a guy who wants to keep negotiating. Everyone knew this FA period was going to be fast and furious including the players. The team needed an answer and got it, now we move on. As always Bears fans, and in this case the media, seem to over-value our own players more than anyone else. In this case our Oline was horrible last year and like it or not Kreutz was part of the reason it was so bad. Will his leadership be missed, likely, but right now we need players on the field who can perform not locker room leaders.

$4mil for Kreutz' performance was a complete gift. If he wanted to stick it out one more year and help out the team he had his chance. He was so valuable around the league that apparently he's just going to retire. I know other teams will be interested in him but I doubt it will be at $4mil price tag.

Sounds like Cutler will be able to run faster this year. That's a good thing.

In any case there is no reason for JA to give away his negotiating position while talking to a reporter. Was he supposed to tell the reporter that of course Forte is more valuable to our team than Deangelo Williams is to theirs? He has to build a team and if too much money goes one direction then there isn't enough to get depth in the other. IMO it's fair to evaluate results and last year we among the top 4 teams in the league. Was our team perfect, not even close. Had JA not failed so miserably in the 2007 draft we might have won the Superbowl.

Josh Moore was a good cover corner coming out of college. He was also in desperate need of finding a weight room. I'm curious to see how he does in training camp. Corey Graham was re-signed but nobody is on his band wagon anymore other than as a special teams player. So yes we need to bring in some more depth at CB. Is this the first FA signing period in a decade where folks haven't been screaming for a safety?

Good deal.

Lots of speed and quickness on our Dline now, and Paea brings some power too. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. Stunts should be happening much quicker and become more effective.

At this point there is no reason to cut Taylor. We might as well let all the RBs compete for the 3rd spot, or is it 2nd spot with Barber being short yardage specialist. We'll see. At least the FO has seen the need for a solid short yardage back and made a couple moves to try to address it with Unga and now Barber.

We went from below average at C to average. That's an upgrade and I'll gladly take it..

If the leader can't play well you have a problem. What's he going to say "I know I can't block that guy but you need to block him"? Did I like the idea of having Kreutz experience at calling out the blocking assignments? Yes. I don't see why Spencer can't handle the same with his experience. In that case it means all we're losing is some locker room leadership. There are other players to take up that role and for the Oline I suspect it will be Garza. Do I like the idea of having a younger, bigger, and stronger guy in there for short yardage plays? Yes. Find some help for OG.

Love Sapp, honest and straighforward about players. He and Kurt Warner have become my favorite new analysts. Kurt tries to be politically correct but he'll tell you what they aren't doing right and Warren couldn't care less about being politically correct.

The point with Olsen is that once Roy Williams became available he became expendable. He's a good TE and I'm not happy about losing him but the reality is he doesn't fit our scheme. Instead of giving Olsen the new contract he wanted and deserved we simply took that money and gave a bit to Williams and some other soon to be Bears. At the end of this the question will be did we get better value from Olsen's new contract by giving that money to Williams and the other player we end up signing plus the 3rd Rd pick. As of right now I think the combo of Williams/Spaeth is better for our offense than just Olsen. It might be better than Olsen/Williams too because protecting Cutler must happen this year. We weren't that far off from going to the Superbowl last year and in two (I believe related) moves we are at least equal and maybe better than we were this season.

Do be so sure about Roy Williams not being motivated.

Just like Antrelle Rolle being the highest paid FS when the Giants signed him. Weddle is a good player but he is not a game changer.

I'm beginning to wonder if the Bears aren't content to drive up prices on some of these Tier 2 FAs. Past history has shown that if there's a guy they really want they'll get aggressive on the deal. If someone signs at a reasonable price that's fine too. Otherwise with guys like Durant, Babin they are pretty much Just-Another-Guy as Bill Parcells used to say. While we need players to fill out the roster it's not hard to find guys who can contribute 3 sacks a season like Babin, especially if they are opposite of Peppers. I just don't think we've seen their best offers yet, I'm hoping it all shows up with the Oline FAs.

What are the Bears looking for?

Too much going on this first day back to get players signed that quickly. Bears focused on the UDFAs upfront and I think that was the smart way to go. It's a proven fact you can find good depth players and occasional starters among the UDFAs. Then focus on getting offers out to our FAs (so they know they are wanted) as well as targeting FAs around the league. Drafted players aren't going anywhere so expect their signing to happen later this week.

We need somebody for depth at DE. We can't go into the season with just the 3 we have. Outside of ending Favre's career Wooton is nothing but hype. Adding a proven DE would be helpful for a couple years while we see if Wooten steps up. I just wonder what type of money Babin is looking for. No doubt his agent wants the bidding to start at the 12.5 sack rate while JA will come in at his average sack/season rate of 3.0. For the right price he seems like he'd be good depth for us.