AZ54

St Clair is getting no interest and the teams that are signing RTs are being taken off his list too. Expect him to be back at Halas Hall very soon before their offer comes off the table.

Wow, what took so long for this team to acknowledge Garza was playing poorly? I see a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

I can only hope our biggest problem on draft day is deciding between Oher and Andre Smith at #18. Attitude issues clearly affect your decisions on a top 10 pick because you must get some value for the money. But an elite talent like Smith at 18 you gamble on. Most young kids go through a spot of immaturity. If you have a good backup like St Clair on the roster you might be able to let Smith sit for a year to figure out what it takes to be a pro. I just can't see passing up a blue chip prospect like him at #18 especially when our need is so glaring.

I don't hate Garza but I'd like him better if he could actually move someone out of the way for Forte.

Laurinaitis 4.8 forty is going to see him drop a lot further than 18.

Assume they know which QB they want. If someone else falls in love with the other guy and they don't know which guy Detroit wants then perhaps Detroit can trade down with them. Two, talking with both sides is often used as a negotiating ploy. Now it's way too early to be talking about contracts but this may be just the beginning of Detroit planting some doubt in the minds of the agents they'll be dealing with. They can choose any player they want at #1 so they have nothing to lose by hyping up someone else's value prior to the draft.

I don't understand the problem. JA and Lovie are basically saying the coaching was a big part of the problem and they are taking steps to correct it. They aren't saying we have the same talent level we did a few years ago but they are saying we should have gotten more out of the talent we had. That's the same thought that's been posted about over and over since the middle of the season. We fire coaches, demote Babich and hire a proven stud Dline coach and folks are upset that JA and Lovie are creating expectations for the coaches to do a better job with the players they have? I'll stand out here because I totally agree with JA and Lovie. As far as throwing players under the bus I don't think it's something they need to be doing all over the media but they came out and stated that Nate has to play better. Beyond that, it's draft and FA time why should they show everyone all their cards on player evaluations?

Derek Ward is an elite RB? Then why did he struggle to make an NFL roster his first year? He's 28 years old yet he's only had one good year at RB and at that he wasn't carrying the load.

If he's going to do that why not run at the combine so you can get your surgery done and be ready for training camp? Makes no sense to me.

WR looks to be pretty deep this year so I think we wait until Rd 2 especially now that guys like DHB ran so fast. Some teams will fall in love with his speed and size and forget that he's going to need a lot of work and draft him early. As far as I'm concerned that should help an OT drop to us.

I have no problem letting Hanie compete for the #2 spot but I don't want to rely on that to happen (i.e. don't give it to him). I'd prefer to have a vet with some experience in that mix. If Hanie earns the #2 spot in camp fine give it to him but having a vet who has played the game would be a better fit for the #3 since they won't be getting many reps. Basanez doesn't fit that role at all. My guess is that we wait for our minicamp to see what we've got in Hanie and Basanez and then decide which FA QB to go after.

If we go after a WR or QB in Rd 1 then I'd be happy with Eben Britton OT in Rd 2. He's young and still needs some work on his game but I really like the way he plays the game, with a lot of passion. Down the road I think he'll work himself into one of the better RT in the league. Resign St Clair and let these two battle for the starting role. Britton might slide inside for a season if he's good enough but a year on the bench wouldn't be the worst thing for him. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/556821

I can see AP being cut. I agree that we need an upgrade for backup RB and keep Wolfe as the specialist scat back. I don't understand why so many feel we need him for special teams. I really wasn't that impressed with AP in coverage last year. In fact, Wolfe was far more effective in kick coverage units making many tackles. I think other players were at least as effective if not more so than AP: LaRoque, McClover made a few key plays for us, Jamar Williams, Corey Graham, Charles Tillman, and I expect players like Zack Bowman to make a push for a roster spot and special teams playing time as well. You might be adding in the new backup RB and/or FB to that list of competition as well so I don't think it's a lock for AP to make the team just based on his special teams play.

Stoudamire has a partially detached retina on the nose side of the eye. He will be back in 2 months but I didn't hear if there would be any permanent vision loss. All the Suns eye doctor said was that his central vision would not be affected at all. It could be they don't know what type of peripheral vision he'll have until after it heals. I like Stoudamire but if the Bulls can continue to develop Tyrus they'll have a better all around player because of what he can do on the perimeter both on offense and defense.

These signings are also shrinking St. Clair's job market.

Oher for reasons I've already outlined but here goes again: Reason #1.. He is strong enough to play RT and he's good enough to be our backup LT. Reason #2..we need a good RT.

JA won't go there.

I wasn't trying to imply we need to copy Denver's ZBS nor the RBs who are successful in that scheme. The point is to run whatever scheme you want but draft or sign the Oline players that fit the scheme. Then behind that line you can fit in a good RB who fits that style of play. Would it be better to use the Giants as a reference? The lost Tiki Barber after he had a great season, at the top of the league, and the next two years afterwards pretty much every guy that has run the ball for them is playing "great". In 2008 -- Jacobs 5.0 ypc, Derek Ward 5.6 ypc, Ahmad Bradshaw 5.3ypc. Either all 3 of these guys are elite stud RBs or the Oline gave them some nice holes to run through.

Payne has played in 16 games I can't help but wonder why so many are throwing this kid under the bus. We just never give players time to develop. Speaking of developing players. Keeping a roster spot for Mike Brown once again means yes we'll have a nice backup SS who can play 3 or 4 games for us but it won't allow us to develop another guy behind Payne if as you predict he never improves. We'll be in the same spot next year. If I felt our D was at an elite level and Superbowl was a realistic goal I say stick with Brown. But this D is on the decline and if we stick with veterans like Brown who year after year are slower and play less games due to injury we'll never get out of the hole.

I agree with Nfol that he'll go in the tank after visiting the bank with his big bonus. Plus we invested heavily in Harris and we have a promising young second year player in Harrison that I feel we need to develop. You only develop if you play. Then we have all those other needs where we must spend money.

I'd rather just find a young RB in the draft or pick up a younger FA RB. Fix the Oline and as Denver showed for years (among other teams) anyone can run behind them.

Everything I've read lately says Peanut is staying at CB. McAlister is tempting but I don't see us spending more big money at CB with needs at DE and RT.

I don't buy that theory anymore. Many teams line up their best pass rusher on the right side. Some line them up on the left or right throughout a game. 3-4 defenses move their best pass rushing LB around a lot. If Oher joins the Bears and plays RT for us I think it will be great with Williams on the left. For sure you have the option of moving Oher to LT if Williams doesn't cut it but more likely is that you'll have your backup LT playing RT for you. That means your backup OT can be more of a RT which is easier to find not to mention cheaper. You may even have your backup RT be your starting RG. In other words I'd really like having that flexibility and it's one of the reasons we signed John Tait years ago.

That might be true but you have to average in the time he was off the field with injuries as a zero. His net production drops when you do that and also the defense net production drops too because he takes away practice time from the guy who had to sub for him, or conversely he wasn't practicing. Part of being the best player is staying on the field. He's only getting older and those calf injuries are chronic, they are never going away.

Let me check my notes...Urlacher chronic back problem that will never get better - yes. Anquan Boldin chronic back problem that will never get better - no. I like Urlacher (wear his jersey every Sunday) but as a Captain he's not all that good IMO. Do you see him bringing the level of others performance up to a higher level? I don't and calling plays and alignments isn't the same as being an emotional leader. He's a quiet, lead-by-example player. That's not all bad but on the flip side I don't know that from a leadership standpoint we'd be losing that much. Now as far as performance on the field. He's a good MLB, sometimes very good, but I haven't seen anything great out of him in two years. Do I want him on the team, sure but is the team better off with Boldin and without Urlacher? At this point in their careers I say yes. Our defense with Urlacher isn't consistently stopping teams. There are serious concerns at safety, CB, and Dline right now that likely won't change the situation quickly this year. Will the D be better with Urlacher, yes but not that much versus an average MLB. Yet it's not all on Urlacher's shoulders--we need other players to step up back to their former level of play (Harris, Ogun, Vasher, Tillman). If those guys play improves then it mitigates the loss of Urlacher, if they don't then keeping him around won't matter much. Before you switch that thought around on me, I don't feel Urlacher is going to significantly improve his play from here on out. I think his back injury has him on a downhill slide one that he can only slow down but not stop. The offense on the other hand has legit pieces moving forward if Kyle Orton can return to his performance in the first half of the season. We have the RB Forte, TE Olsen/Clark, Hester emerging as a WR threat. We need to add a WR (Boldin) and upgrade Oline which is very possible in FA and draft. Orton is the big IF here. If he's not our starter then for sure we are wasting our time giving up picks. But if OTOH the team believes he can progress with an improved Oline and WR corps At this point I'd make this trade.