AZ54

From Nov: https://www.sportsmockery.com/chicago-bears/the-ryan-bates-situation-was-reportedly-way-worse-than-believed/

Bates = arthritis = adios

Zero chance I'm trading Kmet with all the other blocking issues we have. Average NFL salary is ~$5mil/yr (based on $270m/53). He's making $10? This is not a big contract to worry about until we have his replacement in the fold. Let's try using him first and go fix the positions that are big problems.

Gerald Everett absolutely should be missing paychecks just like he was missing blocks.

I don't think so either. I'm just enjoying watching teams way overpay at the position.

WR madness...After losing AJ Brown, and then later his job, it's no surprise Vrabel will want to pay for Higgins. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2025/02/teams-picking-in-top-five-may-look-to-trade-back

I don't know where to put this and I don't want to start a new thread.... but nobody wants to stay in the top 5 this year. I have no clue who would possibly want to trade up into the top 5 either. Trade value is going down fast. However once you get to around 10 you get into the value stream. It'll be interesting see how the top 10 plays out this year. https://www.profootballrumors.com/2025/02/teams-picking-in-top-five-may-look-to-trade-back

Let's see what have you missed? Jason is on year 20 of asking the Bears to fix the Oline. We think we have a QB but won't know until item 1 is completed. Oh, and we have one of the best coaching staffs in the NFL and none of us have a clue what that's going to look like on Sundays because we haven't seen that for decades. But, there is some suspicion that they are listening to Jason.

https://www.profootballrumors.com/2025/02/chiefs-expecting-rg-trey-smith-to-depart-in-free-agency Chiefs staring into the Oline abyss.

I also prefer the two for the price of one approach.

Trey Smith had a bad holding penalty but other than that Jalen Carter did very little in that game. I'm not sure what that says about either player. Stalemate? I do know that if I have to choose a QB to be under pressure I like more of what I've seen from Caleb than what Mahomes did tonight. To your point, any QB can be humbled and get his eyes down when under constant pressure. Mahomes had some time to take the short throws just not as much as he wanted to work the intermediate routes. Kudos to Vic Fangio!

The Oline gem that nobody is talking about is Josh Simmons. I'll be watching carefully in the run up to the draft to see if he's healthy but for Oline he's my main target in a trade down. Without the injury he'd easily be the first Oline player drafted. In my GM fantasy world he'd start out as OG with potential to move outside and replace Braxton Jones next year. FWIW... as I watched highlights of numerous 1st and 2nd Rd DE prospects last night I realized a lot of them had a clips of running right around Will Campbell. It just cemented my opinion that Campbell does not belong at OT in the NFL.

I hadn't watched any highlights on him yet. He's not a tremendously fluid athlete and I don't like how he tries to get off blocks by bending, twisting, turning around. That really calls into question his upper body strength and he'll be on his butt a lot in the NFL if doesn't clean that up. He easily gets pushed over the top of the QB on a lot of his "highlight" plays so he struggles to dip and cut back in toward the QB. I think OTs who can get a hand on him first will win the battle consistently. Looks more like the 3rd/4th DE in your rotation than starter material. James Pearce seems like the opposite... a .quick lightweight pass rusher who will likely shine in the underwear drills. He reminds me of Leonard Floyd. Like Floyd he'll need years to develop his body for the NFL. I like Nic Scourton. He's got more of a Khalil Mack style to his game, strong man, quick, and hustles. He's not going to be the fastest pass rusher and I'm not sure he has the ideal length you'd like to see. Regardless I like players who love to mix it up in the trenches and he was built for that. He's a quicker more agile version of DeMarcus Walker who could also slide inside on some 3rd and long situations.

Me too.

Saw an article talking about how the Cowboys really want the best RB in the draft... Ashton Jeanty. Jeanty is not going top 10 and Dallas sits at 12. If I'm the Bears I'd be hyping up Jeanty as the perfect piece for Johnson's offense. I realize we don't get much in dropping 2 spots but that's just the first trade down I'm hoping to get. Their proposal: 10/242 for 12/76. That's more than 100pts in our favor on the old trade value chart and I'd do that in a heartbeat. https://www.si.com/nfl/bears/draft/a-bears-trade-that-would-give-the-cowboys-exactly-what-they-want-and-shake-up-the-the-nfl-draft

1) Over the years I've just come to learn how often one man's trash is another man's treasure turns out to be false. They were let go or allowed to leave for a reason. See Nate Davis as the latest example. 2). I also think FAs tend to dip down in performance their first year on a new team. That's not always true... see DJ Moore. Moving to a new place, living in an apartment or temp location, maybe with a family in tow, new scheme, new teammates, etc. it's natural. However, that does not make me against FA or trades for players.... it just makes me more cautious and, to the point you're making, I'd say less optimistic that the new guy is "game changing" better. In Jenkins case I have to weigh the chance he improves with better coaching, as can any FA, against his potential ceiling vs. the FAs ceiling. Either way we go I still want to build our future IOL via the next 2 drafts.

I’m ok with Coleman Shelton for another year and drafting his replacement. The other FA centers are not significantly better, if at all, so put our money in a place where we will get much more improvement for our $$$. I’m also not opposed to bringing back Jenkins on a short term deal if it’s reasonable. While drafting his replacement too. I believe better coaching can help him avoid his occasional missteps. I get the injury concern but that’s what keeps him away from the big money. You can swap in any second tier FA LG too, just stick to the budget and draft the future.

Sad day. What an incredible life she had. Through it all she was always a class act and treated people with respect.

I'd trade back into the 2nd Rd as proposed with this years' picks but I do agree that we'd need a future first in exchange. The old trade value chart has pick 10 worth 1300 and we'd be getting just 1150 in return. Using the Rich Hill chart we have 369 value but in return we only get 348 which is still short. Keep in mind I'm using the traditional value of next years pick is the value of one round lower and I'm grabbing a middle round value (i.e. next years 2nd is worth this years middle of the 3rd rd pick). I'd want CLE next year's first or there'd have to be some guarantee if they want to protect a 2026 top 10 pick then they give us next years 2nd and 3rd. On the Rich Hill chart we give 10 overall and get 34, 67, and next year's 15 overall (est). Overall there's a ton of value at our positions of need in Rd 2 and 3 this year. However, I think CLE is going to be looking for some cap relief because they are $30mil over, which would more likely involve trading away a player. The cap hit for two top 10 draft picks doesn't help that situation. A Miles Garrett trade appears to get them just $5mil in cap space. Why would any team trade for someone on their roster when they likely have no choice but to cut them? Maybe there are some contract subtleties that make a Garrett trade better for CLE but I doubt it would be enough. They've really put themselves between a rock and a hard place. This feels like a fan's wishful thinking that they can add some elite talent this year. I think our best bet is to just grab some popcorn and enjoy their show from afar. Then maybe grab a good FA value signing in the aftermath.

I've been thinking the same things about the defense. I've been living with this bend-but-don't-break, hope-for-their-mistake defense for too long. I want to get back to an in-your-face defense. After listening to Matt Bowen describe what we're about to see with Dennis Allen I think we're going to be a mess for the first four games, maybe longer, while players learn all these complex rotations. I'm sure he'll ramp up what they do as well but despite this being a 4-3 scheme overall this is going to be a huge change in scheme at all 3 levels. That and we really need Byard this year. I know there has been some chatter (not here) about cutting him but we need a player like him to help coordinate everything on the back end. We're going to need a good rookie to learn for a year especially with all the questions around Brisker. Or we may end up with 2 new starting safeties next year.

We just got the best coaching candidate. One of his requests for the last year was to have alignment with the GM. Johnson has done well bringing in an experienced staff plus he also didn’t try to play us against another team for more money. I don’t think we should be going back on our word after two weeks. Love him or hate him once Johnson agreed to coach here Poles was part of the deal.

Wait for him to be cut. He’d be a decent replacement for Allen and probably at a cheaper price. I still prefer to spend money on the trenches first.

I wouldn’t do it. For all the reasons cited above plus it’s the best Dline draft in a decade. We need quantity over quality right now.

I think his bigger contribution is likely adding in the screen plays KC runs. Reid has always loved screens going way back to his days in Philly. We have now pulled in the guy who helped Sean Payton setup his offense for a young mobile QB. Bienemy was with KC when Mahomes started out.

I think he wants a thunder and lightning approach. Swift is good enough to be lightning but Roschon is not thunder. Someone like Skateboo would give us a good combination.