AZ54

Hopefully he can block too.

I am sure the injury issue came up during talks with the agent. The Bears were likely told he'd be ready to get on the field by xx date. After our med eval that wasn't the case and maybe this was going to drag out closer to training camp. Whatever the details, I'm glad Poles has the courage to back out of the deal rather than trying to save face and bring him and have our medical staff try to get him healthy. Baushad Breeland had an issue like this years ago and he ended up losing his big contract and then waited to sign until late in the year.

This deal just fell through. He failed his physical.

Yeah I saw that too. He takes some big hits and has really good contact balance. He'll find that on the Bears he won't be open by 10yds as often as he was in KC, if ever.

I think Pringle is more of a slot WR and there is no need to go after Landy, I don't have his stats but just watching his 2021 highlights he appeared to be in the slot on the majority of the plays. He was doing some kick coverage too! He's betting on himself which is what Poles said he liked and if he plays well we have plenty of room to re-sign him next year. If St Brown couldn't do much with an elite QB throwing to him I don't expect much from him. Getsy knows him but this feels more like St.Brown thinking a fresh start in a familiar offense will help him as much as any other place. He's not the type of player who wants to be unsigned after an elite WR draft because that phone might not ring. We'll see if he makes the roster.

That's all that needed to be said. We want players who love the game more than they love looking at their own press clippings.

Kudos to Grant for earning another good contract. For the Bears, Poles was right not to match the deal for a guy at that age (turns 30 in Oct) who is primarily a returner. I wanted him back but figured it'd be $2-3mil/yr, low guarantee cut him whenever you want type contract. There are more important needs where that money can be spent. You can always draft a PR late any year but for now we'll be ok with Dazz Newsome. Worst case while we are rebuilding this year we do the Belichick thing and put someone out there to fair catch the ball. It's not the end of the world, go fix the Oline for Fields.

I should change that. He can play center too and that's most likely where he ends up depending on how the rest of FA/draft goes. It seems logical having him at C will help the transition to Getsy's new offense. It's only 2 years so if he hits it out of the park he's young enough to come back for a good 3rd contract. OTOH the Bears have little liability too. If it's correct we were in the game with Brian Allen before he decided to return to LA, then Poles has a bigger budget for FA Oline than what we've seen so far. Allen signed for 3yr/$24mil and he didn't want to use similar money on Daniels. He also didn't use it on Lucas Patrick. It's stating the obvious we have needs to fill but there is more come in terms of a good Oline FA player and likely soon. I don't think we're waiting for tier 3. LT? OG?

I guess we shouldn't be surprised a former Packer OG is our first Oline FA signing: Some context:

It's a weak draft for QBs. A lot of team are trying to sort out their QB situation Bears fans are going to like this guy. I realize this is a highlight film but still pairing him with Roquan in coverage is going to present some challenges to offenses. i

No doubt. We could have easily matched that and we all figured Daniels’ skill set matched what they want. We are in for a big overhaul on the Oline.

Been reading elsewhere that Bozeman is not a good fit for what we want to do in zone blocking/ outside zone. I can't speak to that myself.

So much for sitting on the sideline and waiting for Tier2/3 to fall to you. Whenever you do a deal like this in the first 2hr of FA you went hard after that target. Hard enough to get everyone else to back off negotiations quickly. I expected this more for an Oline position.

That's not something I'd want to see the Bears do. You have to wonder how much of this news is just gamesmanship where Poles or others are just driving up the price of one guy they don't really want (Kirk) so their real target (Shuster) drops to them at a lower cost.

I like this, he was one of the players we talked about filling this need for us. More money than I wanted but it's always more money than I wanted. It likely means Nichols is on his way to another team. If the money is right I'm still interested in re-signing Hicks.

I was a little surprised Jason chose Faalele too, at least that early. Maybe Jason sees more in him than what's in the scouting reports. It doesn't appears he's ready to start but a year or two down the road he should be. Or do you park him at RT now and move Jenkins inside to RG and go heavy? I lean toward drafting players in Rd 2 that can contribute this year.

Poles is reportedly courting Juju Smith-Shuster. He couldn't find a good deal last year and ended up returning to Pitt on a 1yr $8mil deal. After an injury plagued season he'd likely bite on a similar AAV, maybe a bit more, with bonus over 4yrs. He can come in and be a 2 or 3 while a 4yr deal gives Poles time to find his guys and leaves room to re-sign Mooney when the time is right. I still would like to add DJ Chark for the deep threat but maybe we address that in the draft. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2022/03/13/bears-interested-in-juju-smith-schuster-nfl-free-agency/

Neither totally unexpected.

Just a 5th more or less. https://www.nfl.com/news/browns-agree-to-trade-for-cowboys-wr-amari-cooper "The Cleveland Browns have agreed to acquire Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper in exchange for a 2022 fifth-round draft pick and a swap of 2022 sixth-rounders,"

I grab a highlight film of DeMarvin Leal and first play I'm wondering where he is while that LB is running down the field with the INT. At 290lbs he's a really good athlete and it shows while running with the ball. He's not bringing a lot of power but he is bringing the energy and we have nobody like him on the defensive interior. I like the pick. I've been playing around with mocks and it's easy to find two good WRs with 48 and 71.

If we were scouting him for this draft? He offers some versatility in the same way as Herbert. Why was he let go? Maybe he didn't have the work ethic to take care of his body that is needed to perform at an NFL level? https://www.si.com/nfl/titans/gm-report/tennessee-titans-roster-moves-nfl-darrynton-evans-released In two-injury plagued seasons, the 5-foot-10, 203-pounder out of Appalachian State never emerged as the dual threat/change-of-pace performer franchise officials hoped or expected. He got on the field for just six games – five as a rookie and one in 2021 – and went on injured reserve more often (three times) than he reached the end zone (once). The primary issue was a hamstring injury that first limited him during training camp as a rookie.

This is scary stuff for someone over 30 who is asking for a big contract: https://www.si.com/nfl/saints/news/terron-armstead-offseason-knee-surgery-report On the other hand, Armstead has never made it through a full season, with his highest participation being in 15 games from the 2019 season.

He gone...given all the other roster action this is as good as a done deal. https://bearswire.usatoday.com/2022/03/11/bears-expected-to-release-danny-trevathan-2022-season/

Took a shot at a mock at TDN with the new pick: 39: Olave WR 48: McCreary CB 71: Petit Frere: LT 147: Dohnovan West: C 149: Jack Sanborn: MLB 184: Zach Tom: OG I wasn't planning to go heavy Oline but the draft fell that way and I wasn't going to pass up Tom at 184. I think he'll go earlier than that on draft day.

In this scenario with the additional picks I think Robinson there is good value. If I made that pick I'd likely turn around and put Montgomery or Herbert on the trade block and see what I can get. That likely wouldn't be a trade until the season starts, or even mid-season to a contender but it avoids the 2nd contract issues. A trade also keeps us from having to wait another year for the potential comp pick. I'm not as high on Herbert as most seem to be because I think he still has some improvement to make between the tackles. I still like him on the roster. Until we get our passing game fixed we wouldn't be in the worst position splitting carries among Monty/Robinson for half a season with Herbert on special teams/backup role. Between the pick and cap space you improve the roster elsewhere in 2023 when Poles has a better fell for the existing talent, but admittedly it's a longer term view.