CrackerDog

I say no just because he looks too much like that kid from the movie Mask with Cher in it.

Regardless of whether they think this or not, they'll probably have to go with that theory until they get into it a bit. If those players aren't capable there are far too many holes to fill in one off season. And like Mad says, these coaches are big boys so if they decided to go this route, at least for now, I'd have to trust them.

It's obviously better to have your former players "in the fold" than otherwise. So I'm glad to see them making nice with each other again. That said, I don't think Brian was completely without blame here either. Hopefully his ego is soothed and the Bears have another problem put to rest here. Just one more reason to be happy about the front office changes they made.

Yep

Count me as one of the guys who definitely doesn't want to see Matt leave. I'm not disagreeing with those who feel it's time to part ways and get something for him, I just hate to see the second best Bears RB in my lifetime (Walter being #1 obviously) let go while he was still VERY productive. Neal Anderson is the only other guy even close. Matt produces, gives it his all, and plays 3 downs. I think he's got 3 years left in him, minimum. And because of his age we're not talking about huge numbers to resign him, IMO. I might approach him about his contract amounts next year but I'd love to see him back for at least next year. Not sure if we need his money for other things anyway since you can only sign so many guys in FA.

While I agree with you, my thought is McCown is CHEAP and if they cut Jay they'll want to "pay" for his cap hit with a cheap QB they think they can plug in for a season. So.... We could be seeing Josh back in town as our starter. And/or if they sign him it could be to use him as leverage to get Jay to restructure his contract such that the hit in 2016 is diminished. Either way, this is an interesting development.

Hey, maybe TO will show up and do some sit-ups?

Yep. And maybe he can take a page out of Dick Vermeil's book and have an open tryout for all the couch potatoes in the Chicago area who always thought they could "be somebody". By the way, if you haven't seen the movie Invincible, do yourself a favor and watch it. Damn good viewing.

I understand you meant this hypothetically. But realistically this is going to be hanging over his head for a long time. If he's cleared, he'll be pursued by several teams will to take a chance on him. But between now and the draft, we won't learn anything that improves his value and therefore I'd say there's little chance we'd be interested.

Nobody is giving us 2 first round picks for Cutler. As someone says above, we'd be lucky to get a 4th rounder for him after last year's disaster. And for that, I'd just hang in there with Jay to see if he can produce under the new staff.

I read what he said as trying to motivate. He was honest about Jay's weaknesses but it was respectful.

And he might consider this move now that he's playing (potentially) for Fox. With Tucker I don't blame him for not wanting to change positions. He might have faith in Fox to help him learn the role.

How many people do you have on your scout team?

That would certainly qualify as tampering.

Yep. Maybe not physically but he proved last year he was mentally washed up. Listen, I don't think the team needs to be 100% boy scout. I expect a few disgruntled folks when the team is going down the tubes like last season. And Briggs still smarting about how #54 was treated, OK fine. But I do expect a mental toughness to the athletes I root for in Chicago sports. Guys that never take a play off, play through injuries, love the game and are good stewards of it. Briggs was never really a good role model and last season he took it to a new level of douchebagerry. I expect they'll give him every chance to return given the needs of this team but they should do a contract that puts him on a VERY short leash if they sign him again. My preference would be to completely cut ties with him and move on. But I'm a realist and understand there may be a position for him on this team during the transition period. Whatever Fox and Pace decide is OK with me but I hope he's not part of the team's plans for the 2015 season.

I want a non-embarrassing D.

I'd never bring him back. Too old, too assholish, too slow.

Problem is, the answer to that is "maybe".

I think the solution is to force both teams to use the exact same set of balls, eliminating catering to QB's and their preferences. It's simply dumb that this is how it's done and it led to one side, it appears, taking advantage of the situation. If this were a one time thing, only the Indy game, I'd agree with you 110%. But it appears they've been doing this for a long time now and small advantages can be the difference in games. The Baltimore game the week before the Indy game, for example, comes to mind. Or you make the acceptable inflation range wider. I don't care if Brady wants the balls more deflated, I doubt many in the league would. Then again, if it gives Pats WR's and RB's a better grip on the ball than other teams, helping them to have fewer turnovers, it might be a BIG problem. At the end of the day I'm enjoying the cheater reputation the Pats are getting because while I respect them as an organization, I don't like most of their team. Arrogant dicks, all. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of assholes. Whatever the rules are, all teams should be forced to follow them. If they're caught cheating, the Commissioner has a duty to punish them. I think in this case that'll come in the form of lost draft picks. Just my guess. He isn't going to let them call out some ball boy as their patsy and let this go. But we'll see.

Oh, and I wish people would stop tacking "gate" onto the back end of every damn scandal. Ridiculous.

I think rules are important but didn't see this as a big deal. Some of you have made a good case why this should be taken seriously and I respect that. Unfortunately I think this is another case of "everyone does it" so they'll likely give them a hand slap and let it go.

Ha! Well, to me, this is the Bears saying to Jay and everyone else, we gave you everything you asked for so now it's on you. I agree with you, he's back for 2015, at least.

If we're running the ball effectively, controlling the clock a bit and keeping our D off the field, even if it's improved, we'll be far better off. And Jay will benefit. With that said, our schedule next year suggests to me that even if we aren't rebuilding, it's going to look like it next season as we struggle mightily to just get to 500.

Probably because their usual arrogant attitude is reserved for callers. But in this case it was directed at another host/show. I can't listen to them very much as they just irritate me. Congrats on being able to hang in there for 5 years. They are intelligent but the way they berate people is simply unacceptable. As far as we know, his source on Ted Phillips was wrong too. I know there's chatter that behind the scenes he relinquished all football duties to Pace and that appears to be the case but that's not been confirmed by anyone at the Bears, AFAIK.

They're both arrogant assholes but they can be entertaining. Often I get ten minutes into their show because I switched to it during a commercial on another channel and it's about then they get too smug and I switch back to Waddle and Silvy.