CrackerDog

Remember Manning's comments a few years ago about his liquored up kicker? Point made. IF I'm in the heat of the battle and a little pussy kicker gets in my face at the wrong time, he might get a bit more than yelled at.

I think you might be crazy. But only about getting a 2nd rounder for Jay. I'm on record as saying they can stick with Jay and win with him. But I do get why some would want to move on now. He was supposed to be AWESOME in Trestman's offense and frankly, he sucked compared to those expectations. You can argue that he led this stat or another or that some of his picks were garbage but you can't say Jay lived up to expectations. Further, if you commit to him for next year, you're basically giving yourself a cap headache in 2016 when and if you decide he has to be cut. That's why we need an excellent HC because he has to be able to say whether he can win with Jay for the long haul. And that decision needs to be made ASAP. If they decide to move on they'll need to find a replacement for 2015, eat the cap hit and take the one year of pain. There's something to be said for taking that path. Lastly, as to us being very anti-Ted, he's earned it. And if he's honestly out of the football decisions, I'm happy. I just know that typically if the head of the snake is retarded, the rest of the snake, all the way down to the rattle, tends to be retarded. Hence why the guy in charge of hiring the guy who hired Trestman probably should've gotten the ax with the rest of them. He's not good at his job. But if he's admitted that and behind the scenes he's only overseeing budgets and the rest is up to Pace, we're probably moving in the right direction.

Same here Pix. I assume with Pace announcing there'll be more candidates than were originally scheduled that he's going to bring in several he's got in mind. If they hire someone tomorrow it'll be a sign to me that they forced someone on Pace.

First, thanks to all of you for the play by play! Second, it sounds like Ted isn't stepping aside as we had hoped. With that friggen moron still near the football decisions I'm NOT satisfied. With the Blackhawks it took a complete separation of business and game functions to get to where they are today. If Ted is really still involved (and I can only hope behind the scenes things are really different) then we're no better off than we were 6 months ago.

Ha! I'm actually a CPA myself. Although I haven't done any actual accounting work in over a decade.

Hopefully Pace has his scouting reports from New Orleans in his briefcase.

I'm not going to be able to watch the presser live. Got a damn conference call scheduled! I'm looking to you boys for updates!

Yet he didn't stop that team from being the dirtiest cheap-shot group in the league.

Well, all I know is giving control to someone who sucks at his job is a bad thing. So, as long as he doesn't suck, we'll be OK. Let's just hope they picked the right guy this time. I'm tired of watching this team swirl the drain.

I'll be watching the dynamic involving Phillips. If he's there and silent or says very little, it's a sign he's been demoted behind the scenes. George should be the one doing the talking and then hand things off directly to Pace to make some comments and take questions. If "The Accountant" is more involved than that it signals he's still in the org chart above Pace and I'll read that as a huge negative. These two ought to be at an even place on the org chart with Phillips running nothing related to talent, coaching etc. I hope a reporter asks this simple question: "Who does Pace report to?" If the answer isn't George, we're screwed.

I was just thinking that the Bears organization may have thought everything Ballard said had merit and they're going to do those things but that they felt Pace was a better fit to bringing in the talent for that new structure. Nobody will be able to confirm this but it's just a thought. As usual, I find myself wanting to be positive about the changes. But only time will tell if they got it right this time. If they did, they've got a guy who'll be around a LONG time.

I'm happy that... 1.) He comes from outside Halas Hall and isn't beholden to anyone there. 2.) He was hired BEFORE the HC was. He should absolutely be vested in picking the HC. I'm concerned... 1.) He's really young. GM is a lot about connections. Not sure he's been around at a high enough level to have those yet although he's been at the top of the Saint personnel for 2 seasons, I think. 2.) The Saints regressed this year. So... Time to get to work. Hire a HC and staff. Decide on Cutler/Marshall etc. Prepare for the draft and FA. Lot's to do!

Agree

Given the Bears recent "luck" with selecting free agents, I'm not surprised at all that they went with a Pro Personnel guy.

I'd like to know where he was on Accorsi's list. Someone else posted a claim that Gaine, I believe, was Accorsi's #1.

No way to tell. I think the rumor someone posted in the other thread obviously proved out. He killed the interview and won them over.

So would my dog.

My girlfriend got a ticket in Orland a month or two back for not wearing her seatbelt when she had it on! Cops are under pressure, it seems, to generate revenue for their towns. As to the Jennings thing, he was arrested for suspicion of DUI because he refused to blow. Every state treats this differently.

Ha! If Phillips was responsible for bringing on Cliff Stein, that alone is a reason to keep Phillips employed. Cliff is the best in the league.

It may be true that they'll see a "savings" if they cut BM but these numbers aren't out of line for a #1 WR in league, IMO. So... I'm already on record as wanting to keep him but you should be able to get a team that wants him at that salary who would be willing to give up a pick or two, if you HAD to get rid of him. Like say, he said something disrespectful to Virginia or some such thing.

If they plan on moving him, leaking all this bullshit about him is the exact opposite of what they should've done.

The rumor is that he's their #1 going into the process. Talking heads on the radio have given him the job already but they're wrong as often as they're right. We'll see.

Dudes, I see a hell of a lot of "cut this guy" and "trade Forte" stuff here. And that's fine. There's always room for various opinions and cleaning house is always an option. Moving older players along is something this organization needs to learn to do so I get it. But let's not get our panties in too big a ruffle here. Most of us believed, going into this season, the Bears were on the right track and with a few key acquisitions to shore up the defense, they'd be a playoff team. What a difference a season makes, to be sure, but this team still has an awful lot of talent on offense. There are clearly some key needs to fill everywhere on this team but we're going to find out, I suspect, just how terrible this coaching staff was. I've got to believe better schemes, particularly from whoever replaces Tucker, will improve things significantly. So, sure, there's a lot to be worried about. We still have a McCaskey involved in picking the new leadership of this team. And we've got enough history with that family to be concerned. But you've got to admit it does seem as if it's being handled more professionally this time around. For example, they aren't letting an accountant make all the football decisions! So, let's give this a little time to play out before we cut Marshall and Cutler, trade Forte, tear down the columns at Soldier Field, etc. Peace.

Not a giant fan of Tommy but this is an interesting quote.

Bernstein is an idiot. He was the one that said the Bears were going to announce a major shift at the press conference about Ted's new role. Never happened. And then when it didn't happen it was all "Behind the scenes it's happening" so we can't confirm in any way. Whatever, I'll hang in there and see what happens. There could be more to BM's antics than is know publicly. If what's been released is it, however, they better not move him. Not everyone on a football team is going to be an angel 100% of the time. And when he's pissed about losing I'm right there with him.