jason

I'm not keen on salary cap stuff, but if the contract is not horrible for us, that's a done deal for a 2nd. I only mentioned salary cap vs a 1st rounder because the benefits of a 1st rounder at his original contract is immense.

Yep! I almost went Vernon, Vernon like you did, but I really think Hunter Henry could be a special player at TE. He's got all the skills, and he might even beat out Miller in the first year.

Sorry bro, but keeps him from getting swallowed up. And his hands during the rush are excellent. Add those to great effort, excellent pursuit, and I don't really think he'll have an issue. I think he's going to be a draft steal.

Straight up for #11? No. 1. That hurts our cap. 2. Rookie contracts don't hurt the cap. 3. At #11 the Bears have the potential to draft a superstar. Sure, it's an unknown, but there is upside. Wilkerson is a very good player, maybe even all-star, but he's not really a superstar. That's enough for me to sit at #11 unless the Jets want to return the favor we gave them in the BMarsh trade.

If Leno goes down, expect Cutler to follow shortly thereafter. If Leno stays in, that's still a possibility.

I get what you're saying. My thoughts on your contestations: -Hargreaves is a monster. An athletic freak. He fits any scheme. I don't buy the "he can't press" stuff. He'll be just fine. -Hunter Henry is the best TE in the draft. I like the late value TEs too, but he's pro-ready and has virtually no flaws. -Scooby & Smith was definitely odd, but when I saw Smith still there the value was too high. I see either as being scheme versatile, and if Scooby ends up outside - where he has pretty good rush moves - that wouldn't upset me at all. Smith might go later, but at this point it's just uncertain how the teams will feel about his medical situation. Scooby - Trevathan - Freeman - Smith would look incredible. -RBs - You're probably right, but it's the best mock I can do. I don't want the Bears to get a RB unless Derrick Henry falls to the third, in which case, he'd be a great value pick.

Fairy tale? I'd be ecstatic about this. 1. Vernon Hargreaves, CB, UF 2. Hunter Henry, TE, ARK 3. Scooby Wright, LB, Arizona 4. Jaylon Smith, OLB, ND 4. Bronson Kaufusi, DE, BYU 5. Joe Haeg, OT, NDSU 6. Jayron Kearse, FS, Clemson 6. Kevin Hogan, QB, Stan. 7. Dan Vitale, FB, NW

It's easily arguable we need a backup LT, potential starting LT, more than we need a backup QB. Cutler at QB > Leno at LT

If he's there in the 3rd, depending on who is available and whether they feel he can recover, I might be upset if they DON'T draft him. The draft is based on potential, and he's a potential top 10 pick in the 3rd round? Seems like a smart investment.

100% agreed. I believe 6th and 7th rounders are where you take risks on wildcards, trouble-makers with talent, and athletic freaks.

Hell yes. After White gone for a year?! Hell yes.

For all those trades, I don't like it. He got way too infatuated with the name Vernon.

I'd HATE that trade. Pointless. Why downgrade the OL, get rid of the harmony being built, just to get a back up RB? Makes no sense. Just draft a mid/late rd RB.

Didn't see your reply. I still think it's crazy. At the very least these names are ahead of him: Joey Bosa DeForest Buckner Shaq Lawson A'Shawn Robinson Jalen Ramsey Vernon Hargreaves III Myles Jack Carson Wentz Jared Goff Paxton Lynch Laremy Tunsil Ronnie Stanley Laquon Treadwell Ezekiel Elliott Even if you factor in only one of the QBs and exclude one player like Lawson, that's still 11 picks. The Bears are likely picking from the group above.

I really don't see how TN can pass on Tunsil. They need to protect their franchise player. They need to build around him and ensure he doesn't flop like Vince Young did. I live close to the area, and that's pretty much all the Nashville radio folks and call ins want. They want Mariota safe as can be.

I was doing a mock draft and somehow Jalen Ramsey fell to the Bears at 11. Is that reasonable at all? Looking at the draft, I see the following teams ahead of us with a potential CB need: DAL - Former 1st rounder Morris Claiborne, Orlando Scandrick coming back. BAL - They need CB, but their OL was a mess last year and Flacco was hurt as a result PHI - They need CB, but Elliott makes a lot of sense for them, and they moved up for a reason TB - CB is a need, but they signed Robinson and Grimes. WR makes sense since VJax is older, due big $, and injury prone. The draft could conceivably play out like this: 1.TEN-Tunsil 2.CLE-Wentz 3.SD-Bosa 4.DAL-Jack 5.JAX-Buckner 6.BAL-Stanley 7.SF-Goff 8.PHI-Elliott 9.TB-Treadwell 10.NYG-Doctson Is is possible? I know it's unlikely, mostly because of TB, but the Bears might get a steal.

Regarding the bolded portion, the Bears need a SS. They don't need a FS. The majority of the time, the SS is up front thumping. Sure, he has to cover sometimes, but that's mostly in zone. Killebrew, specifically, is a good example of the type of SS the Bears need to come up on the strong side, watch the TE, potentially cover the TE, and add in extra run game support.

Honestly, I'd like the Bears to look for a guy who's more quick than fast. I want a guy who can juke a DB in a phone booth. If he has great speed, so be it. Great bonus. Guess what? That guy is available in FA. Percy Harvin. He's a great slot guy for when Royal gets injured. I figure he is injured half the season, and Royal is too. Maybe they're a great combo of one player.

I'm probably in the minority here, but Vernon Davis would be an easy addition similar to others I've suggested. He causes no headaches, and he's a huge addition. Acts a fool, and finds his ass cut. Worth a shot in my opinion.

And I still wouldn't like it because of Elliott. I hate RB in the first for this team.

--Safety back-to-back first rounders! And that's after drafting a safety the previous two years. --The "doesn't have to be fast"-LB idea works well, but I truly hope he doesn't use that reasoning for OLBs. The Bears don't need non-explosive OLBs. We have those already. We have a collection of "yeoman's effort"-type guys in Young, Houston, Washington, and Acho. The only truly special guy is McPhee. Also, in terms of ILBs, they'd be purely backup at this point with the signings of Trevathan and Freeman. Having said that, I REALLY hope it means Scooby Wright's 4.9 forty is ugly to other teams, and ignored by Fangio. --DEs are 6'3"-6'4"-ish, and 260-270 or so. The only one who wasn't was a late round pick destined to be cut. These are the first two round probables for the position (even some tweeners), and only a few fit the weight. Most are too heavy: -A'Shawn Robinson - 6'4", 307 -DeForest Buckner - 6-7", 291 -Robert Nkemdiche - 6'3", 294 -Andrew Billings - 6'1", 311 -Sheldon Rankins - 6'1", 299 -Jarran Reed - 6'3", 307 -Vernon Butler - 6'4", 323 -Kevin Dodd - 6'5", 280 -Noah Spence - 6'2", 251 -Bronson Kaufusi - 6'6", 285 -Kenny Clark - 6'3", 314 -Emmanuel Ogbah - 6'4", 273 -Carl Nassib - 6'7", 277

Yes. That was easy. He's probably better for multiple years than a fourth round LT we might try to draft.

Drafttek - No go. Waiting until the 6th for a DE probably won't work. NFLdraftscout - I like it. Good balance of positions and players in solid rounds. gbnreport - Not a big fan. I don't think Rankins fits well, don't like Ward or Ochi.

Love this dude for that twitter reply.

Suppose the discussion behind closed doors is contentious. Alshon is upset for one reason or another and he wants to move to NY to be with the rest of the former Bears (JK). Seriously though, what's he worth? Typically, franchise tag = two 1st rounders. I know the Bears are not in a position to rely on the WRs outside of Alshon, but suppose someone offered that deal? Or more? I guess what I'm asking is, what's the max value the Bears could conceivably get for Alshon? Is there a team that: A-Has enough future cap to take the salary hit, B-Is close enough to contending that AJ would be their conceivable difference-maker, C-Is deficient at the WR position Teams, GMs, agents, coaches, etc., get fidgety when draft day approaches. I wouldn't be shocked if the Bears have gotten some calls on the subject.