BearFan2000

Thanks for the info, that 9 mil definitely helps. I'm sure they were waiting to see how the draft shook out before making the move, but, once they decide to cut him it was the right thing to do for Leno to have as much time as he can to sign on with another team. He's a serviceable depth player as a backup/spot start.

To be honest you can find tape that focuses on flaws and tape that omits them and only shows the good stuff. It's up to him and the staff to iron out the wrinkles in his game, no QB is perfect coming in to the league. Fields strengths to me far outweigh his weaknesses. I don't question his work ethic and commitment to proving doubters wrong. That chip on his shoulder tells me he's not going to be "satisfied" and will keep working on getting better in all areas. Any QB you draft is going to come into the league and see things they've never seen before. NFL defenses are far more complex and usually disguised better than college level defenses. It's part of the learning curve. This isn't Mitch who never seemed to overcome any flaws in his game. There was a lot of talk about improvement, and "good weeks of practice" but on game day he rarely came through. IMO we haven't had a QB as dedicated to his craft as Fields is in a long time.

That's probably my only concern about Jenkins and Borom. They both like to play hard whistle to whistle and sometimes pushing that boundary. That's something the staff will have to be on them about keeping it within the rules. I feel like that comes with the nasty mentality they both have. Finding that balance may be a learning curve. I love the nastiness and aggression in an OL way better than the passive reactionary types we've rolled out there. The battle for the line of scrimmage usually goes to the aggressor. Be aggressive but be smart. As for the Leno cut I think it was the right move and half expected it. But, out of curiosity I thought I read somewhere that we would have saved more cap space had it been a June 1st cut. I was expecting the cut but not this early.

First off, overall thoughts on the draft. I have to give credit where credit is due. Pace/Naggy had themselves the best draft of their time here in Chicago (not a hard hurdle to jump). Some of that can be attributed to self awareness and the need to have the kind of draft that give themselves an opportunity to stick around past this coming season. Pace drafted like a GM drafting with a sense of urgency but more patience and situational awareness than I anticipated he would. I had feared he'd do something irrational just to take a swing, like trade the farm to move up and then take Trubisky 2.0 in Lance. I could see him being enamored with the raw athletic abilities Lance possesses. There were different things that had to happen for round 1 to play out as it did. SF taking Lance as the 3rd QB off the board leaving Mac and Fields to drop. Other teams like Denver, and Carolina opting to go elsewhere and both QB's continuing to fall all the way to 11. Pace bided his time and when it was clear they were falling, he saw an opportunity to spend less capitol to jump 9 spots and take a guy who probably should have gone #3 overall at #11 is a STEAL. Here's hoping he makes other teams ahead of us look dumb for not taking him. He certainly will carry that chip on his shoulder and I love it. Moving up in the second to take a first round talent in Jenkins, I feel was worth it even though I was bummed that that eliminated out 3rd rounder, but it did give us back a 5th. Using that 5th to take a second OT in Borom who like Jenkins brings some nasty to the OL that has been lacking for a long time. Both are versatile. Jenkins has played LT, RT, and interior. Borom project to be either a RT or RG. Both can be day one starters. We trade down in the 6th to pick up a 7th to go with our 3 sixths. Herbert is the only pick I'm a little iffy on, though he can be a change of pace guy/returner/ST. Daz Newsome is an intriguing late round WR who looks like a tough possession receiver type. Graham is a chance to make an impact with potential. He has sticky hands and locates the ball well as a DB. Perhaps NB? And Tonga could work his way in as a rotational DT. The obvious highlight of this draft is the first three picks we made. Needed a QB got a steal at #11, and added some nasty day one starter quality OL. As the draft was happening I was like who is this GM and what did he do with Pace? We've learned to expect the worst, but this was a breath of fresh air. Pace made smart decisive moves that improve this team in the short and hopefully long term. I feel like he has bought himself and Nagy the opportunity to fight for more time beyond 2021. I'm not going to come out and say they saved their jobs, but the set the groundwork for that. Now it is up to Nagy and the coaching staff to develop Fields the correct way. I'm not going to say what that correct way is as I don't think it's fair to him or the team to follow or avoid any blueprint that worked or didn't work for a different player. They need to do what's best for Fields and the Bears. If that means he sits behind Dalton for part or all of 2021 then do that, If that that means he's clearly ready to start from day 1 then do that, I feel like the right course may be somewhere in between. Nagy stated that everyone would know when he's ready. I don't want to see them rush him in, nor do I want them to blindly follow the Mahomes model. Every QB is different. I feel like Mahomes was more raw coming out of the draft than Fields is. When I think about it from Fields perspective imagine the pressure to perform. He comes in with the weight of a team and fanbase starving for a franchise QB. Fields coming in with the hopes and dreams that he will be what all but a couple QB's in the teams 100+ year history have failed to be. That is a lot of weight. While I would love to see him start day one and be great. I think the right call is to go into the offseason programs, training camp, preseason etc. with Dalton penciled in as the starter, till Fields is ready to take the reins. This is on Nagy and his staff to do this right. If he does this and he and Pace earn the right to keep their jobs and prove they truly have learned I would be willing to eat as much crow as anyone here. As a life long Bears fan all I want is my team to strive with every fiber of they're being to be a winning organization. This draft has the potential to be that turning point. Plus with what's going on in GB we could potentially end up with the best QB in the division.

Latest is now Rodgers is supposedly saying that he wants them to fire their GM for him to come back. This has been beyond entertaining as the backdrop to a a really good draft.

Definitely either RT or G. Could indicate we're looking to try Jenkins at LT. NFL.com has Trey Smith listed as a Guard.

It would be about time our luck changed. I would love to see GB struggle in bad QB purgatory for at least a decade or two. GB can say no publicly but what matters is how ugly things get. No one can dispute Rodgers talent on the field but at some point you value the culture of your team over the ego of one player. If the situation continues to devolve and become toxic those offers start to sound enticing. Rodgers waning more money in a big contract extension which for his value to the team he’s not out of line. But, to me, this is the difference between Rodgers and Brady. Brady knew he could command a high salary yet he understood if he was taking up a disproportionate amount of cap space it would limit his teams ability to surround him with talent that made the team better. So, he chose to take less to make his team better. Rodgers on the other hand lives in a world of one. It’s all about him. The talking heads feed the ego by blaming his teammates or lack of supporting cast when things go bad and when it’s going well they act like it’s all because of Rodgers. You win and lose as a team. No one is bigger than the team.

The top of the board went pretty predictably other than the curve ball from SF. Thanks to them we were in a position to trade up for Fields at 11. They may have snookered us in 2017 but this year they snookered themselves lol.

This is the key here. Keeping most of the rest of this years draft in tact. We still have out 2nd, 3rd, and four 6th rounders. Outside of next years 1, we gave up pocket change. A 5th rounder, and next years 4th. If Fields turns out to be a stud, and the franchise QB we've been looking for for forever. This move will be looked at as a steal. To get probably the second best QB out of the top 5 at #11 and not having to give up the farm to do so, could go down as Pace's best draft move to date.

I'd like to see us take a couple OT's with they way the've been drafting depending on who's there at our 2nd & 3rd. Next pick should be OT, then in the 3rd could go BPA at OT, WR, CB. Was really hoping Newsome would have dropped, but DB's have been coming off the board quicker than I expected so I'm not surprised he's off the board. Good draft so far, here's hoping we keep it up and finally have a draft we can walk away from and feel optimistic as a fan base. TY San Fran for saving us from Pace trading up for Lance.

Vegas lines will change a lot as the season goes. Really the only pick of value we gave up was that 2022 1st. If the rest of the draft goes well and if I e get better play production and better play calling we could surpass that prediction. Heck with the dumpster fire that was last season we still managed to get to 8-8. A lot has to go right but it can happen.

I’d be good with this. Would like us to take a second OT somewhere but I like Newsome and Marshall. Tough to fill as our holes in one draft. This would be a good start. *edit* Newsome off the board. Maybe we do get a couple OTs and a WR

Pace actually made a smart trade up and took a player I liked. My second choice would have been to stay put or trade down and take Monds. So far thes draft has played out about as well as we could have hoped.

Didn’t catch what we gave up. But hat said once he and Jones started dropping and kept dropping I had a feeling we might move up. I’m good with this we only needed to move up 9 spots to get a top 5 QB at 11. A little surprised the 49ers took Lance at #3. But also relieved knowing that Pace trading up for Lance wasn’t going to happen. Stark contrast to trading up for Mitch who started only 13 games Against low quality competition.

But is GB a playoff team sans Rodgers?

That’s a risk I’d be willing to take lol.

There’s som packer fans on YouTube reacting. It makes me want to grab some popcorn. It would be therapeutic if Rodgers did leave and Love would suck, and they would be in QB hell for a decade or two. They’ve been super lucky to have back to back HOF QBs. It’s made their fan base smug.

Lol wouldn’t that be our luck. Maybe we should root for it to be false. A little reverse psychology of sorts. Schefter is usually accurate. Packer nation would lose its collective mind.

I'm seeing breaking news reports that Aaron Rodgers is possibly wanting GB to trade him. Things have been slowly devolving there concerning his contract past the 2021 season. How crazy is this. Per Adam Schefter that Rodgers is so disgruntled that he has told some members of the organization that he does not want to return to the team. Curious what it would take. Wouldn't the Packers have to take a huge cap hit to trade him? I know his guaranteed money is all paid out after 2021 and they could even cut him (not that they would) next year with no hit. Holy crap what timing for that story to come out as the 2021 draft starts tonight.

Could mean they are looking at QB at 8 (Lance or Fields?) or they I've read they are open to trading out of #8. If they want QB we'd need to trade up to 7 or higher likely to get any of the top 5 (top 4 since I don't want Lance).

I'm seeing mocks and even on the score this morning they were speculating on us trading up and taking Lance. That scares me and reminds me too much of trading up for another "top rated rookie QB" with very little playing experience. Sound familiar? He only started 3 more games than Mitch, and would likely take more draft capitol to move up high enough to take him. I feel like Lance will be over-drafted for his limited sample size. If we're going to trade up I'd rather do so for Jones or maybe Fields otherwise I'd much rather us stay put, or move down a little and take a guy like Mond then add OT, CB, WR. I'm liking Mond more and more as a late 1st round option. If we're able to trade down and still get Mond we possibly pick up an extra 2nd or early 3rd, and grab OT, WR, CB, then add depth in rounds 4-7. WR is deep this draft so maybe OT, CB, then WR? If I were Pace, I would do my due diligence to see what it would take to move up far enough to get one of the top 5 guys (sans Lance), if the deal isn't too detrimental to the teams future then I'd consider it. I would also consider staying at 20 or trading down at most to 25/26 to pick up more picks to address more needs in the first 3 rounds. If I remember right the Packers took Love with the 26th pick last year? Getting a top tier QB won't help much if he doesn't have weapons or a OL than can protect him. I'd also listen to trade offers that involve players at our need positions as well. The fact is that of the top 5 QBs in this class you know that 2-3 likely pan out the others will either bust or be average at best on the NFL stage. I feel like some of the 2nd, or 3rd round guys have potential to surprise some people and be very serviceable starters. The biggest plus of taking a 1st round QB is the 5th year option, but it shouldn't be a reason to mortgage the future or reach on a guy. If you draft a QB and he pans out and is clear you hit on a good one, it's quite likely you extend them before year 5 anyway. Especially for teams in our position who are looking for a QB that can start sometime this year or possibly start in year 2 (if Dalton starts the whole season). If we were a team with an established QB with good years left, like Green Bay, that 5th year is more valuable as it gives you more time to evaluate and potentially transition him into a starting role to take over.

A lot to give up, but then again they might be desperate for O-Line help. Injuries showed how thin their line was in the SB.

Heard about it this morning on NFL's XM station. They did say that the hope is he grows out of it as he has family members who also dealt with it and have grown out of it. I'm not familiar with Epilepsy personally either myself or family, but it's no doubt a serious thing. Props to Fields for being open about it prior to the draft. I know it's was not an easy thing to reveal especially as you said it's never publicly been revealed so he's managed it and stayed on top of it. It takes discipline for sure but the kid has performed at a high level with this medical issue. His being open about it will help NFL teams decide and prepare whoever drafts him but will also stand as an encouragement to young athletes around the country that something like this shouldn't stand in the way of their dreams of being a pro athlete.

This place s what I’d like to see happen. But I fear Pace will be willing to give up a King’s ransom to move up. Teams future be dammed. He is in “save my job” mode and I fear he will be far too short sighted.

What makes teams respect the speed and the deep ball is you have to connect when it’s there. We’ve had speed but no one feared the likes of Glennon, Mitch, or Foles actually placing the ball anywhere near a receiver and even when they did your receiver would drop it. To make the deep game work means having an o-line that can hold their blocks long enough for the routes to develop.