chwtom

Why sign Orton or Manning to a front-loaded contract when we don't even know if they have a future here. Manning hasn't done well at any defensive position (not that the coaching staff has helped him by moving him around), and you can only be productive at kick returner for so long. Orton showed some flashes of solid play, but he still hasn't proven he's worth counting on long term. I wouldn't sign either of these guys to a long term deal until they showed me something. If you sign either to a front loaded deal now, you are overpaying this year, then if they do well they'll want a new deal, and if they don't do well you just threw that money out the window. And does anyone think we are a couple low to midlevel free agents (plus an Angelo draft) away from being a super bowl contender? I don't.

If you read the latest Angelo comments on Suntimes.com, he sounds like he isn't going after any front-line free agents, rather he'll be picking at the scraps after the first few waves on free agency go by. So the answer might be that we aren't spending that 32 mil. It's depressing.

In what way was Khalif Barnes terrible? The Jags had the highest YPC behind him of any LT in the NFL. That is a pretty darn good run blocker. He probably is not quite quick enough to play LT, and the false starts are a function of him trying to compensate for that and get in front of speed rushers more than any concentration issues. IMO he is a perfect fit for us at RT where his run-blocking abilities would shine and any deficiencies in his quickness would be masked by the TE help and fewer edge rushers that line up against the RT.

LTs need footwork and technique more than brute strength, but they need a lot of strength too. RT are more dependent on strength than foot quickness because they don't have to deal with as many speed rushers on the edge, and they have more of a role in the running game, which is dependent on strength. Particularly on a run-heavy team like ours, we don't want a weak RT. And while having long arms makes the bench more difficult, someone with his size, if they put in the hours in the weight room, should be able to do better than 21 reps. Jake Long has long arms too and did 37 reps last year. The knock on Oher all along has been whether he has the dedication to play at the highest level, and doing only 21 reps supports that concern.

On thr bright side, he let the team know early enough that they won't lose out on any top tier free agents, they will have plenty of time to scout the position at the draft, they just gained 4-5mil in cap room, and his play was deteriorating quickly, so we should be able to upgrade our talent there. I vote we sign Khalif Barnes, as he is a very strong, able run blocker who would be a fierce RT, imo. I know some people don't like him, but I do. I'm not sure I agree that re-signing St Clair is a priority. Getting paid seems to be his priority (I don't fault him for that), and he is a jack of all line positions, but a master of none. He is not of the sort of talent that I pay retail for.

Why is that dumb? If the track record of underclassmen taken in the first round was even 50-50, or even close to that, I would agree with you. But there has been only one early entrant QB taken in the first round THIS DECADE that could be considered a franchise QB. To ignore that, and to think that your scouting department is a better evaluator of talent that just about evey other franchise in the NFL is arrogant and ignorant. Further, to call someone's post idiotic and retarded is pretty disrespectful and uncalled for. As far as Oher and Loadholt goes, I sincerely hope Angelo has filled the RT position through FA to the extent that he isn't forced to burn a first or second on that position when there are so many other positions in need of addressing.

Oher only repped 21 times on the bench, so I'm not sure I 100% agree that he's strong enough to play RT. That rep total is a big red flag for me--it shows he didn't put in the hours in the weight room and makes me wonder if he has the drive to be a star in the NFL. MY choice is to trade back later in the first, pick up Hakeem Nicks, and take Nate Davis with the extra 2nd rounder we pick up by trading back. Does that count?

It wouldn't matter to me whether the guy has a potential suspension, he's a bad dude and he can't play anymore. He can't separate and get open. If he can't get open enough in a dome for Peyton Manning to find him, what chance does he have anywhere, much less cold windy Soldier Field? I'd just be ok with Torry Holt, but I'd take Holt in a nanosecond before taking Harrison.

My hopes for draft day would include that the RT position has already been addressed by someone like Khalif Barnes or Vernon Carey. I really don't love anyone that is likely to be available at 18, but I like a lot of guys that should be around in the second round. So I would try to trade out of 18 and pick up an extra 2, and trade up from our third round pick to get a total of 3 second round picks. With those 3 picks I would take Nate Davis, Iglesias and William Moore. I like Davis' combination of size, athleticism and accuracy. I think he could sit for a year to work on footwork and such, then step in and be a franchise qb. I think Iglesias is underrated and could be one of the more effective possession WRs in the draft--to me he has TJ Housh as his upside. I like Moore because he can play either safety spot, and I always dig guys who fall too much late in the draft process. I won't pretend to know what kind of players could be had later in the draft, but I think drafting a OT, OG, DE, LB and RB makes some sense.

McAllister is done. I don't know that he resigns anywhere. He looked like the slowest guy on the field at the end of last year.

Above, I stated I am coming off the "bell tower". This is where I am now, under one condition. We must sign Gross. We must have someone, going into next season, we know can play the left side. So, if we sign Gross, I'm all for drafting an OG on day one. No Gross, I want an OT and OG day one and maybe a free agent OT. That would leave Williams, St. Clair, draftee and FA at OT. Knowing St. Clair can play inside makes him valuable still. But we can't sign Gross, because there is almost no chance he makes it to free agency. Second, they have to give Williams every chance in the world, because if he doesn't make it at LT, he won't make it. He is too much of a finesse player to play RT. I would love to have Gross, but (if we ignore the fact that he won't be available for a moment) we'd be paying our RT the highest OT salary in the league, because we'd have to put Gross at RT, because, again, Williams is not suited for RT. Since we can't get Gross, you are saying you want and OT and OG with your first 2 picks (because there are 2 rounds on day 1), which means we won't address WR, S, QB, SLB, DE or QB with one of our top 2 picks? I'm not sure I'm on board with that. The problem here is Angelo painted himself into a corner by not adding anything last year. Now we have 2 years worth of holes to fill in one off-season, and there isn't any realistic way to do it. We need a star at safety given its importance in our system, and there isn't one available in the draft (according to the experts) or FA. We need some youth to rush the passer, but it's hard to find a primo DE outside the top half of the first round. We need a fixture at RT, and we nee to start overhauling the interior of the line, because they aren't getting any push. We have zero talent at WR. Orton is a couple bad games from being benched. How Angelo could possibly address all of that in one off-season is beyond me, particularly the way he's drafted the last couple years.

I couldn't find anything showing statistics for false starts, so I don't know if Barnes truly gets called for false starts a lot. But false starts at the LT position have less to do with concentration lapses and more to do with compensating for being in the wrong position. He probably doens't have the footwork to deal with the speed rushers at RE, and jumps early to try to compensate for that. That would be less an issue at RT, which would show off his strength, which is run blocking. Barnes has the highest YPC being him of any LT.

I like Khalif Barnes and Vernon Carey more than Gross, simply because they are more likely to be available and they'll cost less. Barnes in particular wasn't an ideal LT, but is one of the best run-blocking tackles in the game, so should be an ideal fit for RT. For all the talk of us getting Gross, there have been zero indications from Carolina that he's leaving.

I really don't think Gross is going to hit the market. But I agree, I'd rather spend big FA money on a RT, maybe Barnes or Carey and use the first pick on another need. Normally I don't advocate taking a WR in the first, but we really need one. I guess we could sign a second tier WR like Bryant Johnson, perhaps that would make WR less of a priority.

If he wouldn't trade up 2 spots last year to get the clear 2nd best LT in the draft in Clady, and instead settled on someone who could've been taken anywhere from 14-30, I don't see him moving up to get an underclassman QB with question marks. Keep in mind its almost unheard of for an underclassman QB to succeed. Aside from big Ben, they almost as a rule fail.

Based on JAs history, if you are hearing the Bears like DHB this early, you can scratch his name of your list as a potential target. I tried to find a list of players the Bears interviewed/worked out last year to see how many of our draftees were officially brough in, but google failed me.

I can almost guarantee they won't sign Osamugha. He will command one of the biggest contracts for a CB in the NFL. The Bears are already paying pretty big money to Vasher (who they can't cut) and Tillman, and have serviceable backups. They aren't going to pay 8 mil or whatever for a corner, when their bigger need is DE, DT, WR, RT etc. Plus in the Tampa 2 system corners are not top prioroty--pass rusher is.

What a waste of a post. I really hope you aren't the same person who posted this at WCG. It's bad enough to post drivel like this at one site, but if someone cut and pasted their own stupid post at both sites, that is beyond pathetic. Next comes the "why don't we trade for Tom Brady?" post.

Hard to know if this was a good or bas move until we see what kind of contract he gets. There is no way you pay him more than a mil or so. Bringing him back at a low money deal, to me, is a no-brainer. He just makes everyone better when healthy, and I'd rather take my chances with him than give Steltz a spot. But you can't tie up much money in someone who is almost guaranteed injured.

Holt seems like he might be almost done. I like him better in a pass-happy dome team that is close to complete, like Arizona or New Orleans. I don't think an again, downside of his career, banged up WR fits in to a rebuilding, cold-weather team. Don't get me wrong we need all the help we can get, but I'd rather they put money into younger players who can help for more than a year or so.

This should just make it an easy decision for Angelo to sign a real RT (not named St Clair). Tait wasn't going to earn that 5 mil this year.

I say let him test the waters. The last thing I want to see the Bears do is pay retail for someone who is below average at every position, but has versatility. Now that Tait is leaving, we have both the money and the need for a real RT. I'd like to see them sign someone in FA like Barnes, Andrews, or Gross, then find a supersub lineman late in the draft.

Are you sure this is correct LT? I believe your numbers for next year are correct, but this year he should count $2.5M against the cap, if my interpretation is correct, not $1.7M. I think the 800k should be subtracted from his total cap number for this year (3.3) and not his prorated SB (2.5). My understanding is as follows: If the Bears kept Benson he would count roughly $3.3M against the cap this year ($2.5M SB plus $800k salary) and $3.5 next year ($2.5SB and $1M salary). By cutting him, they don't have to pay his salary this year or next, and they don't have to account for it in the salary cap. They still,however, have to account for his signing bonus in the cap. So this year his cap number is reduced from $3.3M to $2.5M, and next year it is reduced from $3.5M to $2.5M. So by cutting him, they save $800k in cap room this year and $1M next year. He will count $2.5M against the cap both years, but they DO save cap room by cutting him. They also save payroll dollars, since they don't have to pay him his salary, and they don't have to potentially pay him any incenstives if he rushes for over 700 yards. Of note, if they had cut him prior to June 1st they could have taken the whole cap hit ($5M) this year, and had him off the books next year.