defiantgiant

Well, I'm not entirely sure if I've got this right, but since Sproles is an RFA, I think that they can still match whatever offer sheet he might get from another team. So this could just be their way of finding out what his market value is, before they decide whether they want to pay that. It's still kind of a risky strategy, I think: if somebody decides they value him a little higher, San Diego's out two running backs.

I don't think Kampman's really a situational guy. He's not a liability against the run like Anderson. Maybe he's not a total run-stuffer, but I think he's definitely an every-down DE in our system. I think it's got to be either him or Peppers, unless somebody gets released. I'm not real high on the rest of the market this year: it seems like there are a lot of guys pretty comparable to Wale. Vanden Bosch, Leonard Little, Tyler Brayton, Phillip Daniels...it's a lot of guys on the wrong side of 30 who haven't been productive pass rushers in a while. Also, I've been hearing that BOTH Melton and Gilbert are being tried inside at DT. I don't know if that means that the team's planning to leave both of them there, or if the better of the two stays at DT, but either one or both might be out of the mix at DE.

I'd be real surprised if he makes it past the Raiders, knowing how Al Davis loves measurables. One medical knock on Campbell: apparently he suffers from a congenital defect called Arnold-Chiari Malformation. I assume he has the least severe grade, since people with the more severe ones don't usually live past 2 or 3 years old. He had surgery to treat it in high school, but it's a lifelong thing that has to be managed. He passed his medical and everything, but I imagine teams will have some questions about him.

That's not an insignificant concern. Tillman's a decent-sized corner, but he'd be pretty undersized for a safety, and he's already had enough shoulder and back injuries as it is. If he's getting hurt when he has to drive 5 yards or 8 yards to the ballcarrier as a zone corner, how much worse would it get if he were driving 15 or 20 yards from the deep middle and going that much faster before the collision? I'd be surprised if he made it 16 games as a safety. Even if he could stay healthy and make the transition smoothly, Peanut's getting close to 30. How many years could he be the solution at safety? Two? Three? Even in the unlikely event that he didn't get injured again, he wouldn't stop the safety carousel for long.

And he said in an interview that he "didn't run the times he wanted to." Apparently he was shooting for a low 4.7...that's just sick.

Apparently they'd have to pay him $7 million for a year to use an RFA tender, and I guess they're probably already planning to draft a back pretty high now that LT's gone. Still, I have no idea why they're not trying harder to hang onto Sproles. They must be really confident that they can beat whatever offers he gets as one of the top FA running backs.

I wouldn't mind Westbrook if they can sign him cheap and short-term. That said, the Chargers apparently aren't going to tender an offer to Darren Sproles, so he's going to hit the open market. If we're looking for a change-of-pace behind Forte, I'd be much more interested in signing Sproles than Westbrook.

Campbell also had a vertical jump somewhere around 32" and a ridiculous broad jump. Somebody's going to draft him really high at this rate.

Yeah, there are plenty of teams in need of a starting back with Jones' skill set. Seattle could be on that list, as could Houston. I'd be very surprised if he wanted to pass on the chance to keep starting in order to come to Chicago and be in a timeshare. That said, if he wanted to, I'd be all for paying him whatever he wants.

If the Bucs are willing to part with him, given what the rest of their depth chart looks like, then his knee/attitude problems may be a bigger concern than they're letting on. I'd pass on him in a big way. Wouldn't be surprised to see him end up in Detroit, though: they desperately need somebody across from Calvin Johnson.

I'd probably go along with you on that, I just think you have to balance BPA with need. Rolle was a disappointment as a corner, which is where he originally played, but he's been OK as a FS from what I've heard. Not as good as Robinson, maybe. But we don't need a corner half as much as a safety, and the difference between the two players isn't big enough to make me think we should go for the lesser need. Like you said about Atogwe: if Asomugha were a free agent, I'd be singing a different tune. But I think it'd take a pretty awesome CB to be a better pickup for the Bears than even an above-average FS.

Damn, how did I miss that? Well, it's not like he was a potential starter or anything. He was never any higher than a dime back when everybody was healthy. But yeah, the Bears could use a quality depth player at corner.

I think he's just saying that to get out of Carolina. He was saying the same thing last season, and I really believe that if Carolina ran a 3-4, Peppers would have been talking about how he could only shine in a 4-3. From what I've seen, he could do anything in any system with his skill set. When you've got a DE who's practically as strong as a nose tackle but is fast enough to run with receivers in coverage, I'm not sure there's any scheme that would particularly hamper him. Now if what he really means is that he's only interested in playing in a different scheme, then we've got a problem. Because that dude definitely only plays when he's interested.

Matt Bowen wrote a pretty good article on the prospect of Peppers in Chicago. Choice quote: "Peppers played under Ron Meeks in Carolina last year in the exact same scheme that Chicago runs. Meeks was with Lovie in St. Louis as the team’s defensive backs coach, and his principles and techniques of the defense are a carbon copy of what is taught in Chicago. Lovie has publicly stated that the Bears are not going to change defensive philosophies or alter their schemes. They are and will be a Tampa 2 team that uses some man coverage and pressures with their zone blitzes. And, on third downs — where Peppers will make his money — the Bears will almost exclusively be a Tampa 2 defense, rushing four and dropping seven into coverage." Also, shades of Alex Brown campaigning for Kampman: Ogunleye thinks Peppers would help the Bears.

I agree, we've got paper-thin depth behind the starters, and that's a problem. But that's a different problem than needing a starter or even needing a nickel. We need a guy who, if all goes well, won't see the field except in dime packages. That's not a lot of snaps. Meanwhile, at free safety, we need a starter to play every defensive snap. That's got to take priority, as nice as it would be to get a third starting-caliber corner like Leigh Bodden or Dunta Robinson. If it were me and I had to choose between getting a new starting corner or a new starting free safety, here's what I'd do: sign Rolle, draft a developmental corner like Walter Thurmond, then sign a lower-tier FA corner like Rod Hood as a backup. Then maybe we cut McBride and Turenne. That way, we upgrade a deficient starting position, have a little cheap insurance against Tillman or Bowman getting hurt, and hopefully have a developmental guy waiting in the wings to take over for Tillman eventually. That's much better, in my mind, than adding a starting-caliber corner and neglecting the huge hole at safety. I mean, it's not going to matter how well our corners play, as long as teams can keep sending a TE or a slot receiver down the seam a million times a game. If the pass defense is going to improve, we need a free safety who can take those guys away, and we don't have one on the roster. It's been a major weakness for a while, other teams know it, and they exploit it. Brian Griese, of all people, absolutely torched our secondary by just hitting that seam over and over again. Who were our safeties for that game? Mike Brown and Kevin Payne. Who were our starters at corner? Tillman and Graham. From watching that game, I think it's pretty clear which position was responsible for Brian freaking Griese throwing for over 400 yards.

I really don't know how to feel about Peppers. Judging by sheer athletic ability, the guy should be LeBron James on the defensive line. But he just doesn't seem to care, except when his teammates are calling him out publicly. That's the scary thing: when he turns it on (like he did after Beason blew up his spot) you see how good he could be all the time, if he really cared about football. If anybody could motivate him, he'd be a top-5 DE, maybe even the best in the game. But I don't know if anybody can. Personally, as talented as Peppers is, I'd much rather take a flyer on Kampman's knee than Peppers' motivation.

I don't know about this. Robinson's the best corner on the market, and he's going to be looking for a starting job. Starting him on the Bears would mean either knocking Bowman down to nickel (which would reduce his playing time and could hamper his development) or moving Tillman to FS (which I'm really not a fan of, as it could aggravate his injury problems and shorten his career.) If we didn't make either of those moves, we'd be offering Robinson a job as a nickel corner; I doubt he's going to be interested in that, when a team like Detroit or Atlanta would offer him a starting job and the money that goes with it. Also, it'd be kind of a waste when we could just address FS and move Manning to the nickel. As for Robinson replacing Tillman, I don't know about that either. Robinson's only 2 years younger than Tillman and has had some injury problems of his own. We need an eventual replacement for Peanut, not an immediate one. I'd much rather sign a guy to play FS, let Manning play where he's actually been good (nickel and kick returner) and try to find that eventual replacement for Peanut in the draft, either this year or the next.

Oh yeah, I know you weren't actually comparing Vasher to Bowman. I was just trying to underscore the point that you can look at picks without them being misleading, so long as you take other stats into account too. As for depth at CB, I agree it's a problem. I don't know what the staff's problem with Graham is, but I always thought he played decently enough as a fill-in. I remember reading some tidbit about how they graded him out very poorly after watching his 2008 film, so maybe there's actually a good reason for it. I'm not a good enough judge of cornerback play to tell. As for the "three CBs" thing, though, I think we can kill two birds with one stone. Danieal Manning is actually a pretty capable nickel DB, and if Lovie and company were to sign Rolle, they could bump Manning down to second string at FS and have him play the nickel full time. Then we'd have a capable nickel, despite not having a third starting-caliber corner. We'd still need to draft an eventual replacement for Tillman (I like Walter Thurmond from Oregon a lot) but we wouldn't have any holes in the immediate starting lineup.

Totally agree. Interceptions can be very misleading. Look at Vasher, Deangelo Hall, Antonio Cromartie...there are plenty of guys who get very, very overrated because they get lots of picks but can't actually cover. Before we start comparing Bowman to Vasher, though, I'll say this: if picks are an overrated stat, pass deflections are probably an underrated one. I think they're a better indicator of how good a cover corner is at taking his receiver out of the picture, and they definitely favor Bowman over Vasher. Vasher only has 28 pass deflections in his entire career, and he's never had more than 8 in a single season. Compare that to a decent cover corner like Tillman, who has 70 career passes deflected, and has gotten into double digits three times (most recently in 2008, when he had 17 passes broken up on top of his 3 picks.) Now compare Vasher to Bowman: in addition to his 6 picks, Bowman broke up 16 passes this year, twice as many as Vasher ever has in a season. That's only two short of Champ Bailey, and it's more than Antonio Cromartie, more than Quentin Jammer, more than Deangelo Hall, etc. Picks can be misleading in either direction: you can equate Bowman with a guy like Vasher, who's much worse, or with guys who are much better. If picks were the only stat you looked at, you'd think Bowman and Darrelle Revis were equivalent: they each had 6 picks. You'd be missing out on the fact that Revis deflected a ridiculous 37 passes. Same thing with Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: 6 picks, 31 passes broken up. You'd think Bowman was better than Sheldon Brown, who only had 5 picks, but got 22 PBUs. So looking at picks and pass deflections together gives you a more complete picture: Bowman's not an upper-echelon corner by any means, but he's not Vasher either. All things considered, I think he's in pretty good company where he is, especially for a guy in his first year as the starter.

I actually thought Bowman came on at the end of the year. He struggled a little bit toward the beginning of the season, but corner is a position with a learning curve. A lot of corners who end up being good starters don't start off strong. Besides, Bowman had 6 picks and 16 passes broken up...that's not bad for a guy who was effectively a rookie. He needs to stay healthy and that's a big question mark, but I'm definitely excited to see what he can do with a season as the starter under his belt.

Yeah, I totally agree. His play fell off a cliff this year. LT's awesome, but I can't remember the last time a 30-year-old running back lost a step like he has and then came back the next season. Maybe Corey Dillon when he went to the Pats, but he had fewer than 2000 career carries when they traded him...LT's closing in on 3000 at this point. He's an awesome player, but there can't be much tread left on his tires.

Apparently Angulo's gone everywhere Tice has been a coach. He's a big guy (6'8" 270 pounds) but I can't imagine that he'll make the final roster. Olsen's the starter, Clark still has a couple of good years left in the tank, and Kellen Davis looks like he's progressing really well. If Davis can keep improving as a blocker and a red-zone threat, there really won't be any room for another TE on the roster. As for Peterman, he was in camp last year, if memory serves. I don't remember him doing anything particularly notable, though.

Yeah, I remember (I think it was during the 2006 season) when some reporter asked Urlacher about being the leader of the defense, and he said something to the effect of "I'm not the leader. Mike's the leader." Sometimes I wonder how good he could have been if he hadn't hurt his Achilles. Even when he was healthy after that, he didn't have the same range and speed as he did before. Who knows how much of an impact he could have had on the defense if he'd been lucky enough to avoid that one freak injury.

It's actually not $4 million cash, it's $12.11 million: $4 million in a roster bonus and then an $8.11 million base salary for 2010. Rolle might not be worth $12 million to the Cards, but there aren't many safeties in the league that are. He'd have to be an Ed Reed or a Troy Polamalu to be worth $12 mil in a single year. In fact, Polamalu's guaranteed money in 2010 is only $6.1 million, and Ed Reed's is only $6 million. Even if they desperately wanted to keep Rolle, the Cardinals would be on the hook for more than the two best safeties in the NFL combined. That just doesn't make sense for them. He won't take a pay cut to stay, and nobody's going to want to take on that contract, so they can't very well trade him. So what are they going to do? They'll have to cut him, and while he'll probably draw a lot of interest on the open market, he's not going to have any of those teams over a barrel for twelve million dollars. I'm sure he'll get a big contract based on the thin free agent class, but it won't be insane like what the Cards would have to pay to keep him. He just won't have the same leverage once he's a free agent. I'm not saying Rolle's a superstar, but he's a quality starter, and it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for the Bears to overpay him somewhat, if that means they can finally have a good FS. A good comparison, in my mind, is Bernard Berrian. The Bears weren't wrong when they decided he wasn't worth the money he wanted, but they definitely took a step backward at receiver the next year. And the Vikings did overpay him, but they also got a good starter at what was then a position of tremendous need without having to spend a draft pick. If the Bears wanted to be on the other side of that transaction and pay a premium to get a quality starter at FS for the first time in the last 5 years, I'd be more than happy.

Well, he did play 15 games the last season he spent in Chicago, but I get what you're saying. I mean, the last time before that when he played more than 12 games was 2003. Honestly, I think the turf at Soldier Field has a lot to do with it. That has to be the sloppiest surface in the NFL, apart from maybe Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. How many of our players with lower leg injuries have reinjured them over and over like Brown did, or have seen them turn into constant nagging problems, like Tommie Harris has? I'm not saying the surface contributed to their injuries initially (I know it didn't in Brown's case - he got his leg rolled up in a pile) but it can't help matters, playing 8 games in a mud pit every year. Also, Brown's stats are impressive, but most of the Chiefs fans I know weren't very happy with his overall play. I think he may have just racked up big numbers because their front seven had some problems, which meant that the ballcarrier got into the secondary more often.