defiantgiant

Just chiming in on the receiver debate: a lot of the guys who've been discussed (Brandon Marshall, Braylon Edwards, Josh Cribbs, Steve Breaston) are not going to be available without sending draft picks as compensation to their teams. The Bears can't afford to part with those picks, and couldn't if they wanted to for some of these guys. For example, the Jets could give Braylon Edwards the very cheapest RFA tender (which sets compensation as a pick in the round where the player was originally drafted) and the Bears couldn't touch him, since they don't have a 1st-round pick. The next-cheapest level of RFA tender offer (it was $1.4 million in 2008) sets compensation as a 2nd-round pick, which would take the Bears out of the running for anybody. That means the Broncos would only have to tender like a $1.5 million offer to Brandon Marshall, which is chump change for a receiver like him, and the Bears would be totally powerless to get him. And since every team is going to have two franchise tags and two transition tags this offseason, any of these guys could just get tagged, too. As a result, we're going to be looking solely at unrestricted free agents, if anybody. And the UFA market this year is thin, to say the least. Assuming no new CBA gets done, here's the list of wideouts who are going to be UFAs: Antonio Bryant, Derrick Mason, Terrell Owens, Arnaz Battle, Marty Booker, Nate Burleson, Tim Carter, Chris Chambers, Antonio Chatman, Terrance Copper, Bobby Engram, Brian Finneran, Mike Furrey, Greg Lewis, Brandon Lloyd, Shaun McDonald, Sean Morey, Muhsin Muhammad, Kassim Osgood, Josh Reed, David Tyree, Bobby Wade, Kevin Walter, Kelley Washington, Ernest Wilford. That's not an inspiring group of receivers. Out of that list, the only guys I'd be remotely interested in are Kevin Walter and maybe Antonio Bryant. Derrick Mason might retire, and the Ravens' WR situation is even worse than the Bears', so they'd certainly resign him if he plays another year. TO is a cancer and drops more than half of his targets every season...he also looked like a total nonfactor in Buffalo's offense this season. You could make an argument for Chris Chambers, but he's also on the wrong side of 30 and was always a #2 receiver (at best) in San Diego and Kansas City. I think the Bears are better off continuing to develop the guys we already have.

He wouldn't necessarily have to bring a 3-4 with him. He's run a 1-gap 3-4 for several teams, but he also has experience running 4-3 defenses and "hybrid" defenses with both 3-4 and 4-3 looks. He'd be a great hire, but he's not a Tampa-2 guy. That said, this team doesn't run much Tampa-2 any more, if you break it down snap-by-snap. It's not even really their base defense any more. With a guy like Nolan available, they should just acknowledge that they've already evolved away from that scheme and bring in somebody who can make the current D more effective. EDIT: Also, let me just say that I definitely DON'T want the Bears switching to a 3-4. Teams across the league are trying to do it now, just like everybody's trying to implement the Wildcat. And a 3-4 nose tackle might be the hardest position to fill in football...there just aren't that many guys around who can do it well. I think a lot of the teams that are just now switching to a 3-4 are going to get burned...that's why you saw smart defensive teams like the Patriots and the Ravens starting to make a transition back to a 4-3 this season.

They're all pretty good at it. Taylor might have the best blocking technique, but he's also the smallest of the three. Personally, I'd like for the Bears to go with McGahee. He's a monster in short-yardage (12 rushing TDs this season for Baltimore,) which the Bears desperately need. He's also two years younger than LT and Taylor. True, he's been a little dinged up, but he's never missed more than 3 games in a season, and he hasn't fallen off a cliff the way that LT has. Hell, he averaged 5 yards a carry splitting time with Ray Rice. And since Ray Rice and Forte are somewhat similar backs (good at receiving out of the backfield, shifty, not great at pushing the pile) I think a Forte-McGahee tandem would probably work the same way as Rice-McGahee in Baltimore.

I'm not sure Kampman would be worth as much money as he's going to require. He's probably going to be the only starting-caliber UFA defensive end on the market...we could be bidding against St. Louis, Seattle, Detroit, Cleveland (if they switch back to a 4-3 under Holmgren) just to name a few. He's 30, coming off an ACL injury, and likely to be VERY pricey. I think we can probably get by with what we have on the roster, but the staff needs to make up its mind on all our tackle-end hybrid players. Between Gilbert, Idonije, and Melton (who was apparently asked to bulk up and move to under tackle) we've got three guys who could potentially play either end or tackle. We need to move two of them to end full-time, and have the other one bulk up and stay inside. It'd be ideal if one of those guys (probably Gilbert) could add enough bulk and strength to play the nose: that would let us rotate Marcus Harrison with Tommie at under tackle, which is probably Harrison's best position. If we do all that and resign Mark Anderson, we could be OK even if Ogunleye doesn't resign. If he's willing to sign a cheap one- or two-year deal with no guarantee that he'll start, so much the better.

Yeah, an enlarged heart can result from steroid use, but lots of strenuous exercise also enlarges the heart, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be inherited genetically, too. Here's a NY times article on enlarged hearts in athletes. Crew and cycling are the two sports where you see really dramatically enlarged hearts (some guys' hearts are literally twice the size of a normal person's) but I imagine football players can get it, too. The problem, from what I've read, is that it's not easy to tell whether an athlete has an unhealthy enlarged heart or just a heart that's grown bigger from exercise, but is still healthy.

I don't know what to think about Chan Gailey. He's never managed to hold down a coordinator job longer than two seasons, but he did get better-than-expected performance out of a very talent-deficient Chiefs team, and he built that weird Pistol offense that actually made Tyler Thigpen look like a competent quarterback. If that's not catering your scheme to your players, I don't know what is. We could use a little more of that after Ron Turner's square-peg-round-hole act. I'd be very surprised if the Colts were willing to part with Clyde Christensen, since Tom Moore is almost a lock to retire. On the other hand, Peyton basically runs that offense, so maybe the Colts will feel like they can afford to lose Christensen. I'd definitely like for the Bears to get him...the Colts' receivers (and their passing game in general) have been ridiculous under Christensen. Also, he's presumably familiar with Aromashodu, who used to be a Colt.

They're saying it was cardiomyopathy due to an enlarged heart. It happened to an offensive lineman during the draft a couple of years back. I really don't know what the connection is between being a big athlete and having heart trouble, but the league needs to start looking into heart problems the same way they're looking at concussions. A league with as much money and as many medical resources as the NFL could potentially save the lives of guys with conditions like what Adams had.

Here's my take - I'm ignoring round 2, because it's on Day 1 of the draft, and it's a whole different set of expectations for those picks. Also, it's pretty well documented that Jerry's terrible on Day 1, no need to rehash that here. Expectations for Day 2 picks aren't nearly as high. Here's what I'd use for a rule of thumb: - 3rd round picks should contribute on offense or defense (in rotations, sub packages, etc.) pretty much right away, and should probably be expected to develop into starters eventually. - 4th and 5th round picks should contribute at some point. If you get a starter with a 4th/5th, that's an excellent selection. - 6th and 7th round picks should be able to play special teams, but even that's not a given. If you get a guy who contributes (outside of special teams) at all with a 6th or a 7th, that's an excellent selection. On Day 2, Jerry's gotten two starting corners with a 4th and a 5th, a nickel corner/fill-in starter with a 5th, and a dime back/special teamer with a 7th. Vasher was a good starting corner for a few years, before he did a Lito Sheppard. That's still good value for a 4th-round pick. As soon as Bowman had a healthy season, he looks like a quality starting corner. That's great value for a 5th. Graham and McBride contribute on special teams and in sub-packages, which is fine for where they were drafted. Also, McBride didn't get cut, he got injury-waived and then put on injured reserve. I think the jury's still out on Moore...it's too soon to evaluate him. If he hasn't done anything by the end of next year, he's probably a bust. If you add it up, Jerry's whiffed on three corners on Day 2...one in the 3rd round, which is pretty bad, and two in the 7th, where if you even get a special-teams guy, you did OK. Meanwhile, he's hit on 4 corners, 2 of whom played much better than expected for where they were drafted. I'd say that's one big miss to four successes, which is a pretty good ratio.

Yeah, nfo, I think that's spot on. The organization, since Phillips took over, has proven that they're willing to pay for players. The problem is that they're paying for the wrong ones. Yes, they let Berrian walk because of money, and they traded Jones rather than lock him up long-term, but that just reflects poor personnel evaluation. It's not that they won't pay anybody, it's that they undervalue good players and overvalue lousy ones (see: Pace, Orlando; Archuleta, Adam; Lloyd, Brandon) that's not a problem with ownership, it's a problem with the personnel department, which is Jerry Angelo. If we had a GM who could evaluate talent, maybe the organization would pay the right guys and stop paying washed-up retreads from the Rams.

I'm cautiously optimistic about these two positions. If we can trade back up into the 2nd round, there's a ridiculous number of quality free safeties this year, way more than a normal year. Eric Berry and Taylor Mays are the big names, of course, but then there's Earl Thomas, Nate Allen, Morgan Burnett, Chad Jones, Major Wright...it's a long list. We won't be able to get Berry, Mays, or Thomas probably, but I'd be pretty surprised if more than 3 teams picked safeties in the first round. Those three guys could push Allen, Burnett, and the rest into the second round. If Jerry can trade back up into the 2nd, we could have our pick from among some very good free safeties. As for cornerback, the one thing Jerry's proven he can do in the draft is find good defensive backs on day 2. With all the juniors declaring early, I think he should be able to find a good developmental prospect to eventually replace Peanut. Somebody like Walter Thurmond, Dominique Franks, or Amari Spievey could be available on Day 2.

For our sake, I hope they don't let him interview. The guy was in way over his head in Detroit, and his defenses were historically bad.

It worked for Denver when Cutler was there. They had Bates as de facto passing-game coordinator and Dennison as running-game coordinator. That two-headed monster was the #2 offense in the NFL.

Carrier, Dunbar, and Williams would all be good hires. Carrier and Williams could both help our secondary out, and if we could hire Dunbar away from Minnesota, I have to think that he and Marinelli could get top-level performance out of our d-line.

OK, so the Sun-Times is reporting that Fewell hasn't made up his mind yet. Schefter apparently clarified his report, and said that "as of this morning, Fewell was planning to accept [the] Giants DC job" but that it's not official. I wonder if this is a last effort from Fewell to drive up his price. If it is, the Bears better pay him.

Except in 2004, when they had Culpepper and Randy Moss going nuts on everybody. Culpepper threw 4717 yards and 39 TDs that season. He also broke Marino's record for combined passing/rushing yards. But yeah, outside of that one season, his offenses weren't anything to write home about. Culpepper was way too inconsistent for the rest of Tice's time in Minnesota, and I'd take the guy who developed Carson Palmer over the guy who developed Daunte Culpepper any day of the week.

I think #2 and #3 are probably the biggest reasons why he'd pick New York. You're right, he'd have more control and it'd be a better showcase for a HC job down the road. Also, they've got a bunch of size and talent in the front seven, which Buffalo definitely did not have, and Chicago doesn't have either. With a big, high-pressure defensive front and Fewell coaching up the secondary, the Giants have a much better chance than the Bears to be a great defense and help Fewell's resume.

He'd be a great candidate if we're hoping that the Bears tank next season, Lovie gets canned, and whoever replaces him gets a nice high draft position. Barry's Lions ranked dead last in the league in total defense each year he was coordinator. I can't imagine the Bears could get away with even interviewing the guy. It'd just be an admission that they're throwing in the towel for 2010 and waiting until it's cheaper to clean house.

Yeah, and Fewell arguably has more history with Coughlin than with Smith. Still, there has to be an amount of money that would offset all that. If Fewell's their guy and the Bears really cared about putting together a quality coaching staff, they would have offered whatever it took. Also, if job security's the issue, why didn't they just have Angelo or Ted Phillips sit down with Fewell and say "if the defense is good and Lovie gets canned, you're first in line for the head coaching job"? I mean, I'd think you could spin the whole head-coach-on-the-hot-seat thing into a positive if a coordinator thinks he's next in line to be HC.

I don't think timing's the issue with Fewell...the Bears made him an offer at least as early as the Giants did. I think he's just doing exactly what Bates did...going to a team where the head coach isn't likely to be fired in a year. Whoever we can con into taking a coordinator job here, it's not going to be pretty.

Rotoworld's reporting Fewell to the Giants now, too. This is great...the one guy who was supposed to be a shoo-in, and they couldn't land him. I hate this organization sometimes.

Sounds like the usual PFT rampant speculation. There's no real indication that Smith would take the job, and the only actual news item is that he turned it down in 2008. EDIT: That said, if Lovie decided to go to UT, maybe we could actually hire some coordinators. Bring in Ron Rivera as head coach, maybe send a new offer to Fewell to let him know that he wouldn't be working for a lame-duck coach. Or we could offer the HC job to Heimerdinger and let Fewell have total control over the defense.

Depending on who you ask, he's either interviewing for OC, offensive line coach, or both. ESPN says OC, but Jason LaCanfora from NFL.com says o-line coach. The Trib says it's both. I guess I'd be OK with him as a position coach, but I don't want him as a coordinator. I guess his Vikings offense had that one good year in 2004, but all in all, I wouldn't want him running my offense.

He's also #2 on the Bears' all-time list for single-season passing yards and #3 for passing touchdowns. And that was in a season that almost everyone regarded as a disappointment for Cutler. If we get a good coach to run the offense and the line/receivers play the way they were at the end of the season, Cutler could rewrite the Bears' record books. If Cutler plays the way he's capable of (let's say around 4000 yards a season,) he could easily pass McMahon and Harbaugh in 2 more seasons, and break Sid Luckman's all-time record the year after that. He could potentially have the franchise record for passing yardage by the time he's 30. That's pretty remarkable.

I agree with the positions of need, although I think DT should be on that list, too (specifically a big run-stuffing guy to play the nose.) But there's no way we're getting OJ Atogwe from St. Louis...he only has 5 years in the NFL, so he's going to be a restricted free agent. The Rams will be able to match any offer the Bears make for him, and I'd be very surprised if they didn't give him the highest RFA tender, which would mean the Bears would have to give up 1st- and 3rd-round picks if the Rams didn't match the offer. Even if they gave him the lowest RFA tender, though, it would still cost a 3rd to get him...we'd be giving up our highest pick in the draft for a guy who's going to be 29 before the 2010 season and is coming off a season-ending shoulder injury.

Kitna spoke highly of him, too. Although maybe Carson Palmer balances out Kitna and Krenzel...