adam

So here is the current estimated available cap for teams with over $10M in effective cap space. These teams are really the only ones that could sign a player to a decent contract without other cap restructuring. If you consider you need $5M for rookie pool and $5-10M for operating money for the year, The Bears, Falcons, and Packers are really the only teams with room to sign players to a deal that is over $7M AAV. There are still several players left like that. The Bears could sign 2 of them and still have the most cap space. So Poles is not done yet.

Brandon Cooks traded for the 10th time. Now to Dallas. It is wild how many draft picks he has gotten for the teams trading him.

3 down is HOU, 4 is NYJ, and 5 is NE. I doubt any of them are taking a QB there unless HOU goes Anderson at #2 and one of the top QBs drops. There is no scenario that I can see that yields an early to mid second rounder unless a team like SEA wants to move up from #20 and give up #37. I couldn't find a realistic trade partner that was far enough back to warrant a 2nd rounder but not so far back that the 2nd rounder wasn't in the 50s. WAS or PIT? Maybe, but what are they trading up for? I really think the Bears are locked in at #9, and the only way they get an earlier pick in the 2nd is by moving up using one of their current ones (#53+#104 = #43), something like that. Using one of their extra 5ths, they could get into the early 4th (#133+#148 = #109) but that is the best I can see for trade-ups.

Poles just needs to find 4 starters. The Velus pick was his Shaheen, trying to be smarter than the other GMs with Lucas (picked right after Velus), Raimann, and Parham still on the board. He can't do that again. There are too many holes to whiff on an early pick. Velus was pick #71 and the Bears have at least 4 picks inside 64. He can't get those wrong. DL, Edge, OL, and CB have to be priorities.

With Rodgers leaving the Division and handing the franchise over to Jordan Love, it feels like the division is up for grabs. Detroit is a decent but needed to win 2 meaningless games to finish 9-8. They still have Goff at QB and with his cap hit over $30M again, they didn't get much better. They do have some decent picks from the Stafford trade, but for free agency, it seems like they are just replacing their losses and not really upgrading there. I figure they will be in the 7-9 win range again. In Minnesota, they are basically just replacing their free agent losses, and don't have many draft picks. Right now they only have 5 picks, no 2nd rounder, and only 2 picks inside the top 100. So if anything they are going into 2023 slightly worse than they were in 2022. They were one of the weakest 13 win teams in NFL history and I think they will struggle to win 10 again. Green Bay is going to come down to how Love plays. Rodgers, when playing at his peak was arguably one of the best QBs of all time. I don't think Love is that, but he might end up as an average to above average starter. However, for GB, that would be a drop off at the most important position in the game. They had 8 wins with Rodgers and they are sort of cap restricted due to Rodgers this year, so with Love and the same team, they will be hard pressed to match those 8 wins again next year. They look like they are trending for 6-7 wins. This feels like every team is going to be within 1-2 wins of each other all season long and end up with a 10-win division winner with the other 3 teams with 7-9 wins.

is a DE, not a DT. He never played any 1st down DT, only passing downs moving a DE inside for pure pass rush. Good catch, cut and paste error.

The concern for any WR past 3 is they will have to play STs.

The Bears got 6 receptions total out of Griffin and Wesco last year. I have a feeling that Tonyan will get a lot more than that, even as TE2.

ESB is WR4 or WR5, I don't know how much of an impact guys like that have on the overall outcome of a game. A typical WR4 averages 1 catch per game. Even in the low-volume Bears passing offense from 2022, ESB still had 21 receptions with a 15.4 average. That is good enough for a WR4 or 5. I just went off speculation, but RT is still a need. The Bears technically have 3 guys that can play Center in Patrick, Whitehair, and Kramer; and Patrick and Whitehair can also play guard, so there is still some juggling to do.

Here is a few guys I would look into for the Bears: Ngakoue, DE Fleming, RT Ford, DT Gaines, DT Robinson, DT Ya-Sin, CB Griffin, CB

Based on last year's 53-man composition and using all the current players under contract. Here is what I came up with for positions, holes, needs, etc. Blue is a 53-man roster spot, red is a 53-man roster spot that could use an upgrade. Bold is new player. White is non-53 man roster, likely Practice Squad. I see 13 possible upgrades with 1 to 2 starters in need of an upgrade, CB and probably RT. After that the biggest needs are on the D-Line and actually LB corps after the top 3. By quantity, the Bears could upgrade 4 DL slots, 3 LB slots, 2 CB slots, 1 OL spot, 1 WR spot, 1 S spot, and 1 TE/FB slot. For the O-Line, the biggest need is deciding on what to do with the RT. If you keep Jones and Whitehair in place, plug Patrick back into C, add Davis to RG, it would seem like sliding Jenkins out to RT is the only option. Since that is undecided, I considered RT a need. However, outside of that, the rest of the offense is basically done. So it would be prudent if they addressed CB and RT before the draft, then they could go BPA to replace and upgrade by bumping current starters into backup rotational slots. In the draft, they need to go DL, CB, and OL to upgrade those starter spots with rookies, preferably a top DT and DE, CB, and OT.

running the ball for sure, Monty was a better blocker and pass catcher. Herbert needs to hit Mooney's JUGS machine 2x a day for 1000 catches.

With all the needs, especially in the trenches, I can't see going for gadget guys until at least the 5th. Being the shortest player ever at the combine scares me. Sproles was 5'6" but 190 lbs, Boston Scott is 5'6" but over 200 lbs. Vaughn is mid-170s.

The Bears still have the most cap space and probably $15-18M more to spend.

Down to: 1. DE - Ngakoue, Fowler, Green? 2. DT - (after signing Billings still need one more) - Ford, Robinson, Ioannidis, Gaines? 3. RT - (Borom is not it) - Isaiah Wynn, Donovan Smith, George Fant? 4. CB - (Vildor feels like the weakest link) - Rock Ya-Sin? 5. LB - (big drop off after top 3 LBs) - a lot of option for vet min deals here

The bold guys are the 53-man roster slots where the Bears can easily upgrade whether that is starter, rotational, or sub. They won't upgrade them all, but with 10 picks and several FA signings left, at least 6 draft picks with some additional FA and UDFA signings will push some of the bold guys off the roster or to the PS. For LT, it is probably Jones-Borom right now.

Thanks, I will need to get into the weeds a little more on exact position needs. Right now I just did position groups as I don't know exactly where everyone will lineup. However, RT looks like a upgrade need regardless of who they put there right now based off the current roster (Leatherwood, Borom, etc) with Reiff gone.

Yeah, so initially I went with actual roster losses (Monty, Evans, Blackson, Smith, etc) as holes. So technically at RT, the Bears don't have a hole, they just need an upgrade there. I just listed the need as OL right now, but it can definitely be RT. For Center, they have Patrick, Kramer, and Whitehair as options. With the addition of Davis, a true Guard, and Jenkins, I think they will go with the "best-5" in training camp with guys competing at multiple positions.

Moore, Foreman, and Walker all ex-Panthers. Should make for an easier transition for all of them. Trade updates: So Pick#1 for Pick #9, #61, 2024 1st, 2025 2nd, DJ Moore, D'onta Foreman, and PJ Walker?

So technically 3 "holes" left on the 53-man roster, 2x DL (1x DE, 1x DT), and 1 LB. Not bad for 4 days in. Poles can still also upgrade a few positions before the draft, OL, DL, LB and CB most notably.

Hmmmm 2022 Rushing Stats: Montgomery 201-801 yds, 4.0 YPC, 5 TD Foreman 203-914 yds, 4.5 YPC, 5 TD Tonyan an upgrade over any of the Bears backup TEs last year. Foreman a huge upgrade over Evans.

Foreman fills RB void.

TE hole filled with Tonyan.

Evans? I was just saying from a roster perspective, those are the actual holes and where is looks like upgrades are needed (bold).

There is the vet TE (Getsy special):