adam

Just going off lost snap counts, Walker and Billings replaced Watts and Blackson. Now the Bears still need a replacement for Muhammad at DE and Pennel.

I expect more of these 1 and 2 year deals for guys with some upside. Billings was one of the better DLinemen on the Raiders last year. As a rotational guy on mainly 1st and 2nd Down, he will eat up some space. Poles doing his research:

There have been very few backs in recent history to exceed their previous seasons totals after signing their 2nd contract when it is $5M or more. The track record is terrible. At most some guys like Henry did the first year, but then dropped off after that. It seems like in the 80s and 90s, mid-30s was the age to stop giving contracts to RBs, then it dropped to 30 in the 2000s, and it is really getting close to 5-6 years in the league is the new line. So 2nd contracts are becoming risky propositions for RBs. I find this somewhat interesting considering the league has transitioned to a more passing league, you would think that would give RBs a little longer peak career windows, but that doesn't look like the case.

PJ Walker fills this position perfectly and has history with Moore.

This is only the beginning of Year 2, still a lot of work to be done. Look at the 2019 draft, the Bears should have several key contributors from that class on the roster. They don't. So in order to fix deficits like that, it takes more than one year. The team has huge upgrades at WR and LB and ultimately only needs upgrades on the O-Line and D-Line going into the draft. My assumption is Robinson/Gipson will rotate on one Edge, leaving the other DE a need. For DTs, they still have Jones, and now Walker who can play both DT and DE. So there are probably 2 more needed here, I am assuming one more free agent and the rest of the DLine addressed in the draft (2 picks). For O-Line, they got Davis, so they probably only need one more, a RT (1 pick). After those 3 picks in the trenches, they can go RB, TE, and CB. They can get 4 of them in the top 64, and with another trade down potentially have 5 in the top 64. So if they can sign 2 more legit starters in FA, they have enough draft capital to address the other needs early in the draft. Needs priority (some free agents remaining): 1. DL x3 (a ton of holes here to address) - Ford, Robinson, Ioannidis, Gaines, Ngakoue? 2. RT - (Borom is not it) - Isaiah Wynn? - or go Center with McGovern? 3. CB (Vildor the weakest link) - Rock Ya-Sin? 4. RB (RBBC for Herbert/Homer) - Foreman? 5. TE (Compliment to Kmet) - Schultz, Moreau? What else is there to address?

The Jets are shooting themselves in the foot. They were not a QB away from a Super Bowl at 7-10 in arguably one of the toughest divisions with Buffalo, Miami, and New England. In 2023, they have to play KC, LAC, PHI, DAL and NYG while also playing improved teams in DEN and LVR. That is 13 tough games. Then they have WAS 8-8-1, CLE 7-10, ATL, and HOU. I know Zach Wilson was bad, but I don't know how much better Rodgers is going to be on a new team. In order to get Rodgers, the Jets are going to have to give up some draft capital which is going to hurt them when they need players after Rodgers ultimately retires to his dark space after this season. GB is screwed this year, they are going to eat $40M in dead cap with very little cap to resign players or sign anyone of value. So they are going to be at best the same team as last year, which is their ceiling. Then in 2024, that is Love's 5th year option year, so if they don't have the roster built properly, they are basically hosed in 2025 when they have to shed $40M+ to keep Love (if he is the guy). If Love is not the guy, the Packers can start the QB carousel like the rest of the league has over the last 30 years.

Poles knows Brown. He still has quite a bit to spend unless he is saving for extensions for guys like Kmet and Mooney. Just interesting that Brown got less than McGlinchey and Taylor.

PJ Walker new backup QB? Much closer to Fields than Siemian.

OT for $16M AAV. Great signing for Cincy.

Since Poles took over, this is what he has done to address the trenches with substantial resources (over $5M AAV or a draft pick in the first 3 rounds): OL: Nate Davis - 2023 FA ($10M AAV) No draft pick in the first 3 rounds DL: Justin Jones - 2022 FA ($6M AAV) DeMarcus Walker - 2023 FA ($7M AAV) No draft pick in the first 3 rounds He has 4 picks in the top 3 rounds, and it would seem like at least 3 need to go to the OL/DL. Thoughts?

that's a funny one.

If he was worth way more than $6M, he would not have signed with Detroit for only $6M. That was his market and may have been the highest bidder. He is a workhorse, but not dynamic enough. Clearly Poles wanted an upgrade there, otherwise Monty would've been signed. The Bears had the money. There are a lot of things to consider. Performance and longevity. RBs do not last long in this league. How do you feel about Jordan Howard? He had a 4.3 YPC when the Bears traded him after 2018, then ultimately drafted Monty that year to replace him. Howard spent 1 1/2 years with Philly then got traded to Miami. Signed back with Philly in his 6th year, then went to NO in his 7th year (age 28), had 1 rush for 1 yard and hasn't played since. He left the Bears with 3370 rushing yards and cumulatively did not hit 1000 yards over his next 4 seasons combined.

Dallas is cutting Elliott, wow.

Edmunds with Edwards with Sanborn is such a solid LB corps. They compliment each other very well and are going to make each other better. They can all play the Mike too, which allows them to easily rotate guys in and out to keep them fresh.

Me too lol, I am like 0 for 20. I was not expecting Denver to be so busy in free agency, but I guess they need to get all they can out of Wilson and those WRs.

Though he got some tough yards, he was a terribly inefficient RB. A career 3.9 YPC, which annually put him between 30th-40th for RBs. Great person, teammate, etc, but just not someone you would want to invest in due to where the Bears are at in team building. I never understand his head juke thing he did EVERYTIME he got the ball outside of the tackles. It looked almost like a nervous tick, and more than half of the time it allowed the defender to close on him, compared to if he just hit the hole or when north and south immediately. Now he joins Swift up in Detroit, so I don't know if he will see as many touches there than he did in Chicago as the lead back. That will be something to watch.

McGary gone, but Seumalo still available.

So the top FAs left: 1. Orlando Brown, OT 2. Isaac Seumalo, OG 3. Dalton Schultz, TE 4. Rock Ya-Sin, CB 5. Byron Murphy, CB 6. Arden Key, DE/Edge 7. Yannick Ngakoue, DE 8. Will Hernandez, OG 9. Miles Sanders, RB 10. David Montgomery, RB 11. Dalton Risner, OG 12. Chris Wormley, DL 13. Charles Murphy-Bunting, CB 14. Charles Omenihu, DE 15. Mike Gesicki, TE 16. Matthew Ioannididis, DL 17. Greg Gaines, DT 18. Poona Ford, DL 19. Hayden Hurst, TE 20. Sheldon Rankins, DT Honorable Mentions: Jamaal Williams, RB; A'Shawn Robinson, DT, Samson Ebukam, DE

Skoronski, AA, several names from NW I could see.

McGary signs back with ATL:

Panthers have their QB1

Ogunjobi goes back to PIT, 3/28.75M Gilmore traded from IND to DAL. Feels like Indy is going into full tank mode. They signed a kicker to a huge deal though. How is Ballard not fired yet?

Brendel and Bradbury are signed for the Center market. Waller traded to the Giants for a 3rd rounder (so essentially they traded Toney for Waller). Waller was really good in 2020, but had 28-388yds in 2022 in 9 games. He goes from Carr to Jones. So for QB play, about equal, maybe slightly worse from a passing perspective.

If the Bears are done, so is the rest of the league. If the Bears have the most cap space, and still need to get to the "floor" they still need to sign at least 2 more higher end guys.

I still think we are have at least 2 of the top 50 FAs left to sign and probably a 3rd one that is mid-tier, all in the trenches.