adam

I would be ok with 4-5M, but $8M is crazy money for a bad TE on the decline. I would rather have Delanie Walker for that price.

Watson has thrown half of his completions to Hopkins. His production is going to take a huge hit. I can see more INTs and less yards/TDs. I am still shocked that the Texans did that. ARZ is going to have a crazy passing attack.

The only thing that saves us is this does not count against comp picks since he was cut. So we would still get comp for Kwit, maybe Prince and Gabriel.

Right now it is a 5th rounder.

The more I think about this, the worse it gets. What a terrible move by Pace. This is a desperation move IMO. $8M for a middle of the road TE on the backend of his career. What a head scratcher. I would've said this for $5M. $8M is a crazy over pay for this production. Ebron won't even get that much. Terrible move.

Wow, shocked at this one. I didn't think he fit the mold they were looking for. A good pass catcher, but so-so blocker. Seems like an overpay after what Burton makes. $8M AAV for a soon to be 34 yr old TE? Hooper got $11M a year for 4 years. We save 3M but get a much older TE. Odd move for me.

It looks like Trevathan's cap hit for 2020 will only be $4,893,750 as they used 3 phantom years at the end of the contract (actually a 6-year deal) to spread the signing bonus out over 6 years vs 3. So they added some dead money to the cap in 2023, 2024, and 2025, but it makes his contract very reasonable for 2020-2022. So if HHCD does sign for around $5M, then the Bears could have about 20M for free agency.

Absolutely, but it may not happen until the draft. Either way, exciting news nonetheless.

Man, if they sign Bridgewater and he has a cap hit of $10M this year (5M base, 5M signing bonus), then 25/25 the next 2 years, it could work.

They traded Hopkins for David Johnson, OMG. Seriously are they nuts or what?

If it is indeed $21M, then Floyd, Shaheen, and Braunecker are gone. I would assume Burton and Leno are June 1st cuts as well. Hell they may even trade Trubisky at this point. Things are about to get interesting.

Now this:

Holy crap: I will be shocked if this happens. This definitely means Floyd, Shaheen, and Braunecker are gone.

Spotrac is correct. 2020 is Jackson's 4th year, they extended him 4 more years, so the only thing that gets applied to the 2020 cap is the pro-rated signing bonus of $12M. They have him listed at $3.7M cap hit for 2020 which is correct based on what I have read. Trevathan got 3/24 with 14 guaranteed. So I assume the guaranteed money is this year's salary and the signing bonus. So my assumption is he has 3 years at a $4M base, with a $10M signing bonus ($14M guaranteed), so his cap hit this year will be no more than $7.3M which is basically in line with his cap hit for the last two years. If we use the $3.7M for Jackson, $7.3M for Trevathan, and $3.4M for RRH, and then assume Floyd, Shaheen, and Braunecker are gone, we should have $17.8M available for free agency and the rookie pool. $17.8M - Available 1. My assumption is they will also extend ARob, lowering his cap hit in 2020 from $15M to about $10M, and converting some of Hicks salary to a bonus which would bring his cap hit down from $11.8M to about $8M. Between those two moves, the Bears could free up around $9M for 2020. $27M - Available 2. HHCD signs for $5M cap hit $22M - Available 3. Bears need to address RG, backup QB, TE2, WR3 on offense and Edge and CB on defense. With only 2 picks in the first 3 rounds, the cost of the rookie pool won't be that high this year, so figure $4M, that leaves $18M. My assumption is the Bears address 3 of those needs in the draft and 3 in free agency. $18M - Available 4. Bears use cap space to address 3-4 needs and depth. My assumption is the free agents will be brought in with cap hits between $1M-$5M. I don't think they will bring in anyone higher than that based on the need to get some quality depth.

I got it, I am just saying if they are going for a free agent, then with this market, there is no way the Bears can afford anyone above someone like Keenum. So a Dalton trade may be what happens since the price is controlled.

With Trevathan back in the fold, RRH tendered, and potentially HHCD resigned (rumor based on Tweet), that would only leave one starting spot left to fill on the defense before free agency (CB). If they let Floyd go, that makes two spots (Edge+CB). On offense, we would have a hole at RG, and upgrades needed at TE and WR3 (Speed). That's not a huge list to fill. If they can at least address one of the starter needs in free agency, that would leave the 2x 2nd rounders to plug starters in the holes: Starters Needed: 1. Edge 2. CB 3. RG Upgrades Needed: 1. TE (draft) 2. WR3 (draft) 3. Backup QB (free agency) With the new CBA signed, the 2020 cap is at $198.1M for 2020. They expect it to go up considerably in 2021 based on the percentage of the overall revenue that can go to player salaries. So expect some contracts to be backloaded this year to take advantage of that bump a year early. I can see the Bears extending and modifying some current contracts to free up more cap space for 2020.

I think it is a good decision as he will only get better and if another team wants him, they will have to pay him AND give us a 2nd round pick.

Huge payday and obviously way out of the Bears league in terms of cap space. I bet the Bears settle on someone like Keenum.

Great move, addressing a hole in the defense before FA even starts. Hopefully for a team friendly deal. Looks like Kwit played himself off the team. It will be interesting to see if the Bears end up getting a comp pick for him in a year.

I was a little off on the numbers from the initial report of comp picks. After researching a little more I am getting some conflicting information, some sites say we are getting a 7th from LV and others are saying we are getting a 5th. If it is a 5th, we look like this: 2nd 43 (LV) 50 4th 140 (Comp) 5th 159 (LV) >>>>OR>>>>226 163 6th 196 200 (PHI) 7th 226 (LV) >>>>OR>>>>159 233 The discrepancy is pretty big as #159 is a lot more valuable than pick# 226. There are no specific reports, just ones like this stating we will have 2x 7ths:

There are a few decent FA options with a lot more production than Floyd. Shaq Barrett (TB), Bud Dupree (PIT) and Markus Golden (NYG) are a few Edge Rushers making $4M per year now who are set to get raises, but blew away Floyd in terms of production. If you are going to give up $13M, are you going to give it to Floyd, or one of them? Barrett led the NFL with 19.5, Dupree had 11.5 (T-9) and Golden had 10 (T-15). All 3 would have led the Bears in sacks. Barrett had more sacks than Mack, Floyd, Lynch, and Irving combined. Dupree seems like he would be the best value, I would curious to see if he could be picked up for less than what Floyd would get.

2nd highest 4th round comp pick, not bad. Projections had us a few slots lower. So we have picks 43, 50, 140, 163, 196, 200, 226, and 233.

Looks like Floyd might be gone, it will be an interesting decision and will certainly impact other decisions:

Good catch, wrong link. Old list. Here is his 56-75. 56. Jalen Reagor, WR, TCU 57. Stanford Samuels III, CB, Florida State 58. Cameron Dantzler, CB, Mississippi State 59. Jordyn Brooks, LB, Texas Tech 60. Josh Uche, EDGE, Michigan 61. Raekwon Davis, IDL, Alabama 62. Jordan Elliott, IDL, Missouri 63. Neville Gallimore, IDL, Oklahoma 64. Justin Madubuike, IDL, Texas A&M 65. Julian Okwara, EDGE, Notre Dame 66. Malik Harrison, LB, Ohio State 67. Darrell Taylor, EDGE, Tennessee 68. Matt Hennessy, IOL, Temple 69. Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor 70. Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State 71. Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas 72. Michael Pittman Jr., WR, USC 73. Brycen Hopkins, TE, Purdue 74. Ashtyn Davis, S, California 75. Trevon Hill, EDGE, Miami

I am sure it's his hands of stone. However, you would think with his top gear that they would do it from time to time just to keep the safeties honest.