adam

I know, but between him and Shaheen, we are super fragile at TE now. We really can't afford to lose many games from either of them. Burton has the 6th highest cap hit on the team this year. Some tough decisions looming after this season and this makes those decisions a lot tougher. I am just hoping this is something minor, unrelated to his surgery, and that he makes a speedy recovery. Why does it matter what I said about Trubisky? He was cheap-shotted on a dirty hit and came back two weeks later. Zero impact to the offseason or this season. Which is more in line with what you would expect from injury recovery. So I don't know exactly where you were going with that one. Now back to the game....this is LaFleur's first game as a HC, and his offenses weren't all that great, so it will be interesting to see how GB looks. On defense, some media pundits actually said GB's defense might end up better than ours (which is laughable) this year. Also, I am surprised at how many national media picks are taking the Packers. It's funny how losing Fangio, Amos, and Callahan are far worse than all the upgrades we have made everywhere else. Either way, it's almost go time. I can't wait for game time.

Availability is your best ability. It's just like Long, if he can't stay healthy, the Bears aren't going re-sign him beyond his current contract. I am hoping he does, and they can lock him up, but if he can't get on the field, you have to count on someone else. Same goes for Shaheen. It just sucks that after an entire offseason for a hernia/groin surgery that issues are still present in September.

Interesting stat line: Packers vs. Bears Betting Trends Green Bay Packers are 4-5-1 ATS in the last 10 games Chicago Bears are 9-1 ATS in the last 10 games I did not realize the Bears were 9-1 Against the Spread in their last 10 games. That is insanely good. They will have to win by 4+ to make it 10-1. I say they do.

I really hope it is not that close, but that would be sweet.

The only silver lining is that the offense prepared this offseason without him. There is no way Nagy installed a game plan without Burton practicing and getting reps. So I assume this is evidence of that now. The Bears can let him sit and now GB has no clue what we are going to do on offense as the last productive tape outside of the 2nd half of the Philly game included Burton.

Trey Burton again, this guy needs to go. Too unreliable to count on for a SB caliber team:

I am so glad he is gone. He was a waste of a roster spot.

As long as they start to calls some holds against Mack. He gets mugged every play and only gets a call about 25% of the time.

Lock em' up! The entire O-Line locked up thru the end of next year (Long has club option for 2020), Daniels thru 2021, and Massie/Leno thru 2022. This will be a cheap deal by the time Daniels needs new money.

Here ya go: I am glad to see Vaughters, Horsted, Bars, Ives, Denmark, and Nall.

Very few starters in the entire league put in much time during the preseason, so I wouldn't knock the Bears for that. Also, you have to remember how Robinson looked at the end of the last year, he will be better this year. Miller with one arm? He now has two. Shaheen is 100%, Long is 100%. Then to top that off, we replaced Howard with Montgomery, Cunningham with Davis, Mizzell with Whyte, Bellamy with Ridley, and White with Patterson. All of those are upgrades and Wims to boot. New coach calling the plays, new terminology, regardless of the QB, there is a learning curve. Maybe not for Rodgers, but all the other players have to learn it too. GB is not a bad team, but they are nowhere near the level they were at, even just a few years ago. They will need a Rodgers miracle to even have a chance to win.

This is a good way to look at how much the offense has improved in one offseason: Patterson replaced Kevin White Riley Ridley replaced Josh Bellamy Montgomery replaced Jordan Howard Davis replaced Benny Cunningham Kerrith Whyte Jr. replaced Taquan Mizzell https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/bears/five-takeaways-bears-53-man-roster-which-good-enough-win-super-bowl-jonathan-bullard-eddy-pineiro-bradley-sowell

Here is the 53-man roster: Quarterback (2) -- Mitchell Trubisky, Chase Daniel Running back (4) -- David Montgomery, Tarik Cohen, Mike Davis, Kerrith Whyte Jr. Wide receiver (6) -- Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Cordarrelle Patterson, Riley Ridley, Javon Wims Tight end (4) -- Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, Ben Braunecker, Bradley Sowell Offensive line (8) -- Charles Leno Jr., Cody Whitehair, James Daniels, Kyle Long, Bobby Massie, Ted Larsen, Rashaad Coward, Cornellius Lucas Defensive line (6) -- Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, Nick Williams, Abdullah Anderson Outside linebacker (4) -- Khalil Mack, Leonard Floyd, Aaron Lynch, Isaiah Irving Inside Linebacker (6) -- Danny Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Nick Kwiatkoski, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Josh Woods, Kevin Pierre-Louis Cornerback (5) -- Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Buster Skrine, Kevin Toliver II, Duke Shelley Safety (5) -- Eddie Jackson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Deon Bush, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Sherrick McManis Special teams (3) -- Eddy Pineiro, Pat O'Donnell, Patrick Scales Interesting that they only kept 24 on offense and 26 on defense. Alex Bars looks like the odd man out. Surprised they went with only 4x OLB's considering Floyd's and Lynch's injury histories. I really thought James Vaughters had a chance and hope he and Bars make it to the PS.

Absolutely, another way to look at it is that our roster is getting so much better top to bottom that we can afford to let a subpar draft pick go. Bullard was penciled in as a borderline starter a few years ago and can't crack the 53 this year. That shows how deep this team really is.

It's here! 5 days from kickoff. Who's pumped up? This is the most excited I have been for a season to start in a long time. This team has one of the best rosters and coaching staffs in the NFL. We have guys fully healthy (Robinson, Miller, Long, Floyd, Shaheen), with up and coming stars (Smith, RRH, Nichols) and fresh blood (Montgomery) to go with a stacked roster of Pro Bowlers. I can't see the Bears losing this one. GB and Rodgers in a new system while the Bears are in Year#2 with Nagy and Co. Montgomery is going to shine. Bears have too many weapons on offense and beasts on defense. The Bears are only favored by 3, which means Vegas sees these as even teams. Talk about disrespect. Let's show Merica who we are with a Cheesehead beat down! Bears 34-13

The Bears need to cut at least 37 players to get to 53. Here is an updated list I will keep as current as possible throughout the next few days: Bears’ cut list (24): QB Tyler Bray RB Ryan Nall RB Josh Caldwell WR Tanner Gentry WR Marvin Hall WR Jordan Williams-Lambert WR Thomas Ives TE Ian Bunting TE Jesper Horsted OL Marquez Tucker OL Joe Lowery LS John Wirtel DE Jonathan Bullard NT Daryle Banfield DE Jalen Dalton DL Jonathan Harris ILB Jameer Thurman OLB Matt Betts OLB Chuck Harris OLB Kylie Fitts CB Doyin Jibowu CB Clifton Duck CB John Franklin III CB Stephen Denmark

Here is an update after Kam's input: TB Keepers (19 - Overall): 1. Pepe - Jeffery (7th-61), Edelman (9th-81) 2. El Dragon - Ryan (8th-79) 3. Run dem Pockets - Cooks (5th-43), Lockett (11th-103) 4. The Bunny - Golladay (11th-104), Chubb (12th-117) 5. The Mad Lithuanians - CHI (10th-96), Zuerlein (14th-136) 6. Nopper - Woods (7th-66), Ridley (12th-115) 7. PapaBear - Michel (8th-74), Jones (15th-147) 8. Cali Bears - Smith-Schuster (2nd-13), Trubisky (8th-73) 9. Domination Inc - Hill (2nd-12), Sutton (14th-132) 10. SUPERBEARSSUPERBOWL! - Mahomes (10th-91), Conner (13th-130) Draft choices used on keepers (by round): 1. 2. 12 (Hill), 13 (Smith-Schuster) 3. 4. 5. 43 (Cooks) 6. 7. 61 (Jeffery), 66 (Woods) 8. 73 (Trubisky), 74 (Michel), 79 (Ryan) 9. 81 (Edelman) 10. 91 (Mahomes), 96 (CHI) 11. 103 (Lockett), 104 (Golladay) 12. 115 (Ridley), 117 (Chubb) 13. 130 (Conner) 14. 132 (Sutton), 136 (Zuerlein) 15. 147 (Jones) 16. Keepers by position: QB (3): Trubisky, Ryan, Mahomes RB (4): Chubb, Conner, Michel, Jones WR (10): Hill, Smith-Schuster, Cooks, Jeffery, Woods, Edelman, Lockett, Golladay, Ridley, Sutton TE (0): DEF (1): CHI K (1): Zuerlein

Lol, that's what I thought. I didn't think that made much sense. Whitehair seems like the obvious one they are trying to lock up.

Per our league Message Board, it looks like we are locked in for our draft: 8 pm Central Time - Tuesday September 2nd

Where did you hear this? Haven't seen any reports.

I would be shocked if Shaheen doesn't make the roster. I think Whyte and Nall have a shot because they both are ST'ers. Whyte can return kicks and is an upgrade over Mizzell/Cunningham. Nall is also a good STer and pass blocker and catcher, so you don't lose much when he is on the field. Whyte replaces Mizzell and Nall replaces Cunningham.

Miller will be fine. I am not concerned with him as the injuries were completely unrelated (upper vs lower body). He just rolled an ankle which will happen. At least he gets a few weeks to get it to 100%. I am more worried about Shaheen. We don't even need that much production from Shaheen, his sheer presence on the field creates mismatches all over.