adam

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000047...in-negotiations So unless we draft a QB, all signs point to Cutler in 2015.

Cute for a chink?

I really think they are going to target players they are familiar with first (since there would be less of a need for any type of analysis on the player), so DEN, SF, and NO players that fit needs will be obvious choices. I really don't think we will do too much on the offense side of the ball this offseason, at least in free agency. Maybe someone like Mark Ingram at RB, or Eddie Royal at WR. I could see Iupati or Franklin brought in too. I would pass on Hillis, and Julius Thomas is going to command too much money for our blood. Same with Torrey Smith and Randall Cobb. Jacoby Jones could still be useful if he came cheap.

Surprised not to see any Wonderlic score leaks or at least I must of missed them. The only thing I saw was that Gregory scored very high.

Shelton is sticking on a lot of post combine Mocks: Shelton - SI.com - http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/23/2015-nfl-...-bay-buccaneers Shelton - Yahoo Sports - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown...-155706803.html Shelton - CBS Sports - http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/pat-ki...to-land-mariota

I would be content with Beasley, Gregory, or even Dupree. Ray will be back into consideration after his pro day (as long as he looks good).

https://twitter.com/JimmyKempski/status/568...0357632/photo/1 Pretty cool, 49ers and Rams would be killing it. Fuller, Long, McClellin, Carimi vs Williams, Floyd, Eifert, Jernigan

With how well Beasley, Fowler, and Dupree performed, it would be hard to pass on one of them for Shelton. They all had great seasons and the OLB/DE's backed it up with great combines. Shelton definitely dropped out of the top 10. I know the combine isn't everything and some players are just better football players than metric testers, but the combine has to be at least taken into consideration when evaluating players.

That was a disappointing 40, I wasn't expecting sub 5.00, but 5.66 is really slow (2nd slowest so far this year). I am leaning towards Beasley right now at 7 (if he is there).

Beasley just became a top 5 pick. No way he falls to us after that performance. Dupree also impressing with an unofficial 4.57, longest broad jump at 138 and 42 vertical.

Teams do it all the time, though I am just hoping for an improved competitive team, even if that ends up with us at 7-9 or 8-8. The schedule this year does not bode well for us. However, I see us winning 10+ in 2016, just based on the schedule alone. We get the NFC East and AFC South, and the team that finishes in the same position from the NFC West and South. That is a much lighter schedule, and it will be the 2nd year of the new regime.

Comments out of the Forte camp: Trying to get public opinion on his side if he goes? Why even respond to things like this? They happen all the time.

We also bring in a ton of free agents to use up the cap space with upgrades all around: David Harris, ILB Pernell McPhee, OLB Brandon Flowers, CB Chris Culliver, CB Rahim Moore, S Eddie Royal, WR Mark Ingram, RB Mike Iupati, G btw, I wouldn't change a pick on Jason's draft, that would be ridiculous.

QFT. Thanks for the info. I can see them making that decision just based on locker room harmony and cohesion.

So if a team signs him to a 1-year $14 million deal, his 2015 and 2016 salaries are guaranteed (after March 12th) and both salaries are counted against our cap? Cutler gets basically over $30 million from the Bears over 2 years and $14 million from the new team (for one year). The Bears are hit with a ridiculous cap hit for two years, and he can sign a new long term deal the next year (which would honestly be better for him after how bad 2014 was). Like playing on the franchise tag. It is actually in Cutler's and the new team's best interest if he does sign a low ball offer for one to two years, which would give him actually more money (Bears+new team), it would allow his new team to sign other players with the cap space, and it would make his contract less of a liability for the new team. I could easily see a 1 year $14.9 million deal or $7.49 million per year for two years. The two year deal, even though less lucrative would at least give him some job security and still pay him almost $45 million over two years. If the Bears are keeping Cutler, they need to convert his 2015 salary into a pro-rated bonus, which would average the cap hit out thru 2019, and free up a lot of cap space this year. If they are cutting ties, they have to cut him by March 12th or trade him.

Not really a shocker to me, I just don't think he is that low. I would say in the 10-15 range based on last year's stats alone. If you consider the offense, team, and circumstances, then he easily jumps into the 5-10 range. The offense was completely dysfunctional, he was the outlet on over 100 of Cutler's throws and the team never really established the running game. So looking at the efficiency of the numbers, it is easy to see why they had him outside the top 20. Besides the receptions, Forte had his worst rushing year since 2009. He was 27th for RB's with a 3.9 YPC (over 100 carries) and had only 1 rush more than 20 yards. Cutler had 3. According to FBO, he was 18th in DVOA (http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/rb), which measures the value per play. Mark Ingram had a 4.3 YPC, was 14th in DVOA, and had 5 rushes longer than 20 yards. It is funny because a lot of the media was high on Rashad Jennings (NYG), yet he only had a 3.8 YPC and 1x 100 yard game. Chris Johnson is supposedly washed up, yet he had 4.3 YPC, and 4 rushes longer than 20 yards. Interestingly, Bilal Powell had 4.3 YPC, and Chris Ivory had 4.1 YPC, all from the same team. However, in the end, I am not against letting him go at his current price tag. Especially if we can get comparable performance while adding other pieces to improve the team for the same cap hit.

So no one finds it odd/interesting that our GM and HC eat breakfast with a free agent QB (and say nice things about him during presser) then are completely non-committal about Cutler who is under contract? I just smell a trade coming.

Woo hoo more cap space:

It seems like these are the scenarios: 1. Just visiting Indy to meet with various teams and linked up with Fox due to history in Carolina, but nothing related to signing with Bears 2. Visit was with the intent on signing with Bears as backup to Cutler 3. Visit was with the intent on signing with Bears as the starter, with Cutler being traded 4. Visit was with the intent on signing with Bears as starter/backup, with Cutler traded, and Bears drafting QB in first two rounds

McCown could be in town to visit with multiple teams, but the connection with Fox makes this interesting. Would he be brought in as a backup, or is this to ultimately replace Cutler?

There were still options for Gase after SF hired Tomsula. He had just interviewed with Denver for HC, and was basically locked in as the Ravens OC or Jags OC (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000460754/article/adam-gase-expected-to-land-with-jaguars-or-ravens). We were not even in play. There were also rumors of him linked to CLE, BUF, NYJ, and ATL. Fangio was a little different as it was down to us and Washington, but he became available a lot later than other candidates. I am sure he would've had a lot more offers if he was available from late December like the others. Even if it was just the "Fox-effect" it is nice to see us get true quality hires at HC and the coordinators. Have we ever had such an accomplished coaching staff in the organization? Ditka/Ryan from 84-85? Other than that, I don't think we have had a trio like this before.

Also, based on both of their squad's performances (Gase offense, Fangio defense), it would be hard for me to believe they would take a bottom of the barrel job just to have one with so many other options available for both coordinators. They had to see something they liked. The offense played way lower than expectations and if Gase can get us back to a top 10 offense, he will look like a genius, even if he just rights the ship and gets everyone playing to their potential. Fangio has more work to do, but if he can bring one of the worst defenses back to respectability, he will be the new "defense whisperer". I also thought this was eerily similar to the Marinelli thing with Emery during the Trestman hire, when we passed on Arians and McCoy. Now SF has taken that to a new low by not even getting a new coach put elevating a positional coach (not even a Coordinator) to HC.

Here are the times when our guys will be speaking to the media if anyone is interested: Wednesday, Feb 18th: 1100: John Fox 1230: Ryan Pace * all times EST

Any interest in either of these guys in the slot? KC is the new "where WR's go to die". So it is hard to give an honest assessment due to how bad they have been at WR. Avery is quicker but older. Jenkins was great at U of I, but has been essentially a draft bust. http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article-2/Chi...16-4a5576c5b526

It looks like Gase was offered the SF HC job, but only if Tomsula was his DC. He said no, and would keep Fangio or look to get an Assistant from Cincinnati. SF said no to Gase and Fangio and then pushed Tomsula up from DLine to HC.