adam

Happy New Years all, let's ring in the new year with a new GM and coaching staff.

I like the overall combination of positions, but I just can't see us taking back to back safeties in the first two rounds and starting two rookies back there. I would almost rather get one of them two and bring in a free agent to compliment with some experience. The top two picks almost certainly have to be defensive. I like Grasu in the 3rd, but I wouldn't take Everett. He has been burned a lot this year and some have considered shifting him to Safety. I love Ryan in the 5th (probably there due to ACL injury), and Anderson in the 6th is nice, coming from a winning program.

Apparently Marrone asked for an extension and was told no, so he opted out (and gets to keep $4 mil), wow: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/550429987732750336 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2308254...ts-and-reaction This just adds another team to the HC hunt, unless he decides to go to one of the other teams, then it would be a wash.

Kinda odd since he already turned down the job in 2012.

Looking at some early mocks, it seems that the consensus is that Mariota, Williams, Cooper, Gregory, and Winston will all be gone in the top 6, leaving only one other player drafted before we pick, probably from the group of: (Beasley, Ray, Scherff, Collins, Fowler, Thompson, Parker).

but I guess Mel Tucker gets the final interview and decision.

I hope so, he would be a great hire. I listen to him all the time on NFL Radio, and he is spot on every time with his assessments. I just hope they move fast because other teams are getting interviews, and I hate to lose time and prospective candidates for GM and HC. The SF job is pretty nice position, and with OAK, NYJ, and ATL open. We might be one of the worst destinations (due to the dysfunction of the organization). Could be seen as a good thing (only one place to go but up), or a bad thing (train wreck impossible to fix in 3 yrs).

What also is confusing is that other reports had said that the new coaching candidates were informed that Marinelli was part of the deal to have him not on the team anyway is baffling. Seems like not much has changed since the McGinnis non-hiring (who ended up going 17-40 with the Cards, lol).

I don't know if this was mentioned elsewhere, but I like the idea of getting as much professional assistance as possible. This looks promising, and since this panel was just formed, we obviously did not use it last time. http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post...or-new-gm-coach

Probably a joke from Emery on the way out.

Absolutely, but it doesn't sound like Marinelli was just sitting in the room when Emery was doing the interviews. It sounds like Emery narrowed down the final candidates to then have Marinelli provide his input, and then not use it, which is the odd part for me. Why do a final interview using Marinelli only to choose the one candidate that Marinelli didn't like?

Who is asking permission, and how are they doing this without a GM? https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/550042898096336896

This is from the Mullin article, it clearly states that Emery had Marinelli interview the three finalists: http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-make...e-gm-phil-emery

Those picks are sickening to look at. Especially the 2nd and 3rd rounders. For the GM pick, I hope it is done soon too because this is the time where non playoff teams get the edge in off season prep. We are losing valuable time.

I know this has been discussed before, but may be news to some: http://www.sbnation.com/2014/12/30/7467853...li-bruce-arians Basically Marinelli was in charge of interviewing new HCs, Arians was first choice, Bevell 2nd, and Trestman a distant 3rd. Emery went against Rod's recommendation and the rest is history.

Tucker is gone, they just didn't even want to acknowledge his existence, and DeCamilis is also gone. Those two alone were additions by subtraction. With Accorsi on board to at least find a competent GM, we are already better off heading into the off season. We also go into 2015 in a better cap situation than this year with the 10th biggest cap space available (and potential for more if we do some cutting/trading). If we somehow trade Cutler with no cap hit, we would move to the 2nd biggest available cap (only less than OAK). Either way, we are in a pretty good position cap-wise as well. Then you add the #7 and #39 picks, with the draft in Chicago, and we are really setting ourselves up for an exciting off season.

Did Kromer have another position on the staff other than OC that would warrant his own announcement like Asst. HC?

If the money is a roster bonus then it would be dead money for that year if we cut him. So with 12.5 in dead money he is a Bear in 2015.

Houston would be a 3.9 in dead money, and SMC would be 1.9. The others are not under contract for 2015. Paea is a UFA and should be brought back.

https://twitter.com/dan_bernstein/status/54...0221842432?s=01

Welcome back man.

This is huge. The entire football operations side has been cleaned out from top to bottom and we have the 7th pick with the draft in Chicago.

1. TB 2-14 2. TEN 2-14 3. JAX 2-14 4. OAK 3-13 5. WAS 4-12 6. NYJ 4-12 7. CHI 5-11 8. ATL 6-10 9. NYG 6-10 10. STL 6-10 So we get the 7th, 39th, 71st, and 103rd picks in the first 4 rounds before adding in the supplemental picks.

No it was actually confirmed by Albert Breer.

Great news, and Harbaugh is going to Michigan.