adam

Now that was mid-December, so thing have changed since then.

Just tax the hell out of them. Make some type of entertainment luxury tax once they hit a certain number. Then lower the taxes for everyone else.

I would just Franchise him if he does not accept the offer. It would at least give the Bears one more year to fix the position. If the Bears Franchise Berrian and sign Booker, the WR corps will at least be solid for 2008. Also, if Davis or Bradley step up the corps could actually surprise in 2008.

Here is the projected Cap spaces from Askthecommish.com: http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp They have the Bears with $19.8 available from mid-December. Also, what I like about their chart is it lists the number of players the team has signed, which is actually a pretty significant factor. It looks like the numbers you posted are fairly accurate.

Does Booker want to be a 3rd or 4th option?

That draft looks pretty brutal compared to 2006. However, the Bears didn't really have any glaring needs in that draft. Even TE wasn't a critical need. That being said, there should've been at least one productive player.

Here is a projection from December: http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/numbers.asp The one thing to notice is the Bears actually had the most players under contract (52-tied with ATL). So the actual salary numbers are a little misleading if you don't take the total players signed into account.

He asked where to spend the money, so I listed some choices. It is highly unlikely that we would be able to execute them all without other cuts (Griese, Arch, etc). However, depending on how things are structured, it is not impossible that all of these could happen, but definitely unlikely.

No, because it is broken down by year. The actual salary and a portion of the signing bonus is what is counted each year. LT2 breaks it down pretty good, and there is also some good info here: http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/faq.asp

Re-sign Berrian, Briggs, and Grossman. Sign an FA OL. Extend Hester. Sign Booker. Sign Hamlin. LT2

They are probably hanging onto Arch until Brown is fully cleared. They made the mistake of getting rid of some guys (Harris) last year and paid the price. He might be kept on as a Special Teamer and for depth at Safety. Lovie probably wants to give him one more shot.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2008/02/rt...eased.html#more Next?

Why would the Broncos want Benson when they can basically turn any runner into a 1,000 yard back?

Yeah, it is definitely going to be 2 of those 3. Either way, nice to see the Bears being proactive.

This has to be a precursor to a Booker signing.

Nice to lock Alex up for a couple more years.

Absolutely. If we do that, go for it. Mendenhall is a stud.

Mendenhall, Brohm, or Phillips would be the only players I would consider at #14 if I was not selecting OL. So I would not mind that pick. It gives Benson some real competition, and gives us a legit back for the next 5 years. The only issue I see with that scenario would be not drafting an OL until the 3rd. I guess FA will determine some of these possibilities.

Yep, the 1st 2 rounds are on Day 1, and the rest are on Day 2. Round 1 is now 10 minutes per pick (previously 15) Round 2 is now 7 minutes per pick (previously 10) Rounds 3-7 are 5 minutes per pick. The first day will go by so much faster. I remember watching the marathon last year thinking that they were purposely delaying picks to get the commercials in. It seemed like every pick used the max amount of time. Now Day 1 will be much quicker, so less Berman and Kiper.

I never looked at it that way, but if you take that perspective into your search, you will seriously handicap yourself. Jones mediocre? He had almost 1,400 all-purpose yards. A 90% Faneca is still better than most of the guys on our line at 100%.

Here is the problem with Arch: http://www.arch31.com/ He has a website that shows pictures of him on the Rams? Arch had one good year in STL and has been riding it since. He just turned 30, so he should not be declining yet.

The only way I see us getting another 2nd rounder is if we traded down in the 1st, which is possible. However, I wouldn't like using a 2nd on a DT. I understand the concerns with injuries, but with the way some of those guys came on late in the season (Toeaina and Kennedy), the position looks pretty good. My favorite scenario is OL, QB, and WR taken in the first 3 picks (any order). I wouldn't mind Safety either, but some of this might shake itself out prior to the draft.

How are we hypocrites? That makes absolutely zero sense. This situation is not like the others. The NFL has footage of this all the way back to 2000 (unless the Commish destroyed it). This is not a theory or some rumor to make them look bad. This was something they actually did, knowingly. All teams have footage of the games, but taping the "supposedly" closed workouts is just flat out wrong. Just think of the advantage a team has if they basically know what the defense is going to do on every play.

Yeah, I think the Bears realize this now after getting rid of Harris last year.

The draft. I enjoy the coverage, and the new format should speed things up.