adam

Make it 2 position coaches per prospect game, Justin Hinds will coach the DL for the American squad. So we have trench position coaches on both teams, gotta love it!

Jim Dray will be at the Senior Bowl as an OL Coach, so even if the Bears don't bring on Terrell Williams as DC, they will still have a coach at the Senior Bowl. Very nice to have coaches in both games to get first hand experience with prospects. I now expect them to sign 1-2 from each game's roster in the draft, or pick some up as UDFAs.

Yeah, and it was even mentioned by Brisker in the post game of the GB game. I honestly believe some of the soft zone stuff has to do with personnel. Brisker is not really a coverage guy, and Jackson is shell of his former self. So if those are your Safeties, you almost have to play a little farther off because you aren't going to get much help over the top. I would just like to see more timed pressure that matches the coverage. Why blitz or bring extra guys knowing they are throwing the ball within 10 yards to have your DBs play 12 yards off and allow an 8 yard completion on 3rd and 5?

My nightmare right now is the Bears picking someone other than Caleb Williams and he turns out to be Mahomes 2.0 for WAS.

I am sure there are ways around it but from the LAC perspective, it would be tough to do unless they were purposely tanking in 2024.

I was honestly thinking about that for the Jets. For the Bears? RW will be 36 this year, so if you figure a real SB run won't be for another year or two, you are looking at a 37 or 38 yr old QB, who is 5'11", would be on his 3rd team in 4 years, and who's escapability was one of his best traits is probably gone. I guess it could make sense for the Bears as Waldron has experience with RW though. ?

Also, when is the last time an OC became available from a winning team because the HC retired and all the other coaches were given permission to look for other jobs?

We have another Williams.... If the Bears could pull this off, they would have 2x coaches at the East/West Shrine Game AND their new DC at the Senior Bowl. If Poles pulls that off and has all that access to all those players, it would be a brilliant move.

I thought it was Parkins? Yes, I follow Greg. I actually got into a little kerfuffle with him a few weeks ago. I simply said what he said was also a narrative, which is true. He did not like it and said it was one of the stupidest statements that he has ever read, which is hilarious to me. What do you think: I think it is naive to think that Poles doesn't have scenarios or courses of actions already developed for every possible scenario. Basically what trade would he accept from every team in the league he would trade with. What that trade would look like for #1, #9, for every pick, and for some players, to include Fields. He can't wait until someone calls asking. He has an asking price. On the flip side, he has to have a general idea on which players he would be interesting in trading for and what he is willing to give up in a trade for that player (like Sweat, and Claypool). He is not going to call them up blindly, then figure out if their offer works or not out of the blue. That is ridiculous. So Poles has a Plan A, let's say it is draft Williams, and take no less than a 3rd for Fields. Ask for a 1st, but if there is only one offer, take no less than a 3rd. However, at the same time, he has a value for #1. If someone comes to him with a trade proposal that blows his valuation out the window, then he moves to Plan B. It could be the other way around. If someone comes to him with a 1st rounder for Fields, can he pass that up? I just think Poles already has these things mapped out, and is working with other teams, agents, etc to figure out what the best option is for the next few months. Greg makes it seem like Poles doesn't know what he is going to do. I call BS on that. If someone comes to him with a crazy offer today, he has to be able to respond and react to it. They may say here is the offer, take it or leave it, we need to know by the end of the day or the offer is gone, we want max predictability. Poles isn't going to magically start figuring things out, he is already going to have the parameters in place.

I agree, it should include a 2026 2nd, but there is not a selection for two years in the future for the trade options.

Hey, no copying! ?

It seems like the Bears can address 5-6 needs with with top 100 talent no matter what direction they go in.

I tried to go BPA. I think of it as a hole or an upgrade. The Bears have holes at C, Edge, WR2, TE2, and FS. They need upgrades at LT, RG, HB, and TE3 on offense, and upgrades at DT and Edge on defense. So if a hole can't be filled based on slot value, you go with an upgrade. The top 3 WRs were gone, it felt too high for Edges, so I went with LT and TE2 there.

It is hard for me to believe that any of those will happen, but man if those are the worst the Bears can do, they are going to be stacked in 2024. This does not count picking up 2-3 more blue chip FAs.

Last one is trade within the top 3, get MHJ, Bowers, Fautanu, Bullard, Van Pran, and Wright. Then get rotational pieces with Jefferson and Rogers on the DL, LB Barrett for depth and ST, and Wiley as TE3.

Keep Fields trade beyond #3 with ATL, get future 1st and 2nd, #8, #43, and #109, get Alt for LT, Bowers, Leggette, Bullard, Van Pran, Irving for RB, Barner for TE3, DT Jefferson, and still get Washington for WR3/4 and Proctor for S3/4.

My latest one trading Fields to LVR for #44, #112, and a 2025 4th. This one gets the Bears Williams, Odunze, Chop, Bullard, Van Pran, and Stover. I would be shocked if they could pull that off. Then get a T that can slide into G if needed, a HB with upside, a LB for depth and ST, and another S for better depth.

It's awesome that the most sought after OC candidate picked the Bears over every other available job. That speaks volumes about the culture and roster, especially coming from an outside perspective.

Yep, and they have a cap problem already. Once they have to sign Love to $50M+, they are screwed.

Great info, thanks!

That would be great, and they need an upgrade at WR coach too. One other comment, if the Bears defense struggles, I could see a scenario where Waldron is promoted to HC and retained.

The Waldron OC pick is great. Now who is he going to want as his QB? Going with a rookie buys him more time. What QB in the draft fits his style the best?

Parker, I have seen this scenario discussed on the socials. I would say the thought of it has legs, but in reality, it would be impossible from a cap perspective. A Herbert trade would cost the Chargers $108M on this year's cap when they are already $46M OVER the cap right now. So that move would make them $136M over the cap lol. They would have to cut and trade about 8 starters and only sign vet minimum guys for 3/4 of their roster. The rookie QB would end up like David Carr and have CTE by Week 3. The only QBs that might work in that type of scenario would be someone with a contract thru 25 or 26: Tua, Lawrence, Prescott, Geno, Purdy, or Jimmy G. Would you trade the #1 for any of those guys? I don't think so. However, do you want another crazy one? Trade Fields for Geno, trade down from #1, add a future 1st or two, and draft a top flight WR.

Waldron revitalized Smith's career in Seattle, but also worked at the QB Collective, where Caleb Williams is training for the draft. So this is going to be interesting. Will Waldron want to hang his hat on Fields or a rookie QB? How much say will he have in the process compared to trade compensation for either side? Which coaches will he bring to Chicago with him?

Another thing this does is it makes Seattle worse. Just like the Carolina trade and the Sweat trade. Now this is three teams Poles has made worse while making the Bears better.