Bears4Ever_34

I'm interested in seeing how much money they Bears gave him.

I heard it was a 4 year deal, but no word yet on the money.

Looks like they're going after Bushrod now... I agree with yall. Not a huge fan.

Bennett is more of a prototypical 3 down TE who fits the West Coast system perfectly. Cook would have been nice too, but he's not the blocker Bennett is.

AWESOME News!

Only logical place he could go other than the Bears would be Dallas, right?

He's one of the guys that intrigued me at the LB position. He's probably a WLB in a 4-3 given his slight frame.

Cap Room right now: ~ 4 million Cuts: [7.32 million] Devin Hester [1.85] Kellen Davis [2.4] Matt Spaeth [1.02] Roberto Garza [2.05] Restructures: [8.3 million] WR Brandon Marshall [4.3 million saved] Original Deal: 2 year 18.6 million New Deal: 3 years 37.4 million/26 guaranteed Total Contract: 5 years 56 million/26 guaranteed Year 1 Original Deal [2013]: 2 million salary/3 million guaranteed [5] Year 2 Original Deal [2014]: 5 million salary/6 million guaranteed [11] Year 3: 6 million salary/ 8 million guaranteed [14] Year 4: 7 million salary/ 7 million guaranteed [14] Year 5: 8 million salary/ 4 million guaranteed [12] CB Charles Tillman [4 million saved] Original Deal: 1 year 8 million New Deal: 2 years/16 million/10 guaranteed Total Contract: 3 years/24 million/10 guaranteed Year 1: 1 million salary/ 3 million guaranteed [4] Year 2: 4 million salary/ 5 million guaranteed [11] Year 3: 7 million salary/ 2 million guaranteed [9] Re-signings: [8.7 million spent] OG Lance Louis - 4 years 12 million/4 guaranteed Year 1: 2 million salary/ no guaranteed [2] Year 2: 2 million salary/ 2 million guaranteed [3] Year 3: 2 million salary/ 2 million guaranteed [4] Year 4: 3 million salary [3] LB Brian Urlacher - 2 years 6 million/4 guaranteed Year 1: 1 million salary/ 2 million guaranteed [3] Year 2: 1 million salary/ 2 million guaranteed [3] DL Israel Idonije - 2 years 3 million/ 2 guaranteed Year 1: 1 million salary/ 1 million guaranteed [2] Year 2: 1 million salary/ 1 million guaranteed [2] OT John Scott 1 year 1 million/500K guaranteed [1] DT Nate Colins RFA Tender [700K] Rookie Pool: 4 million Free Agent Budget: 6.92 million Free Agency: OT Jermon Bushrod [New Orleans] 5 years 30 million/16 guaranteed Year 1: 1 million salary/2 million guaranteed [3] Year 2: 2 million salary/ 5 million guaranteed [7] Year 3: 3 million salary/ 4 million guaranteed [7] Year 4: 3 million salary/4 million guaranteed [7] Year 5: 5 million salary/1 million guaranteed [6] OT Phil Loadholt [Minnesota] 4 years 20 million/10 guaranteed Year 1: 1 million salary/2 million guaranteed [3] Year 2: 2 million salary/3 million guaranteed [5] Year 3: 2 million salary/2.5 million guaranteed [4.5] Year 4: 2 million salary/ 2.5 million guaranteed [4.5] QB Josh McCown [bears] 1 year 750k guaranteed Year 1: 750k guaranteed Draft: 1. OG, Jonathon Cooper [North Carolina] 2. Traded 3. LB, DeVonte Holloman [south Carolina] 3. TE, Travis Kelce [Cincinatti] 4. WR, Marquise Goodwin [Texas] 5. CB, Terry Hawthorne [illinois] 6. Traded 7. C, Joe Madsen [West Virginia] What do you think? Don't hold me to the numbers on restructurings/signings. I have no idea if the contracts I handed out are as realistic as they should be. I was just trying to find ways to free up some money. In this mock, we get two starting tackles to replace Webb and Carimi. In the draft we get one of the best guards in the draft, a SLB, a TE that can catch and block, a WR with speed, and a cover 2 corner for the future.

I think they'll end up with Bushrod as their LT after losing out on a bidding war for Jake Long. They'll probably then sign Brandon Moore or some cheap FA Guard, and a FB. McCown will re-sign as a minimum salary backup QB.

If that's the case then that should mean E-Rod goes back to playing TE.

Mike Wallace is pretty special as a deep threat. The Adrian Peterson effect would make him even more dangerous than he already is. You combine those skills with someone like Austin, who very well could end up being a Percy Harvin clone, that's a very dangerous team. It sounds like Miami is the front runner to land him, but in light of this recent news, Minnesota could entice him, depending on who offers the most money. Greg Jennings isn't a bad consolation prize. He's always killed the Bears with his quickness, and ability to play inside the numbers. It's hard to argue that Wallace/Jennings + 1st round WR wouldn't make them a scarier team.

Just saw a tweet from Chris Mortenson, and I think you're right. If they get Greg Jennings or Mike Wallace, they could use their 23rd or 25th pick to target someone like Tavon Austin, and there's your Percy Harvin replacement.. I hope that doesn't happen, for our sake.

I'd watch out for Greg Jennings to Minnesota after this deal. They're going to need a WR now.

Seattle is building a Championship caliber team. Very risky move for them still, because Harvin is always hurt, and you're about to hand him a massive contract. If he pans out, that should make Seattle's offense even more dangerous with some of the pistol stuff they do from time to time. Minnesota gets a couple of draft picks to bring more talent back their way.

Idk why, but I like the Bostic kid out of Florida.

Yes, but how many centers do you ever see get traded for a pick that high? It's just not a position that garners that much value, trade wise. 7 out of the top 10 offenses in the NFL last year had starting centers that were taken in the 6th round or later, and the top 2 (New Orleans and New England) had centers that were undrafted. A 2nd round pick is just too valuable to spend on a position that you could probably find somebody just as good in the latter part of the draft.

You can find good centers in the later rounds. Teams don't put as much value on that position. This guy went undrafted, and was a journeyman for years until Kromer got his hands on him. Let him do it again, and spend a 2nd rounder on someone else.

Absolutely not. A 2nd round pick for a F'ing Center.. Are you nuts?

I'm all for drafting the best available player from one of our positional needs. I don't think the Bears can go wrong in the 1st round this year. This years draft is not top heavy at all, so chances are we will be getting a good player at 20 who's not really much different from someone going in the top 5.

I think it's just Phil doing his due diligence. I don't anticipate either of those guys signing with us. I imagine it's just to see what exactly their asking price was in case one of our primary targets gets signed by someone else.

http://www.profootballcentral.com/category.../chicago-bears/ Says the Bears have basically contacted everybody, lol. Andy Levitre Eric Winston Mike Wallace Greg Jennings Brandon Moore Ramon Foster

If the Bears want Levitre they will find a way to create the money necessary to sign him, at the right price. It's also possible though that he may become too expensive. The report didn't say they're going to sign him, it said they are likely to be in the bidding.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/5310/andy-levitre

True. I usually update my own board as we go along. Personally, I think with the exception of a big TE or WR signing, our needs will largely remain the same. Even with a Levitre signing, we'll still need help at OL. Same with Urlacher.

Curious.. Let's assume everybody was available for the Bears to draft. How would your draft board look like today? *Mine* 1- Luke Joekel, OT Why?: Best pipedream scenario. Best OL in this class. Would be best available player IMO. 2- Eric Fisher, OT Why?: Second best pipedream scenario. With Joekel gone, this guy would be the next best available. 3- Chance Warmack, OG Why? Best guard in the draft. Some say he's the best overall player in the draft. Would be an absolute steal if he fell to 20. 4- Barkevious Mingo, DE/LB (Would play him at LB) Why?: I really like Mingo as a 3-4 OLB, but if he somehow is still there at 20, which I don't anticipate, I would have to pull the plug and fit this kid into a role as an outside LB in our 4-3 defense, with the intentions of possibly one day switching to a 3-4. 5- Lane Johnson, OT Why?: Most athletic lineman in the draft. Bit of a project though. Raw. Still worthy of being very high on the Bear's draft board if he's available. High risk, High reward IMO. 6- Tavon Austin, WR Why?: Probably the 2nd best WR prospect available after Patterson. Why Austin ahead of Patterson? Positional reasons. Austin is a slot receiver, something the Bears need more consistency from (Bennett is never healthy, and a tad overrated for what he has done thus far in his career). Austin's size is a bit of a concern, and he's probably not going to give you the production you're looking for until year 2 or 3. He would be a huge weapon if his potential ever gets fulfilled. 7- Dion Jordan, DE/LB Why?: Think Mingo is a slightly better player than Jordan, but I could envision the Bears using him in a similar way. Better suited to play OLB in a 3-4, but perhaps he's a Julian Peterson? If anything, he'd be one tall, athletic LB who certainly would have the ability to be a factor in the passing game. 8- Jonathon Cooper, OG Why?: Probably the second best guard available in the draft, also the most athletic. I like him a lot. Shows great potential. 9- Corderrelle Patterson, WR Why?: Even though he's an outside receiver, he would be very difficult to pass up from a value standpoint. Raw as hell, but not many tall WR's possess the kind of size and speed like this guy shows. When I watch him, I see a little bit of Demaryius Thomas/Julio Jones in him. 10- Alec Ogletree, LB Why? The Bears will need a LB, regardless of Urlacher's decision. Ogletree is a former converted safety who shows that he has the ability to play the pass as well as he plays the run. He's not the freak athlete that many have called him, but he is still regarded as the best LB in the class.