scs787

Had to figure that was the case...good stuff. Phil/Cliff hust wanted to piss some over-reactors off for a few days. I think I like this part the best...

Don't really know where to put this so I'll just throw it in here.....Terrance Cody might hit the FA market because the Ravens are strapped for cash. If the Bears do move to a 3-4 I'd love to see him manning the middle. He's been stuck behind Ngata, one of the best nose tackles in the league, his whole career so you won't see the stats there, but make no mistake he's a starter on most every other 3-4 defense. Because he hasn't started he won't be very expensive either. My offseason wish is for 2 studs and 1 "mid tier" defender, I think Cody would be great as the "mid tier" guy.

Oh absolutely. Like I brought up before the contracts of Bennett and Bushrod combined was 54M in "real dollars" yet only counted 4.9 against the cap. So if they can work out a few deals like that then they absolutely can get the defense where it needs to be even if the Cutlers deal is what it is. There is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel IMO. Got all the numbers off www.overthecap.com so if I'm wrong it's all on them lol.

To elaborate a little more on the cap....assuming they cut those 5 guys, and all 7 (or 8 if they trade Briggs) of their draft pick sign they would have 35 players under contract with 24.9 (or 31.4 if they trade Briggs) to spend on 18 guys to fill out the roster.

Check out my previous post, I edited it to break down what CAN be done this offseason as far as cap goes....If overthecap.com has all their info correct

Slausons cap hit is 2.7 this year, goes up to 3.2/3.3/3.4 the next 3 years. I'm also reading that Jennings cap number is 5.2....wasn't it reported to be 7.5???? Anyway, now that all the info is out there on all the signings I believe the Bears have about 6M left for free agents(I took out the money needed for the draft) before they make any cuts. 45.5 to begin with Cutler- 22.5 Jennings 5.2 Slausson 2.7 Gould 2.6 Fiametta .7 Rookies 5 Cap to date ~6.8 Possible cuts and how much they'd free up Peppers 9.8 Bush 1.8 Bennett 2.4 Podlesh 1 Weems 1.1 Total Cap ~22.9 Marshall can be extended to save lets say 2M to make the cap room 24.9 Trading Briggs has been getting some noise here, trading him would free up 6.5 bringing cap available to 31.4....Which is a shit ton of money.

Sadly if they do move to a 3-4 Peanut is gone unless he accepts a safety role, which I wish he would.

Slauson got 4/12.8 with 4.9 guaranteed. Not bad at all for a guy who was the 5th ranked guard in the league per PFF.

I'd rather keep him but, with the talks of 1. Moving to a 3-4 2. Bostic being a better fit at OLB and 3. SMC moving to LB, it wouldn't totally shock me. Not sure about a "late round pick" though, at least not 6-7R late, MAYBE 5th, but I would hope for a 4th. If they have to throw in their 6th to get a 4th (Last year a 32 year old Isaac Sopoaga was traded with a 6th to get a 5th, and Briggs is better) I'd do it.

This is true, should have solid depth at the LB position should they wanna move to a 3-4.

According to Overthecap.com, which seems like a pretty good site, the Bears are at 104.8, but they don't have Jennings 7.5 or whatever Slaus got, then add in the ~5M for the draft, the Bears are at least at 117.3M before any cuts/restructuring/extensions. The Cap next year is 126.3. Stinger, you MAY be right, but like I posted in the other thread, they could do some deals like what they did with Bushrod and Bennett where they counted less than 5M against the cap.

Couldn't really find any info on it but I did find this tidbit that might be worth bringing back to light.... http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04...le-henry-melton There's some more info to re-read in there that could relate to this year, but that quote is the part that really stood out that I forgot all about. If they can do something like that again with a couple stud defensive guys then we could be in business.

That YPG stat is misleading because it includes the Washington game where he only played in 4 series before getting knocked out. Eliminate that game and he passed for 259 a game. He's also getting rid of the ball much quicker, which is pretty huge. I know this will stir up more shit from the anti PFF-ers, but last year the line gave up 133 Hurries, 35 hits, and 42 sacks....This year? 184 Hurries, 46 hits, and 20 sacks....What's the difference??? Jay was near the top 10, if not in the top ten in getting the ball out quickest. Last years Cutler would have been sacked 50 times. His Total QBR was also 11 points higher than his best year here, and only 6 points lower than his pro bowl year in Denver. His Passer Rating is also the highest of his career. I honestly don't think the INTs will ever go away, I think they'll always be in that 15-20 range, and I have no problem with that. Eli Manning has lead the league in INTs 3 times, yet has 2 rings. Favre holds the record for INTs and he's won Super Bowls...I'm not exactly saying that they don't matter, just that you can win with them. All in all, this was year 1 in a system that was supposedly gonna take 3 years to master. If he stays healthy, and his numbers continue to improve like they should, we could have ourselves a pro bowl QB.

TD listed 7 guys. Last year they added 7 new starters (Bushrod, Slaus, Long, Mills, Bennett, Williams, Anderson) so it's not impossible. Just gotta make some key cheap signings like Slaus/Williams/Anderson.... I'm really hoping for a 3-4 switch. In which case you bring back Ratliff with the thought that if you can't get a NT in the draft you just stick with him. I firmly believe he won't be more than 2M. He's coming off an injury plagued year where he only played what 4 games?? I'd be surprise if he got more than 2.5 and shocked if he gets 4+. Try to add another biggy in the mid rounds to spell Ratliff, or push Ratliff outside. Bring back Wootton for cheap to play 3-4 DE. Since he had a down year he's not gonna cost too much, again I expect ~2M. Bring back Melton on somewhat of a prove it deal to play opposite Wootton. I'm guessing 5M tops That's about 9M on the starting DL Bring back Williams, who has experience in a 3-4 on another cheap 1.5 deal. Draft another ILB high to compete with both Williams and Bostic. Go with the 2 winners of the competition in the middle with Briggs and SMC on the end. Jennings is a lock of course, but they need to draft another starting CB early in the draft. If my calculations are correct, and the Bears make all the cuts I suggested, that's around 10.5M of 21-26M in cap room and they already have everything but their starting safties.....I really think Byrd and Ward get resigned or franchised so a guy like Ihedigibo might be the best option at like 3-5M....Then you draft another S and boom, you've got a defense with money left to build depth. Looking at.... DL- Melton-Ratliff-Wootton LB- Briggs-Bostic-Williams-SMC CB- Jennings-?-Frey-Hayden S- Ihedigbo-? ....Before the draft Ideal draft....(using the mock draft simulator) 1R- Jason Verrett CB- Capable speed to play man 2R- Ra'shede Hageman DE/DT- Seen some reports saying he's an ideal 3-4 DE, and another say he can be a 3-4 NT...Wherever he plays we could use em 3R- Calvin Pryor S- Plays nnext to Ihedigbo 4R- AJ Johnson ILB- Speedy, SEC tackling machine, not sure why he's being called a 4th rounder here. 5R- Bryan Stork C- Center to compete with Boggs who the Bears like 6R- Ryan Carrenthers NT- Another monster NT 6R- L'Damian Washington Wr- Just for funzies I'll draft the 6'4" guy with 4.3 speed Defense then becomes DL- Melton-Ratliff-Hageman with Wootton and Carrenthers providing depth LB- Briggs-Bostic-Williams-SMC with Johnson providing depth/competition to Bostic/Williams. Greene/Costanzo also provide depth CB-Jennings-Verrett-Frey-Hayden with another cheap no cap vet brought in as well S- Ihedigbo-Pryor with Conte under contract you might as well keep him aboard. Bam. It may not be a top 10 D but if everything goes right, and the O continues to grow or even just stand pat the Bears should be able to compete with that team.

I was looking at a cbs link that said the Bears had 41M, hopefully its the guy who did the mock offseason that was right cause that brings up the available cap space to ~26M. I really think they could add a "top tier" guy like Michael Bennett and a "mid tier" guy James Ihedigibo in FA. Then bring back Ratliff and Collins on the cheap, draft another DT, CB, and safety then do what Phil did last year with all the 1 year contracts that didn't count against the cap and boom the D is better

Some no body on twitter said there was rumors of the Bears going to a "Hybrid Eagles/Pats D" (I assume they mean 3-4 Pats D).....Can anyone elaborate on this??? It's the first I heard of it.

I think it's just the fact that the Bears had so much cap room this offseason that they're front loading it. Really have no clue as to why there was no signing bonus though....And I'm not completely sold yet that the numbers we see now are going to be the actual numbers. The first year of Flaccos deal only had a 6M cap hit and their deals are nearly identical.

When I responded yesterday I didn't consider that he took out money needed for the draft....But ya, a Marshall extension is a must right now. Should ave the Bears AT LEAST 3M.

And lastly, one last tweet before ya'll respond.... dan durkin ‏@djdurkin 4 Jan one area #bears fans should never worry about is cap management. cliff stein has proven to be one of, if not the best in the nfl. Bingo Bango Bongo....In Cliff I trust.

Also not convinced that 22.5 is the final cap number for Jay.

I fear boith safeties will either be resigned or franchised, I think the best safety that's gonna be available will be James Ihedigbo who I'll gladly take.....Bennett I'm hoping is a lock at around 6M against the cap.

ASHKUM brought this..... ....up yesterday, and I believe the response deserves it's own thread... After crunching numbers, Clayton is basically right. Once you add in the 4.8M needed for the draft, the Bears have 3.5M left. There's so much they can do as far as cuts and restructuring go though. Cutting Peppers ups that number to ~13.3 Cutting Bennett ups it to ~15.7 Cutting Bush ups it to 17.5 Cutting Podlesh ups it to 18.5 Then I think they'll extend BMarsh and they'll save at least 3M there bringing the total to ~21.5 If things play out they wa I said, 21.5 for free agents(remember I took draft money out), should be enough to add a few guys to the D to go along with a few guys in the draft.

They still have plenty of cap room to add some players to the defense. Gimme 2 new starters in FA and hopefully 3 in the draft, and assuming they hit on those guys that could be a HUGE upgrade.

In case you didn't click on the link, it's actually a draft simulator where you get to draft your own....It"s fun stuff, I just did another based on the Bears moving to a 3-4.... 1R- CJ Mosely ILB- The LB core would be Briggs-Bostic-Mosely-SMC 2R- Ra'Shede Hageman DE/DT- Probably a little unrealistic, but I think he could play either NT or DE if they wanna use Ratliff at NT. 3R- E.J. Gaines CB- Tillman doesn't have the speed to play in a 3-4 so he either moves to FS or gets the boot, sadly. Gaines has 4.4 speed 4R- Dion Bailey FS- No brainer here again. 5R- Ryan Carrethers NT- Another NT option. Said to be one of the strongest guys in college, and he comes with a big 330lb frame. 6R- Jimmie Ward SS- Another pick that is perhaps a little unrealistic but meh. 6R- Marcel Jensen TE- Again Jensen is itriguing because 2 years ago he was pretty darn good, then Fresno switched offense and TE wasn't utilized. Once again I'd bring in a veteran safety to compete with the rooks, maybe 1 or 2 older guys who are looking for a 1 year deals. Bring back Melton and Ratliff to go with Melton-Ratliff-Hageman as your 3 down lineman.

I believe we started at 41. Jay @ 22, Jennings @ 7, Gould @ 3, is 32M, so 9M left. If they cut Peppers, Bush, Bennett, and Podlesh that get's their available cap up around 24M. I could also see Marshall extending and lowering his cap hit by 2 or 3M. So I'm hoping all this goes down and the Bears end up with around 27M. Thid of course excludes Slaus and Fiametta who I still don't know what their contracts look like.