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Moving along slowly


AZ54

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I was fully prepared for the complete overhaul of our roster after we gave away Brandon Marshall for next to nothing. I expected to see Cutler traded for little to no value as well as Forte. So far all we have done is a quick signing of McPhee to play OLB and some interest in signing veteran safeties. We've shown interest in a couple other players like C Wisniewski and ILB Mason Foster. Other than that we added Eddie Royal to the WR corps. This is not a complete overhaul of the roster.

 

Reading this article on Royal had some interesting tidbits in particular this quote about Cutler:

http://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-football...rting-ryan-pace

‘‘He liked the direction that the organization was going, and that meant a lot coming from the quarterback,’’ Royal said. ‘‘I needed to hear that from him. It was a lot of good things. I’m just anxious to get going and have a good year.’’

 

While the GM and coaches have been indifferent toward Cutler, that gives me the indication that Cutler has been comfortable in his role within the new organization for some time. Pace and Fox are clearly working a plan but it's not the plan I was expecting. It feels like more reshaping a roster versus a complete overhaul. I don't see desperation in FA either. If they can't get the players for their price they move on to the next option. For now it seems the decision to keep Cutler occurred much earlier in the process than we were led to believe.

 

When discussing Pace, Royal said:

‘‘And the GM, Ryan Pace, is just amazing. His vision for the team and everything he has envisioned for the organization was exactly what I thought [about] a direction a team needed to be going in. It felt right.’’ I usually dismiss such hyperbole from FA who just got a huge contract guarantee but it seems there is a shorter term plan for success not the 3+ year plan I was expecting and Cutler is part of that.

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Ya, I think trading Marshall was 100% just about creating a better atmosphere in the locker room.

Yep. If production were the only criteria in determining value, Marshall would have been worth a whole lot more. The rest of the league knew this. I hope it's addition by subtraction.

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I was fully prepared for the complete overhaul of our roster after we gave away Brandon Marshall for next to nothing. I expected to see Cutler traded for little to no value as well as Forte. So far all we have done is a quick signing of McPhee to play OLB and some interest in signing veteran safeties. We've shown interest in a couple other players like C Wisniewski and ILB Mason Foster. Other than that we added Eddie Royal to the WR corps. This is not a complete overhaul of the roster.

 

Reading this article on Royal had some interesting tidbits in particular this quote about Cutler:

http://chicago.suntimes.com/bears-football...rting-ryan-pace

‘‘He liked the direction that the organization was going, and that meant a lot coming from the quarterback,’’ Royal said. ‘‘I needed to hear that from him. It was a lot of good things. I’m just anxious to get going and have a good year.’’

 

While the GM and coaches have been indifferent toward Cutler, that gives me the indication that Cutler has been comfortable in his role within the new organization for some time. Pace and Fox are clearly working a plan but it's not the plan I was expecting. It feels like more reshaping a roster versus a complete overhaul. I don't see desperation in FA either. If they can't get the players for their price they move on to the next option. For now it seems the decision to keep Cutler occurred much earlier in the process than we were led to believe.

 

When discussing Pace, Royal said:

‘‘And the GM, Ryan Pace, is just amazing. His vision for the team and everything he has envisioned for the organization was exactly what I thought [about] a direction a team needed to be going in. It felt right.’’ I usually dismiss such hyperbole from FA who just got a huge contract guarantee but it seems there is a shorter term plan for success not the 3+ year plan I was expecting and Cutler is part of that.

I think that with any player they want they have an assigned valve.

They talked to Parker but were definitely not in the realm of what he got.

Foster is probably waiting around to see if he can get a better offer, have not seen any other spots he is visiting, so that may be soon.

The high and mid priced FAs, we have already signed. It now is getting players at our price, which we will have some more, but may not be the names we expect.

 

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Yep. If production were the only criteria in determining value, Marshall would have been worth a whole lot more. The rest of the league knew this. I hope it's addition by subtraction.

With all we have stated about BM, his age and having injury aspects last year also come into play.

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Since I had no idea what to expect I'm not surprised by the pace that's been set. I think they've found some helpful FA's thus far and it follows from what we were told early on, you draft the BPA and you make that possible through free agency.

 

The decision to retain Cutler given that their hands were really tied and other options, either through the draft or free agency weren't very good. It wouldn't surprise me if we picked a QB in the 3rd round or later, however.

 

What we don't know, though, is how many of our current players are actually capable of playing in the NFL if they're given solid coaching. I think many last year had high expectations going into the season given what had transpired the year before and how we seemed to shore up the D. Is it possible some of those players can actually do the job for us so we aren't in a mad scramble for serviceable players? If so, we're closer to turning this around than anyone here would've believed after that terrible season last year. Again, our schedule this season is brutal so expecting playoffs in the first season under the new staff is probably a bit much to ask. But I'm cautiously optimistic that this season isn't going to be horrible.

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Since I had no idea what to expect I'm not surprised by the pace that's been set. I think they've found some helpful FA's thus far and it follows from what we were told early on, you draft the BPA and you make that possible through free agency.

 

The decision to retain Cutler given that their hands were really tied and other options, either through the draft or free agency weren't very good. It wouldn't surprise me if we picked a QB in the 3rd round or later, however.

 

What we don't know, though, is how many of our current players are actually capable of playing in the NFL if they're given solid coaching. I think many last year had high expectations going into the season given what had transpired the year before and how we seemed to shore up the D. Is it possible some of those players can actually do the job for us so we aren't in a mad scramble for serviceable players? If so, we're closer to turning this around than anyone here would've believed after that terrible season last year. Again, our schedule this season is brutal so expecting playoffs in the first season under the new staff is probably a bit much to ask. But I'm cautiously optimistic that this season isn't going to be horrible.

 

It's certainly possible.

 

Navorro Bowman and Glenn Dorsey missed the whole year.

Patrick Willis missed 10 games.

Aldon Smith missed 9 games

 

And yet Fangio still managed to coach a team missing 5 really good starters for all/most of the season to a top 5 D.

 

You can kinda look at the Cowboys too. They had a historically bad defense in 2013, got a new DC in 2014 and ended up giving up 1000 less yards, despite losing Shawn Lee and Demarcus Ware.

 

Or you could look at the opposite, and look at the Bears after Lovie left. Yes, a lot could be attributed to age and injuries, but pretty much the same unit went from pretty darn good in 2012 under Lovie, to really fuckin bad in 2013 with out him.

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They listened.......Just signed guard Vlad Ducasse. Probably not even new thread worthy. He is a former 2R bust.

 

A former bust or a current bust? I had to look up who he was. Anyway I see this just as adding competition for the last roster spot, and at best someone who might replace Eben Britton or Ola on the roster.

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A former bust or a current bust? I had to look up who he was. Anyway I see this just as adding competition for the last roster spot, and at best someone who might replace Eben Britton or Ola on the roster.

They are remaking the roster from both ends. He is an average vet with starter experience. He is not as good but the same type of signing as Slauson, remakes his career, or just competition?

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