Free agency begins

[Stinger226]

Poles values athletics  and speed, Jones has it, Newsome doesnt. I think they targeted Velus Jones, and probably were trying to trade back and get extra picks and take him in the 4th where he was projected being drafted. I think they took him early. As soon as Thornton was drafted , they knew Jones would not last long. I think the brain trust figured out how they wanted to use Jones, (Deebo style) and had him high on there list. People look at this as a reach because the draftniks didnt had him rated high, but their job is not on the line by being wrong where the current regime is. Something I think mattered to them was his KR ability. Him and Ebnerr were both excellent KRers  and I suspect one will do punts and the other kickoffs. I think Ebner makes the final roster even thou the RB room is crowded with good players.    Poles says he wanted playmakers and both fit that mode. One thing Poles did for sure was add speed to this team, something we lacked before. Flus runs the nickel package 80% of the time. Morrow and Roquin will be the LBers in that scheme.4.51 and 4.5. His run the ball mentality will work well with the added speed. I think Jack Sanborn with 4.66 speed will start in the SAM spot . The only weak spot left on D (IMO) is the 3 T position . The starter only gets around 60% of the snaps so we need two. Edwards may be sneaky good as the backup but that remains to be seen. I think the possibility exists that Ogunjobi could be back. If he does, I think we can be a top 10 D with more TOs than last year. All win win.

[McGowan]

 

 

[scs787]

44 minutes ago, McGowan said:

 

 

Eh. If they're giving up any draft capitol,  it should be for the OL. I think they like Mooney, Pringle, and Velus. 

 

One thing that I think has got to be said again about Velus is Poles sat down with Fields and identified Jones as a guy Fields would like to throw to. I think that means something.  That's your QBs guy. 

[Mongo3451]

5 hours ago, scs787 said:

Eh. If they're giving up any draft capitol,  it should be for the OL. I think they like Mooney, Pringle, and Velus. 

 

One thing that I think has got to be said again about Velus is Poles sat down with Fields and identified Jones as a guy Fields would like to throw to. I think that means something.  That's your QBs guy. 

In the Greg Gabriel thread, Greg talks about Velus only being 11 months older than Devin Hester when he was drafted, so, so what on the age.  He also talked about St Brown and how he was viewed as entitled at ND and had some maturing to do.  The fact that his younger bro plays in the division and got 90 receptions last year will prove as a wake up call for his career.  Getsy knowing and signing off on him also tells me he plans to mature.  Gabriel said he's a superior athlete to lil bro.

[Pixote]

The G Gabriel interview was fantastic. I really enjoyed listening to this guy. I feel a lot more confident in our WR room after listening to his take. I truly believe St Brown and Pringle are going to shut up a lot of critics. Mooney, St Brown, Pringle, & Jones are going to be a huge upgrade for Fields to target. 

As far as the OL, I have my fingers crossed. This should be Poles' strength because of his background. Are the pieces to the puzzle already aboard or is he biding his time to pick up a vet fa after the dust settles?

[Stinger226]

I listen to a lot of Bears content podcasts, I'm A Bears nerd, one national writer said he thought the Bears would only win 2 games but that was OK because Fields would improve in his second year. If  Justin  Fields takes a step up , that's an argument for the Bears winning 8 or 9 games, not 2. So much negatively because the Bears didn't take a OL and WR with their first 2 picks. A lot of writers on that narrative. I hope the Bears win 10-11 games just to shut those idiots up. Last year we were not good but with the additions to this years team has not made us worse.

[scs787]

I think the thing that a lot of people will look at is the fact that the roster is largely unproven. I get that. Until they prove it, a lot of people are gonna be down on the bears....They could be very bad, but they could also be pretty good if these guys "Prove it." 

 

Legit, up and down this roster there's maybe 5 proven guys. Even those guys have scheme related questions. How do Whitehair and Monty translate to a wide zone? Can Quinn still play with his hand in the dirt? How does Roquan play in whatever position they have him at in the 4-3? How does Mooney play now that he's the definite #1(even though he saw more attention as the season went on and Robinson sucked)? 

 

The rest of the guys are largely unproven. Outside of maybe a guy like Patrick who has already been in the system. 

 

I am confident in a lot of these guys though. I definitely see more than 2 wins. I took the over at 6.5 wins, but I only see it at 7 wins. 

[BearFan PHX]

3 hours ago, scs787 said:

I think the thing that a lot of people will look at is the fact that the roster is largely unproven. I get that. Until they prove it, a lot of people are gonna be down on the bears....They could be very bad, but they could also be pretty good if these guys "Prove it." 

 

Legit, up and down this roster there's maybe 5 proven guys. Even those guys have scheme related questions. How do Whitehair and Monty translate to a wide zone? Can Quinn still play with his hand in the dirt? How does Roquan play in whatever position they have him at in the 4-3? How does Mooney play now that he's the definite #1(even though he saw more attention as the season went on and Robinson sucked)? 

 

The rest of the guys are largely unproven. Outside of maybe a guy like Patrick who has already been in the system. 

 

I am confident in a lot of these guys though. I definitely see more than 2 wins. I took the over at 6.5 wins, but I only see it at 7 wins. 

I agree, and after all we've been through, we should be of the same mindset.

I really like the changes Ive seen. It looks like they are making good choices. But I need to see it on the field.

[GakMan23]

Bears sign tackle, waive punter Winslow

[Stinger226]

Poles will not hit on all players he brought in but at least they are not here on big contracts. The majority are ascending players, ones that have improved every year. For example Morrow in 2019 and 2020 out preformed the two higher paid lLBers the Raiders brought in Kwit and Cory Littleton. Last year he had an injury that caused him to not play. Patrick was a backup in GB and  in 2020 played 14 games at LG because of injury.  Last year he played 15 games at OC because of injury, gave up 1 sack and 5 pressures. Q Mohammed had  7 sacks and had improved every year. You could seem him break out with Quinn on the other side. All the WRs  he brought in have had productive years but never had enough snaps to be consistent. With Hill and kelce getting 393 targets, it was hard for Pringle to shine in KC.

[GakMan23]

Looks like he must be getting healthy.

[adam]

6 hours ago, GakMan23 said:

Looks like he must be getting healthy.

Yep, signed a 1-yr deal with Pittsburgh:

 

[Stinger226]

He may start the season out on the IR, two teams turned him down, so obviously there was a problem. 

[adam]

2 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

He may start the season out on the IR, two teams turned him down, so obviously there was a problem. 

Yep we will see. He was also a FA so he can sign wherever he wants to. I assume the pulling of the contract would take the Bears out of the equation even though it was the correct thing to do.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Thought I’d add this interesting nugget here. In another story on his addition was a note of “needed depth at DB” and “health matter of 2nd round pick Kyler Gordon”.  Say what?  

Should mentioned OLman Dozier was also put on IR after being carted off the field last week.
 

 

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Thought I’d add this interesting nugget here. In another story on his addition was a note of “needed depth at DB” and “health matter of 2nd round pick Kyler Gordon”.  Say what?  

Should mentioned OLman Dozier was also put on IR after being carted off the field last week.
 

 

The Gordon thing could be a contract situation, he hasn't signed yet. Nobody was just talking about it. It could be a minor injury that they aren't talking about either. We will find out in one month.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

6 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

The Gordon thing could be a contract situation, he hasn't signed yet. Nobody was just talking about it. It could be a minor injury that they aren't talking about either. We will find out in one month.

In a scan of social media etc, the speculation oscillates between contractual issue (more likely) to his contemplating a return to competitive dancing (least likely).  Nothing notable about an actual injury other than some cramping during the rookie camps back in April and him riding a stationary bike more recently during OTAs.  

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Not sure what the Pats get in the exchange.  I heard somewhere that it might’ve been a 7th rd pick.  Pats fans aren’t sad he’s leaving…for what that’s worth.

 

[Pixote]

1 hour ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Not sure what the Pats get in the exchange.  I heard somewhere that it might’ve been a 7th rd pick.  Pats fans aren’t sad he’s leaving…for what that’s worth.

 

Well I hope it is a conditional 7th that turns out to be no pick if this guy fails to make the final cut, which wouldn't surprise me.

Teams don't give up on "former" 1st round picks without good reason.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

1 hour ago, Pixote said:

Teams don't give up on "former" 1st round picks without good reason.

Some of the Pats-fans discussions seem to think he just needed a different form of offense.  They say McDaniels needed to let him run more ‘go’ routes and challenge for 50-50 balls.  He isn’t a polished route runner. Although in the highlight reel I saw of him shows him on mostly short and intermediate routes.  He catches the ball plenty but got zilch in the way of YAC.  Maybe Getsy will have a better scheme for him?  At 6’4” 225# he’s a big body receiver for sure.  (but then so was Kevin White). 

[AZ54]

NFL.com says we gave up a 2024  7th Rd pick which I guess is equivalent to an 8th Rd pick in 2023.   This is effectively nothing as Poles just showed you can always get back a 7th RD pick if you want one.  He simply preferred to keep Harry from hitting the waiver wire.  His cap hit is $3.2mil if it stays the same as his NE deal because $1.3mil is prorated bonus money which we aren't paying.  He might hit our books for as low as $1.8mil.   Why NE wanted this to be done now is unclear.  They could have waited for camp and preseason injuries to see if there was a bigger market, and you always need camp bodies at WR.  

That's a surprise but it's also a message to the WRs who were arrested this offseason, along with everyone else.   I watched N'Keal play when he was at ASU.  He's a big bodied WR with good deep speed, good hands, but not much quickness in/out of cuts. I have to believe his route running hasn't improved much or he'd still be in NE.  His draft profile said he's a good run blocker so I'd say he's competition for ESB's predicted role for sure.  Is there something we don't yet know about?   I believe during his time at ASU he displayed good character and work ethic.    

[Stinger226]

I'm on Anthony Herron's Twitter and he announced many of Harry's games in college. He said he is very talented and in his first year got in the coaches doghouse and has wanted out of NE for two years. Maybe he clashed and a new start could get him a new attitude. May be a diamond in the rough. At worst he pushes ST Brown to perform better. Also last year, the top two blocking WRs  in the league were Harry and Pringle. Sounds like run run run.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Could he be used as a gimmick player like Deebo Samuel?  

[adam]

Harry looks really slow, in his "highlights" video, everything is a contested catch.

Hopefully he works out but I don't have my hopes up.

[lemonej]

I look at this as an addition to the WR room and nothing more. Rarely have we seen players discarded by NE prosper elsewhere.