At this time

[Connorbear]

we are approximately 9 million under the cap with next Monday as the deadline for applying future salaries to this yrs cap.

 

What to do?

 

- Sign Kyle to a long term deal?

- Sign St Clair (FA after this yr)?

- Sign Mike Brown (FA after this yr)?

- Sign Brandon Lloyd (FA after this yr)?

 

I was thinking on holding out on extending Kyle until the end of the yr (to see if he can maintain his level of performance) but it may be beneficial to extend him now and eat most of the cap this yr.

 

Thoughts?

 

Peace

[dasox24]

I think that's a good question. I really feel like Brown should not be re-signed as of now. As for Orton, we should probably wait until the off-season. I mean, I absolutely love the way he's playing and think he will be our QB for the foreseeable future, but I want to see him do it a whole season just to be careful. And Lloyd has been hurt too much to warrant an extension as of now. If he comes back healthy and goes back to being our #1 WR, then an extension in the off-season would be good.

 

I guess that leaves St. Clair. I really think he has played tremendously this year, and even if he just reverts back to super-sub status, he's still a guy I want on our team for the next couple years.

[Guest TerraTor]

rather spend a couple bucks on Ty Law.. cant be worse than hamilton

[nfoligno]

Conner, two things.

 

One. What source are you using to say we are $9m under the cap. That seems a tad high, as it seemed we used up most of our cap dollars in the offseason. Further, I thought we used up a lot of our remaining space to front load some of Harris' deal.

 

Two. Assuming for just a moment we are that much under the cap, or any relatively significant amount.

 

I do not consider re-signing Brown. Sorry, but while he is among my favorite bears, he looks pretty weak out there to me, and I just can not see the point in keeping him around. When he is ready to retire and coach, I would be happy to look at him again.

 

I can't really see doing anything w/ Lloyd. Has he shown some flashes? Sure. But seriously. He has a couple games as a bear before the injury. Simply too little to base a new contract on, unless he was willing to sign a super bear friendly deal, w/ I seriously doubt.

 

Kyle? No, not yet. I am among his supporters, but imagine if we re-signed Rex to be new, big contract after the first chunk of the SB season. We have Kyle for another season after this one, and after that, we still have options. Point is, I want to see (at least) one full season before I consider long term deals. We are talking about the QB position, and even if we are not talking Payton Manning money, we are going to be talking big dollars, and I need more evidence before I commit such.

 

St. Clair - I have no problem signing him long term, but only if he is willing to sign for backup money. Higher level backup money, fine. But I do not believe he is a future starter for the team, so why would we pay him like one?

 

One thing I would consider is (if this is even possible w/ the rules) tweaking current contracts to front load some of their money in order to lighten their contracts in future years. Re-work a contract to make a greater part of the signing bonus a roster bonus, or something like that. That way you use up all our current cap space, while providing extra breathing room down the road.

[BearsFan]

we are approximately 9 million under the cap with next Monday as the deadline for applying future salaries to this yrs cap.

 

I have to question that the Bears have anywhere near that much cap space left. dbears54 (big board) has us under $1M. He makes mistakes, but his numbers tend to be ball park close. AdamJT13 is kffl's favorite cap guy, and he lists Chicago with only $318K as of 10-23. I haven't seen anybody challenge his numbers.

 

Adam gives one possibility where the huge discrepancy might be. In the same thread he said Marcus Hamilton has a $10M LTBE incentive that's most likely bogus. That money counts against the '08 cap, but will be credited back for '09.

 

See Adam's thread HERE.

 

LT, do you have any thoughts on this?

 

.

[BigDaddy]

We still have 2 months to decide what we do with any of these guys. If we are 9M under the cap, it certainly makes sense to get Orton done earlier but let's see how he finishes the season because based on what I've seen so far this year from our illustrious defense, he's gonna have ample opportunity to have to win some games for us. I say no to Brown. His time is past and I just don't think he has the speed anymore. St Clair? I dunno. I need more time. If we ever get Lloyd back on the field, he might be a major contributor but I question his toughness. Doesn't seem like a guy who can play hurt.

[BearsFan]

OOOPS! In my first post I said that Hamilton's bogus $10M LTBE would count against the '09 cap, but will be credited back for '09.

 

I meant to say that it counts against the '08 cap, and is then credited in '09. I've now corrected it.

 

.

[nfoligno]

I don't think we have two months. I am not sure of the exact date, but it is prior to the end of the season when you are able to still allocate money against the '08 cap.

 

I remember a few years ago the bears re-signed Walt Harris to a new long term deal. It was during the season, but a few days after the deadline, and thus none of his new deal was able to count against that current years cap space.

 

We still have 2 months to decide what we do with any of these guys. If we are 9M under the cap, it certainly makes sense to get Orton done earlier but let's see how he finishes the season because based on what I've seen so far this year from our illustrious defense, he's gonna have ample opportunity to have to win some games for us. I say no to Brown. His time is past and I just don't think he has the speed anymore. St Clair? I dunno. I need more time. If we ever get Lloyd back on the field, he might be a major contributor but I question his toughness. Doesn't seem like a guy who can play hurt.

[madlithuanian]

I'm basically with you 100%...

 

Conner, two things.

 

One. What source are you using to say we are $9m under the cap. That seems a tad high, as it seemed we used up most of our cap dollars in the offseason. Further, I thought we used up a lot of our remaining space to front load some of Harris' deal.

 

Two. Assuming for just a moment we are that much under the cap, or any relatively significant amount.

 

I do not consider re-signing Brown. Sorry, but while he is among my favorite bears, he looks pretty weak out there to me, and I just can not see the point in keeping him around. When he is ready to retire and coach, I would be happy to look at him again.

 

I can't really see doing anything w/ Lloyd. Has he shown some flashes? Sure. But seriously. He has a couple games as a bear before the injury. Simply too little to base a new contract on, unless he was willing to sign a super bear friendly deal, w/ I seriously doubt.

 

Kyle? No, not yet. I am among his supporters, but imagine if we re-signed Rex to be new, big contract after the first chunk of the SB season. We have Kyle for another season after this one, and after that, we still have options. Point is, I want to see (at least) one full season before I consider long term deals. We are talking about the QB position, and even if we are not talking Payton Manning money, we are going to be talking big dollars, and I need more evidence before I commit such.

 

St. Clair - I have no problem signing him long term, but only if he is willing to sign for backup money. Higher level backup money, fine. But I do not believe he is a future starter for the team, so why would we pay him like one?

 

One thing I would consider is (if this is even possible w/ the rules) tweaking current contracts to front load some of their money in order to lighten their contracts in future years. Re-work a contract to make a greater part of the signing bonus a roster bonus, or something like that. That way you use up all our current cap space, while providing extra breathing room down the road.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Let Brown and Clark walk. Brown, unfortunately, isn't the same and we have a blocking TE with good hands waiting in the wing in Kellen Davis.

 

Sign JSC to a 1 year, $2.5 million offer or something (unless we sign a free agent OT like Mark Tauscher, who's currently a Packer).

 

Keep Orton under his current deal until he shows us he can keep this up, maybe even into next season.

 

Sign Lloyd for something like $4 million over 2 years, if he'd take that, unless he's totally selfish. I guess we'll really see how happy he is being reunited with Turner if the Bears set that deal on the table. The last thing I want is for him to become a cancer after getting a multi-year deal, like he has in the past.

 

(Hopefully) Sign Mike Goff, current OG for San Diego, to a 3 or 4 year deal at around $7 million a year. He's 32 and he doesn't deserve $10 million a year, like what Faneca got. Plus, he's from Illinois. If this happened, we could go elsewhere, rather then OG, with our 1st round pick, maybe for a safety or another OT.

[madlithuanian]

Whaddaya bet Lloyd is selfish?

 

It's not like he's a receiver or anything...

 

Let Brown and Clark walk. Brown, unfortunately, isn't the same and we have a blocking TE with good hands waiting in the wing in Kellen Davis.

 

Sign JSC to a 1 year, $2.5 million offer or something (unless we sign a free agent OT like Mark Tauscher, who's currently a Packer).

 

Keep Orton under his current deal until he shows us he can keep this up, maybe even into next season.

 

Sign Lloyd for something like $4 million over 2 years, if he'd take that, unless he's totally selfish. I guess we'll really see how happy he is being reunited with Turner if the Bears set that deal on the table. The last thing I want is for him to become a cancer after getting a multi-year deal, like he has in the past.

 

(Hopefully) Sign Mike Goff, current OG for San Diego, to a 3 or 4 year deal at around $7 million a year. He's 32 and he doesn't deserve $10 million a year, like what Faneca got. Plus, he's from Illinois. If this happened, we could go elsewhere, rather then OG, with our 1st round pick, maybe for a safety or another OT.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Whaddaya bet Lloyd is selfish?

 

It's not like he's a receiver or anything...

That's true. But, I'm just saying. If he really "loves" being reunited with Turner then he'll take less money.

 

Plus, as we've seen so far, this reuniting has worked out, as Lloyd has performed very well when he's been on the field.

[madlithuanian]

I hear ya...

 

That's true. But, I'm just saying. If he really "loves" being reunited with Turner then he'll take less money.

 

Plus, as we've seen so far, this reuniting has worked out, as Lloyd has performed very well when he's been on the field.

[Connorbear]

Conner, two things.

 

One. What source are you using to say we are $9m under the cap. That seems a tad high, as it seemed we used up most of our cap dollars in the offseason. Further, I thought we used up a lot of our remaining space to front load some of Harris' deal.

 

Two. Assuming for just a moment we are that much under the cap, or any relatively significant amount.

 

I do not consider re-signing Brown. Sorry, but while he is among my favorite bears, he looks pretty weak out there to me, and I just can not see the point in keeping him around. When he is ready to retire and coach, I would be happy to look at him again.

 

I can't really see doing anything w/ Lloyd. Has he shown some flashes? Sure. But seriously. He has a couple games as a bear before the injury. Simply too little to base a new contract on, unless he was willing to sign a super bear friendly deal, w/ I seriously doubt.

 

Kyle? No, not yet. I am among his supporters, but imagine if we re-signed Rex to be new, big contract after the first chunk of the SB season. We have Kyle for another season after this one, and after that, we still have options. Point is, I want to see (at least) one full season before I consider long term deals. We are talking about the QB position, and even if we are not talking Payton Manning money, we are going to be talking big dollars, and I need more evidence before I commit such.

 

St. Clair - I have no problem signing him long term, but only if he is willing to sign for backup money. Higher level backup money, fine. But I do not believe he is a future starter for the team, so why would we pay him like one?

 

One thing I would consider is (if this is even possible w/ the rules) tweaking current contracts to front load some of their money in order to lighten their contracts in future years. Re-work a contract to make a greater part of the signing bonus a roster bonus, or something like that. That way you use up all our current cap space, while providing extra breathing room down the road.

I read this in an article this weekend in either the Trib or Suntimes. Just can't find it at this time. Will post once found.

 

Peace

[AZ54]

Orton - like what I've seen lately but I have to agree with Kyle's words; he needs to do it for a complete season before we discuss a new contract.

 

Mike Brown - No reason to sign him to an extension right now. His play certainly doesn't warrant it.

 

St Clair - I'd love to see this because I like his versatility. I agree he doesn't deserve true starter money but does deserve to be paid right behind those guys. Keeping him around makes it easier to fix our Oline woes over the next year or two.

 

Why would we cut Clark because of Kellen Davis? The same Davis who missed a block on a key 3rd or 4th down play that ended up costing us a game? I assume he'll get better with more experience but I haven't seen it yet.