ostrogoth Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 The Bears have formally submitted a contract offer to free agent OT John St. Clair. The proposal is for three years and probably about $5-6 million annually. Vernon Carey's six-year, $42M deal reset the tackle market, however, and St. Clair may wait for free agency to compare the Bears' offer against others. Source: Chicago Tribune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hochuli 3:16 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 3 years, $15-18 million? That sounds about right. I never thought I'd get to say this, but- I really hope he stays here, especially with the injury questions CW has and the retirement of Tait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madlithuanian Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Agreed on all counts! 3 years, $15-18 million? That sounds about right. I never thought I'd get to say this, but- I really hope he stays here, especially with the injury questions CW has and the retirement of Tait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradjock Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 The Bears have formally submitted a contract offer to free agent OT John St. Clair. The proposal is for three years and probably about $5-6 million annually. Vernon Carey's six-year, $42M deal reset the tackle market, however, and St. Clair may wait for free agency to compare the Bears' offer against others. Source: Chicago Tribune That seems pretty damn reasonable. St. Clair turns 32 in July, and he's considered a very average offensive-tackle at best. I wonder who his agent is? Agents usually seem to have a finger on the pulse of what the market is. Is there a team out there willing to offer him more? When news of the contract gets out, it usually means the player has declined it. If another team offers just a little bit more money, he'll likely jump ship. I'd still love to see the Bears sign Khalif Barnes AND St. Clair. That would take care of the o-line and give us a lot more flexibility in the draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chwtom Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 5-6 Million PER YEAR? Are you guys insane? He is a backup. He was one of the worst LTs in football last year. Yes, he's versatile, but versatile for him is another way of saying he isn't good enough at any one position to be a starter there. I might give him a 3 year deal for 5-6 mil total, but 5-6 per year is loco. The guy is not a high level tackle, there is no way reason to pay him like one. Carey may average 7 mil a year, but he's a former first round pick who plays at near pro bowl level. Paying John St Clair 5-6 mil per year for 3 years would be like the Cubs paying Aaron Miles 6 mil a year for 3 years. There isn't anything in the Trib piece about 5-6 mil a year, that came from rotoworld. Let's all hope that's errant speculation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Hochuli 3:16 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 5-6 Million PER YEAR? Are you guys insane? He is a backup. He was one of the worst LTs in football last year. Yes, he's versatile, but versatile for him is another way of saying he isn't good enough at any one position to be a starter there. I might give him a 3 year deal for 5-6 mil total, but 5-6 per year is loco. The guy is not a high level tackle, there is no way reason to pay him like one. Carey may average 7 mil a year, but he's a former first round pick who plays at near pro bowl level. Paying John St Clair 5-6 mil per year for 3 years would be like the Cubs paying Aaron Miles 6 mil a year for 3 years. There isn't anything in the Trib piece about 5-6 mil a year, that came from rotoworld. Let's all hope that's errant speculation. He played pretty well against some of the pass rushers in the NFL last year (Allen, Peppers, Abraham, Kampman, Freeney), and we're ridiculously small at the OL position. He's versatile, like you said, too. Sure, it might be overpaying a bit, but we need to sign this guy or else we'll be going into next year with CW and a rookie at LT, and 2 rookies at RT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradjock Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 5-6 Million PER YEAR? Are you guys insane? He is a backup. He was one of the worst LTs in football last year. Yes, he's versatile, but versatile for him is another way of saying he isn't good enough at any one position to be a starter there. I might give him a 3 year deal for 5-6 mil total, but 5-6 per year is loco. The guy is not a high level tackle, there is no way reason to pay him like one. Carey may average 7 mil a year, but he's a former first round pick who plays at near pro bowl level. Paying John St Clair 5-6 mil per year for 3 years would be like the Cubs paying Aaron Miles 6 mil a year for 3 years. There isn't anything in the Trib piece about 5-6 mil a year, that came from rotoworld. Let's all hope that's errant speculation. It could be errant speculation, but I'm fairly certain the major papers have reported we've given St. Clair a contract offer. And 5 million is believe to be the low end for starting tackles. It's easy to bitch about St. Clair, but do you have a better immediate option for replacing Tait? Look at the list of available tackles http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/fa?sort=gra...p;positionId=46 Stacy Andrews was hurt all last season, the Philly guys are ancient, other players restricted. Realistically Jon Stinchcomb & Khalif Barnes are the only upgrades to St. Clair, and who knows what they'll cost? Even if we sign Stinkcomb or Barnes, St. Clair would still be our starting LG, and he's valuable because he's insurance in case Chris Williams sucks or is injured. Either way, we need St. Clair back. We have more then enough money to do it, and it gives us tons of flexibility at the o-line spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearSox Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I got no problem with this. It is overpaying a bit, but we need him back. Also, hopefully the deal is backloaded as well so we could possibly cut him after a year or two when we hopefully won't need him anymore. He's basically a stop gap for us at either LG or RT until we find someone better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 5 mill is a bit too much for a guy who ultimately should be a depth chart guy. However, given the need the Bears have they might just have to sign him (since there aren't many better FA options). The problem is St. Clair will ultimately slide to guard if all goes well and I think paying him 5-6M a year to be a guard is ridiculous (since the Bears are clearly going to take another 1st day pick at tackle and have Williams benchmarked for the left side). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChileBear Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 5 mill is a bit too much for a guy who ultimately should be a depth chart guy. However, given the need the Bears have they might just have to sign him (since there aren't many better FA options). The problem is St. Clair will ultimately slide to guard if all goes well and I think paying him 5-6M a year to be a guard is ridiculous (since the Bears are clearly going to take another 1st day pick at tackle and have Williams benchmarked for the left side). I don't have any problem with the offer. St. Clair was adequate last season when Williams went down. He has been healthy, versatile and he knows the system. I do thin he'll test the market on Friday, but I'm hopefull that he signs with us. Then, if we could get Barnes we'd be in good shape at T and could draft a G to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connorbear Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 I don't have any problem with the offer. St. Clair was adequate last season when Williams went down. He has been healthy, versatile and he knows the system. I do thin he'll test the market on Friday, but I'm hopefull that he signs with us. Then, if we could get Barnes we'd be in good shape at T and could draft a G to develop. Agreed. He essentially played for 750k last season so we got a bargain. Time to reward him a bit. Peace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'TD' Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 It's a ridiculous amount of pay for his talent level. This money last your could have almost kept Berrian. Hell, it's only a few million a year less then what a stud OL like Faneca got from the Jets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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