GakMan23 Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 St. Clair receivers offer from Browns, negotiations underway By Brad Biggson March 17, 2009 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) The Bears' first minicamp practice begins in less than 30 minutes and the team could have an answer soon for the gaping hole they will have at right tackle. Negotiations for veteran offensive tackle John St. Clair are believed to be taking place. St. Clair remains in Cleveland where he arrived Monday for a free-agent visit with the Browns. A source close to the situation said that Cleveland has offered St. Clair a contract. We have no idea what kind of money he is looking at in Cleveland. Whether or not he is leaning one way or another is also unknown, but at this point a resolution is expected in the near future. The Bears made St. Clair, who started 16 games for them at left tackle last season, a $4.5 million, three-year contract offer on Feb. 13. St. Clair's side made a counter proposal and that is where the issue remained until he traveled to Cleveland. St. Clair met with coach Eric Mangini and general manager George Kokinis and was given a physical. It's an odd match for the Browns from the standpoint that they just signed Pork Chop Womack and Ryan Tucker, the brother of ex-Bear Rex Tucker, is expected to get the first crack at right tackle in Cleveland. St. Clair seemingly had a starting job waiting for him here without another legitimate right tackle candidate on the roster. The Bears probably didn't move off of their contract offer from five weeks ago because they were not going to start negotiating against themselves. We'll see where this thing heads now. Stay tuned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GakMan23 Posted March 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 double post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stinger226 Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 double post Well if you like St Clair its good news he didnt jump on the contract offer right away, must be close enough to the Bears offer, to see if they will match or get real close. The longer it goes the better chance he comes back, and since we dont have many options at OT, I want him back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DABEARSDABOMB Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 My guess is that you'll see the Bears quickly match the Browns offer and we'll have St. Clair signed by Friday. Even if you went 3yrs 9 million I'd think that would be a steal for a guy that can backup at either tackle spot or be a more than solid guard. I still hope we bring him in and than make a move to grab a tackle in the draft and ideally in a year we might have Omilaye and St. Clair at the guard spots and two young tackles plus Kreutz in the center spot. Beekman will be a backup to the guards and Kreutz with Garza gone and Buenning in the mix as a backup as well (maybe even a starter) and than in the case of an injury either of your guards could swing to the tackle spot and you'd slide in one of the backups. Age wise you'd be relatively young with St. Clair and Kreutz being the only older guys and you'd have plenty of versatility for injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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