Is there a star player on the Bears to trade?

[jason]

I got to thinking that the Bears need lots of help on both sides of the ball. That requires draft picks. The Bears have none.

 

So, which player(s) would you trade - in a realistic scenario - that could potentially bring the Bears a windfall of picks, and set them up for possible future success?

 

Jay Cutler

Lance Briggs

Tommie Harris

Devin Hester

 

I think that's it. I think those are the only guys who can return something in free agency. Jay isn't going anywhere. Neither is Lance. Tommie is soured now, and might not be worth as much. And I think Devin is a little overvalued for the Bears, and wouldn't be worth as much on the FA market now that he can't find the endzone on special teams.

 

Is ANYTHING possible?

[madlithuanian]

I don't see Cutler on that list. We just brought him here, and I think the key is to build around him.

 

I do see the rest of the 3 as postential trade bait. You could also toss Urlacher, Tillman, Knox, and Olsen.

 

I don't see it happening, but it's possible. Just not probable.

 

I got to thinking that the Bears need lots of help on both sides of the ball. That requires draft picks. The Bears have none.

 

So, which player(s) would you trade - in a realistic scenario - that could potentially bring the Bears a windfall of picks, and set them up for possible future success?

 

Jay Cutler

Lance Briggs

Tommie Harris

Devin Hester

 

I think that's it. I think those are the only guys who can return something in free agency. Jay isn't going anywhere. Neither is Lance. Tommie is soured now, and might not be worth as much. And I think Devin is a little overvalued for the Bears, and wouldn't be worth as much on the FA market now that he can't find the endzone on special teams.

 

Is ANYTHING possible?

 

[nfoligno]

I understand the thinking, but while we have much we need to add, at the same time, you do not want to give up certain players who are such that you build around. To me, that leaves Cutler and Briggs off the list. Cutler is obvious. Briggs, while he may well offer the most in terms of trade (a) LBs are often under-valued in the market as there are simply so many good ones and ( he is one of the few players we have good enough to build around.

 

I think most believe Harris is gone, and while his value will not be what it was a few years ago, I think there is a decent chance to get decent value for him. Not long ago, he was considered elite. Some may feel he never again will be due to injury, but history has shown there are always teams that feel they can get more out of a player. If a team feels they can get Harris back to that upper tier level, they may be more willing to give up something. A 3rd is likely about has high as we could even hope, w/ a 4th more likely, but frankly, I would take either at this point.

 

I think Hester has solid value, but we need to provide Cutler weapons, not take away. Cutler and Hester have starting to build chemistry, and that is not something I think we want to get rid of.

 

The reality is, we don't have a ton of bargain with. I think we need to address much in FA, and just hope we can hit on some of our mid round picks, as Angelo has done at times in the past.

 

I got to thinking that the Bears need lots of help on both sides of the ball. That requires draft picks. The Bears have none.

 

So, which player(s) would you trade - in a realistic scenario - that could potentially bring the Bears a windfall of picks, and set them up for possible future success?

 

Jay Cutler

Lance Briggs

Tommie Harris

Devin Hester

 

I think that's it. I think those are the only guys who can return something in free agency. Jay isn't going anywhere. Neither is Lance. Tommie is soured now, and might not be worth as much. And I think Devin is a little overvalued for the Bears, and wouldn't be worth as much on the FA market now that he can't find the endzone on special teams.

 

Is ANYTHING possible?

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

You don't get much when you trade a player. Tommie Harris is about the only candidate. The Bears are gonig to have to spend on FA.

[defiantgiant]

The Bears are gonig to have to spend on FA.

Yeah, I agree with this 100%. Really, the Bears have very few positions of depth to trade from. We have some guys with value, but most of them (Cutler, Briggs, Peanut, Forte, Hester, Olsen) are guys that we'd have to immediately spend value to replace, so it would be stupid to trade any of them unless somebody offered way, way more than they're worth. I also don't think Tommie has any trade value at this point: I remember NFP anonymously polled a few front office guys a while back, and all of them said they wouldn't give up anything for Harris. I think other teams have seen enough of Tommie over the past couple of years to know that he's done. I see him getting cut next offseason and somebody taking a flyer on him in camp. I doubt it works out.

 

If we were going to deal a player, I think it would have to be either Alex Brown or Wale (if we did a tag-and-trade with him.) If we were going to try to get an earlier pick, maybe we could package Brown or Wale with a 3rd in exchange for a 2nd. Derrick Burgess is about as old as those two and probably had comparable value; Burgess went for a 3rd and a 5th.

 

The only other guy I could see trading is Jamar Williams. His value would be a little harder to determine since he's a young guy and has been stuck behind Lance Briggs, but I think he's probably worth a Day 2 pick.

 

I can't think of anybody else (that the Bears could afford to lose) who has any trade value. We're just not in a position to make many trades: Angelo's going to have to throw a bunch of money at some FAs to bring any talent in, and god help him if he doesn't get some immediate contributors with our Day 2 draft picks.

[NAMEDSONPAYTON2]

I got to thinking that the Bears need lots of help on both sides of the ball. That requires draft picks. The Bears have none.

 

So, which player(s) would you trade - in a realistic scenario - that could potentially bring the Bears a windfall of picks, and set them up for possible future success?

 

Jay Cutler

Lance Briggs

Tommie Harris

Devin Hester

 

I think that's it. I think those are the only guys who can return something in free agency. Jay isn't going anywhere. Neither is Lance. Tommie is soured now, and might not be worth as much. And I think Devin is a little overvalued for the Bears, and wouldn't be worth as much on the FA market now that he can't find the endzone on special teams.

 

Is ANYTHING possible?

If I was a fan of another team,I would be interested in Hester. But I would use him only on punt and kickoff returns,and maybe as a decoy on certain downs, which I wish the Bears would of stayed with. To me he WAS the best returner of all time and could still possible be if used right. Considering that,I think he has great value for 2/3rds of the nfl teams. What a great game changer he WAAASSS. Remember those days when the other team was punting or kicking off,if was electrifing.

[defiantgiant]

If I was a fan of another team,I would be interested in Hester. But I would use him only on punt and kickoff returns,and maybe as a decoy on certain downs, which I wish the Bears would of stayed with. To me he WAS the best returner of all time and could still possible be if used right. Considering that,I think he has great value for 2/3rds of the nfl teams. What a great game changer he WAAASSS. Remember those days when the other team was punting or kicking off,if was electrifing.

 

I think the problem with Hester as a kick returner is that, by the end of 2007, teams just wouldn't kick to him. Starting on the 40 is fine and all, but you can't have a player with his kind of ability and put the other team in charge of giving him the ball. It made a lot of sense to move him to WR, if only so he could get the ball without relying on the other team to be stupid enough to kick it to him.

 

Look at it this way: Hester definitely hasn't reached his full potential as a receiver yet, but he's on pace for 6 touchdowns this season. That's as many scores as he had on punt and kick returns combined in 2007. Even if he's only an average #1 receiver, he's going to score his team as many points or more as when he was an All-Pro returner.

[NAMEDSONPAYTON2]

I think the problem with Hester as a kick returner is that, by the end of 2007, teams just wouldn't kick to him. Starting on the 40 is fine and all, but you can't have a player with his kind of ability and put the other team in charge of giving him the ball. It made a lot of sense to move him to WR, if only so he could get the ball without relying on the other team to be stupid enough to kick it to him.

 

Look at it this way: Hester definitely hasn't reached his full potential as a receiver yet, but he's on pace for 6 touchdowns this season. That's as many scores as he had on punt and kick returns combined in 2007. Even if he's only an average #1 receiver, he's going to score his team as many points or more as when he was an All-Pro returner.

They kick to him every game this season. And if he woud average 2-6 scores a year on returnes, and the starting reciever that would take his place in the lineup would get 6 scores,we would score more,we would probably win more games.

[bowlingtwig]

They kick to him every game this season. And if he woud average 2-6 scores a year on returnes, and the starting reciever that would take his place in the lineup would get 6 scores,we would score more,we would probably win more games.

The only player on that list that I don't mind losing is Harris. He obviously doesn't have it anymore and with the ego that these Def Coord have there will be a few that would take him on. After last weeks actions and the fact that he just hasn't done anything all year is enough. To much money!!!!!!!

[NAMEDSONPAYTON2]

The only player on that list that I don't mind losing is Harris. He obviously doesn't have it anymore and with the ego that these Def Coord have there will be a few that would take him on. After last weeks actions and the fact that he just hasn't done anything all year is enough. To much money!!!!!!!

I don't want to get rid of Hester and agree with you about Harris. I was just stating that Hester might be worth more to another team than we Bear fans think.

[defiantgiant]

They kick to him every game this season.

They kick to him because he isn't scoring. If he started taking returns to the house like he did in 2006 and 2007, do you really think teams would still give him the ball?

And if he woud average 2-6 scores a year on returnes, and the starting reciever that would take his place in the lineup would get 6 scores,we would score more,we would probably win more games.

What starting receiver is that? Not somebody on the Bears roster, that's for sure. And it's not that helpful to say "we should move Hester back to returner and replace him with a receiver who's just as good as he is." That's ducking the whole issue of where he's going to help his team the most. I mean, I could just say "we should keep Hester at receiver and replace him with a kick returner who's just as good as he is." Even if I were to assume for the sake of argument that we don't have another return man as good as Hester, we don't have another receiver as good as he is, either. We have to use him in one spot at the expense of the other, and I think it should be offense at the expense of special teams.

[NAMEDSONPAYTON2]

They kick to him because he isn't scoring. If he started taking returns to the house like he did in 2006 and 2007, do you really think teams would still give him the ball?

 

What starting receiver is that? Not somebody on the Bears roster, that's for sure. And it's not that helpful to say "we should move Hester back to returner and replace him with a receiver who's just as good as he is." That's ducking the whole issue of where he's going to help his team the most. I mean, I could just say "we should keep Hester at receiver and replace him with a kick returner who's just as good as he is." Even if I were to assume for the sake of argument that we don't have another return man as good as Hester, we don't have another receiver as good as he is, either. We have to use him in one spot at the expense of the other, and I think it should be offense at the expense of special teams.

Many here do not think Hester is a #1 reciever. I (personnaly) think Knox could put up the same #'s as Hester or close to it and maybe even more. Look, I love me some Hester and do not want to trade him. I was just stating (because of the topic trade bait) he might be worth more to certain teams than we Bear fans think.

[DaBearSox]

I think you have to build around Cutler and Briggs....

 

With Hester and Jay's recent collaborations I think you have to keep him around, maybe put him in the slot when we finally get a true #1.

 

Tommie seems to be on the decline and is a mental midget...see what you can get for him...

[defiantgiant]

Many here do not think Hester is a #1 reciever.

Those people are wrong. Since the end of last season, Hester's been drawing double coverage, putting up a healthy yards-per-catch, and catching a very high percentage of his targets. If he keeps up his pace since the bye week, which I think he can, he'll break 1200 yards receiving.

 

In terms of receiving yards so far this season, Hester's ahead of Brandon Marshall, Greg Jennings, DeSean Jackson, Santana Moss, Steve Smith (Panthers), and Derrick Mason, to name a few. And it's not like he's getting more passes thrown to him than those guys are. In fact, Marshall, Mason, and Steve Smith all have significantly more targets than Hester.

 

In my book, that makes him a #1 receiver. Is he Andre Johnson? No. But he's definitely a #1.

 

I (personnaly) think Knox could put up the same #'s as Hester or close to it and maybe even more.

Not according to Knox's stats, he couldn't:

Hester: targeted on 59 pass attempts, made 41 catches for 548 yards and 3 TDs.

Knox: targeted on 48 pass attempts, made 28 catches for 340 yards and 3 TDs.

 

Hester's catching nearly 70% of his targets compared to Knox's 58%, and his yards-per-catch average is more than a yard better: Hester's averaging 13.3 compared to 12.1 for Knox. Knox hasn't done close to as much as Hester with the passes that have come his way; If Knox did get as many passes thrown his way as Hester does, he'd still only have 34 catches for 417 yards.

 

Look, I love me some Hester and do not want to trade him. I was just stating (because of the topic trade bait) he might be worth more to certain teams than we Bear fans think.

OK, we agree that he shouldn't be traded, but I think there aren't many teams in the NFL that need him MORE than the Bears do, since we couldn't replace him at WR with anyone else on our roster.

[madlithuanian]

Jamar has no value at all. He's completley unproven...

 

Yeah, I agree with this 100%. Really, the Bears have very few positions of depth to trade from. We have some guys with value, but most of them (Cutler, Briggs, Peanut, Forte, Hester, Olsen) are guys that we'd have to immediately spend value to replace, so it would be stupid to trade any of them unless somebody offered way, way more than they're worth. I also don't think Tommie has any trade value at this point: I remember NFP anonymously polled a few front office guys a while back, and all of them said they wouldn't give up anything for Harris. I think other teams have seen enough of Tommie over the past couple of years to know that he's done. I see him getting cut next offseason and somebody taking a flyer on him in camp. I doubt it works out.

 

If we were going to deal a player, I think it would have to be either Alex Brown or Wale (if we did a tag-and-trade with him.) If we were going to try to get an earlier pick, maybe we could package Brown or Wale with a 3rd in exchange for a 2nd. Derrick Burgess is about as old as those two and probably had comparable value; Burgess went for a 3rd and a 5th.

 

The only other guy I could see trading is Jamar Williams. His value would be a little harder to determine since he's a young guy and has been stuck behind Lance Briggs, but I think he's probably worth a Day 2 pick.

 

I can't think of anybody else (that the Bears could afford to lose) who has any trade value. We're just not in a position to make many trades: Angelo's going to have to throw a bunch of money at some FAs to bring any talent in, and god help him if he doesn't get some immediate contributors with our Day 2 draft picks.

 

[madlithuanian]

If the Colts, Pats or Saints had Hester and the field position, they'd be breaking NFL scoring records left and right...

 

I think the problem with Hester as a kick returner is that, by the end of 2007, teams just wouldn't kick to him. Starting on the 40 is fine and all, but you can't have a player with his kind of ability and put the other team in charge of giving him the ball. It made a lot of sense to move him to WR, if only so he could get the ball without relying on the other team to be stupid enough to kick it to him.

 

Look at it this way: Hester definitely hasn't reached his full potential as a receiver yet, but he's on pace for 6 touchdowns this season. That's as many scores as he had on punt and kick returns combined in 2007. Even if he's only an average #1 receiver, he's going to score his team as many points or more as when he was an All-Pro returner.

 

[defiantgiant]

If the Colts, Pats or Saints had Hester and the field position, they'd be breaking NFL scoring records left and right...

Teams aren't playing for the record books, they're trying to win, and it's not like any of those teams are losing very many games. In fact, they've all pretty much locked up their divisions in November. Again, it's not whether they'd like to have Hester on returns; I'm sure every team would. It's whether they'd give up enough for Hester-on-returns to make it worthwhile for Chicago to have to replace Hester-on-offense.

 

Looking at Hester's production, what would that take? Another established #1 receiver? A first-round pick? I don't think anybody's giving that up for Hester, not when you can get an undrafted guy like Clifton Smith or Josh Cribbs to light it up on returns. Maybe they're not quite as good as Hester (although you could argue that Cribbs is as good or better) but they don't cost anything, either.

[Ed Hochuli 3:16]

Remember when people were saying 2 years ago that they wouldn't trade Hester for a 1st and a 2nd? In hindsight (and at the time), I would've done it.

[madlithuanian]

Don't get me wrong, I don't want him gone and i don't think we could get enough. But, I know virtually any team in the NFl would love to see what they could do with that guy. Especially a coaching staff that knows what they are doing.

 

Teams aren't playing for the record books, they're trying to win, and it's not like any of those teams are losing very many games. In fact, they've all pretty much locked up their divisions in November. Again, it's not whether they'd like to have Hester on returns; I'm sure every team would. It's whether they'd give up enough for Hester-on-returns to make it worthwhile for Chicago to have to replace Hester-on-offense.

 

Looking at Hester's production, what would that take? Another established #1 receiver? A first-round pick? I don't think anybody's giving that up for Hester, not when you can get an undrafted guy like Clifton Smith or Josh Cribbs to light it up on returns. Maybe they're not quite as good as Hester (although you could argue that Cribbs is as good or better) but they don't cost anything, either.

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

I don't know, in a pretty short time the Bears have turned Hester into a pretty solid receiver. I think Drakes and company deserve credit for that.

[selection7]

Hester has way outplayed his expectations IMO, save for returning, which doesn't surprise me anyway because I've said all along Toub's blockers had been just as much or more responsible for Hester's success. We've still got Hester, but the faces have changed on ST and surprise, surprise, we're back down to earth (though still pretty good) as a returns unit, and not even playing him on kick returns.

 

Anyway, I'll admit I was also in the minority that said Hester will never be a very good reciever because the level is just too high in the NFL for you to take a not particularly bright player and switch him to the other side of the ball playing a position he hasn't played before. He appears to be very good already, and as quickly as he's picked it up and as young as he is, maybe he'll one day be great. That's probably my biggest "got it wrong" of the last few years. My other was probably sticking with Rex too long, thinking "all he has to do is stop flaking out and thrwoing WTF picks...and you'll see", lol. Rex doesn't have the self control to be an NFL QB. Lesson learned. ...I think I'm rambling.