So . . . Let's Talk Offseason

[dawhizz]

With the season now officially over (as opposed to when it was essentially over two months ago), what does this team actually need to do in the offseason? It's easy to look at this team and see nothing but holes, but without their first two picks (which hurts both for draft and for trade purposes), it's hard to see how they can fix, or even patch, everything. So, let's look at this team:

 

QB: It'll be Cutler and Hanie, but am I the only one who would kind of like to see a veteran QB on this team? At the very least, I feel like it would be nice to have someone like that on the sideline Cutler can talk to after a bad play who has actually played QB in the NFL. It's not like Hanie is going to impart much wisdom. I'm thinking someone like Jon Kitna. Not a need by any stretch, but something I wouldn't mind seeing them look into.

 

RB: I’d love to believe that if we upgrade the O-line, Forte will be back to what he was last year, but I’m not sure I believe that. Kevin Jones and Garrett Wolfe are still under contract, and Adrian Peterson is probably gone. Would I like to have Chester Taylor or Jerious Norwood? Sure. I’m just not sure this team can afford the investment. My guess is the Bears just hope Jones and Forte stay healthy, use Wolfe more, and focus on O-line. I also wonder if McKie gets any blame for the running woes, which might lead the team to look seriously at a more established FB.

 

WR: I have no idea. None. I’m not sure we know what we have with any of them. If it were up to me, I would keep Aromashodu, Knox, and Bennett. I would hope Iglesias is ready to contribute next year. If anyone will give you a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Hester you take it (Manning can approximate his return abilities, as we saw). You can’t get a big money WR because you have nothing to trade, but I think a guy like Malcolm Floyd from San Diego is realistic in terms of availability and fit (the big receiver we don’t really have). I’d also consider a 5th-6th round pick on a productive college player like Freddie Barnes from Bowling Green, who might be slow, but can at least get open.

 

TE: No changes likely here, unless someone wants to trade for Clark.

 

OL: I think Williams is a keeper at LT. Kreutz is a shell of what he used to be, but he probably needs to stay for at least another year. Other than that, no one’s spot is safe. If you want to spend, this is the place to do it, though I’m not sure there’s much out there that will actually be available. I say you draft the best available guard with your 3rd round pick (where you can still find legit, early starters) and sign a potential starter at RT (maybe former Illini Tony Pashos, who was a starter for Baltimore, but had a broken shoulder last year). Hire someone to kill Frank Omiyale.

 

DE: I’m fine letting both Ogun and Anderson go. I assume the Bears traded a second round pick with the intent to start Gaines Adams, but he hasn’t shown much yet. Idonije and Melton are OK for depth, but you probably need at least one more rotation/starter at DE. I would go big after Aaron Kampman, who doesn’t fit the Packers new scheme and is coming off an injury, but does nothing but make plays in the backfield (as opposed to our DEs, who just do nothing).

 

DT: You probably need another body here to go with Harris, Harrison, and (hopefully) Gilbert, though I would be OK with keeping Anthony Adams. I don’t love this group, but I’m not sure it’s high on my priority list either.

 

LB: Pisa can come back if he’ll sign cheap. If not, resign Williams and see what he can do. Some may want to trade Urlacher, but I think we saw this year what happens to this team without him. Not a need position.

 

CB: Cut Vasher or move him to FS. Send a search party out for DJ Moore. I actually like Bowman and Graham more than Tillman at this point, who has developed such a reputation for causing fumbles he’s forgotten how to tackle. And cover. Bring back Manning to play nickel and handle returns. This might be the quietest huge need for this team, I’m just not sure where the help comes from.

 

S: We NEED a playmaking safety. Bullocks was an experiment that (unsurprisingly) failed. Payne would be fine if he can just fly around and hit someone. When he’s better at coverage than the other safety, we have a problem. He’s probably a bit overrated, but it might be best for the Bears to overpay for a guy like OJ Atogwe.

 

That's just my opinion based on what I see and what I think is reasonable. What do you think?

[flea]

with regards Vasher, I see nopoint cutting him now if all the big money has been paid to him. I'm not sure we have a player to replace him & at worst he's depth

[balta1701-A]

Most important thing the Bears can do, IMO, is to spend money at the RT position. I'm not sure how the URFA setup will work this year, but a name that comes off the list as a guy already playing that spot is Willie Colon, RT for the Steelers. There appear to be more quality LT's available than RT's so a conversion might be worth considering also.

[Connorbear]

Most important thing the Bears can do, IMO, is to spend money at the RT position. I'm not sure how the URFA setup will work this year, but a name that comes off the list as a guy already playing that spot is Willie Colon, RT for the Steelers. There appear to be more quality LT's available than RT's so a conversion might be worth considering also.

Is Willie related to Harry Colon who played for the Lions in the 70s??? That was always one of my favorite football names.

 

Peace

[nfoligno]

I think Vasher is gone. He has shown absolutely no ability when on the field. Especially if this is an uncapped season, the timing is right to cut him as the money you eat from his contract has no affect.

 

with regards Vasher, I see nopoint cutting him now if all the big money has been paid to him. I'm not sure we have a player to replace him & at worst he's depth

 

[defiantgiant]

I'd love to see the Bears go for an established free safety like Atogwe, but he's slated to be a restricted free agent, and there's no way the Rams aren't going to match whatever the Bears offer. He's one of two good players in their secondary, and they can't afford to get any worse on the back end. I'd be very surprised if we could pry Atogwe away from St. Louis. It's really not a good year to need ANY position in free agency.

 

One pickup I'd like to see the Bears make is Eugene Amano from the Titans. He started out as their center, then moved out to LG and has played very well. He's only 27, has decent size at 6'3" 310, and could challenge for a starting job at any of the 3 interior line positions. Adding Amano would help us get younger on the line, and would give us tons of flexibility to get the best guy at each spot. Some possible combinations:

 

Williams-Amano-Beekman-Garza-Shaffer (with Kreutz as the interior backup and Omiyale as the swing tackle)

Williams-Beekman-Amano-Garza-Shaffer (Kreutz-interior backup, Omiyale-swing tackle)

Williams-Amano-Kreutz-Garza-Shaffer (Beekman-interior backup, Omiyale-swing tackle)

Williams-Omiyale-Beekman-Amano-Shaffer (Kreutz-cut/traded, Garza-interior backup)

Williams-Beekman-Kreutz-Amano-Shaffer (Garza-interior backup, Omiyale-swing tackle)

 

We could have open competition at all three interior line spots, with several decent candidates for each. If Kreutz can step it up, maybe he can keep the starting center job. If not, Amano, Beekman, and even Garza can all play center. If Omiyale keeps playing like he did the last couple of games, maybe he could keep a starting guard job. If not, bump him out to swing tackle, which is probably a better fit anyway, and let Amano and Beekman compete for the LG job. If somebody can outplay Garza, so much the better - he'd make a great quality depth player. Adding a flexible lineman who's proven himself on one of the better O-lines in the league would be HUGE for the Bears in the running and passing game.

[Pixote]

with regards Vasher, I see no point cutting him now if all the big money has been paid to him. I'm not sure we have a player to replace him & at worst he's depth

 

 

Vasher was an excellent CB at one time, suffered through some injuries, then tanked. I have to believe the talent we once saw is still there. If cut, he will just go to another team that will untap that talent once again and we will all be reflecting on another ex-Bears player starring for another team.

 

Fewell is known for his ability to teach and motivate players, his specialty is DBs. If we sign Fewell as DC I would like to think he can get Vasher back to where he was 3 years ago and give us another fine DB on our roster to go along with Bowman & Tillman. I am also anxious to see what he can do in further developing Graham, as well as our safeties.

[nfoligno]

QB: It'll be Cutler and Hanie, but am I the only one who would kind of like to see a veteran QB on this team? At the very least, I feel like it would be nice to have someone like that on the sideline Cutler can talk to after a bad play who has actually played QB in the NFL. It's not like Hanie is going to impart much wisdom. I'm thinking someone like Jon Kitna. Not a need by any stretch, but something I wouldn't mind seeing them look into.

 

I don't think we will do a thing. Teams w/ stable, stud QBs often enter the season w/ a very iffy backup. Even though there are questions about Cutler, health is not really one of them. I think we simply roll the dice w/ him.

 

RB: I’d love to believe that if we upgrade the O-line, Forte will be back to what he was last year, but I’m not sure I believe that. Kevin Jones and Garrett Wolfe are still under contract, and Adrian Peterson is probably gone. Would I like to have Chester Taylor or Jerious Norwood? Sure. I’m just not sure this team can afford the investment. My guess is the Bears just hope Jones and Forte stay healthy, use Wolfe more, and focus on O-line. I also wonder if McKie gets any blame for the running woes, which might lead the team to look seriously at a more established FB.

 

I would actually not be surprised to see us add a RB. The past couple years, we have seen numerous decent talent RBs sign for cheap. I think AP is gone. I think we sign/draft a RB (not too high) while Jones and Wolfe battle for the final spot. I think McKie is safe. i think he is awful, but for some reason, the staff feels different.

 

WR: I have no idea. None. I’m not sure we know what we have with any of them. If it were up to me, I would keep Aromashodu, Knox, and Bennett. I would hope Iglesias is ready to contribute next year. If anyone will give you a 2nd or 3rd round pick for Hester you take it (Manning can approximate his return abilities, as we saw). You can’t get a big money WR because you have nothing to trade, but I think a guy like Malcolm Floyd from San Diego is realistic in terms of availability and fit (the big receiver we don’t really have). I’d also consider a 5th-6th round pick on a productive college player like Freddie Barnes from Bowling Green, who might be slow, but can at least get open.

 

I don't think we do a thing here, and agree with such an approach. I like the group we have. I think we would be better if Hester were not starting, but we have some good looking young WRs. DA's emergence late in the year, combined w/ how much Cutler likes him, will prevent us from going after a FA like Floyd, IMHO. Bennett looked good in his first year playing, and I think Iglesias could emerge this year. I think about the only change we might see is Davis getting cut. He didn't excel on special teams this year like he has in the past, and w/ others stepping up, I think his value had dropped.

 

TE: No changes likely here, unless someone wants to trade for Clark.

 

Agreed, no changes.

 

OL: I think Williams is a keeper at LT. Kreutz is a shell of what he used to be, but he probably needs to stay for at least another year. Other than that, no one’s spot is safe. If you want to spend, this is the place to do it, though I’m not sure there’s much out there that will actually be available. I say you draft the best available guard with your 3rd round pick (where you can still find legit, early starters) and sign a potential starter at RT (maybe former Illini Tony Pashos, who was a starter for Baltimore, but had a broken shoulder last year). Hire someone to kill Frank Omiyale.

 

I think we use our 3rd to draft the best OL available. If that means OT, fine. Then we let Omiyale (who improved through the year) and Beekman battle for the OG spot. If an OG is best, we draft him and move Omiyale to RT to compete w/ Schaffer. While I disagree, I doubt we do much in FA. As nice as it was to see our OL improve toward the end of the year, I think it may have also hurt us going forward. I think the staff looks at the OL and convinces themselves that we have talent, but it simply took longer for that talent to develop and come together, but that they are going to be better in 2010.

 

DE: I’m fine letting both Ogun and Anderson go. I assume the Bears traded a second round pick with the intent to start Gaines Adams, but he hasn’t shown much yet. Idonije and Melton are OK for depth, but you probably need at least one more rotation/starter at DE. I would go big after Aaron Kampman, who doesn’t fit the Packers new scheme and is coming off an injury, but does nothing but make plays in the backfield (as opposed to our DEs, who just do nothing).

 

I think Anderson returns, as w/o a new CBA, we can keep him cheap w/ a restricted tender. Wale is gone, but we traded a 2nd for Adams and get Metlon who was on IR, even though I expect little from him.

 

DT: You probably need another body here to go with Harris, Harrison, and (hopefully) Gilbert, though I would be OK with keeping Anthony Adams. I don’t love this group, but I’m not sure it’s high on my priority list either.

 

Nothing. We will bank on Harris playing a full season like he finished 2009, as well as banking on the development of Gilbert and Harrison.

 

LB: Pisa can come back if he’ll sign cheap. If not, resign Williams and see what he can do. Some may want to trade Urlacher, but I think we saw this year what happens to this team without him. Not a need position.

 

Agreed Pisa will be back. He looked to be a solid SLB for us, but his season was killed by injury. He will be cheap, and thus return.

 

CB: Cut Vasher or move him to FS. Send a search party out for DJ Moore. I actually like Bowman and Graham more than Tillman at this point, who has developed such a reputation for causing fumbles he’s forgotten how to tackle. And cover. Bring back Manning to play nickel and handle returns. This might be the quietest huge need for this team, I’m just not sure where the help comes from.

 

Vasher is gone, agreed. I think, whether through draft (likely) or FA (less likely) we look to add a CB. I like Graham, but do not believe the staff does. No clue what happened to Moore this year. Despite the young talent on the team, I think CB is a need we will likely address.

 

S: We NEED a playmaking safety. Bullocks was an experiment that (unsurprisingly) failed. Payne would be fine if he can just fly around and hit someone. When he’s better at coverage than the other safety, we have a problem. He’s probably a bit overrated, but it might be best for the Bears to overpay for a guy like OJ Atogwe.

 

No question this is a big need, and the one area on defense I could see us trying to add a legit player. Unfortunately, our history trying to fix the FS position is not a good one.

 

In the end, I really just do not see much. FA will not be a good one. W/o a new CBA, the pool of talent will be minimal, and I do not expect us to spend big w/ the potential of a lockout. And w/o any day one picks, it isn't like we should expect much from the draft. I think Angelo will put Lovie in a position of having to make the best of what he has.