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Rotoworld...

 

Appearing on ESPNews Saturday, John Clayton suggested that free agent LT Jake Long "could go to Chicago" if he hits the market.

And hit the market Long will likely do, as he's yet to deem any of the Dolphins' contract offers sufficient and is not a candidate for the franchise tag. The Bears are obviously in the market for offensive line help, and have plenty of salary cap space. Both Long and Branden Albert would be fits in Chicago.

 

Plenty of cap space?? WHAAA?? Longs injuries scare the hell outta me.

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I doubt we'll want Long. I did read a Sean Jensen article the other day stating that the Bears could pretty easily find a way to pay one of these top tier free agents, even with the Melton franchise tag. I don't think it would be an issue if we did want someone like him.

 

I'm mostly worried about Long himself. If he was still a really really good LT Miami wouldn't have let him go. And yeah, the injuries are a huge factor. The last thing we need is a guy taking up a ton of cap room and not being able to stay on the field, and also bad.

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Guest TerraTor
I doubt we'll want Long. I did read a Sean Jensen article the other day stating that the Bears could pretty easily find a way to pay one of these top tier free agents, even with the Melton franchise tag. I don't think it would be an issue if we did want someone like him.

 

I'm mostly worried about Long himself. If he was still a really really good LT Miami wouldn't have let him go. And yeah, the injuries are a huge factor. The last thing we need is a guy taking up a ton of cap room and not being able to stay on the field, and also bad.

 

Miami isnt known for makin good decisions.. Tedd Ginn, Trade Marshall then draft a QB... I mean really

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Guest TerraTor
Its not like its impossible for us to open up plenty of cap room. We arent in cap hell like some teams. Personally i dont want him because his injuries don't justify that huge contract he's wanting

 

a torn tricep and bicep? unless your knees, I dont see that as a huge deal. Maybe hes gonna sit on FA a while and we'll get him cheap.

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I would consider Long, if his injury with his arms is good. Albert has a bad back, which once your back is shot it lingers. Bring him in for an interview and restructure some contracts, nothing to lose from that!

 

We could lose tons of money that could be spent elsewhere, then pay cap hell later. For that reason people talk about Peppers value, even though he was the best player on the team last year.

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We could lose tons of money that could be spent elsewhere, then pay cap hell later. For that reason people talk about Peppers value, even though he was the best player on the team last year.

Anybody they go after will mean they will check out there health fully. Alberts has back problems that caused him to miss 3 games last year, but that doesnt sound like a chronic situation, and they will check that out. Long will get a big contract, but has several health issues, so more of a risk. Nobody is perfect in FAgency so we will let them do there job and see what happens.

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Anybody they go after will mean they will check out there health fully. Alberts has back problems that caused him to miss 3 games last year, but that doesnt sound like a chronic situation, and they will check that out. Long will get a big contract, but has several health issues, so more of a risk. Nobody is perfect in FAgency so we will let them do there job and see what happens.

 

 

Chiefs coach Andy Reid referred to free agent LT Branden Albert's 2012 back problems as a "fairly significant injury."

The injury only cost Albert three games, but Reid's comments hint it's a more serious issue than the number of missed games indicate. "So we've kind of got to work through that," Reid said. "Our doctors were able to evaluate him, we're talking through it and we'll kind of reconvene after (the Combine)." There have been rumors that the Chiefs won't re-sign Albert because of the injury

 

it very well could be chronic....both players have their concerns

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Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet

 

. @ProFootballTalk reports RT Andre Smith wants $9M a year. I hear LT Jake Long made known he wants $11M a year. Interested to see who pays

 

Lordy....That's quite the chunk of change, and some team is likely to give him that.

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Its not like its impossible for us to open up plenty of cap room. We arent in cap hell like some teams. Personally i dont want him because his injuries don't justify that huge contract he's wanting

 

As for the cap, Sean Jenson was on the SCORE last night and said Kellun Davis had a cap number of 3.8 million for 2013. Davis will lucky to have a job and be making the veteran minimum next year.

 

Jenson was confident the Bears will sign a starting tackle within the first 48 hours of free agency.

 

As for Long, if we did sign him to a big contract it means we think he'll be healthy and productive. It's a gamble, but if he could shore up the LT position it might be worth it. The Bears have been trying to find a LT since John Tait retired.

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It's because of the $$ he wants despite his injury history. Not because he sucks

 

I still view that as a problem. If you viewed him as a top tier LT wouldn't you pay him the big $$? This is not a situation where they are trying to negotiate. They apparently have made a couple offers and are way off what Long wants but I don't know what was on the table. It's just odd that they have quit talking to Long but like someone else said they are cleaning house down there so maybe it isn't so odd.

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I still view that as a problem. If you viewed him as a top tier LT wouldn't you pay him the big $$? This is not a situation where they are trying to negotiate. They apparently have made a couple offers and are way off what Long wants but I don't know what was on the table. It's just odd that they have quit talking to Long but like someone else said they are cleaning house down there so maybe it isn't so odd.

 

You're missing the key dynamics. Long signed a HUGE contract as the first pick of the draft for 5 years $58 million. That contract had an average above the current generic franchise tag number of $9.8 million. If they franchised him, it would be 120% of his cap hit last year putting it over $15 million for one year. They won't franchise him before he hits the open market because, arguably, no OLT is worth that much money.

 

The Dolphins hold exclusive negotiating rights until free agency begins, but Long is looking for $11 million per year. We don't know what was offered, but even a solid offer of $8-9 million per year would be a pay cut that he doesn't want to take.

 

So they are at an impasse. Long needs to hit the open market and see what offers he gets before the Dolphins can really talk to him again.

 

The main reason that an assumption that the Dolphins aren't very interested in signing him based on negotiations so far is erroneous, is because the normal path would have been for the team to franchise him - which would be over $6.2 million more than the regular franchise tag. While they have the cap space to tag him once, they most certainly wouldn't want to do it twice. Also, this is probably the perfect year to replace him if his demands are simply too much. They have an excellent opportunity to replace him in either the draft at #12, or get a guy like Albert or Bushrod in the pay range that they want to pay - more likely $6-8 million per year.

 

It's looking like The Chiefs will do the same thing with Albert - saving money by drafting a guy with the #1 pick that is younger.

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I still view that as a problem. If you viewed him as a top tier LT wouldn't you pay him the big $$? This is not a situation where they are trying to negotiate. They apparently have made a couple offers and are way off what Long wants but I don't know what was on the table. It's just odd that they have quit talking to Long but like someone else said they are cleaning house down there so maybe it isn't so odd.

 

 

I've read they are offering him 6-7M a year which is a far cry from the 11 he wants.

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You're missing the key dynamics. Long signed a HUGE contract as the first pick of the draft for 5 years $58 million. That contract had an average above the current generic franchise tag number of $9.8 million. If they franchised him, it would be 120% of his cap hit last year putting it over $15 million for one year. They won't franchise him before he hits the open market because, arguably, no OLT is worth that much money.

 

That little aspect of the CBA I did not know, thanks. Makes sense for the Dolphins to take a wait and see approach but still I'm surprised they aren't more vocal in stating their desire to have Long return but then again I don't read much news on the Dolphins. Perhaps they are planning to take a wait and match approach but they also have Jonathan Martin so they may not even want to spend much beyond that reported $6-7 mil/yr offer they've already extended. They may view that money as better spent elsewhere for players like Mike Wallace.

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You're missing the key dynamics. Long signed a HUGE contract as the first pick of the draft for 5 years $58 million. That contract had an average above the current generic franchise tag number of $9.8 million. If they franchised him, it would be 120% of his cap hit last year putting it over $15 million for one year. They won't franchise him before he hits the open market because, arguably, no OLT is worth that much money.

 

Unless you're Orlando Pace and get tagged like 6 years in a row before the latest CBA....I used to feel bad for him- until he stunk it up for the Bears his last year.

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Unless you're Orlando Pace and get tagged like 6 years in a row before the latest CBA....I used to feel bad for him- until he stunk it up for the Bears his last year.

 

Never feel bad for a guy who's getting an average of the top players at his position and he's getting paid millions upon millions to play a game.

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