My booze soaked, jet-lagged, sun-burned ass back in the states, I missed out on some things. I'm going to cover a couple post game thoughts (though you guys posted most of them in previous threads) including the presser (update, didn't see BWW's thread on it, but oh well), some other moves, and the future. 1) What more is there to say about the game. Fuck you Barfey. My one pet peeve watching the tape now home and a chance to watch, and I didn't see this on the game thread--was my disappointment with Fangio's secondary lax coverage. Too many plays were Kyle Fuller, Prince, and McManis 7-10 yards from the LOS and WR. Saw it too much on the drive Philly took the lead before Barfey did his thing. Saw it too much all over the game. All other points I wont touch on. Game's done. 2) Tre Burton suffered a groin injury the Saturday before the game? Was it ever stated/talked about what happened? He didn't Carlos Boozer this shit, did he? 3) Congrats Vic Fangio. Didn't want you to go but a lifer who paid his dues is getting his shot. I respect that. 4) Chuck Pagano replacing him. This one I love, because something nobody pointed out on the DC thread is that Pagano and Fangio worked in Baltimore together from 07-2010, when Fangio departed for Stanford. So scheme fit is very similar, I imagine verbiage is similar, and Pagano, to my liking (and some others of us who griped when Fangio wouldn't do it) blitzes more with his 3-4. And most importantly, you're maintaining the same scheme, not switching back to the 4-3. I think we may see initial regressions followed by this defense back to being fucking outstanding. For what its worth, my one reservation is that I do prefer Vic. I think this unit is closer to his SF superbowl unit talent wise than it was to the Ravens in their late 2000s hay day. Not concerned with his Indy days. Their solid defense now was in its infancy stages when he was their coach, remember when the bears were bad post 54 retiring when we found out Lance Briggs couldn't call a defense and Mel Tucker was thought to be a good coach? There were several fugly years. 5) The presser today: two big points, Barfey and Kareem Hunt. A third and fourth of note, Leonard Floyd's option picked up for his 5th year and Anthony Miller had shoulder surgery. Barfey doesn't deserve his own point, and my point of view contrasts BWW, I think Barfey is gone and the writing on the wall. Today Nagy and Pace said they weren't a fan of him being "me" instead of "we" when he went on Good Morning America or whatever show he went on. So to talk cap, Barfey saves 4 mil and is a 5 mil dead cap hit if cut this year (so -1 mil against cap if cut), however shout out to Cliff Stein, bears contract extraordinaire. Listening to AM 670 podcast from a few days back on my blue line home from O'Hare, apparently Parkey's dead cap hit is reduced if he signs with any other team regardless of what they pay him. Good man. The bears walk into the offseason with 19.8 mil in cap space and Massie, Amos, and Callahan the 3 FAs of note. A few cuts can open much more cap. Looking at you, Dion Simms. Anyways, the bears can afford to let Parkey go, eat his 1 mil or less, and sign someone. Like a free agent in San Francisco who had a career's worth of success here and probably nails what Barfey fucks up. Or draft someone. Because after Gould, its Vinitieri, Gostkowski, and Josh Lambo the top kicking FA. Vinitieri looks done and frankly--he's not in a dome and missed an easy 30 yarder the other day, I'll be baffled if the Pats let Gostkowski go, and Josh Lambo? Ehhhhhhhh.....another guy who can kick in warm weather well, San Diego. Can he kick here? Point 2: Kareem Hunt. So when asked about him, I found it awfully suspicious that Nagy said he talked to him a week ago. I get calling your former RB and checking in on him especially after his assault/commish's non-exempt list. But a day after you lost to Philly that's who you call? Pace gave the indirect "well, he has personal things to work out." Nagy finished it with "I believe in 2nd chances." Not going to foreshadow anything, but--to those of us (blang and myself) who thought Jordan Howard being gone was writing on the wall......stay tuned. 6) I actually don't like the Packers' new HC. He's new and modern, and that will fit well with Erin. Hopefully Gutkunst or whatever the GM's name listens to Ted Thompson's draft strategies. Because most of the rest of that team sans Mike Daniels and that rookie DB are trash. Their offensive coordinator hire way less fear inducing. Nate Hackett, who did his best work this past year with Blake Bortles. 7) Forward: A few last coaching spots to put into place, FA, then the draft. As I mentioned, cap space is solid and there wont be top 2 round draft picks to sign. Amos is my priority, followed by RT or even signing Massie short term because one thing the bears got super lucky on this year was the health side. After those two its Rashad Coward. Back up OT is a need. Arguably the top need. So is RB. Mizzel blows and I'm continually baffled how he got reps. Cunningham in the dog house I get. But Howard--who's clearly being phased out and Cohen cant be it. Cohen and Howard the only two backs under contract next year. DB is a need as you're going to lose 1-2 guys for sure, as is 5 tech depth as I believe RRH, Nick Williams are both unrestricted FA as well. Cant imagine Kevin White being back. Can see Bellamy coming back. 8) I'll get to the draft stuff soon enough, but I'm not overly connected with the college game this year so by no means will be in depth. The East-West Shrine game is this weekend and the Senior Bowl the following week. This has been nice to not even look at once all year. But at the end of the 3rd round being the bears first selection, at that point I'm looking for top specs that fall due to injury, so I'm keeping my eye on the one I know for now, the halfback from Stanford, Bryce Love. Tore his ACL in November and said he will try to work out for the underwear olympics next month. Should have come out after his 2017 season where he would have been a 1st round pick last April, but his 2018 was tough as Stanford regressed but he was still solid and then had a major injury. Great 2-way back who fits the Nagy/Reid scheme. More guys are going to need to declare first.
Watching Smith even on slow motion the guy flat out blazes, It should be interesting to watch. This is what blows my mind WTF was Mizzel even in there in the 1st fucking quarter of THIS game? I wondered what it would be like to have Howard and Cohen in the backfield at the same time and that Nagy was saving this matchup for misdirection for the playoffs but how silly of me. I heard rumors that the Bears are shopping Howard and Philly is interested in him. I get it he loves Cohen but Howard is a good complement to him Mizzell isn't. Argh! So what you're saying you've been slacking, and that seems to be going around on these boards lately it must be contagious.
So to update, because I cant math--Barfey's dead cap hit is 4.4 mil if cut. He still has a clause by Cliff Stein that if another team signs him regardless of amount, 4.4 is reduced. The problem is, with Nagy and Pace giving the "me/we" answer during the presser, if cut how desirable will Barfey be to the 31 other teams? I did too, but I heard what was being offered never got to 4th rounder. Before 2018, I would have dealt Howard and believed he'd have gotten a 3rd. Pre-trade deadline when he looked like shit, he wasn't going to get that. I don't think Pace gets anything that good now. This is Howard's last year of his rookie deal (I'm unsure if he has a team option for a 5th year), so I'm not overly certain of how valuable he is. I don't think Pace gets a 3rd, but if he does, done. I like Jordan Howard, but he's replaceable. And if you're going the Andy Reid style modern offense, he's not a fit. Even though the 'power football' moments happen, Nagy just wouldn't use him. I can only assume Mizzel is a teacher's pet. Lol yes and no. I know who the top guys are. The LT from Bama Jonah Williams, Bosa's little brother, the Edge from Kentucky, the DLinemen from Bama and Houston (Quinnen WIlliams and Ed Oliver). Top QBs are the kid from Ohio State and Oklahoma, and with the Oregon kid staying, pundits are trying to make the average QB from Duke something he's not for the headline. Right now I'll contend is still far too early to talk 3rd rounders and beyond. The East-West Shrine Game is this Saturday, that's a start. The Senior Bowl a week later, but that will have more talent. I also hate "mock draft" season, which began in November. And its hard to find info on players for free without running into that crap. Its exhausting. I followed Northwestern because they're my team, so I watched a lot of big 10 football. I want the TE from Iowa, Noah Fant but that kid's a late 1st/early 2nd round pick right now. Where has Aggie been, has the dude died? He and Dline stimulated a ton of scout talk.
That's a good question because he knew the SEC inside and out being a Bulldogs fan. I don't think there is a person on this board ever that I agreed with more and when If I didn't I just assumed I was wrong. I wish I could help you there because if I had not been so busy on Saturdays since I got this IPTV service and a couple of cheap IPTV service either with Players club, or for Sports and regular TV "Vader Stream" with their game match browser I pay 40 bucks every 3 months for Vader. I could of watched a shit ton of football from schools I never knew existed, besides all the major conferences and all of the NFL. So yeah I along with BWW, babyfan, and Mongo have been slacking too.
Leave me the hell outta this!! I don't even know what you guys are talking about 96.3% of the time!! No wait, make that 98.444% of the time. Slacking my ass ... maybe I oughta mod your ass tuna and see if that changes your tune ... ♫
I don't even know what the hell that is but it sounds like something I've never done before so.... ....I'm up for it!
Just trying to help here, so please don't take offense that I am posting on the Bears board. Trying to help you with your math patg The Bears currently have $19.7M in cap space (give or take a couple $M based on what the actual cap # ends up being). Parkey's 2019 cap # is $4.06M, if he is part of the team Parkey's 2019 dead cap # if he is cut is $5.19M in escalated bonus money for being cut before his contract is up. Side note, where did you see something about offset language allowing for another contract to lower his dead cap money? I have never seen that in anything other than rookie contracts. There is also offset language in most coaching contracts, but that doesn't effect the cap. I can't find anything about that out there. So, in essence, if they keep him, they have about $19.7M in cap space, if they cut them they have about $18.57M in cap space and need to sign a kicker...a reasonable kicker should cost around $3M (think Robbie Gould) or $2M (Think Cody Parkey, young, not proven, you won't know what you have until the season starts). So that would still leave you around $15.57-16.57 in cap space. The good news as far as cap is concerned, your rookie salary cap hit should be around $2.5M So, you still have around $13M for actual use in free agency.. You also seem to be fairly good for 2020, Travathan will need extended and Leonard Floyd's 5th year option kicks in if they use it, otherwise, you just have guys like Jordan Howard and others, I don't know your team well enough to know any of the other free agents worth to the team. The bad news is 2021... Trubisky's 5th year option kicks in, along with multiple other notable free agents, a few of which will actually save you cap space though if they are replaced through the next two drafts. Overall, you guys aren't in dire need of cap help. No he does not...Only first round draft picks have a 5th year option. He still has trade value if you have a replacement lined up. He can actually sign a contract extension at any time by a team trading for him and expecting him to contribute regularly. I can absolutely see a GM feel like the Bears used him differently in 2018 and expect their team to get back to using him more efficiently. I know your system this year called for different things, but he was VERY productive the previous two years. I'm not so certain you should all be ready to part with him so easily. With a one year contract, he should still bring a low 3rd rounder...if you took the initiative and got him to sign a team friendly extension now, then it could be raised to a high 2nd rounder, imho.
A lot of good points to take in here pat. It was a mystery at first with speculation that he had anxiety issues, something he's known for, that prevented him from playing. Lot of rumors and stuff floating around between the Bears various beat reporters. Pace said his injury was legit....I didn't buy it when I heard Burton talk about it. This was an odd one. I agree with this. The problem is while Howard has power...he's not a true power back. And while he has speed and some ability to cut...he's not a shifty back either. He lies somewhere in between and it doesn't fit this offense....Nagy obviously sees that. All the Kareem Hunt talk was odd yesterday. But that may just be what Nagy prefers....either Hunt himself or someone in that mold. If that's the case and you can get that guy...by all means trade Howard.
The expectation is that the Bears are gonna carry Parkey at least into camp and bring in competition to outplay him and then cut him. That would make his post June 1st dead money equal to his cap hit of 4.06 million. And barring a brain fart the Bears will free up nearly 6 million of cap space by cutting Dion Sims. Dead money vs savings is 333K to 6 million. Cutting Sims eases the load of also cutting Parkey and keeps the Bears relatively cap healthy. They won't spend a ton because over the next few years they will have some good young players in need of being paid but the flexibility is there to make some moves. It's also important to note that there are a lot of current contracts (Kyle Long, Burton, Taylor Gabriel, Leno, even Akiem Hicks, and others) that are very cap friendly post 2019 that would allow the Bears to free up cap space if they need it in a couple years and the play of those players declines significantly. This is an area that is rarely a concern for the Bears and that is thanks to having the best financial guy in the business in Cliff Stein. The Bears very rarely sign bad contracts and Stein is the reason.
Yep. Based on comments by Pace yesterday this appears, at least at the moment, to be what will happen.
Lol, you're fine Dawg. Some people can interpret text the wrong way, and a few jags kind of ruin discussion. We know there are good posters out there. And bww kind of explained it so we're good there. ^ He's going to get a second chance, we all know that. He's going to become available and someone is going to sign him. And I think Theo Epstein of the Cubs showed them how to do it with recent shitbag guys like Aroldis Chapman now Addison Russell, the 'separate art from artist' where it basically is a team coming clean, being upfront and if Pace is smart enough, he'll copy that. Some people will be mad, but it wont matter. We as society has allowed it to be like this. The bears will still be popular, but the standard is that if you're good, you get the second chance. Tyreek Hill is going to get 100$ million dollars from Kansas City. Look up what he did to his girlfriend before he got drafted. 32 rosters with 53 men plus more (reserves, PS, locals) aren't going to all be choir boys. And the people will watch.
