Welp. Blang called it when it came to tanking. Though it has to be via trade, and while I don't think they'd get a Jalen Ramsey king's ransom (two 1sts and a 4th), I thought a 1st and a late round pick or a 2nd and 3rd wasn't out of the question because Fuller, minus Pagano's stupidity to never have him shadow the other teams' opposing #1 WR is just outside the cusp of elite DBs/the next tier. He's a step below Stephon Gilmore, Marlon Humphrey, Ramsey, and arguably Jaire Alexander (don't think he's top flight yet but another solid season and he is). Pace cannot release Kyle Fuller. Bears are also shopping/could release Anthony Miller, which Schefter tweeted about yesterday but a couple of local guys (Chris Emma and a couple of others) believe Miller will be outright released whereas some believe Pace can get a 5th/6th. Why Javon Wims hasn't been cut remains a mystery.
The bears have until 3 PM Eastern to cut 2.4 mil and be under cap/compliant as the official 2021 season starts per Albert Breer. Simple: cut--Anthony Miller - 1.703 mil saved. Wims - 943K saved.
Well I don't think Pace is trying to tank. He's just so bad at his job that tanking is an inevitable result of his actions.
See, I meant what I said, Pace will trade up to #17 or something to pick Mac Jones after someone leaks they might snag him. Trading up for a guy they could have in their spot (or lower) is the Pace move here. I do agree with you that if any of them drop out of the top 10, Pace also trades. The trade at this point is inevitable. Apparently this is what they offered for Wilson: - 3 firsts a 3rd and two vets? Fucking hell that's almost what Houston asked for, for Watson! And Dalton is what you'll go with at starter? No no. Pace's desperation is not over. Nevermind that without line improvement Watson, Wilson, Jones, Dalton, Foles will all be running for their life. I'm curious what other moves are in the offing since the Bears are still over the cap.
Plausible, but i think its going to be much bigger personally. One thing you have to say about Pace is that when he does swing he swings big. Glennon/Trubisky, Mack, i would even include Foles in the sense that the Jags were in such a weak negotiating position that paying a 4th rounder AND not even making them eat part of Foles salary, was a huge overswing under the circumstances. The guy swings big. Pace isn't going to move up a couple of spaces, and def not with the Pats sitting at 15. I say he goes into the top ten, and thats at the lower end of expectations here. Given the insane numbers its said he offered for Wilson its gonna be a huge jump. If i were him and i was committed to a big move up id be thinking i have to get above Carolina at 8. 7 would be a great spot except for one thing, it involves the Lions... Honestly, i think once Zach Wilson goes 2nd Pace will take a shot at the 3rd overall pick. We all know Dalton cant be the plan, that would just be Pace writing his own death warrant. At this point its gotta be big, he has no choice. It'll be 3-4year setback big. I wish rob would check in more, just so we know he's alright. Most of us here are tough nuts to crack, we'll be ok. Its the idealists who jump first.
Losing Fuller would be next level stupid by Pace. But once again, this is the hole he has dug for himself. Didn't they restructure Fuller a year ago so they could sign Quinn? Thats why his cap hit 20mil this year when it was only 11 last year. More end of his nose thinking from Pace. I really think its time we had the conversation of who is the worse Bears GM, Pace or Emery. As for Fuller's trade value. We can dream of a 1st rounder if we want but he's got 1year left on his deal which means the trading team would have to give him a big extension, and as said, this years hit is 20mil. If they got a 3rd rounder for Fuller id be mildly surprised. More trainwreck roster building.
To be fair, Watson has to waive his no-trade and I don't see how Chicago is one of his teams when like a month-ish ago a report came out saying he'd accept to the Jets and Phins. Houston can say yes but Watson saying 'no' means you aren't getting Watson anyways. Coming back down to reality, Wilson's agent gave us all the 4 teams and the media/fans ran with it. I'm sure they got their clicks/ad money's worth. Some are still trying to keep the rumor alive/Adam Schefter stirred the pot further saying Seattle said 'no' to the offer--but the door isn't closed because by rule--the bears cannot trade more than 3 years ahead worth of picks, but on draft day the Bears can draft someone Seattle wants at 20 and then add 3 1sts plus whomever. I maintain the stance that I don't get why Seattle's GM would even entertain the idea because Russ is under contract, cheap for a top 5 QB in the league for several more years and he puts his job in jeopardy the instant he trades him--because now he'd have to replace a top 5 QB with lottery tickets from a mediocre team that won't suck even to top draft pick heights because of Russ. He's bad at his job that tanking/decline is inevitable, yes. But Andy Dalton versus Mitch and he chose Dalton is a two-fold fuck up indictment of Pace. On one hand, he's choosing Dalton to be better at Nagy's offense than a guy he traded up to get in 2017--and he's also choosing Dalton over Foles--the guy he traded draft capital to get when he could have gotten Dalton via trade when Cinci was dangling him AND FA last year after they released him. Now a year later you're saying "welp, Foles was a mistake--here's our guy." Makes me wonder when his ass does get fired--who the hell can hire this dude anything beyond a scout? The only way Pace saves his skin is whichever QB he drafts can swoop in at the end of the season and put forth a nice effort/show promise, kind of like how the bears needed 3 garbage teams to break their 6 game losing streak... I forgot this was his last year, thought he had a team option in 2022. Regardless, maybe not a 1st--but I think the floor of a return is what Darius Slay did last year--a 3rd and a 5th. If a badly regressing/clubhouse cancer in Arizona Patrick Peterson can get 10 mil a year from the Vikings (add what Ronald Darby getting paid by Denver) then I think the CB market for trade can benefit the bears. There are slim pickings remaining in FA. Then we'd have to tear the scar open and have a discussion of Jay/McCown versus Dalton/Giraffe/Mitch/Barklay/Foles and play 'what if' Emery never picked Trestman and Mel Tucker? I really don't want to. Each made a litany of bad moves with some nice ones sprinkled in. At the end of the day/tenure--can't keep either. Pace's coach hasn't lost the locker room yet and Emery's guy troll-started Jimmy Clausen to prove a point/get a job after the Bears fired him. Pace also got lucky that San Francisco at the end of 2014/start of 2015 fired Vic Fangio with Jim Harbaugh. Got to wonder how long Pace lasts if one of the best DCs in the game doesn't fall into his lap.
You know, the more I think about it, the more I think you are right. If Pace really offered 3 firsts, a 3rd and the vets were *potentially* even Mack and Hicks at one point for Wilson? That's the fucking farm, and I imagine he'd be willing to do something similar to get us up in that sweet, sweet top 10 land. I honestly don't know how I feel about that. It feels like we'll be setting up that QB to fail, but if we DO land a Mahomes-esque pick....would it be worth it? Could we fix the line in the latter rounds maybe? I don't think he'd be offering 3 firsts for the trade up, but what would it take? To be clear, I don't think there was a snowballs chance in hell Wilson was coming here. What surprised me was the unbelievably big offer, and as far as I know, they never even talked to Houston with an offer (after all Houston set the bar right at what Pace apparently offered for Wilson). What I think this means is, still, to this day, Pace doesn't like Watson. I didn't want to make such a big trade for him and I don't think Watson wants to come here, but it's baffling to me if Pace genuinely believes he's not talented. What did the kid do, sleep with your wife? This also got me. You could have had him last year instead of Foles. You picked Foles. Foles was not good, so you failed, but he was also plenty "serviceable". Now you picked Dalton, why, when we have Foles? What did you see of Dalton starting the entire year for Dak in Dallas that said, "yeah, this is the fucking guy". I don't get it. We're already cap constrained. The fan base isn't going to riot when Foles inevitably starts next year. Fuck, even if the plan IS to trade up, can Foles not hold down the fort while the new kid learns? And this. Wow, this. So we picked up Dalton and let our best CB walk for nothing? I guess that explains to everyone who couldn't figure out how the Bears got under the cap, now we know. I guess if the plan is to tank, we're doing well. We just need to unload Mack and Hicks and we'll be solid. One thing Im sure of, right now, this team is definitely worse than it was last year, at its promising 8-8 finish after whupping on some losers.
So, I wanted Pace fired years ago. I didn't just get on that wagon recently - his f*** ups have been consistent, drastic, and present from day one. And it's insane how easy it is for everyone to see, and how little it has always mattered to those running the franchise. This is an absolute train wreck. The fact that he got extended by the team, and then still keeps the job even when he's been this horrendous... What a disgrace. It's genuinely embarrassing. I won't encourage my family to be Bears fans, this year. I'll keep the shirts in the closets, and I won't have football on TV this year. If the kid becomes a fan of a different team on his own, he's probably better off. I'll come back when Pace and Co are gone. Fuck this team. In my 30 years of living, I have never been this disgusted, embarrassed, and fed up. Fuck them. Fuck all of them. I'm not doing it.
Add it to the list of moves that are straight up fireable offenses in their own right. This is outrageous roster management, just beyond inept. Pace restructured Fuller a year ago to give him a small cap hit so he could go shopping knowing full well it would give him a huge headache the very next offseason. This is 100% failure and 100% Pace's responsibility. A multiple pro bowler, a surefire top16 CB in this league and someone id class as borderline top10, and you mismanage him to this degree. But you know who's still on the roster? Jimmy fucking Graham and his $7mil in cap savings. And Charles Leno with his $6mil of savings and bum ass play, week in, week out. Fuck you Pace. Fuck you straight to hell. This offseason is so bad, and the moves so incompetent, these fuckers have actually got me paranoid. Surely no one with any clue makes these moves if they're on the hotseat? Surely even Pace cant be this dumb. Pace being on the hotseat is a conclusion we as fans have drawn, no one has suggested this from inside the building. They wouldn't actually let Pace oversee a teardown and rebuild......would they?
Trying to rationalize this more, and the answers/remaining questions aren't good. 1--Like the Cubs in town, it's a reset(but the team won't call it that publically while they let good players/assets walk or released and all we need now is a Yu Darvish-type trade where an allstar gets traded for peanuts just to shed money) and Pace remains at the helm--for now. I think fans overall, myself included would be hypocritical if noteworthy changes didn't happen. Remember, in 2018 they won 12 games, then 8 in 19, and 8 this past season. Something had to change and I think most reasonable people agree that Eddie Goldman isn't the difference between winning 8 and 10+ games. 2--AM670 guys were talking about it this morning, but before any moves were made this offseason--the bears' cap spending on the defense alone was 123 and change million. Out of 182.5. That's about 60 mil in cap space for offense and ST (insert Ev's comment above about inept roster management). We didn't have to like the outlook, but to balance the scales defensive spending needed cutting and it was Fuller or Hicks. Per NBCSN Chicago, Hicks has been allowed to seek a trade, so Angelo Blackson--some random name at 5 tech they just signed along with Edwards' extension may be getting some playing time with Nichols. A very different 3 front. Now obviously there are problems--like Robert Quinn is the reason you don't have your all-pro, multi pro bowler CB1 and NOW you need a new CB1 or CB2--because if you make the argument Jaylon Johnson did enough to be your CB1 going forward that's fine even though I'd prefer he get 1 more year at CB2 because Corner is a steep learning curve, as Kyle Fuller showed during his development. You like JJ at CB1? Cool. I'm going to laugh at you if you try to say Kindle Vidnor/Duke Shelley did enough to be the CB2. Oh BTW, you also need a slot Corner--and in another of Pace's blunders--2 pro-bowler slot cbs in Desmond King and Lamarcus Joyner both signed for 3.5 and 4.5 million. Want context/more ammo against Pace's competence? Buster Skrine was set to make 6.1 million this year before he got cut. And the bears have to make another cut before they can sign anybody because Fuller's savings go to Dalton and Ifedi (barf). You now need to draft an OT, CB, and QB in the first 3 rounds, starters in all 3 and we know the NFL draft to find gems but the odds of finding 3 guys who click like that? Not good. A month from now, it's a top-heavy OT and CB draft. I've mentioned before 8 OT, but there are also 7-8 CBs considered 1st round talents as well that will spill over into the 2nd round. QB is the puzzle piece of the draft that doesn't fit, because of the top 5--maybe 1 falls to 20, 2 tops. Even then, you can find a 3rd rounder on a plug-in guy late in the season unless you blow your load and trade up for the 4th best QB, because I think 3 are going top 5-6 and Pace doesn't have the ammo to move. It makes me start to think Pace really likes a projected 1st round QB in 2022 and will be drafting in the top 10 in 13 months. Ideally, he's not around to make that decision--but for now, that's my best guess.
It's almost a scorched earth policy at this point. Let's ensure that the next GM is set up to fail, at least for the first couple years.
I'm fine with a rebuild. I'm not fine with one handled incompetently. Why in the f*** is Pace, the guy who f***ed the team, the guy allowed to take charge of a rebuild? Embarrassing. Hicks has been my favorite player on the team for a while, and I've been tempted to buy his jersey. Every time my fiance asks why I haven't pulled the trigger, I've said "Because I know he won't be here long". It was easy to see coming. And a shame. F*** Ryan Pace, and f*** the people running this franchise that let him still have a job. I think it was Ev that asked who was worse - Pace or Emery. The fact that Pace is going to ruin this team for a decade or longer (including both the time he's employed, plus the time he cripples the team thereafter) is a pretty big weight against him. At least Emery was shortlived.
Not related directly to us but things aren't looking good for Deshaun Watson. Multiple women accusing him of sexual misconduct/assault. A total of 7 lawsuits have been filed against him in the last few days. I never expected he would ever have these types of allegations against him. He seemed like a good dude going back to Clemson. Think Houston is kicking themselves for not trading him a few weeks ago? Did we potentially dodge a bullet? Sad situation all around.
