In non-football news, we're set to close on a house in Minnesota at the end of this month. Super excited to give my family good schools, a yard to run around in, and something other than 90+ degree weather all year long. Looking forward to living in NFC North territory, even if it is the Vikings. Just gotta make sure the baby ends up rooting for the right team. Hope everyone's well. Here's to a better season than last - it can't get much worse!
That's great news dline, congrats. And well done for the timing of getting up there for summer, or more importantly after winter! Whether you planned it that way or not heh.
@dlinebass5 @patg006 @blang84 @BearsWillWin @tunafat @vvarder @bigrobo876 @anyoneelse They are trying to put together one of those collaborative mock drafts over on the main board. Some of us have done them in the past, i did one it one year, think pat & bww have too. They're good, but numbers are a challenge, as we all know from our board, there aren't as many people around as there used to be. You don't have to be a draft expert(i'm not). Can you put your name down so they can get this off the ground?
“Hold my beer” —Ryan Poles in a couple of weeks (probably) Congrats on the move though. Last I checked, the governor of Minnesota doesn’t ban or burn books. Nah. Mock draft shit/“draft season” in general stopped being interesting for me years ago. We’re inundated with a million fucking mocks a week no matter which sports site you prefer, so much there’s every possibility out there, so the idea of yet another one (this time collaborative!) is more chore than interesting. I just watch the bears piss me off every draft weekend and then can’t convince myself to stop hate watching a team that constantly gives its fanbase the middle finger come preseason and find a new fall time hobby other than commiserate with you fine gents and our mod who doesn’t watch any football. That, and I don’t exactly have the patience to play nice in the sandbox with certain idiots on this site, because as I get older, my tolerance for dipshittery, no matter how well-mannered or well-intended, has waned to sheer nonexistent.
I hope that your closing is smooth and uneventful and that you enjoy waking up to fresh air every morning!
So I am catching up on my Hoge and Jahns podcasts, and this guy was on to explain this. The Bears actually had to spend MORE money (cash) this year than they have in cap space, that's what this number refers to, probably because of all the void years and bs the previous few years where we were paying no cash on the books but had salary cap pain from guys like Mack, so in that light, I don't expect them to go nuts. The other HUGE caveat to this he mentioned, is that it just has to be hit by 3/1 NEXT year, so we could do some post season signings or extensions next year to cover this. At that point, we're looking at several WRs that might get extensions (hope they all ball out to deserve it!), or maybe even Fields if he balls out, who knows. Given this, I'm actually really ok with this approach. They are not overspending just to spend, and they are getting good value where they are spending. That said, when the draft comes and passes, and our trenches look like they do, I'm going to be super unhappy. Maybe Whitehair at Center is just some smoke and mirrors because there's some sweet 2nd rounders they have their eye on that they will go for. Problem is, I know nothing of college, so you'd be just as good off having baby "help" with the mock draft as I would.
Ha. Thats good info varder, i didn't know he had that long to get above the minimum spend. That alters things massively, goes some way to explaining the lack of activity this FA also.
I'm more than okay with this approach, but let's have some patience and see how this all shakes out. Things don't often go exactly as the GM plans, and it's often the overreaction when they don't that get a GM in trouble. While he won't solve all the issues in the trenches this season, I think it's an unrealistic expectation that he can. He appears to show restraint from overreacting and doesn't seem to lose focus on the overall goal. I would guess he has a predetermined number to spend at each position in building this team and he's sticking to it, hence the reason he couldn't give Monty that extra 3 million as it would have put his initial roster build out of whack. Thanks Ev but no as I've been conditioned to draft not only the one-legged wonders but also by their ability to jump out of a swimming pool. Needless to say, Jerry Angelo ruined my prospects of ever becoming an NFL GM.
As varder mentioned, the Center position says hi. There were multiple C's on the market this FA who would've been solid starter level players. That alone would've improved the position mightily compared to Mustifuck. And they were extremely reasonably priced too so the value excuse holds no water here. Poles' only way to save face here(and i use the term loosely since he already floated the idea of moving Whitehair back) will be to use 1 of his first 3 or 4 draft picks on a C. Some developmental BS 5th rounder just won't cut it and when we see Whitehair snapping the ball at Fields shoelaces or getting bullrushed into his lap harder than a Bangkok stripper we won't be able to dress it up with talk about value and patience. While on the subject of Poles, could someone explain to me why he just signed another Punter?? He just drafted a P last year in that guy Gill. And tbh i thought he was pretty good so WTF? Gotta love the roster building thats going on here. First he locks down the backup QB, then he creates valuable depth at the Punter position. It all starts, errr, on the bench....
BTW no worries about this mock draft thing. Would've been good to get a few more of you schlubs involved but i said i'd ask you and i did. Looks like it'll go ahead in some form. Might post who i picked so yous can have a laugh.
The thing about Watts is he basically got washed away having to play on an utterly talent bereft DL. He wasn't the worst on that line, i felt he had a shot to come back tbh if he was playing behind upgraded talent. Playing on a line with actual legit talent is exactly where you want a guy like Watts, he's gone to the best spot. He's not starter material, but playing on a rotation for a team like the Steelers i think he has a shot to quietly be a very solid signing.
Hahaha, I wish Mongo was here to elaborate on that analogy. As long as that idea just isn't to bring Mustifuck back because then I will lose my ever-loving shit. I'm not going to overreact at this point, but instead, give him the benefit of doubt and see what he has up his sleeve and it better not be Mustifuck at a Cicero and 47th Street skeezer price.
Exactly, I agree tuna that solving all the problems this offseason was never really in the cards, but it's pretty clearly the biggest deficit on the team. And great point ev, we've got the 5th round pick Braxton Jones locking down the most important position on the line. I guess we should be grateful it isn't a 7th rounder like we've done, fucking repeatedly, in the past. I want OL in this draft. I'll be happy with DL. After the first 2-3 rounds, BPA would be fine. We take a RB at #9 and I might go on a rampage. What discouraging for me, is that we've signed very little in the way of trenches, which was my top concern. I don't mind the moves he's made, but it still feels like we have a gaping wound where the games are won and lost.
I get wanting to build through the draft, and I sure as hell understand that to find your elite OT and sometimes DE (though talented DE will hit the trade market and FA far more than a talented LT), you have to draft them. He didn't bust his wad on Jawan Taylor or Mike McGlinchy and for that, provided he takes a fucking tackle at 9/in the 1st--I agree with the approach. But, I expect a RT to be taken round 4, maybe 3--Braxton back at LT and (my hunch/best guess for Poles this year) whichever RB they draft early. I don't buy Donta Foreman as the new lead back, even though the nice thing about him is 'low mileage' over his time in the NFL, unlike Monty--but Foreman has never been a lead back until for part of a year post-Christian McCaffery trade--and that Carolina didn't bother retaining him and the bears signing him for 1 year, 2 mil to me says he's more likely to put Tristan Ebner out of a job/replace Darrynton Evans at RB3/ST than be the new feature back. But I still buy the bears being so run heavy because pass blocking will once again not be a thing, because as it stands, Cody Whitehair is their best pass blocking starter on the OL. Anybody feeling especially good about that? If they don't take Bijan at 9 or in the 1st, there's a slew of guys on the next tier that probably aren't lasting past the 2nd/3rd. I sneaky like the halfback from Tulane, Tyjae Spears, and the UCLA kid Charbonnet--and if the bears want a tank style back, its Tavion Thomas from Utah--but some will like the TCU kid Miller or the Bama kid Gibbs. They’ll add a playmaker, and I don’t believe it’s WR. They’ll let Mooney and Claypool play for the 2nd deals, and with Moore and Kmet I think St Brown and Velus Jones become your immediate depth. They’ll need a 2nd TE/blocker specialist. Not sure Tonyan is that. Halfback seems too simply a need for playmaker.
I have a hard time believing that Poles is going to dump what was clearly one of his more preferred draft picks (he prioritized / overdrafted him over other WR's at the time) after one year. Even though Velus clearly hasn't made good on whatever promise Poles thought he had coming in. I just realized that the first round of the draft happens on the same day that we close on the new house, and that we complete adoption proceedings for our oldest son. Thank goodness it happens later that night - I'll suggest that everyone gets to sleep early after such an eventful day...
