As much as I want to get upset about the Bates thing I will hold judgement until after the draft when it comes to O line improvement. I am going to trust that Bates was signed as a plus interior backup and not a starter. Love the JJ deal. Under $20 mill per is a good deal.
It was damning enough that this "starter calibre" player couldn't start a single game last year despite being healthy cos he wasn't good enough to crack the lineup. This is now verging on clowncar territory. If the Bills had any belief this guy could've taken over as a starter next season he would still be on the team because a genuine starter calibre player is way more important than a day 3 pick. Like i said the other day, if Poles waits it out this guy is cut the next day. And even IF you then had to win the bidding on the market for him, it wouldn't have cost $5.4 x 2 years and if def wouldn't have cost you a draft pick. So as well as likely overpaying on the salary you got fleeced for a pick. Dreadful.
This felt like it was close. I haven't been the most vocal supporter of JJ's quest for a mega deal, but i've got to say, this is a deal you have to be pretty happy with. He had his best season in the league and is still young enough to get even better. Look the guy timed it perfectly and went pro bowl/2nd team all pro last season, there was no version of this where you sign him for $15mil per. He either gets a deal like this or its his last year with the team, and especially when you're trying to build something like the Bears are, young players like this you have to try and keep. Im actually impressed at some of the numbers in this. The GTD number seems to vary so not sure about that, but the aav isnt too bad under the circumstances. Its a little higher than i would've wanted but maybe i was a little off base with the value. There has been no resetting of the market here, JJ hasnt cracked the top 5 in aav or total value. The big increase in cap makes this easier to handle now and i suspect as is often the case in 1-2years this deal will look even more affordable(providing he plays well). It took a long time to get here and i suspect keeping this deal under $20mil per took a LOT of hard negotiation. But in the end its done and its pretty fair to both sides. JJ finally gets the bag he's been after and the Bears keep a very good player without(just about) breaking the bank. Its solid roster work like this that really makes you scratch your head about Poles in light of some of his other moves.
If Bates was signed, you'd have seen a significantly different reaction. Most fans would be cool signing a 27 year old with experience at 4 different OL positions, notably an excellent year at RG in 2022. In fact, we'd probably like, some of us even love that move, knowing he's replacing Patrick/Whitehair/JaTyre Carter/*insert name of backup I'm forgetting here* going forward with the resume he has. The signing would theoretically have made the team better and nobody would complain about that. The bears didn't sign him though, Rob. Let's assume you're right though, because I halfway agree he's going be depth. Why is a 5th round pick okay to trade for a backup IOL but also okay to find your starting left tackle? Where is the line I'm missing? This franchise continues to do stupid things and assfuck their priorities before we will be wondering why they can still never have a modern offense or even a 4000 yard passer, which you'd think the oldest fucking franchise in the league would have done by now... Buffalo didn't want to keep him after cutting the guy who saved them big money. After fighting to keep Bates, after watching him have success--as I've alluded to in the thread. The guy had a terrific 2022 season at RG, then disappears this past year as a healthy scratch. Now he's expendable. I'm not some millionaire GM who's been in the league, and I'm not very bright either. But even I can figure out there's a red flag here. Buffalo's GM took advantage of a stupid GM knowing how much said stupid GM cares more about "traits" than whether or not the guy can play football. 100%. I think it'll age really well too, with Surtain, Sauce Gardner, Jaycee Horn, and Derek Stingley all looking for new deals within the next 1-3 years, which will definitely bump Jaylon out of the 'top paid' category. Aggravating that Poles can't be consistent, he's gotta do something retarded before he can do something brilliant.
I agree , but he did on guaranteed money at 5th, and 2nd only to Tre'Davious White for those on a 4 year deal.
Like his resume, but felt like he started to decline this past year. Hope it was an off year and just being traded. Not a bad start to FA. Which officially begins tomorrow but you can sign guys who get cut now.
The Bucs are giving Baker Mayfield $100 million (half guaranteed) over 3 years. I doubt many Bears fans if given the option, would pay that much for Baker instead of giving up a 2nd or 3rd for Fields with 1 year remaining on his rookie deal. I think most of us, myself included, need a hard reset on expectations regarding the market for Fields. We'll probably be lucky to get a 3rd at this point, even from a desperate team.
Exactly, you get a Claypool, then a Sweat. You get trading for Bates, before signing JJ. I'm worried the amazing trade last year for the #1 is going to bite us this year with some "smartest man in the room" move that will shock all of us and the league. The Bills cutting Morse the next day after that trade is damning, "we only held on to him to make you think our backup was worth something. Suck it nerd!" I like Baker well enough and thought he got a raw deal in Cleveland, but $100m is a good chunk of change, I thought they were going to let him "test the market" first? Wilson and Cousins are the next two big dominoes. Once those two fall, we'll see who comes knocking for Justin. Clearly though there is no one in the league that is over the moon for him, or the deal would be done by now. A 3rd is probably generous, Mac Jones just got traded for a 6th! I cannot hate this time of year more. So much "smokescreen" and bullshit hot takes. All you can trust are the actual moves made (or not made).
Yeah, there seemed to be differing numbers being reported at first around the gtd $. I read it was around $43-44mil, but now it seems to be like $54mil. Agree that is a lot of gtd $. Its possible that was the trade off the Bears had to give him for a sub20 aav. One thing i do really like tho is that Poles doesnt seem to structure contracts with these void years in them which is exactly the right approach. Void years are a virus in contract structure that can become a huge problem re cap management. Once you have a couple on your books it quickly compounds itself so that you have to add more contracts with void years to account short-term for the fact you have void years eating into your cap on a given year. Until you find yourself staring down the barrel of a Kirk Cousins situation like the Vikings, where the guy is a FA now but you need to resign him cos he has 4 years of void years totalling nearly $50mil inc a whopping $28mil in 2024. Just epically bad cap management from the Vikings. Cowboys are in a similar position with Dak. Nearly $50mil in voids over 2years inc $36mil in 2024(!!!!).
Yes. Hard not to be a little concerned when he was flat out bad in Philly imo. Tough being traded into the situation he was, and despite all this he's still an upgrade over Jackson imo. Its also good to sort S in FA with there being so many options and limited draft picks. I just feel there were numerous other really solid guys at the position who have age on their side. You could've locked the position down, this isnt that. If what you say is true then just don't trade him. Letting Fields go on the cheap would be idiotic. As for Mayfield, the headline number makes it look like he hauled the Bucs over the coals a bit, but really they've done pretty well to push through a gtd number like that. $50mil on a $100+mil QB contract is v manageable. Most of it is goes in his first year, the Bucs aren't tied in long term. If he plays well, great. If he doesnt they can cut him and not hurt their cap too bad.
Add Arik Armstead to FA 3T candidates. SF cut him so somehow the 49ers will get benefits to the comp pick formula and it’ll count against the bears. Just don’t bring Justin Jones back. Also, pundits/sportsbooks/idiots on Reddit can fuck off with the Saquon Barkley rumors. Pass. Russ to the Steelers. Prognosticators seem confident Mr. ‘I can’t play in prime time’ picks Atlanta over Minny. FA window opens up in a couple hours. Let’s see how Poles screws it up.
The dudes missed over 20 games since 2020. And the giants, in games he has seen the field, put more mileage on him than the bears put on Monty. Can’t think of a dumber move than to drop double-digit millions on a guy like that. Quintessential bears.
I'm starting to come around to your and Ev's position, don't just trade Fields for peanuts. I'm worried Polles will unload him for a 4th or something like that just to have the QB question settled for now. Either way we are drafting Caleb. If you can't get a haul for Fields then too f-ing bad.
What the fuck… Edit*** Definitey overpaid by about 3/4 mil per year. 15.3 of this deal is guaranteed. Tony Pollard just got the same amount in Tennessee.
I like the swift deal. He is shifty, fast, young and more of a recieving threat than we have had. 8 mill average isn’t breaking the bank. 15 guaranteed means you can part ways next season if he is outplayed or winds up sucking.
We're getting too good at reading this team man. Its getting too easy. And has an injury history. And will probably be running behind a bottom10 O-Line. I don't like the look of that. Also, 15mil gtd is horrible. Also if you're gonna make a move like this after constantly drafting RBs then either this is a bad move or you wasted the draft picks. Has to one of them. Roshcon Johnson could barely get carries last season, how's he gonna make an impact now? Wasted draft pick. Bears had a very solid RB room last season while being league-wide bad at C for the 13th year straight. So the GM short changes the position once again while throwing money at one of the stronger position groups on the team. Nonsensical. Bears.
Dont get me wrong, Swift looked good running the ball last year. Thing is he did it behind a Wall of an O-Line, on an offense with one of the better WR tandems in the league and with a QB who's a threat to run it on every play. How much of that looks like the Bears?
