The Bears Offseason Thread

[Soul]

The deal seems very reasonable to me. Only 14 million guaranteed. Extending the players you drafted before they hit the open market is a great strategy. I don't know how much Vasher would have gotten if he had hit the open market, but I'd guess it'd be more than he got with the Bears. He's a perfect fit for his role and I'm sure he knows it.

 

Although the Bears signed Vasher to a five-year deal through 2012 that included $14 million in guaranteed money, and are believed to have proposed a similar extension to Tillman, who is entering the final year of his contract[cliped stuff about not extending Briggs - we know this]

 

Look for Harris, who seems to be well on his way to a full recovery from the hamstring surgery that ended his 2006 season after a dozen games, to be the next target of the Bears' front office for a long-term extension.

 

Click

 

Yes, the extensions are wise, they're good players and you get them for probably cheaper than a FA acquisition. Plus, the longer term contracts impacts the team less over time because the league keeps increasing the salary cap and revenues in the NFL are still increasing.

 

That's something I don't think guys like Snyder understand. You sign FA's to short-term deals for big money, you lose out on the opportunity to get those later years on a long-term deal from them. Those are the years when the contract's impact is less. Urlacher is a great example -- seemed like a huge deal at the time, but now it's pretty damn equitable for a HOF LB.

[jersey cubs fan]

$14m over 5 years averages out to $2.8m per year. The next question is what is the base for those years. If the bases are pretty low in the front end, it's a solid deal.

[Chocolate Milk]

$14m over 5 years averages out to $2.8m per year. The next question is what is the base for those years. If the bases are pretty low in the front end, it's a solid deal.

 

Not sure how the deal breaks down. The total "value" of the deal is 28 million.

 

I expect the deal is backloaded to some extent. It seems like almost all of them are these days.

[YearofDaCubs]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

[jersey cubs fan]

$14m over 5 years averages out to $2.8m per year. The next question is what is the base for those years. If the bases are pretty low in the front end, it's a solid deal.

 

Not sure how the deal breaks down. The total "value" of the deal is 28 million.

 

I expect the deal is backloaded to some extent. It seems like almost all of them are these days.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say the first year is $900,000-$1m, the second year is probably $1m-$1.25m, the 3rd year is $2.5-$3m, the 4th year is $3m-3.5m and the 5th year is $4+m. That would keep the cap hit below $4m for the first year and possibly 2nd. But the last year would be around $7-8m, meaning he'd likely be cut or renegotiate. So maybe it's more like a 4 year $20m deal, averaging $5m per, instead of a 5 year $28m, averaging $5.6. Some teams go really extreme in the way they fudge the numbers, but the Bears are relatively conservative.

[jersey cubs fan]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

 

Don't know if he's overrated, I think most everybody agrees with you that Tillman is the better player.

[Guest]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

 

I think everyone this side of Brinoch will agree that Tillman is the better player. I could get behind Vasher being overrated if people still think he's better than Tillman. This is a good contract for a good player, though. Vasher has his weaknesses in his game but he's a good #2 cornerback.

[Soriano12]

Vasher isn't overrated at all. Over the past 2 season I think he has only gotton beat deep once, twice? Alot of times you have corners that make a ton of big plays, but also give up a ton as well. Vasher excels at the big play, while limiting big plays against him.

[rawaction]

Vasher wasn't very tough last year. Maybe it was just me, but I don't think he did a good job of tackling last year. He seemed reluctant to put his head in there and make a tackle.

[Chocolate Milk]

Vasher wasn't very tough last year. Maybe it was just me, but I don't think he did a good job of tackling last year. He seemed reluctant to put his head in there and make a tackle.

 

I didn't notice that but my guess is that had a lot to do with this injury he sustained in the preseason tackling Barlow. Probably made him a little gunshy.

[MPC]

i apologize if this has been posted already but bears single game tickets go on sale, saturday, july 21st at noon.

[Banedon]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/bucky_brooks/06/25/top.receivers/index.html

 

A top 25 WR list from CNNsi.

 

Am I just being a homer in thinking that either Moose or Berrian should be in that list? Near the bottom of it...but still.

 

EDIT: Fixed the link...you'd think I'd have this figured out by now, wouldn't ya?

[CubColtPacer]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/bucky_brooks/06/25/top.receivers/index.html

 

A top 25 WR list from CNNsi.

 

Am I just being a homer in thinking that either Moose or Berrian should be in that list? Near the bottom of it...but still.

 

EDIT: Fixed the link...you'd think I'd have this figured out by now, wouldn't ya?

 

That whole list is a joke anyway. 10, 11, and 12 is a good example. If you said you could have any one of three receivers this year-Randy Moss, Reggie Wayne, or Torry Holt-I'm not sure which name would come out of you, but I'd be pretty sure it wasn't Moss.

 

As for Moose and Berrian, it's hard to put Moose on there when he's only had 1 season above 900 yards in his last 6, and that was 3 years ago. Berrian's 775 can't really be considered either.

 

Here are some people that probably should be on the list:

 

Isaac Bruce-he put up almost 1100 yards last year! I know he's declining, but he deserves to be there low on the list.

Mike Furrey-this is the Lion that should have been on the list, not Calvin Johnson. 98 catches, 1086 yards last year.

Joey Galloway put up his 2nd straight 1000 yard season in an awful offense in Tampa, and yet didn't make the list.

Terry Glenn put up his 2nd straight 1000 yard season, and didn't make the list.

[Banedon]

As for Moose and Berrian, it's hard to put Moose on there when he's only had 1 season above 900 yards in his last 6, and that was 3 years ago. Berrian's 775 can't really be considered either.

 

Fair enough...I figured I was letting some bias get in there.

[Chocolate Milk]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

 

Don't know if he's overrated, I think most everybody agrees with you that Tillman is the better player.

 

I don't know how valid these stats are, but it was taken from ESPN:

 

Nathan Vasher

The Bears recently signed Vasher to a contract extension, and the metrics indicate he certainly deserved it. His 6.0 YPA last year was the 12th best in the league. Vasher had good YPA numbers across the board, but his bomb pass YPA numbers were tremendous. He allowed zero completions in six bomb attempts and was even able to draw a 10-yard offensive pass interference call on one of the plays, thus making his YPA on bomb passes a superb -1.7 yards.

 

The main reason Vasher wasn't seen as a Pro Bowl-level cornerback is that his interception total dropped from eight in 2005 to three in 2006. Vasher did notch seven near interceptions last year, a total that ranked him second in the league in that category. If he can catch some of those near interceptions in 2007, a trip to Hawaii should be in his future.

[da bears]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

 

Don't know if he's overrated, I think most everybody agrees with you that Tillman is the better player.

 

I don't know how valid these stats are, but it was taken from ESPN:

 

Nathan Vasher

The Bears recently signed Vasher to a contract extension, and the metrics indicate he certainly deserved it. His 6.0 YPA last year was the 12th best in the league. Vasher had good YPA numbers across the board, but his bomb pass YPA numbers were tremendous. He allowed zero completions in six bomb attempts and was even able to draw a 10-yard offensive pass interference call on one of the plays, thus making his YPA on bomb passes a superb -1.7 yards.

 

The main reason Vasher wasn't seen as a Pro Bowl-level cornerback is that his interception total dropped from eight in 2005 to three in 2006. Vasher did notch seven near interceptions last year, a total that ranked him second in the league in that category. If he can catch some of those near interceptions in 2007, a trip to Hawaii should be in his future.

 

Hmmm, thats good information. I know for me at times I lose track of how good a player is doing when he's not getting interceptions. Same with the offensive line in terms of accountability.

[rawaction]

Am I the only one who thinks Vasher is overrated? He's a good corner but if I had to choose between him and Tillman, I would pick Tillman. I remember there were a couple of games where Vasher missed some easy tackles and it cost us. I question his tackling ability moreso than anything else.

 

Don't know if he's overrated, I think most everybody agrees with you that Tillman is the better player.

 

I don't know how valid these stats are, but it was taken from ESPN:

 

Nathan Vasher

The Bears recently signed Vasher to a contract extension, and the metrics indicate he certainly deserved it. His 6.0 YPA last year was the 12th best in the league. Vasher had good YPA numbers across the board, but his bomb pass YPA numbers were tremendous. He allowed zero completions in six bomb attempts and was even able to draw a 10-yard offensive pass interference call on one of the plays, thus making his YPA on bomb passes a superb -1.7 yards.

 

The main reason Vasher wasn't seen as a Pro Bowl-level cornerback is that his interception total dropped from eight in 2005 to three in 2006. Vasher did notch seven near interceptions last year, a total that ranked him second in the league in that category. If he can catch some of those near interceptions in 2007, a trip to Hawaii should be in his future.

 

Hmmm, thats good information. I know for me at times I lose track of how good a player is doing when he's not getting interceptions. Same with the offensive line in terms of accountability.

 

For the record, Peanut was 20th at 6.7 YPA. That's about the cutoff for an above average CB. A few strange names in there too. Did you know Jason Craft was the 2nd best CB in the NFL?

[Banedon]

CNNsi.com ranks the NFL owners.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/michael_silver/06/27/ownerrankings/6.html

 

Michael McCaskey is listed as number 26. Now I'm not a massive fan of the McCaskey's, but...

 

1) Virginia, not Michael, owns the Bears. Lets at least get the name right.

 

2) The reasons listed for this ranking all have little to nothing to do with ownership. I don't think Michael McCaskey was behind the release of Ron Rivera.

 

3)How upset should we be about an ownership of a team that went to the Super Bowl this year?

[jersey cubs fan]

Complaints about the Bears owners and management are based on last decade's missteps and a Chicago based misperception that all bad things are due to ownership.

 

The McCaskey's are far from some glorious bunch, but there's very little to complain about their work, in relation to other owners, in the past 5-6 years. Once they kicked Mikey upstairs, elevated Ted Philips status and got on the course to the Jerry Angelo Bears, things started running smoothly.

 

Michael Silver is a bit of a blowhard himself though, he's got Snyder ranked 5th. I wouldn't trade places with that franchise ever.

[CubColtPacer]

CNNsi.com ranks the NFL owners.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/michael_silver/06/27/ownerrankings/6.html

 

Michael McCaskey is listed as number 26. Now I'm not a massive fan of the McCaskey's, but...

 

1) Virginia, not Michael, owns the Bears. Lets at least get the name right.

 

2) The reasons listed for this ranking all have little to nothing to do with ownership. I don't think Michael McCaskey was behind the release of Ron Rivera.

 

3)How upset should we be about an ownership of a team that went to the Super Bowl this year?

 

Another silly list from SI-what a surprise :D

 

It's hard to rank the owners, sure. But Dan Snyder ahead of people like Dan Rooney, Jim Irsay, or Jeffrey Lurie? If Dan Snyder is the 5th best owner in the league, then the league is in serious trouble.

 

Also, just reading through farther, he mentions that Arthur Blank got nothing in the Matt Schaub deal (when most people thought that Atlanta got the much better end of that deal) and should just go ahead and cut Vick.

 

There are ridiculous statements all over the place-I have no idea how this guy is an NFL writer.

[Banedon]

Yeah I got so wrapped up in the McCaskey thing that I completely forgot to mention Snyder listed 5th...ridiculous.

[Handlebar McSkullet]

CNNsi.com ranks the NFL owners.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/michael_silver/06/27/ownerrankings/6.html

 

Michael McCaskey is listed as number 26. Now I'm not a massive fan of the McCaskey's, but...

 

1) Virginia, not Michael, owns the Bears. Lets at least get the name right.

 

2) The reasons listed for this ranking all have little to nothing to do with ownership. I don't think Michael McCaskey was behind the release of Ron Rivera.

 

3)How upset should we be about an ownership of a team that went to the Super Bowl this year?

 

Virgina McCaskey is THE owner of the Chicago Bears. While im not saying the McCaskey's are the greatest owners in sports, this is borderline ridiculous. NOTE: not what Banedon wrote, what Sports "We Hate the Chicago Bears" Illustrated wrote. And another crack at grossman at the end.

[YearofDaCubs]

Tank was under the legal limit.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070702tankjohnsonbears,1,6289560.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

[wekse]

Tank was under the legal limit.

 

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/cs-070702tankjohnsonbears,1,6289560.story?coll=cs-home-headlines

 

just came to post this.

[Soriano12]

Oh well...shouldn't have drank at all...or been out at that hour. He knew he was under a microscope.