2009 Chicago Bears offseason

[biittner77]

I agree with this, but I doubt Angelo does it consdiering how he treated Benson and Johnson. Maybe they do it feeling they need to win this season, and TO gives them a good shot at it.

 

And Childress says alot of things, but he is feeling the heat to win up here.

 

Wouldn't they be better off with a guy like Holt or Harrison then? Those guys don't offer near the risks and won't complain about Peterson running the ball 30 times per game.

[jersey cubs fan]

I agree with this, but I doubt Angelo does it consdiering how he treated Benson and Johnson. Maybe they do it feeling they need to win this season, and TO gives them a good shot at it.

 

And Childress says alot of things, but he is feeling the heat to win up here.

 

Wouldn't they be better off with a guy like Holt or Harrison then? Those guys don't offer near the risks and won't complain about Peterson running the ball 30 times per game.

 

I don't think Harrison has much to offer. He's been in the ideal place for a WR that past couple years and hasn't been healthy enough to play or perform.

[RynoRules]

Is it me, or do small-school defensive players generally have less success in the pros than their offensive counterparts? And by small school I mean D I-AA (as it was formerly called) and below.

 

I feel like there's a good amount of defensive backs who do well out of small schools. I don't know if there are very many linebackers or lineman who have succeeded out of these schools though. Your theory would make sense, because I believe you have to be a much better athlete to compete in the NFL on defense, and those guys usually go to the best schools. Whereas some of the offensive positions require a little more subtle skill set. But I've never seen the numbers.

 

Me either. Assuming I am right it would be interesting to study why it is, for example, small school O-Linemen do so much better than small school D-Linemen. I feel like I can name three or four small school OL's for every one small school DL.

[hawkeyecub]

I would be absolutely SHOCKED, if the Vikings even considered T.O. for more than a minute.

 

Do people not remember the incident where TO ordered Childress to stop talking to him when he was his OC in Philly during that 2nd season meltdown? Childress then reportedly said "Hello" every time they were even near each other to needle him and show he wasn't backing down.

 

Plus Childress is the ultimate team-oriented, character focused guy. The only thing that will even get his name brought up in Winter Park is the fact that the Vikings WR coach was also T.O's coach in San Francisco and they're supposed to be super close.

[minnesotacubsfan]

or childress REALLY wants to win

[RedFlash]

The Bears just re-signed Kevin Jones....2 years $4million deal.

[hawkeyecub]

or childress REALLY wants to win

 

I don't think you understand. I'm fairly certain he believes T.O. and all that comes with that package does not help you win. Especially not an aging T.O. with young/inexperienced QB's and a run-oriented offense.

 

They think they have a very good team that was close last year and is right on the doorstep this year if they have improved QB play which I believe he thinks he'll have. He knows he has to win. After everything he went though in Philly there is no way he risks his job and all of that blowing up because of T.O's distractions and divisiveness. As much as any coach in the league he thinks character, cohesiveness and team-oriented guys result in wins.

[Magnetic Curses]

and guys that take banned supplements.

[hawkeyecub]

and guys that take banned supplements.

 

No he likes those guys

[Magnetic Curses]

and guys that take banned supplements.

 

No he likes those guys

 

that's what i meant.

[Southpaw191679666239]

The Bears just re-signed Kevin Jones....2 years $4million deal.

 

This makes me sad. I was holding out hope for Warrick Dunn. :(

[minnesotacubsfan]

KJ is a solid back-up to Forte, and younger then Dunn.....

 

age can have a lot of affect on running backs

[tfarks]

I wanted to see Dunn for a couple reasons. He looks to still have some left in the tank as a complimentary back, and he would command some touches where as Jones is injured or lost on the bench. I really don't want to see Forte out of the league in 5 years.

[minnesotacubsfan]

well, with Forte, dunn/jones/the world is lost on the bench

[Butterscup1679666578]

until forte keeps getting overworked and dies this year.

[Magnetic Curses]

strange signing since they barely used jones as the season progressed.

[jersey cubs fan]

strange signing since they barely used jones as the season progressed.

 

I'm glad they kept him so they can at least avoid having to use a draft pick on the position. You really have to wonder what the motivation was for not using the guy much and running the crap out of Forte. Then again, they played Marty Booker over Earl Bennett all year and had no intention of keeping him either, and he wasn't doing a thing to help the team.

 

 

I'm really disappointed that they could have had TO for very little and apparantly didn't even express interest. The WR position would have been solved for this season, giving them flexibility to draft guys at any spot. Since they are ignoring the position in free agency they have to get one early and hope he contributes early. I like Hester as a receiver, but thinking of him as a #1 is way past being just a stretch. He'd be a solid 2 with a real receiver taking double teams, but there's no way he's going to be the "must stop" guy that any defense worries about every play.

[rawaction]

strange signing since they barely used jones as the season progressed.

 

I'm glad they kept him so they can at least avoid having to use a draft pick on the position. You really have to wonder what the motivation was for not using the guy much and running the crap out of Forte. Then again, they played Marty Booker over Earl Bennett all year and had no intention of keeping him either, and he wasn't doing a thing to help the team.

 

 

I'm really disappointed that they could have had TO for very little and apparantly didn't even express interest. The WR position would have been solved for this season, giving them flexibility to draft guys at any spot. Since they are ignoring the position in free agency they have to get one early and hope he contributes early. I like Hester as a receiver, but thinking of him as a #1 is way past being just a stretch. He'd be a solid 2 with a real receiver taking double teams, but there's no way he's going to be the "must stop" guy that any defense worries about every play.

 

The Bears supposedly are interested in Torry Holt. I do think he'd be a similar WR to T.O. production wise, but wouldn't be a headache. Unfortunately, I think the Bears will have to trade for him before he gets cut (likely this weekend) because I don't think his first choice would be the Bears if a team that could use a vet WR like Indy, Philly, or Dallas.

[jersey cubs fan]

The Bears supposedly are interested in Torry Holt. I do think he'd be a similar WR to T.O. production wise, but wouldn't be a headache. Unfortunately, I think the Bears will have to trade for him before he gets cut (likely this weekend) because I don't think his first choice would be the Bears if a team that could use a vet WR like Indy, Philly, or Dallas.

 

I would much rather have the headache and the draft pick than Holt minus whatever pick they would have to give up. But the guy has asked to be released, presumably so he can pick his destination, and contract. How happy is he going to be to be forced to go to Chicago? He's probably going to demand, at the very least, an extension, probably one that pays him similar to what he could have gotten as a free agent.

 

I have my doubts about Holt's ability to produce outside of an offense first passing team that plays in a dome against division foes that don't play defense.

[minnesotacubsfan]

man I would hate to have a headache that was capable of catching 1400-1200 yrds a season. that would suck.

[Soul]

TO? He wouldn't produce that many yards on the Bears, though certainly he'd be far and away the best receiver on the team.

 

I'm torn on whether we should have gone for him or not. If it was only one year, I guess that wouldn't leave as much time for his BS to overtake his value as a football player like it has everywhere else he's been.

 

We'll likely have a terrible WR corps again this year, so it's hard for me to sit here and say "oh hell no, I don't want that #1 WR! Let's stick with our crap!"

[jersey cubs fan]

TO? He wouldn't produce that many yards on the Bears, though certainly he'd be far and away the best receiver on the team.

 

I'm torn on whether we should have gone for him or not. If it was only one year, I guess that wouldn't leave as much time for his BS to overtake his value as a football player like it has everywhere else he's been.

 

We'll likely have a terrible WR corps again this year, so it's hard for me to sit here and say "oh hell no, I don't want that #1 WR! Let's stick with our crap!"

 

See, I don't get the idea of being torn. As I said before, what's the worst that could happen? A non-playoff team doesn't make the playoffs again? This isn't a very good team you'd fear TO would ruin, it's already on the verge of entering mediocrity. They need a couple things to even consider contending next year, an offensive tackle, a WR or two, and a defensive end or solid safety. They haven't come close to solving any of those issues, and only have 2 picks in the top 50 this year, where you can reasonably expect to find starters. You have to sign a free agent somewhere, and when an impact WR falls in your lap, you have to take it. Then you draft the other spots. As things stand now, they have to draft fairly well just to get back to last year's highly flawed team. Then where's the improvement coming from?

[dew1679666265]

man I would hate to have a headache that was capable of catching 1400-1200 yrds a season. that would suck.

 

TO has only had two seasons since 2003 where he's caught 1200+ yards - and one of those was right at 1200. Granted, a third finished at 1180, but that (and his 1300 yard season) was with Tony Romo throwing the ball and numerous weapons around him.

 

He's turning 36 this year and I question how much he'll drop off in the near future - especially if he's a team's only real weapon and he has a less-than-stellar QB throwing him the ball.

[minnesotacubsfan]

then change the bottom # to 900 and he still is valuable tot he Bears

[Soul]

TO? He wouldn't produce that many yards on the Bears, though certainly he'd be far and away the best receiver on the team.

 

I'm torn on whether we should have gone for him or not. If it was only one year, I guess that wouldn't leave as much time for his BS to overtake his value as a football player like it has everywhere else he's been.

 

We'll likely have a terrible WR corps again this year, so it's hard for me to sit here and say "oh hell no, I don't want that #1 WR! Let's stick with our crap!"

 

See, I don't get the idea of being torn. As I said before, what's the worst that could happen? A non-playoff team doesn't make the playoffs again? This isn't a very good team you'd fear TO would ruin, it's already on the verge of entering mediocrity. They need a couple things to even consider contending next year, an offensive tackle, a WR or two, and a defensive end or solid safety. They haven't come close to solving any of those issues, and only have 2 picks in the top 50 this year, where you can reasonably expect to find starters. You have to sign a free agent somewhere, and when an impact WR falls in your lap, you have to take it. Then you draft the other spots. As things stand now, they have to draft fairly well just to get back to last year's highly flawed team. Then where's the improvement coming from?

 

I don't think the Bears think they are that far away from contending, though I tend to agree with you that they need more than what they are doing right now.

 

As for TO falling into our lap, I'm pretty sure there were 31 teams who were surprised that TO wound up signing a 1 year deal for decent but not great money. Also -- he signed much more quickly than most people expected. I'm not sure most NFL teams even knew what was happening beyond their initial "he's a cancer, no" -- analysis. I wonder if Angelo would have considered him if he knew what he was going to go for, but it's too late now.