2011 Bears Offseason thread

[JonJayCutler]

While I don't like the idea of taking a target away from Cutler (especially if we don't sign a WR), it's not a bad trade at all. Good tight ends not named Gates or Clark aren't that hard to find anymore. Plus, if Olsen has a bad year in Carolina (which is likely, it's the Panthers), a pick in the high 60s low 70s overall might suddenly seem like a steal.

 

As long as we sign a good-sized receiver to replace Olsen I'll be okay with it. I'm not a Roy Williams fan and would rather have Edwards or Floyd. That said, he has thrived in a Martz offense before, and has always been someone who has more talent than his performance indicates. I don't want to say he'd have a breakout year, but I think there's a decent chance he would out-perform the rest of the receiving corps. Perhaps I'm just not as down on him as most people are.

[BCVM22]

Bears expect to sign Roy Williams, according to "league source".

[YearofDaCubs]

They weren't my first options but if we can sign Roy Williams and Sims-Walker it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would be nice to sign one or two OL as well.

[JonJayCutler]

Since we're now down to two TEs, I'd like to see the Bears take a look at someone like Kevin Boss who is a UFA. He's a great blocker and a decent receiver. Unfortunately the most likely scenario is having one of the rookie camp invitees fill the 3rd spot and going with Kellen Davis as the starter. :-&

 

Also, give Forte his damn money to prevent a holdout. Without him we might as well punt on 1st down.

[Banedon]

They weren't my first options but if we can sign Roy Williams and Sims-Walker it wouldn't be the end of the world. It would be nice to sign one or two OL as well.

 

I'd wager that Williams is our only WR addition.

 

Bears sign 2nd round pick, Paea.

 

skjensen Sean Jensen

I'm told new Panthers TE Greg Olsen's four-year extension is worth about $24 million with over $10 million in guarantees. #Bears

[rawaction]

Bottom line for me (and I've felt this way for awhile): there are too many people casting this team as a perennial loser, and too many people buying into it.

 

We've been either in the Super Bowl or on the the brink 2 of the last 5 years. This team isn't doing badly AT ALL.

 

If not for struggles with the management of the OLine, I'd say we are in damn fine shape compared to the rest of the league. Defensively, few would argue the Bears are one of the better franchises in the NFL.

 

2nd most wins in the NFC in the last 6 years. The problem is consistency. 3 double digit win seasons. 2 sub .500 seasons in the last 6 years. Even the good teams in 2005 (29th ranked offense), 2006 (Grossman), and 2010 (30th ranked offense) had major flaws and won because unsubstainably good defense and special teams.

 

I'm a big believer in the 3 phases of football, because the Bears have shown that you can win with substandard qualities (mostly on offense). But alot of this is perception: people value offense above all. The fact is, building a team on defense is valid. The Bears do really well in everything *except* offense. I do believe we need to succeed on the offensive side of the ball to be a consistent winner like the Patriots. But casting this team as a bunch of bumbling idiots is what gets me. We all like to complain about Angelo, complain about Lovie's decisions. But let's not take it too far. There are real accomplishments on those resumes. Would I like it to be better? Of course. But it's not......the Texans (sorry to pick on them). Or the Browns.

 

But great defense has not shown to be sustainable. After the SB year, the Bears were a bad defensive team for 2 of the next 3 years, with the same coaching staff and pretty much the same key personnel on D. They were 28th, 21st and 17th in D from 2007-2009, after 2 years of a top 5 defense. Can argue that guys like Mike Brown and Tommie Harris got hurt and never were the same or guys like Vasher fell off. But that's what happens on defense. It becomes very player dependent and if those players don't play well, the D is bad. On offense, it's scheme that sustains production. We've seen NE win 11 without Brady. We've seen Manning win with WRs nobody has ever heard of until they're on the field. We've seen SD and Philly change franchise QBs while they were a double-digit win team and come back and win 10 again.

[hawkeyecub]

Did the Bears show any interest in re-signing Manning?

[Banedon]

Did the Bears show any interest in re-signing Manning?

 

Not really. But Manning never really showed a ton of interest in the Bears either. I think the Bears knew he was gonna get some money, and Manning knew the Bears weren't interested in paying that. Not with Major Wright waiting in the wings.

[Keener98]

Roy Williams has signed a 2 year deal with the Bears. Money not disclosed yet

[UMFan83]

Roy Williams has signed a 2 year deal with the Bears. Money not disclosed yet

 

Well he's tall....

[Banedon]

Williams still has to clear waivers before anything is actually "official".

[RynoRules]

I wonder what the Bears know about Williams that no one else seems to. He hasn't a good year since 2007, IIRC.

[WrigleyField 22]

I don't have a problem with taking a chance on Williams in a vacuum. Its a decent risk to take. My problem moreso is the context of it with all the other moves. I have a feeling this is being made and not much else will be done to the offense. We could use another WR (Sims Walker) and at least one starter on the line still.

[Banedon]

I wonder what the Bears know about Williams that no one else seems to. He hasn't a good year since 2007, IIRC.

 

Martz used him well previously, and Williams has a relationship with Daryl Drake, the WR coach, from their days at Texas.

[Banedon]

I don't have a problem with taking a chance on Williams in a vacuum. Its a decent risk to take. My problem moreso is the context of it with all the other moves. I have a feeling this is being made and not much else will be done to the offense. We could use another WR (Sims Walker) and at least one starter on the line still.

 

They'll make another move on the line. They outbid Pittsburgh for Colon...he just wanted to stay in Pittsburgh bad enough to take less. They aren't done there. Don't hold your breath on another WR though. Probably will get Kruetz, Graham and Roach re-signed today. Maybe another LB. Hopefully they'll pay Forte too.

[Banedon]

Williams still has to clear waivers before anything is actually "official".

 

Jason LaCanfora puts me in my place....

 

Clearing up some erroneous reports - players w/4years or more of accrued seasons not subject to waivers coming out of lockout, NFL says...

 

So players like Vince Young and Roy Williams, who were released this week, are not subject to waivers, according to NFL rules. They're UFAs

[Soul]

Bottom line for me (and I've felt this way for awhile): there are too many people casting this team as a perennial loser, and too many people buying into it.

 

We've been either in the Super Bowl or on the the brink 2 of the last 5 years. This team isn't doing badly AT ALL.

 

If not for struggles with the management of the OLine, I'd say we are in damn fine shape compared to the rest of the league. Defensively, few would argue the Bears are one of the better franchises in the NFL.

 

2nd most wins in the NFC in the last 6 years. The problem is consistency. 3 double digit win seasons. 2 sub .500 seasons in the last 6 years. Even the good teams in 2005 (29th ranked offense), 2006 (Grossman), and 2010 (30th ranked offense) had major flaws and won because unsubstainably good defense and special teams.

 

I'm a big believer in the 3 phases of football, because the Bears have shown that you can win with substandard qualities (mostly on offense). But alot of this is perception: people value offense above all. The fact is, building a team on defense is valid. The Bears do really well in everything *except* offense. I do believe we need to succeed on the offensive side of the ball to be a consistent winner like the Patriots. But casting this team as a bunch of bumbling idiots is what gets me. We all like to complain about Angelo, complain about Lovie's decisions. But let's not take it too far. There are real accomplishments on those resumes. Would I like it to be better? Of course. But it's not......the Texans (sorry to pick on them). Or the Browns.

 

But great defense has not shown to be sustainable. After the SB year, the Bears were a bad defensive team for 2 of the next 3 years, with the same coaching staff and pretty much the same key personnel on D. They were 28th, 21st and 17th in D from 2007-2009, after 2 years of a top 5 defense. Can argue that guys like Mike Brown and Tommie Harris got hurt and never were the same or guys like Vasher fell off. But that's what happens on defense. It becomes very player dependent and if those players don't play well, the D is bad. On offense, it's scheme that sustains production. We've seen NE win 11 without Brady. We've seen Manning win with WRs nobody has ever heard of until they're on the field. We've seen SD and Philly change franchise QBs while they were a double-digit win team and come back and win 10 again.

 

Not as sustainable, true. But do-able for some peak years.

 

For a team that hasn't shown a lot of competence building around offense, at least they've done well in the other areas.

 

I'll withhold comment on the Williams deal until I know the dollars. It's going to be weird seeing him do that first down thing in a Bears uni. But hopefully he does it a lot.

[Banedon]

I'll withhold comment on the Williams deal until I know the dollars. It's going to be weird seeing him do that first down thing in a Bears uni. But hopefully he does it a lot.

 

Hopefully he won't do it at all, but still get the firsts...

[dew1679666265]

I wonder what the Bears know about Williams that no one else seems to. He hasn't a good year since 2007, IIRC.

 

Martz used him well previously, and Williams has a relationship with Daryl Drake, the WR coach, from their days at Texas.

 

Williams had 146 receptions for 2,148 yards and 12 touchdowns combined in his two seasons under Martz in Detroit. That included a 1,310 yard season and 81.9 receiving yards per game in 2006. If he's going to revive his career, Martz may be just what he needs.

 

And if he does revive his career, he still can be one of the better WRs in the game.

[Old Style]

Roy Williams sucks. I sure hope we're not paying him much.

[Butterscup1679666578]

A Williams/Sims-Walker duo would actually make me happy, but yeah I can't see the Bears doing anything like that.

 

Time to get some linemen.

[Banedon]

Bears have now signed all draft picks with the exception of Carimi.

[Prizefight]

Roy Williams is the oldest feeling 29 year old. I would have bet he was almost mid 30's.

 

 

 

What I don't understand is how Martz has as much influence as he seemingly has. He didn't do anything last year to justify this much trust/influence in personnel decisions. The season started to turn after his crazy ass playbook was handcuffed during the bye.

[Banedon]

I'm hoping that Williams can be a "bail out" target for Cutler, so he has somewhere to go with the football when Knox and Bennett/Hester are covered.

 

If for some reason the Bears actually get Sims-Walker, that's looking like a possibly really good, if unproven, WR core.

[bukie]

So far, then, the Bears have upgraded P and WR (whether or not Roy Williams is a top WR now, he's still better than Aromashodu/Davis), two of the weakest positions on the Bears last year, and traded a player that likely has a lot more perceived value than actual value. They also had the highest bid for the best available OL, their biggest need, but he took less money to return to the Steelers. And it's now day 1 of FA transactions.

 

That about cover it?