Bears game 1: Sunday, Sep 11 vs ATL, noon on Fox

[rawaction]

Belicheck took issue to Meriweather's work ethic and his attitude, along with his off-field problems. NE tried to trade them, but nobody would give up a draft pick of note for him. He only made the probowl last year because Troy Polamalu (Superbowl) and Ed Reed (injury) could not go. In 2010, Jairus Byrd and Antoine Bethea didn't play in the pro bowl. And Brian Dawkins made it as a SS for some reason. Still he's easily in the top 1/3 of NFL safeties.

[Magnetic Curses]

i like the meriweather signing, i like his miami pedigree, i like that it plugs a hole at the very least. he's a starter that shores up the defensive backfield and makes us better. i think he'll be competent if not a pro-bowler.

 

i'm starting to buy into the offensive line, which actually kind of scares me. whenever i think the line is going to be good, they are bad. i'm starting to come around on webb, he's looked so far in the pre-season. the bear jew looks like the guy we thought he was, a guy you plug in at one of the tackle spots and then forget about that spot for 10 years.

[cubweiser03]

Daniel Manning would 'freelance' too, except his was unintentional. I like this move.

[UMFan83]

I guess Major Wright has to wait a bit longer to get his shot. He looked really good early in the preseason but wasnt as impressive later on. Will be a good 3rd safety this year hopefully. Meriweather-Harris is a pretty good safety pairing.

[Guest]

I guess Major Wright has to wait a bit longer to get his shot. He looked really good early in the preseason but wasnt as impressive later on. Will be a good 3rd safety this year hopefully. Meriweather-Harris is a pretty good safety pairing.

 

I have to think Wright will get a majority of the reps in Week 1. Maybe he can make a good impression.

[WrigleyField 22]

Yea Merriweather may not even be active the first week or two until he is acclimated in the system.

 

By the way, Josh Moore was the one to get axed to make room. Kind of surprised, as now we have 6 safeties, but its very possible they just want to keep around an extra safety for now with Steltz and Conte having minor injuries, and things will sort out later.

 

Still wondering if we'll get that 6th linebacker...

[Banedon]

Ed Hochuli and his crew are refs for this game.

 

Announcers are Kenny Albert, Darryl Johnson, and Tony Siragusa.

[Banedon]

Marcus Harrison fails his physical with the Panthers.

[cubbyvirus00]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

[Magnetic Curses]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

 

Briggs has no leverage. If he doesn't want to play, he sits and doesn't make any money and his career is basically over at 31.

[Guest]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

 

That'd be silly. He has no leverage and is far more valuable to the team than he would be on the trade market.

[Banedon]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Lovie Smith tells WBBM this year's Bears team is the best one he's had since he became head coach

 

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo to WBBM on Matt Forte: "Unfortunately, we haven't been able to come to an agreement at this point."

 

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo to WBBM on Lance Briggs: "I understand his position."

 

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo to WBBM on Lance Briggs: "We feel very, very confident that Lance's focus is going to be on the season."

[Guest]

Lovie Smith is full of [expletive].

[Banedon]

Lovie Smith is full of [expletive].

 

Angelo also said that these are the four best safeties that he's had on the Bears. I'm trying to figure out if he's including Venable, Conte or Steltz in that statement.

[Soul]

Marcus Harrison fails his physical with the Panthers.

 

Which validates the problem Lovie & the staff kept having with him. He never showed up ready to go.

[Banedon]

Marcus Harrison fails his physical with the Panthers.

 

Which validates the problem Lovie & the staff kept having with him. He never showed up ready to go.

 

Apparently it was a knee issue that caused the failed physical.

[rawaction]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

 

That'd be silly. He has no leverage and is far more valuable to the team than he would be on the trade market.

 

I don't know about that. If the Bears could get a 3rd or high 4th for Briggs, I'd trade him in a heartbeat. A 3rd rounder for a 31-year old LB would be awesome.....which is probably why it won't happen. Basically my point is, if you get a good draft pick for him, do it. If not, keep him. If he wants to hold out, let him. But I wouldn't extend his contract or pay him an additional dime at all.

[UMFan83]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

 

Hey, I'm sure you have some insights on Meriweather that we don't have. Can you give us a scouting report?

[UMFan83]

Lovie Smith is full of [expletive].

 

Angelo also said that these are the four best safeties that he's had on the Bears. I'm trying to figure out if he's including Venable, Conte or Steltz in that statement.

 

Somewhere Mike Brown is crying

[JonJayCutler]

If I'm the Bears, at some point at the end of the season you have to trade Briggs for a draft pick. The guy is whining and crying about his contract way too much....

 

Hey, I'm sure you have some insights on Meriweather that we don't have. Can you give us a scouting report?

 

Not sure if this counts as a scouting report but the following article points out that New England is migrating to a man defense, something Meriweather apparently struggled with in camp. Since the Bears play mostly zone, however, it makes this a good fit and most likely why they jumped all over him the second he was released.

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/30651/brandon-meriweathers-future-with-bears

[Banedon]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo tells WBBM that the Bears and Matt Forte's representatives have both agreed to stop negotiating until the end of the season.

[UMFan83]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo tells WBBM that the Bears and Matt Forte's representatives have both agreed to stop negotiating until the end of the season.

 

Yay now we get tentative, don't get injured Forte this year. So the Bears are going to play a season nearly $20 mil under the cap. Thanks Jerry. We'll be sure to remember who made this possible when our season falls short due to one or several fatal flaws.

[Guest]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo tells WBBM that the Bears and Matt Forte's representatives have both agreed to stop negotiating until the end of the season.

 

Yay now we get tentative, don't get injured Forte this year. So the Bears are going to play a season nearly $20 mil under the cap. Thanks Jerry. We'll be sure to remember who made this possible when our season falls short due to one or several fatal flaws.

 

Personally, I don't think giving Forte (or any RB) a huge pile of money is a great idea. That said, I do think he has outplayed his contract and have a hard time being against rewarding him.

 

From what we heard of what the Bears were offering, it seems they were being fair and using their leverage to their advantage. If Forte wants more he can play it out, have a great year, and wait.

[UMFan83]

ZachZaidman Zach Zaidman

Jerry Angelo tells WBBM that the Bears and Matt Forte's representatives have both agreed to stop negotiating until the end of the season.

 

Yay now we get tentative, don't get injured Forte this year. So the Bears are going to play a season nearly $20 mil under the cap. Thanks Jerry. We'll be sure to remember who made this possible when our season falls short due to one or several fatal flaws.

 

Personally, I don't think giving Forte (or any RB) a huge pile of money is a great idea. That said, I do think he has outplayed his contract and have a hard time being against rewarding him.

 

I just don't want him to go to FA without a deal. I'm just annoyed because I kept hearing the Bears didn't spend more in FA in part because a chunk of that cap space was going to Forte. Now we are just sitting here 17-18 million under with no desire to spend it. It is possible that Forte was being unreasonable with his demands though.

[UMFan83]

I do feel a little better knowing that there are 6 teams that actually have more cap space than us, according to this:

 

http://blogs.nfl.com/2011/08/29/updated-salary-cap-space-numbers-for-all-32-teams/

 

Of course the teams with more are smaller market or not contending teams like KC, TB, Cin, Jax, Den, Buf. I do think it would be stupid to spend money just to eat up cap space, but with the number of WR and OL out there this FA period it just dumbfounded me why we went dumpster diving.