Game 14: SEAHAWKS @ CHICAGO 12:00 PM and off season talk

[minnesotacubsfan]

his drafting had a lot to do with it. I really dont want him, I wish we could get Ron Wolf's assistant.

 

Imagine how crappy his teams would have been if they played in a real division.

 

I dont want to imagine that, we may actually get to see it next year. its scary.

[davell]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

[JonJayCutler]

Cutler apparently threw some before the Broncos game. No word on how he felt.

[Banedon]

Cutler apparently threw some before the Broncos game. No word on how he felt.

 

Except for the article where he talks about how he felt on Chicagosports.com.... :)

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-cutler-gives-update-on-injured-thumb-20111214,0,7459288.story

 

"I think it was more pushing than throwing; it was more of a shot put in my hand really than anything. I put the ball in there a little bit and we'll see how it feels this week and try to get better and better each day."

 

Regarding his meeting in Denver last Sunday with his hand surgeon, Dr. Randy Viola, Cutler said, "He was happy (with the progress). It's just a matter of how comfortable I am these next couple weeks and whether we leave the pins in ... whether I'm comfortable throwing or not. But Sunday he was really happy with the progres I've made so far."

 

Asked whether his attempts at throwing have been painful, Cutler said, "It's kind of like I have to relearn it. ... Those pins in there, I had a little bit of shooting pain. So going forward these next few weeks we just have to figure out, once all the swelling's gone, whether or not I can manage with these pins in or whether we'll have to pull 'em."

[jersey cubs fan]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

 

Bears free agents after next year? Urlacher is signed through 2012. Garza also signed an extension through 2013.

[davell]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

 

Bears free agents after next year? Urlacher is signed through 2012. Garza also signed an extension through 2013.

Cool. Other than Forte, I think Okoye is the only guy I really have any interest in keeping then.

[jersey cubs fan]

So with UCLA and ASU both filling their head coaching positions, is there anything out there that would be a potential fit for Martz? I'm thinking no. It will be interesting to see if they just can him if there is no other job for him to leave them for, or if they just go with the status quo and make one more go of it with the people already here.

[Guest]

So with UCLA and ASU both filling their head coaching positions, is there anything out there that would be a potential fit for Martz? I'm thinking no. It will be interesting to see if they just can him if there is no other job for him to leave them for, or if they just go with the status quo and make one more go of it with the people already here.

 

I have no idea what Martz's preferences might be, but Penn State and Pitt are still open vacancies in BCS conferences.

[rawaction]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

 

Free agents AFTER this season is over: Forte (unrestricted actually), Idonije, Roy Williams, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Steltz, Meriweather, Graham, Okoye, Bowman, Iwuh, Hanie

 

Plus, all the UDFAs (Sanzenbacher, Decicco, Henry, Horn, McCown, Andre Smith, Massey-LS). Khalil Bell may be restricted, but I'm not sure.

 

I'd re-sign Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Everyone else can walk. Jennings isn't great, but he is a solid starter, who is only turning just 28 on Christmas Eve. I don't like spending big money on FA CBs and it's hard to expect a draft pick to come in and start right away. Plus, with only Tillman and Moore under contract, you're going to need to bring in at least 2 guys anyway, even if you bring 1 back.

 

The only 1 I'd definitely not bring back is Idonije. I'd take everyone else back provided they are extremely cheap.

[minnesotacubsfan]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

 

Free agents AFTER this season is over: Forte (unrestricted actually), Idonije, Roy Williams, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Steltz, Meriweather, Graham, Okoye, Bowman, Iwuh, Hanie

 

Plus, all the UDFAs (Sanzenbacher, Decicco, Henry, Horn, McCown, Andre Smith, Massey-LS). Khalil Bell may be restricted, but I'm not sure.

 

I'd re-sign Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Everyone else can walk. Jennings isn't great, but he is a solid starter, who is only turning just 28 on Christmas Eve. I don't like spending big money on FA CBs and it's hard to expect a draft pick to come in and start right away. Plus, with only Tillman and Moore under contract, you're going to need to bring in at least 2 guys anyway, even if you bring 1 back.

 

The only 1 I'd definitely not bring back is Idonije. I'd take everyone else back provided they are extremely cheap.

 

Meriweather, Williams, Idonije can walk and I wouldn't care. I'm on the fence about Bowman.

[rawaction]

When I looked up Bears free agents for nest year, here's what I got: McCown, Forte restricted, Garza, Idonije, Okoye, Urlacher, Graham, and Meriweather. We went into the year 19.4 mill under the cap too. Is Urlacher a FA? If so, I definitely think he'd be showing on the top 50 FA list I looked at to get that group of WR anyway. Even if he is though and figuring we franchise Forte, we,ve got plenty of cash available to get a top flight WR, a really solid OL and spend whatever Urlacher needs to hang around. Then draft a DE, another OL. Maybe a TE. Or sign Fred Davis, and maybe a DB.

 

Free agents AFTER this season is over: Forte (unrestricted actually), Idonije, Roy Williams, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Steltz, Meriweather, Graham, Okoye, Bowman, Iwuh, Hanie

 

Plus, all the UDFAs (Sanzenbacher, Decicco, Henry, Horn, McCown, Andre Smith, Massey-LS). Khalil Bell may be restricted, but I'm not sure.

 

I'd re-sign Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Everyone else can walk. Jennings isn't great, but he is a solid starter, who is only turning just 28 on Christmas Eve. I don't like spending big money on FA CBs and it's hard to expect a draft pick to come in and start right away. Plus, with only Tillman and Moore under contract, you're going to need to bring in at least 2 guys anyway, even if you bring 1 back.

 

The only 1 I'd definitely not bring back is Idonije. I'd take everyone else back provided they are extremely cheap.

 

Meriweather, Williams, Idonije can walk and I wouldn't care. I'm on the fence about Bowman.

 

I'd rather have Graham back than Bowman, because at least Graham can play the nickel.

 

My offseason plan would be bringing back Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Spending on a decent S (not a lot of money, and not necessarily a star player) who can either start or motivate Major Wright to stay on the field. Then I'd spend a pretty decent amount on a DE or an OG. And I'd draft WR, CB, and OC early, with DE thrown in very early if don't sign one. I'd also look to draft a LB, late round CB, and an OT in the mid-to-late rounds

[minnesotacubsfan]

I'd rather have Graham back than Bowman, because at least Graham can play the nickel.

 

My offseason plan would be bringing back Forte, Okoye, and Jennings. Spending on a decent S (not a lot of money, and not necessarily a star player) who can either start or motivate Major Wright to stay on the field. Then I'd spend a pretty decent amount on a DE or an OG. And I'd draft WR, CB, and OC early, with DE thrown in very early if don't sign one. I'd also look to draft a LB, late round CB, and an OT in the mid-to-late rounds

 

Graham makes sense over Bowman, he also plays really good ST. I'd buy the best WR and/or OG I could get, and draft the rest.

[davell]

I want nothing to do with drafting a WR. Especially anything outside the 1st round. We've neglected this for way too long and having a franchise QB like Cutler, it's doing him a disservice by not giving him true weapons to work with. I think adding a veteran starter who's very solid on the Offensive Line is a must as well. If this team gave Cutler something to work with, we could have a top 10ish offense. And the D is good enough to where that would make for an excellent squad. And we could draft defensively, to get some youth ready to go when it's apparent Tillman, Urlacher and maybe even Peppers or Briggs start to show their age more than just a little.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I want nothing to do with drafting a WR. Especially anything outside the 1st round. We've neglected this for way too long and having a franchise QB like Cutler, it's doing him a disservice by not giving him true weapons to work with. I think adding a veteran starter who's very solid on the Offensive Line is a must as well. If this team gave Cutler something to work with, we could have a top 10ish offense. And the D is good enough to where that would make for an excellent squad. And we could draft defensively, to get some youth ready to go when it's apparent Tillman, Urlacher and maybe even Peppers or Briggs start to show their age more than just a little.

 

 

...so you dont want to draft a WR? are you saying we should pick up a FA WR?

[davell]

We can take a flyer on one in rounds 4 thru 7, I guess. But I want Desean Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, or Vincent Jackson. And while we're at it, Fred Davis at TE as well. Sign a solid Offensive Lineman, draft DE, CB, S, and OL with your 4 picks inside the 1st 3 rounds.

[Butterscup1679666578]

Disappearing DeSean? No thanks.

[minnesotacubsfan]

look who's racist now

[rawaction]

We can take a flyer on one in rounds 4 thru 7, I guess. But I want Desean Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, or Vincent Jackson. And while we're at it, Fred Davis at TE as well. Sign a solid Offensive Lineman, draft DE, CB, S, and OL with your 4 picks inside the 1st 3 rounds.

 

I understand the thinking, I really do. But I think signing a FA WR could go terribly wrong. You're looking at $25Mil guaranteed and about $50Mil over 5 years for any of those 3 WRs. D Jackson clearly has some issues, whether team, production or character related. V Jackson is going to be 29 and has had some off field issues along with contract disputes. Bowe is young, but he's disappeared for games at a time or seasons at a time in 2009. He's had several games with 3 or fewer catches. He's had several games under 35 yards. Obviously with a draft pick you take some risk too, but not a $25Mil guaranteed risk. Plus, it's not like the offense is in do-or-die mode. Very young nucleus on offense all around. Improved greatly this year without a top talent at WR (when Cutler was healthy). They have time to develop a WR.

 

As for the OL, I think everyone would love the Bears to go out and sign a very good offensive lineman. But I don't think that's realistic. If they were going to sign someone, they would have done it this offseason. Now, they finally have some young talent on the OL. Webb has been greatly improved this year. He's 23, they aren't going to toss him aside. Chris Williams was playing like a top 5-10 OG in the league before he went down. His first year starting at LG from day 1. Carimi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Lance Louis has struggled recently at RT, but there's no reason he can't still have a strong future at RG. And at C you have both Garza and Spencer under contract. I think you could see a Peter Konz (Carimi's UW roommate) or a mid-to-late round OL picked up, but I don't think the Bears will spend at the position, considering they have 7 players (including Edwin Williams) who have played at a decent level at some point on the OL this season.

[minnesotacubsfan]

I love Konz

[mhuber92211]

The Score just had a guy on from Seattle who pretty much said Ruskell would be the worst possible option for the Bears GM. A quote "Find me 5 guys he drafted that you're proud of". As bad as Seattle has been the last few years, I guess it wouldn't surprise me if you couldn't find 5 good guys from his last few drafts.

 

This is true. he came in with fanfare from Tampa to replace Holmgren (who reliquinshed the GM Title) and was just as bad. Consistently reaching for players but Lofa Tatupu - while a reach at the time- worked out well.

 

The Seahawks have yet to have a solid first round contribution in the last decade it seems. Aaron Curry, Russell Okung both hyped as awesome at the time have fizzled. Although Okung is more to do with bad ankles than skills. When he plays he can pass block like a first rounder (run blocking, not so much).

 

However, Earl Thomas (same draft as Okung) looks to be the real deal. John Lynch comparisons (from Lynch himself agreed)

 

Back to Ruskell. Avoid like the plague. The guy drafted 2 QB in his 5 years (David Greene and Mike Teel) UGH! Although, he does seem to find solid role players in late rounds with DE and OL

[davell]

We can take a flyer on one in rounds 4 thru 7, I guess. But I want Desean Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, or Vincent Jackson. And while we're at it, Fred Davis at TE as well. Sign a solid Offensive Lineman, draft DE, CB, S, and OL with your 4 picks inside the 1st 3 rounds.

 

I understand the thinking, I really do. But I think signing a FA WR could go terribly wrong. You're looking at $25Mil guaranteed and about $50Mil over 5 years for any of those 3 WRs. D Jackson clearly has some issues, whether team, production or character related. V Jackson is going to be 29 and has had some off field issues along with contract disputes. Bowe is young, but he's disappeared for games at a time or seasons at a time in 2009. He's had several games with 3 or fewer catches. He's had several games under 35 yards. Obviously with a draft pick you take some risk too, but not a $25Mil guaranteed risk. Plus, it's not like the offense is in do-or-die mode. Very young nucleus on offense all around. Improved greatly this year without a top talent at WR (when Cutler was healthy). They have time to develop a WR.

 

As for the OL, I think everyone would love the Bears to go out and sign a very good offensive lineman. But I don't think that's realistic. If they were going to sign someone, they would have done it this offseason. Now, they finally have some young talent on the OL. Webb has been greatly improved this year. He's 23, they aren't going to toss him aside. Chris Williams was playing like a top 5-10 OG in the league before he went down. His first year starting at LG from day 1. Carimi isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Lance Louis has struggled recently at RT, but there's no reason he can't still have a strong future at RG. And at C you have both Garza and Spencer under contract. I think you could see a Peter Konz (Carimi's UW roommate) or a mid-to-late round OL picked up, but I don't think the Bears will spend at the position, considering they have 7 players (including Edwin Williams) who have played at a decent level at some point on the OL this season.

I'm OK with how the line showed progress on an individual level. Webb, Louis, and Williams all showed some semblance of improvement. Adding Carimi to the mix is kind of like having an extra 1st next year. I'm not expecting a star to be added here, but a starter, who may be capable of playing both guard and tackle. On the WR note, I'll just disagree about having time to develop one. Our offense needs to be firing next year on all cylinders. Because our D's window is closing, even if we draft heavily there most likely. Just as we're seeing with the Cubs, these WR's all have some sort of flaws. But they also have been bigtime producers and would certainly make teams gameplan differently against us. I honestly think it should be our one "must have" through FA. We've certainly got the cash to do it anyway. To me, it's time to take a risk or two.

[jersey cubs fan]

Back to Ruskell. Avoid like the plague. The guy drafted 2 QB in his 5 years (David Greene and Mike Teel) UGH! Although, he does seem to find solid role players in late rounds with DE and OL

 

Well, the Bears have their QB so that shouldn't be an issue.

[rawaction]

I love Konz

 

Yeah, he's Carimi at C. He's huge (6-5, 315 ish), strong as an ox, physical as they come, and surprisingly a really good athlete for his size. Even with Garza, I would hope if Tice is the OC and has some say-so in personnel decisions that he would go back to UW for the 1st round pick. His son played for Wisconsin and he fell in love with Carimi going to games. I don't see how the same couldn't be true of Konz.

 

That being said, I do understand if they don't pick Konz. WR is probably a bigger need and DE and CB will also be considered in the 1st. But I'd still like to grab a C by the 3rd/4th round. Really like Ben Jones- UGA and Mike Brewster tOSU also in the 2nd/3rd round range.

[Guest]

I love Konz

 

Yeah, he's Carimi at C. He's huge (6-5, 315 ish), strong as an ox, physical as they come, and surprisingly a really good athlete for his size. Even with Garza, I would hope if Tice is the OC and has some say-so in personnel decisions that he would go back to UW for the 1st round pick. His son played for Wisconsin and he fell in love with Carimi going to games. I don't see how the same couldn't be true of Konz.

 

That being said, I do understand if they don't pick Konz. WR is probably a bigger need and DE and CB will also be considered in the 1st. But I'd still like to grab a C by the 3rd/4th round. Really like Ben Jones- UGA and Mike Brewster tOSU also in the 2nd/3rd round range.

 

That and I could easily see Konz returning for his senior year.

[jersey cubs fan]

I love Konz

 

Yeah, he's Carimi at C. He's huge (6-5, 315 ish), strong as an ox, physical as they come, and surprisingly a really good athlete for his size. Even with Garza, I would hope if Tice is the OC and has some say-so in personnel decisions that he would go back to UW for the 1st round pick. His son played for Wisconsin and he fell in love with Carimi going to games. I don't see how the same couldn't be true of Konz.

 

That being said, I do understand if they don't pick Konz. WR is probably a bigger need and DE and CB will also be considered in the 1st. But I'd still like to grab a C by the 3rd/4th round. Really like Ben Jones- UGA and Mike Brewster tOSU also in the 2nd/3rd round range.

 

One way to do is it to try and have a good line and good receivers, spreading around your talent, but another option is always trying to build a dominant line, which is going to make your WRs more effective, almost by default.