Chicago Bears Offseason 2012

[rawaction]

Interesting info I just came across.

 

Mike Tice did call plays in 2002 for the Vikings as Scott Linehan got acquainted with the position of his first OC job.

 

That Vikings team went 6-10 with Tice as head coach, but with him calling the plays, they were the #1 rushing offense and #9 passing offense. Mind you, that was the year AFTER Cris Carter retired. Also of note, that was the year the "Randy Ratio" was instituted. Randy Moss had 106 catches, but did have the lowest YPC and fewest TDs of his career until he got to the Raiders. In 2001, the Vikes were 7th in passing and 28th in rushing.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Yea, I agree. I have no issues with keeping Lovie, or letting him be part of the GM search

[minnesotacubsfan]

Interesting info I just came across.

 

Mike Tice did call plays in 2002 for the Vikings as Scott Linehan got acquainted with the position of his first OC job.

 

That Vikings team went 6-10 with Tice as head coach, but with him calling the plays, they were the #1 rushing offense and #9 passing offense. Mind you, that was the year AFTER Cris Carter retired. Also of note, that was the year the "Randy Ratio" was instituted. Randy Moss had 106 catches, but did have the lowest YPC and fewest TDs of his career until he got to the Raiders. In 2001, the Vikes were 7th in passing and 28th in rushing.

pretty sure he called plays in 2005 (his last year as HC) as well, Linehan had moved on at that point I believe

[MidoreX]

I think its time to put the offense completely in Jay's hands. The incoming OC should set general philosophy and playbook, send in a base package with play options, and then give Cutler the freedom to set the play and audible/adjust at will based on defensive reads. Its one of the key reasons Manning, Brady, Brees, and Rodgers are so effective, and Cutler hasn't been allowed to tweak or change a thing on a single playcall during the past 2 years. If Tice is cool with that, I'm cool with him.

[cubbyvirus00]

At the start of the search for Jerry Angelo’s successor, Chicago Bears team president Ted Phillips plans to reach out to somebody he interviewed the last time he was looking for a general manager.

 

According to a league source, the Bears have expressed interest in former NFL executive Ted Sundquist, a finalist for the job when Angelo was hired in 2001. Sundquist spent 16 years in the Broncos organization, including 2002-07 as the team’s general manager, and was the man in charge when Denver selected Jay Cutler in the 2006 NFL draft.

 

 

The Broncos were 58-38 and made the playoffs three times during Sundquist’s tenure but communication problems with then-coach Mike Shanahan led to his dismissal.

 

Described by one former NFL executive as “a very smooth leader," the 49-year-old Sundquist joined the Broncos in 1993 as a scout and served in various roles, including player personnel assistant and director of scouting before his promotion to GM.

 

He carries a stronger reputation around the league for managing the salary cap and making bold trades than evaluating talent -- the skill Phillips said will weigh heaviest. But Sundquist also offers experience and organizational savvy some other candidates might not. Since leaving the Broncos, Sundquist has stayed busy in various broadcast and Internet media roles as well as a stint running the Omaha Nighthawks of the UFL. In 2009, Sundquist was a finalist for the Chiefs GM job that went to Scott Pioli.

 

Phillips made clear that the next GM would have to have chemistry with coach Lovie Smith and accept Cutler as his franchise quarterback. We don’t know how Sundquist might click with Smith but we can be certain he would have no qualms with Cutler. Before the Bears traded for Cutler in April 2009, the Tribune interviewed Sundquist for his opinion on whether he would deal for the quarterback.

 

"From the standpoint of physical tools, he is about as good as I've seen," Sundquist said. "He's athletic, big, strong, can make all the throws and has good feet. He can run. He's ultra-competitive. If I were a general manager, I would jump all over him and not think twice."

 

Other candidates linked so far to the Bears GM position include Packers director of football operations Reggie McKenzie, who reportedly is also on the Raiders’ radar, Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta and former Colts president Bill Polian.

 

Interesting read, though I know very little about the Broncos organization during that time.

[rawaction]

Sundquist had some terrible drafts.

 

Ashley Lelie was his 1st draft pick. Did follow that with Portis in the 2nd, but the rest of the draft was bad.

Darrent Williams was a decent draft pick, but he was also responsible for the Maurice Clarett debocle in the 3rd round that year.

 

2006 draft was pretty good though with Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Schefler, Dumervil, and Chris Kuper.

 

But yeah, I still don't want this dude. Say they want a talent evaluator, then they need to make that happen.

 

Edit: I guess he isn't that bad. He was in charge of college scouting when they had some of their best drafts that led them to the Superbowls in the late 90s. But that didn't translate over as a GM. He is a little too aggressive for my liking. He was one of the biggest traders in the league with the Broncos. The Portis/Bailey trade worked out. And he did actually trade up to get Cutler. But I think he takes a lot of unnecessary risks trading up and down in the draft and taking guys with character issues.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Please not Sundquist

[Magnetic Curses]

Agreed. If you're going to fire Angelo and Martz then you most certainly need to fire Lovie

 

Why?

 

lovie is a perfectly good coach that the current players already respect a great deal. chances are slim we'd find somebody as good or better. this idea of getting rid of him just to get rid of him is dumb.

[Soul]

Agreed. If you're going to fire Angelo and Martz then you most certainly need to fire Lovie

 

Why?

 

lovie is a perfectly good coach that the current players already respect a great deal. chances are slim we'd find somebody as good or better. this idea of getting rid of him just to get rid of him is dumb.

 

That idea is dumb, but getting rid of Lovie wouldn't be for no reason. It would be to open up more possibilities for GMs who want to be able to shape the team in their own image. It's also true that the team isn't in chaos. We could win next year, actually. If we do, then it becomes pretty difficult to not extend Lovie. Potential GMs can forsee that possibility. It's not like the GM would be coming in with a true option to fire Lovie after a short while. This person needs to mesh with Lovie potentially for the long term, depending on what happens. That's an extra qualification many won't meet.

[Tyrant]

Filed to ESPNChicago: Bears "meticulously vetting" Falcons exec Les Snead as candidate to bring in for GM interview. - @mikecwright

 

Don't know much about him other than he's fairly young (37) and has been director of player personnel for ATL.

[mul21]

Filed to ESPNChicago: Bears "meticulously vetting" Falcons exec Les Snead as candidate to bring in for GM interview. - @mikecwright

 

Don't know much about him other than he's fairly young (37) and has been director of player personnel for ATL.

 

Well, if he had anything to do with them realizing they needed an elite type wide receiver and going and getting Julio Jones, he's already in my good graces.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Why won't alot of gm work well with Lovie? Is he a jerk?

[Banedon]

Why won't alot of gm work well with Lovie? Is he a jerk?

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Banedon/ALOT2.png

[jersey cubs fan]

That idea is dumb, but getting rid of Lovie wouldn't be for no reason. It would be to open up more possibilities for GMs who want to be able to shape the team in their own image.

 

I know this is sounding like a broken record, but the NFL is not MLB. There are not a bunch of Theo Epsteins out there ready to reshape organizations from the GM chair. The guys who makes teams in their own image are the celebrity coaches: Parcells, Belichik, Cowher, Gruden and yes, even Lovie. A coach in the NFL has far more power as to the type of players the team will acquire than a manager in MLB. Their offensive and defensive schemes dictate personel, and it's the personel man's job to get him those players. There are plenty of examples of personel men and coaches overlapping their respective tenures and not alligning.

[Tyrant]

Filed to ESPNChicago: Bears "meticulously vetting" Falcons exec Les Snead as candidate to bring in for GM interview. - @mikecwright

 

Don't know much about him other than he's fairly young (37) and has been director of player personnel for ATL.

 

Well, if he had anything to do with them realizing they needed an elite type wide receiver and going and getting Julio Jones, he's already in my good graces.

 

Yeah. And that was while they already had a very, very good WR in Roddy White.

 

Maybe he'd do the same for the Bears and trade way up to get Justin Blackmon.

[Magnetic Curses]

Agreed. If you're going to fire Angelo and Martz then you most certainly need to fire Lovie

 

Why?

 

lovie is a perfectly good coach that the current players already respect a great deal. chances are slim we'd find somebody as good or better. this idea of getting rid of him just to get rid of him is dumb.

 

That idea is dumb, but getting rid of Lovie wouldn't be for no reason. It would be to open up more possibilities for GMs who want to be able to shape the team in their own image. It's also true that the team isn't in chaos. We could win next year, actually. If we do, then it becomes pretty difficult to not extend Lovie. Potential GMs can forsee that possibility. It's not like the GM would be coming in with a true option to fire Lovie after a short while. This person needs to mesh with Lovie potentially for the long term, depending on what happens. That's an extra qualification many won't meet.

 

lovie also seems to be very well-liked throughout the league and came from a coaching tree that is almost universally respected as well. i don't think the GM is going to have much trouble with lovie, who is a defensive coach. the new GM will be able to bring in an OC that he hand-picks, and what GM wouldn't love to come in and be able to establish a new offensive system with a zombie-fighter franchise QB and the ability to rebuild an aging but accomplished and competent defense on the fly?

[Guest]

I'm too lazy to go back through the thread, but I seem to recall someone mentioning Jared Gaither earlier on, possibly as an injury risk. He's the guy that missed a couple of seasons and then on his very first play back from injury, he was called for moving before the snap and got let go by the Chiefs without ever playing a single down for them.

 

San Diego was desperate for help on their beaten up offensive line and this guy came in and was rock solid filling in. Not sure what his contract status is but he might be worth a look if he is fully healthy. He was replacing a pro bowler on the Charger line, so maybe he'll be available. I was certainly impressed that San Diego was able to get such talent on a moment's notice.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Filed to ESPNChicago: Bears "meticulously vetting" Falcons exec Les Snead as candidate to bring in for GM interview. - @mikecwright

 

Don't know much about him other than he's fairly young (37) and has been director of player personnel for ATL.

 

Well, if he had anything to do with them realizing they needed an elite type wide receiver and going and getting Julio Jones, he's already in my good graces.

Everything I've ever heard points to that being Dimitroff's idea, but that's not to say Snead had no input. Dimitroff went so far as to ask Belichick what he thought of the idea to trade up. Belichick told him not to, so he did.

[Guest]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-biggs-10-thoughts-on-bears-big-shakeup-20120104,0,2030008.story

 

#3 addresses the TE position, for those that are interested.

 

Interesting article.

 

I agree with the OL take. Webb is clearly the weak link as everyone else is serviceable. But there aren't a lot of options in free agency. On this list, http://nfltraderumors.co/2012-nfl-free-agents/, the only top 50 FA in this class that is an OT is 33 year old Kareem McKenzie. The rest of the FA class at OT is reclamation projects or injury prone players (Jared Gaither). And this isn't a great draft for LTs if you pick outside of the top 10. Even if you pick an OT at 19, it's going to be a 50/50 proposition if he's even more effective than Webb next year.

 

As for the TE position, I know the GM is going to take the approach that you have to have a pass catching TE. But who says Spaeth and Davis can't be that? Spaeth caught 47 balls as a college SR. Kellen Davis is 6-7 and ran a 4.65 40 at the combine 4 years ago, and had a 16.0 ypc average as a SR at Michigan St. Kellen is a FA, but I don't see the need to overpay for Finley or Fred Davis just to have a dynamic TE when Davis/Spaeth aren't completely incapable of being solid receivers.

 

Haha. I should use the search function a little more. One page back.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Why won't alot of gm work well with Lovie? Is he a jerk?

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/Banedon/ALOT2.png

 

 

[Magnetic Curses]

I'm too lazy to go back through the thread, but I seem to recall someone mentioning Jared Gaither earlier on, possibly as an injury risk. He's the guy that missed a couple of seasons and then on his very first play back from injury, he was called for moving before the snap and got let go by the Chiefs without ever playing a single down for them.

 

San Diego was desperate for help on their beaten up offensive line and this guy came in and was rock solid filling in. Not sure what his contract status is but he might be worth a look if he is fully healthy. He was replacing a pro bowler on the Charger line, so maybe he'll be available. I was certainly impressed that San Diego was able to get such talent on a moment's notice.

 

yeah, Gaither at LT would instantly be a huge step up from any option we would have at this point. that's not saying much, i understand, but he'd solidify our line. i like spencer at RG and Garza at C. obviously we'd have to look for a long-term solution for the center position in the draft, but for the time being, i think the line would look pretty good.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Gaither would be nice, it gives us Lance Louis as a swing tackle/guard

[Banedon]

It's well known Jay Cutler had to be cajoled into the idea of working with Martz in the first place. So it's not surprising the quarterback went to Halas Hall on Tuesday and let Smith know he was in favor of moving on without Martz before the coaches had met.

[jersey cubs fan]

the new GM will be able to bring in an OC that he hand-picks, and what GM wouldn't love to come in and be able to establish a new offensive system with a zombie-fighter franchise QB and the ability to rebuild an aging but accomplished and competent defense on the fly?

 

Highly doubtful. It's almost completely certain that Lovie Smith will decide who the OC is going to be this year.

[tfarks]

Haven't paid any attention to this thread so it's probably been talked about in some form. But while reading about the Colts vacant GM job I ran across this:

 

[uPDATE]: Earlier today, ESPN's John Clayton told Indianapolis radio station 1070 the Fan that DeCosta is mostly interested in the vacant Chicago G.M. job

 

This guy is regarded as one of the best GM candidates available in the league, without a doubt. And the draft success he has had with Ozzie is obvious.

 

I'd be pretty excited to see this as the outcome of the GM search.