2014 Chicago Bears Offseason Thread

[Banedon]

Haha, now Phil says "were weren't going to finalize contracts during the season, but we would discuss them."

 

Uh huh.

[Guest]

You guys know me. You know I love Cutler. I want him on the Bears for the long-term, and certainly have campaigned that he be a part of the 2014 team. But that being said, I would not have signed him to this contract, yet. I would have franchised him and let him earn the big payday. Granted, I think he would have earned that this year, but he did miss 5 games and parts of 2 others, the 2nd time in 3 years he's missed a handful of games.

 

I'm guessing the cap hit for 2014 is significantly less than the 16.2 or whatever franchise number. That doesn't mean I'm unhappy whatsoever at this deal, but I just think it could have waited a little. Not like the Bears were in danger of salaries greatly being inflated to where he would outplay this deal.

Yeah, the only fear I have is that Jay gets injured every year.

[jersey cubs fan]

You guys know me. You know I love Cutler. I want him on the Bears for the long-term, and certainly have campaigned that he be a part of the 2014 team. But that being said, I would not have signed him to this contract, yet. I would have franchised him and let him earn the big payday. Granted, I think he would have earned that this year, but he did miss 5 games and parts of 2 others, the 2nd time in 3 years he's missed a handful of games.

 

I'm guessing the cap hit for 2014 is significantly less than the 16.2 or whatever franchise number. That doesn't mean I'm unhappy whatsoever at this deal, but I just think it could have waited a little. Not like the Bears were in danger of salaries greatly being inflated to where he would outplay this deal.

 

What's the point?

 

If the deal is for $22m/year then sure, I want to wait to see more for that deal. But if the deal is well below the peak numbers out there, then waiting isn't going to help get that.

 

Emery said it best when talking about the 100+ games under his belt. Jay isn't a 2nd year player, nor is he a 35 year old who had 4 good games this year. He's got a resume that deserves the contract.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Whoa. Is that Rick Morrisey calling out Jay for having diabetes?

I think it was Wilford Brimley

 

It was Telander, not Morrisey.

 

Telander is an absolute asshat anyway; this is not surprising.

Telander is the guy who got scared by Kreutz in the locker room and wrote a column about it.

 

I would be afraid of him too

[Guest]

FWIW, I think it was Dickerson yesterday said that he felt strongly that Cutler, Jennings and Slauson would be back. He also said Tillman, Melton, Peppers and Wright would NOT be back.

I want Melton and Tillman back. Hell, those were the injuries that Emery implied sunk the ship this year.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Stannis

[minnesotacubsfan]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

[Soul]

You guys know me. You know I love Cutler. I want him on the Bears for the long-term, and certainly have campaigned that he be a part of the 2014 team. But that being said, I would not have signed him to this contract, yet. I would have franchised him and let him earn the big payday. Granted, I think he would have earned that this year, but he did miss 5 games and parts of 2 others, the 2nd time in 3 years he's missed a handful of games.

 

I'm guessing the cap hit for 2014 is significantly less than the 16.2 or whatever franchise number. That doesn't mean I'm unhappy whatsoever at this deal, but I just think it could have waited a little. Not like the Bears were in danger of salaries greatly being inflated to where he would outplay this deal.

Yeah, the only fear I have is that Jay gets injured every year.

 

True, but I don't know how that fear goes away, regardless of who is the QB. The only way to hedge against that is to bring McCown back.

[jersey cubs fan]

Whoa. Is that Rick Morrisey calling out Jay for having diabetes?

I think it was Wilford Brimley

 

It was Telander, not Morrisey.

 

Yeah, it was Telander's face I was picturing with the voice but Morrissey's name that popped into my head.

[Banedon]

Trestman says they have the coaching ability to switch schemes if that's what they want to do.

[rawaction]

You guys know me. You know I love Cutler. I want him on the Bears for the long-term, and certainly have campaigned that he be a part of the 2014 team. But that being said, I would not have signed him to this contract, yet. I would have franchised him and let him earn the big payday. Granted, I think he would have earned that this year, but he did miss 5 games and parts of 2 others, the 2nd time in 3 years he's missed a handful of games.

 

I'm guessing the cap hit for 2014 is significantly less than the 16.2 or whatever franchise number. That doesn't mean I'm unhappy whatsoever at this deal, but I just think it could have waited a little. Not like the Bears were in danger of salaries greatly being inflated to where he would outplay this deal.

 

What's the point?

 

If the deal is for $22m/year then sure, I want to wait to see more for that deal. But if the deal is well below the peak numbers out there, then waiting isn't going to help get that.

 

Emery said it best when talking about the 100+ games under his belt. Jay isn't a 2nd year player, nor is he a 35 year old who had 4 good games this year. He's got a resume that deserves the contract.

 

I say what's the point the other way? What happens if Cutler misses significant time again? What happens if a younger, equally talented QB gets pissed because his coach wants Matt Cassel over him? Or one of the best QBs in the league has neck surgery in his contract and his team gets rid of him and has the #1 pick? Or a QB severely hurts his shoulder and the team lets him go?

 

All are long-shots, but all have happened fairly recently to get elite or potentially elite QBs on new teams. Basically, I don't think it could have hurt to wait as long as the 2 sides know what is going on.

[USSoccer]

 

All are long-shots, but all have happened fairly recently to get elite or potentially elite QBs on new teams. Basically, I don't think it could have hurt to wait as long as the 2 sides know what is going on.

 

Those all seem like weird reasons to not lock someone up. From a planning perspective, it's better to lock in above average play than it would be to risk massive variance all in case some other team does something dumb.

[Banedon]

Jordan Mills' injury was a 5th-metatarsal injury

[UMFan83]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

[Banedon]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

 

Yeah, TB already has a 3 technique.

[ctcf]

So cap-knowledgeable people, is Cutler's salary for next year about where it needed to be? AKA is it likely to cause any issues?

[Splendid Splinter]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

 

 

I wonder how Revis will do in a Cover 2 scheme.

[jersey cubs fan]

I say what's the point the other way? What happens if Cutler misses significant time again? What happens if a younger, equally talented QB gets pissed because his coach wants Matt Cassel over him? Or one of the best QBs in the league has neck surgery in his contract and his team gets rid of him and has the #1 pick? Or a QB severely hurts his shoulder and the team lets him go?

 

All are long-shots, but all have happened fairly recently to get elite or potentially elite QBs on new teams. Basically, I don't think it could have hurt to wait as long as the 2 sides know what is going on.

 

For one, the point is that you are set at QB and don't have to consider overdrafting a QB early this year because of the instability. Cutler has not missed that much time before. Why is this an issue? He's missed a similar percentage as Rodgers. He's no different than other QBs with regards to health.

 

The next point is completely pointless since the Cutler situation was so incredibly unique, and since we already have Cutler we wouldn't want to give up 2 first round picks for a new guy.

 

And finally, "if the 2 sides know what is going on" means that Cutler's side knows the Bears want to wait until the last possible moment to sign him because they would love the opportunity to replace him, which is how the Bears got him in the first place. Cutler's side wasn't going to be happy with a situation where they were willing to sign a reasonable deal but the Bears wanted to wait because Drew Brees might break his neck and miraculously sign with the Bears 2 years later.

 

Also, who are all these elite QBs you speak of that could theoretically wind up on the Bears? Eli? Flacco? Tom Brady at the end of his career? Peyton Manning doing it again? Stafford? Rivers? Who is it you are holding out for that will theoretically be available?

[dcvalpo]

"I got two uncles who knew how to mark a deck." Mmhmm.

[RynoRules]

For those of you who think this was a bad deal, please explain in detail how you would have handled it. If you think he should have been franchised, keep mind that managing Jay's cap number is essential to improving the defense , which is this offseason's unquestioned number one priority. If you think he should have been allowed to walk, who do you replace him with? What's the long term plan?

[dcvalpo]

When will the out-of-retirement Urlacher to the Bucs rumors begin?

[dcvalpo]

For those of you who think this was a bad deal, please explain in detail how you would have handled it. If you think he should have been franchised, keep mind that managing Jay's cap number is essential to improving the defense , which is this offseason's unquestioned number one priority. If you think he should have been allowed to walk, who do you replace him with? What's the long term plan?

 

"McCowan did better than Jay and the Bears actually won games with that kid in the game"

[Guest]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

 

 

I wonder how Revis will do in a Cover 2 scheme.

 

Lovie didn't run the cover-2 as much in his final years in Chicago.

[Banedon]

When will the out-of-retirement Urlacher to the Bucs rumors begin?

 

Already been mentioned this morning on the Score...though it was mostly in a mocking way.

[RynoRules]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

 

 

I wonder how Revis will do in a Cover 2 scheme.

 

Lovie didn't run the cover-2 as much in his final years in Chicago.

 

What? By "as much" do you mean 90 as opposed to 92% of the time?

[Guest]

does TB need a CB and DT? that's where I could see Melton and Tillman going

 

Well they have Revis as their #1 CB, and I don't believe they need any help at DT. Tillman could be a #2 CB, but I don't see Melton going there.

 

 

I wonder how Revis will do in a Cover 2 scheme.

 

Lovie didn't run the cover-2 as much in his final years in Chicago.

And I think that if you have a man corner like Revis, you let him do his thing no matter the scheme.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Stannis