2014 Chicago Bears Offseason Thread

[KaiserCesar]

Jennings 2014 cap hit is 7.5. We've currently got a tad over 12.6 mill left, with Slauson still coming out of that number.

 

The draft cap will be 5-6 mill probably? In trying to figure out cuts, Peppers, Bennett, Bush , and Podlesh would open up a bit over 15 mill.

 

Maybe a Marshall extension opens up more room? Don't see anyone else to restructure. Peppers being a slight possibility, I guess. At any rate, I think we'll use FA much like last year, where Bushrod had a 3.015 1st year cap number and Martellus was 1.9, both by prorating the signing bonus and giving them extremely low 1st year base salaries.

 

Still, by the looks of things, I'll be surprised if we can keep more than one of Melton, Ratliff, and Wootton. Which of the 3 is most important?

 

I do think Garza and DJ will be back, Bowman and Britton as well. Peanut looks like a goner though for sure. Kind of see Anderson gone too.

 

I'd go with Wootton. He's the youngest and healthiest.

 

I'm not ready to throw Khaseem Greene out there without seeing more, so you have to bring back one of DJ or Anderson.

[davell]

I'm guessing it's not likely we can pick up an impact FA defensive player at this point?

 

I guess it depends on the definition of impact. We've got room to structure deals for a Bushrod and Martellus type deal for sure. (Assuming we cut Peppers, Bennett, Podlesh, and Bush)

[USSoccer]

Why would they cut Bennett?

[Splendid Splinter]

Why would they cut Bennett?

 

I'm assuming you know he meant Earl there and because it would save the Bears like 2.5 mil. You can sign a cheaper WR who can most likely produce or even outproduce what Earl has done and stay healthy. I also think Trestman/Emery/etc thinks Wilson can fill in that #3 spot and it's why he's going to work out with everyone else in Florida. The only way he stays is if he cut his salary in half IMO.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Splendid Splinter

[USSoccer]

Why would they cut Bennett?

 

I'm assuming you know he meant Earl there and because it would save the Bears like 2.5 mil. You can sign a cheaper WR who can most likely produce or even outproduce what Earl has done and stay healthy. I also think Trestman/Emery/etc thinks Wilson can fill in that #3 spot and it's why he's going to work out with everyone else in Florida.

 

Yeesh. My brain didn't even think of Earl. My bad.

[Guest]

If I was running the Bears draft, my draft board for pick 14 would look like:

 

Louis Nix, DT- Notre Dame

Ra'Shede Hageman, DT- Minnesota

Kony Ealy, DE- Missouri

CJ Mosely, LB- Alabama

Darqueze Dennard, CB- Michigan St.

 

Nix gets a huge edge if the Bears go hybrid or straight 3-4 D.

 

If the Bears trade down, that brings these guys into play:

 

Stephon Tuitt, DE/DT- Notre Dame

Trent Murphy, DE- Stanford

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S- Alabama

Timmy Jernigan, DT- Florida State

Justin Gilbert, CB- Oklahoma State

 

Those are pretty much the only realistic players I would take in the 1st round.

 

You're much lower on Gilbert than I am, otherwise I like it. Probably would flip Ealy and Hageman too. I wouldn't be shocked if at least one of Hageman and Ealy is gone at 14.

[rawaction]

If I was running the Bears draft, my draft board for pick 14 would look like:

 

Louis Nix, DT- Notre Dame

Ra'Shede Hageman, DT- Minnesota

Kony Ealy, DE- Missouri

CJ Mosely, LB- Alabama

Darqueze Dennard, CB- Michigan St.

 

Nix gets a huge edge if the Bears go hybrid or straight 3-4 D.

 

If the Bears trade down, that brings these guys into play:

 

Stephon Tuitt, DE/DT- Notre Dame

Trent Murphy, DE- Stanford

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S- Alabama

Timmy Jernigan, DT- Florida State

Justin Gilbert, CB- Oklahoma State

 

Those are pretty much the only realistic players I would take in the 1st round.

 

You're much lower on Gilbert than I am, otherwise I like it. Probably would flip Ealy and Hageman too. I wouldn't be shocked if at least one of Hageman and Ealy is gone at 14.

 

I'm more low on the CB position. I think a good player can be had in the 2nd or later, that's why the CBs are low on both lists.

[rawaction]

Jennings 2014 cap hit is 7.5. We've currently got a tad over 12.6 mill left, with Slauson still coming out of that number.

 

The draft cap will be 5-6 mill probably? In trying to figure out cuts, Peppers, Bennett, Bush , and Podlesh would open up a bit over 15 mill.

 

Maybe a Marshall extension opens up more room? Don't see anyone else to restructure. Peppers being a slight possibility, I guess. At any rate, I think we'll use FA much like last year, where Bushrod had a 3.015 1st year cap number and Martellus was 1.9, both by prorating the signing bonus and giving them extremely low 1st year base salaries.

 

Still, by the looks of things, I'll be surprised if we can keep more than one of Melton, Ratliff, and Wootton. Which of the 3 is most important?

 

I do think Garza and DJ will be back, Bowman and Britton as well. Peanut looks like a goner though for sure. Kind of see Anderson gone too.

 

Cutler's deal apparently can be restructured at any point during the deal. So the Bears will have a way to get money if they need it. I guess the deal was offered so they could continue to negotiate beyond the deadline the franchise tag allows. Otherwise, seems really odd to take a cap hit 4mil more than a tag would have.

[davell]

Beasley just not a schematic fit or you guys just don't like him?

[rawaction]

Beasley just not a schematic fit or you guys just don't like him?

 

He could fit in a hybrid D or as a 4-3 OLB ala Von Miller. But yeah, I'm not really a fan. He's really tiny for a guy who's primary skill is pass rushing.

[davell]

I saw that with Jay's deal. Doubt they restructure for at least a year or two though. I'm really expecting us to trade down at least 10 spots in the 1st, to pick up an extra 2nd.

 

If we re-sign one of Wootton, Melton, or Ratliff and DJ, it gives us those 2 guys and Paea, Briggs, Bostic, and TJ as starters. Leaving 5 to be filled by external FA(without an unlimited amount to spend) and the draft. My guess is 2 FA and we'll need 3 thru the draft, hence the trade down, in this scenario.

[Guest]

If I was running the Bears draft, my draft board for pick 14 would look like:

 

Louis Nix, DT- Notre Dame

Ra'Shede Hageman, DT- Minnesota

Kony Ealy, DE- Missouri

CJ Mosely, LB- Alabama

Darqueze Dennard, CB- Michigan St.

 

Nix gets a huge edge if the Bears go hybrid or straight 3-4 D.

 

If the Bears trade down, that brings these guys into play:

 

Stephon Tuitt, DE/DT- Notre Dame

Trent Murphy, DE- Stanford

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, S- Alabama

Timmy Jernigan, DT- Florida State

Justin Gilbert, CB- Oklahoma State

 

Those are pretty much the only realistic players I would take in the 1st round.

 

You're much lower on Gilbert than I am, otherwise I like it. Probably would flip Ealy and Hageman too. I wouldn't be shocked if at least one of Hageman and Ealy is gone at 14.

 

I'm more low on the CB position. I think a good player can be had in the 2nd or later, that's why the CBs are low on both lists.

 

Completely agree on the second round depth at CB. I just like Gilbert nearly as much as Dennard.

 

Also completely agree with your other post about Beasley. He's just too small for my liking.

[RynoRules]

No point in cutting Bennett, IIRC, because his entire salary would still count against the cap. No savings.

[davell]

No point in cutting Bennett, IIRC, because his entire salary would still count against the cap. No savings.

Nah, it's the opposite. None of his 2.5 mill is dead money. He makes perfect sense to cut.

[RynoRules]

No point in cutting Bennett, IIRC, because his entire salary would still count against the cap. No savings.

Nah, it's the opposite. None of his 2.5 mill is dead money. He makes perfect sense to cut.

 

If that's the case then you pretty much have to cut him.

[Soul]

No point in cutting Bennett, IIRC, because his entire salary would still count against the cap. No savings.

Nah, it's the opposite. None of his 2.5 mill is dead money. He makes perfect sense to cut.

 

If that's the case then you pretty much have to cut him.

 

Hence, no invite to work out w/ BMarsh.

[davell]

So, looking over the roster and our cap space, it tells us a few things. We've got 32 players under contract and 12 mill to spend, MINUS Slauson's cap hit. Which I'm guessing will be 3 mill or less, considering our situation. Our 7 draft picks will likely count around 5 mill of space. So, if Slauson is 3 and the picks are 5, it leaves us with 39 players and 4 mill to spend. Your 51 highest paid players count towards the cap, by the way, although you can carry more that.

 

So where does this really leave us? Peppers is gone, very little doubt about that, since he'll add 9.8 mill of space. Earl appears to be gone, that'd save us another 2.5. I can't imagine Podlesh back, cutting him and signing a minimum salary replacement saves us 400,000. The only other 2 players I can see getting cut are Bush, who'd save us 1.8 and Weems, saving us 1.1. My guess is Bush is gone, but Weems stays.

 

Those moves would leave us at 36 players under contract, with 18.5 mill of cap space to spend on 15 players. That sounds pretty daunting, but it's really not. My guess is Onubun and at least one other practice squad guy gets moved up. That'd give us 38 players and 17.5 left to spend.

 

A trade down of 10 spots or so in the draft, where it nets us another 3rd rounder would only cost us 200,000 or so and it adds another player. So, you're at 39 and 17.3.

 

We're obviously not done re-signing our own players, my guess is Bowman, Garza, DJ, and Britton are back, likely around a mill apiece. That gives you 43 players and 13.3 to spend(on 9 guys)

 

With that amount left to spend though, I find it hard to believe we'll be able to keep more than one of Wootton, Ratliff, or Melton. I asked this previously and it seemed most preferred Wootton. 2 mill cap hit maybe? 4 year deal with basically the same structure as Martellus got last year? Leaves you needing 7 players and 11.3 mill to spend. My guess is we'll add a pair of special teams types that count around 1.3 or so to even things back out. 5 players and 11 mill left......

 

Again, this may not seem all that great heading into FA. But it's really not bad at all. Last year, we added Bushrod, Martellus, DJ, Anderson, and Slauson for a grand total of an 8 mill first year cap hit.

 

The other possibility to add cap space is to extend Marshall, with a prorated signing bonus and a low first year salary.....Even if you give him the 2nd most guaranteed money a WR has ever gotten, his cap number can drop from 9.3.(current)If this happens, I could see it opening up another 3 mill or so of space.

 

What this shows me is Emery can(and likely will) be agressive in FA again. A guy like Michael Johnson is a possibility. Maybe moreso than Michael Bennett, in my opinion, who isn't the disruptive force type we REALLY need. Maybe we could pair Johnson with a Linval Joseph signing? Or with a Dante Whitner possibly? Along with a backup QB and a couple of vets to fill things out.

 

If you head into the draft, with this in place on the D, I'm fairly happy....

 

DE Johnson, Wootton, Bass

DT Paea

LB Briggs, Bostic, DJ, McClellin, Greene

CB Jennings, Frey, Bowman

S Whitner, Conte

 

With the trade down I mentioned, can we add a starting DT and CB thru the draft and hope we can find a vet minimum S to replace Conte with?

 

Draft DT and CB in rounds 1-2 in either order, with 2 3rds, take an O-Lineman and a LB, spend a 4-5-6 on DE, S, and QB.

 

Anyway, sorry for the rabling, but I'm pretty excired about the direction the team is taking.

[Guest]

Thanks for the breakdown. I've thought Linval Joseph would be a great pick up for a while now, whether the Bears go to a 3-4 or not.

[Splendid Splinter]

Throwing a couple names out there that I could see Bears going after... assuming all these guys hit the market.

 

Brian De la Puente- Saints will be trying to re-sign Graham so he might get overlooked and would be an upgrade over Garza. Also has Bushrod/Kromer connection. Alex Mack would be awesome, but someone will give him a big contract.

 

Captain Munnerlyn- Weren't the Bears on him the last time he was a FA?? Although if they sign him, Bears will have the shortest starting CB duo.

 

Robert Ayers- Could be pretty cheap (probably can get him on a 1 year prove it deal) and needs a change of scenery. Still need a Michael Bennett/Johnson signing though.

 

Arthur Jones/Linval Joseph- Nothing super special, but very solid and won't break the bank.

 

I was going to name someone like Nate Allen for S, but really... any FA S will be an upgrade.

[davell]

I can't see us spending any money at C. Jay has mentioned wanting Garza back, my guess is we get him cheap on a one year deal. If not, my guess is we'll go with Taylor Boggs and a mid to late round pick.

[WrigleyField 22]

I don't want to say its easy to find a late round or even undrafted C because it's not, but a lot if teams seem to fill the spot that way and it seems the most important part of this is having the guy learn for 2-3 years. So even though Garza should be upgraded, if he's holding the spot for another year or two until we hand it over to Boggs (not sure what they think of him though on my limited knowledge I'm not high on him) or someone we get this year, it's not the worst thing in the world. It's not my preference but the money is probably better used elsewhere. The only guy I could really see as a smooth transition is La Puenta because he should have the basic calls down from his time with Kromer, but it doesn't make sense to spend a lot more on him that whatever Garza would cost and I think he will. I think you get a guy like that if you don't believe Boggs or any prospects in the draft or from practice squads are ready to be groomed, as La Puenta is young enough to stay as a fixture. I did read somewhere recently that this is a good draft for C (no 1st round types but plenty of mid to late round depth).

[rawaction]

Throwing a couple names out there that I could see Bears going after... assuming all these guys hit the market.

 

Brian De la Puente- Saints will be trying to re-sign Graham so he might get overlooked and would be an upgrade over Garza. Also has Bushrod/Kromer connection. Alex Mack would be awesome, but someone will give him a big contract.

 

Captain Munnerlyn- Weren't the Bears on him the last time he was a FA?? Although if they sign him, Bears will have the shortest starting CB duo.

 

Robert Ayers- Could be pretty cheap (probably can get him on a 1 year prove it deal) and needs a change of scenery. Still need a Michael Bennett/Johnson signing though.

 

Arthur Jones/Linval Joseph- Nothing super special, but very solid and won't break the bank.

 

I was going to name someone like Nate Allen for S, but really... any FA S will be an upgrade.

 

Munnerlyn was actually reported as imminent to be signed as the nickel last offseason. But then he chose to stay in Carolina. He had a great year this year too. IMO, he's not an option because he's the same size as Jennings.

 

De La Puente will be expensive. If not Garza, I'd see if JD Walton is healthy. Former Broncos OC, who has missed a lot of the last 2 years, but is still pretty young. Was cut and picked up late in the year by someone, not sure who.

 

Linval Joseph is great. I'd love him. Also would allow the Bears to go after a guy like Kony Ealy instead of a DT. And I think DE may be a bigger need, but it's also deeper (and more expensive) in free agency.

 

I was a huge Nate Allen fan in that draft (we got Major Wright, he was well off the board). But he's been flat out terrible at times and solid at others. I'd take him, but not sure he'd be much different from Conte, assuming Conte is better again with a better from 7.

[davell]

Slauson gets 12.8 over 4 years, with just 4.9 guaranteed. No idea about initial cap hit yet, but thats a good value for us overall.

[ctcf]

Sorry if this was posted before, but damn I like that a lot.

 

The Bears can cut Jay Cutler three seasons into his new seven-year deal with no cap hit.

Everyone that freaked out over the length of Cutler's deal can breathe now. He got no signing bonus, only guaranteed base salaries of $22.5M in 2014, $15.5M in 2015 and $16M in 2016 for a total of $54 million guaranteed. If the Bears want to move on in 2017 when Cutler turns 34 years old, they'll be able to do so with no strings attached.

[apete6]

Sorry if this was posted before, but damn I like that a lot.

 

The Bears can cut Jay Cutler three seasons into his new seven-year deal with no cap hit.

Everyone that freaked out over the length of Cutler's deal can breathe now. He got no signing bonus, only guaranteed base salaries of $22.5M in 2014, $15.5M in 2015 and $16M in 2016 for a total of $54 million guaranteed. If the Bears want to move on in 2017 when Cutler turns 34 years old, they'll be able to do so with no strings attached.

 

Agreed on the risk. However,, $22.5M this year will make it tough to rebuild the defense quickly without relying solely on the draft, possibly making 1 of the 3 guaranteed years very difficult to succeed in (as a team).