Chicago Bears Offseason Thread (the tank must payoff)

[WrigleyField 22]

The Vikings could easily have nothing to play for. Eagles and Cowboys have the tiebreak over Minnesota, and while SF has the tiebreaker (1 game back), they're starting Brock Purdy.

Superstar Brock Purdy.

 

Don't think Cowboys tiebreaker is really relevant unless they can somehow catch Philly.

 

So it really comes down to Minny and SF. Them being tied or SF back 1 keeps the game relevant. Just can't have them gain two games on Minny over next 3 weeks.

 

i dont think any of that matters, there is only 1 bye this year i believe, and thats clearly Philly. only thing that comes into play is if SF and Minny see each other in the divisional round

Well 2 seed gets HFA in divisional round. Or you're saying that doesn't matter unless both 2 and 3 seed win wild card round? I'd still think you'd rather have the guaranteed HFA looking ahead to Div round.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Superstar Brock Purdy.

 

Don't think Cowboys tiebreaker is really relevant unless they can somehow catch Philly.

 

So it really comes down to Minny and SF. Them being tied or SF back 1 keeps the game relevant. Just can't have them gain two games on Minny over next 3 weeks.

 

i dont think any of that matters, there is only 1 bye this year i believe, and thats clearly Philly. only thing that comes into play is if SF and Minny see each other in the divisional round

Well 2 seed gets HFA in divisional round. Or you're saying that doesn't matter unless both 2 and 3 seed win wild card round? I'd still think you'd rather have the guaranteed HFA looking ahead to Div round.

 

yes

[jumbo]

So Kyler Murray with a torn ACL.

 

Any chance Arizona looks to do a little mini tank rebuild and sell some assets, like, I don't know, DeAndre Hopkins?

I don’t know who runs things there but Kingsbury in year 5 with up and down success so far doesn’t seem like a good tank option. They may just lose anyway.

They're also in a tough spot having just extended both Kingsbury and Kiem, so I'm not banking on it. But it's slightly more likely now than it was 24 hours ago.

 

Those extenstions feel like when Emery extended Cutler, kind of forced. Sort of like extending Murray at that top shelf money, too. I don't know that the Owner/GM/Head Coach had a better option at the time, but that seemed like a lot at the time for a guy who hasn't accomplished all that much while having some good players around him.

[raw]

So Kyler Murray with a torn ACL.

 

Any chance Arizona looks to do a little mini tank rebuild and sell some assets, like, I don't know, DeAndre Hopkins?

 

I know he's still pretty good, but I have 0 interest in Hopkins. He's going to be 31 next season, was just suspended this season for 6 games due to PEDs or whatever, and has a huge 30M cap hit. While it would only be 8.15M to the team trading for him, Arizona would be eating 22.6M in that trade. And he seems like a guy that would ask for an extension in any trade since his deal is up after 2024 and he'd be a bargain to his new team.

[pitchcs]

I would have guessed Hopkins was like 33 already

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The whole "rooting for your team to lose" thing just seems like a matter of degree.

 

If it's the last day of the 2025 season, the No. 1 pick is on the line and Arch looks like the best Manning yet, then I don't think very many people wouldn't be hoping their team lost.

 

But I think we can all agree the people who start saying "acktshually, this is good for the draft pick" in week 2 are annoying jerks.

[raw]

It's all about how much I care about the results. In year's past, I've skipped watching games because I don't care and there was nothing worth watching. This year, I only did that in the Jets game when Fields didn't play. So, I will watch every game (assuming he plays them all) and will actively root for them to win as the game is going on. I will complain about playcalling, mistakes by players, questionable calls. But at the end of the day, if they lose, I won't be upset like I usually would be with a loss. That ship sailed after the Detroit game. I was genuinely pissed off about that game. But it's now in the "it's actually good we lost" phase. And I won't complain about a worse draft pick. Still a path to contention if you hit on the draft picks.

[Soul]

I cannot stress enough that rooting against your team won't actually increase the likelihood they lose.

 

So don't be a weirdo. Cheer for your team to win, and only use tanking as loss hedging after the fact.

So what you are saying is, with the right mental approach, the rest of the season will be fun no matter what.

 

 

I like that. It'll only take me 30 minutes or so after a loss to shift my focus to the tank positives.

[WrigleyField 22]

I cannot stress enough that rooting against your team won't actually increase the likelihood they lose.

 

So don't be a weirdo. Cheer for your team to win, and only use tanking as loss hedging after the fact.

So what you are saying is, with the right mental approach, the rest of the season will be fun no matter what.

 

 

I like that. It'll only take me 30 minutes or so after a loss to shift my focus to the tank positives.

Exactly. I'm thinking about the tank like 6 days of the week, but actively rooting against my team for 3 hours on Sunday? Not for me.

 

Also I have to say this is already kind of a tank success at this stage. If they back into a win I'll still be able to look pretty favorably at the tank job they did pull off come April.

[Tryptamine]

So Kyler Murray with a torn ACL.

 

Any chance Arizona looks to do a little mini tank rebuild and sell some assets, like, I don't know, DeAndre Hopkins?

 

I wouldn't give up a ton, but it's pretty clear he's very unhappy there and the overall team chemistry is a dumpster fire.

[raw]

 

Whelp! There goes my top free agent target. Rumors have been going around that the Bears would be very interested, so I'm guessing the Packers weren't trying to let that happen.

[UMFan83]

 

Whelp! There goes my top free agent target. Rumors have been going around that the Bears would be very interested, so I'm guessing the Packers weren't trying to let that happen.

 

How the hell can the Packers afford that? The salary cap is basically like a small speed bump for teams.

[raw]

Jack Conklin just re-signed with the Browns as well. I know a lot of Bears fans had Jenkins and Conklin as their 1-2 targets this offseason. I wasn't sold as much on Conklin, but Jenkins I wanted bad.

[UMFan83]

Jack Conklin just re-signed with the Browns as well. I know a lot of Bears fans had Jenkins and Conklin as their 1-2 targets this offseason. I wasn't sold as much on Conklin, but Jenkins I wanted bad.

 

This is why I hate looking at potential FA early

[UK]

Jack Conklin just re-signed with the Browns as well. I know a lot of Bears fans had Jenkins and Conklin as their 1-2 targets this offseason. I wasn't sold as much on Conklin, but Jenkins I wanted bad.

 

It's down to Mcglinchey or Brown at T.

 

I thought of Jenkins as an elite G who struggled at T.

[WrigleyField 22]

Jack Conklin just re-signed with the Browns as well. I know a lot of Bears fans had Jenkins and Conklin as their 1-2 targets this offseason. I wasn't sold as much on Conklin, but Jenkins I wanted bad.

 

It's down to Mcglinchey or Brown at T.

 

I thought of Jenkins as an elite G who struggled at T.

Fine with McGlinchey. He doesn't really help pass blocking... So they'd still be a much better run blocking unit than pass blocking unit.

 

They could always plan to trade down a couple and still get Skoronski, but you're playing with fire a bit there if you get jumped as there aren't many other highly rated tackles.

[Tryptamine]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

[jersey cubs fan]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

This is why you don’t punt offseasons

[UMFan83]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

 

It's ok, Poles is the Oline Whisperer

[raw]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

 

Eh. There's still plenty of good OL available in free agency and the draft. Odds are, he wasn't getting any of those top guys anyway. Jenkins was as likely as any top FA ever gets simply because of Getsy, but that was us fans connecting dots. Poles still has 0 excuse to not build up this OL. And the wiggle room he had this offseason without knowing if he had a franchise QB is gone. If this OL isn't fixed or at least significantly improved in 2023, he probably can't have a job anymore.

[gflore34]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

 

Eh. There's still plenty of good OL available in free agency and the draft. Odds are, he wasn't getting any of those top guys anyway. Jenkins was as likely as any top FA ever gets simply because of Getsy, but that was us fans connecting dots. Poles still has 0 excuse to not build up this OL. And the wiggle room he had this offseason without knowing if he had a franchise QB is gone. If this OL isn't fixed or at least significantly improved in 2023, he probably can't have a job anymore.

 

Justin doesn't need a super massive uptick in pass blocking either, he just needs average pass blocking, its extraordinarily doable. I'd venture to say a full season of Patrick at C is a step in the right direction.

[raw]

Top 2 pending ol fa off the board, arguably the best OL in the nation isn't going to enter the draft. There's suddenly a lot less wiggle room for putting together a strong OL even with a ridiculous amount of money available.

 

Eh. There's still plenty of good OL available in free agency and the draft. Odds are, he wasn't getting any of those top guys anyway. Jenkins was as likely as any top FA ever gets simply because of Getsy, but that was us fans connecting dots. Poles still has 0 excuse to not build up this OL. And the wiggle room he had this offseason without knowing if he had a franchise QB is gone. If this OL isn't fixed or at least significantly improved in 2023, he probably can't have a job anymore.

 

Justin doesn't need a super massive uptick in pass blocking either, he just needs average pass blocking, its extraordinarily doable. I'd venture to say a full season of Patrick at C is a step in the right direction.

 

Exactly. I've been arguing such on another message board. Give Patrick a shot at the position they signed him to play. Get rid of Whitehair and his 14.1M cap hit. Need at least 1 true stud at LG or RT and a high draft pick at the other, with tons of depth everywhere. They may have some w/ the guys they drafted last year, Borom, Leatherwood but add more.

[UK]

I be fine with Patrick at C if they cut Whitehair and drafted a G early to replace him (assuming there's a veteran next to the rookie G).

[minnesotacubsfan]

Draft Schmitz and either keep Whitehair of find his replacement in FA

 

Patrick isn't the long term solution at C, Schmitz really could be

[UK]

Draft Schmitz and either keep Whitehair of find his replacement in FA

 

Patrick isn't the long term solution at C, Schmitz really could be

 

Patrick or Whitehair isn't the answer, Whitehair just saves more cap space.