2025 Bears Offseason Thread

[raw]

On 1/15/2025 at 8:25 PM, raw said:

I think Bears fans are really underestimating the RB's value in a Ben Johnson offense. His team spent decent FA money on Montgomery and still drafted RB in the top 15 in the same year. Not saying they'd take Jeanty at 10, but if Johnson is somehow the next head coach of the Bears, I would certainly not be surprised and would almost expect one of the Bears first 3 or 4 picks would be a RB, in a loaded class.

Also worth noting, Johnson, the first year he became Detroit's OC, decreased Swift's carries from 151 to 99 (despite playing 1 more game in 2022 than he did the year before). And that was to give 252 carries to Jamaal Williams, which is 100 more than he had in any season before and over 100 more than he has had combined since he left Detroit. 

 

 

2 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

 

- Can Swift be the Bears Gibbs?  At least a poor man's version?  If so who can be the Bears Monty?  Roschon or someone external?  It's clear even with Swift, Rome and DJ (and maybe Allen) there is a still a gap between the Lions skill position players and the Bears.  And that's not even addressing the offensive line which is drastically worse.  Poles better be busy this offseason.

 

 

[Brian707]

5/75 my guess 

[raw]

I'd love to make Caleb happy and bring back Keenan, but he's a double digit million AAV contract, easy. Get younger, faster, and cheaper. Put the money into the trenches. You can get a top FA center probably for less money than Allen. Or a Kevin Zeitler.

[raw]

2 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

5/75 my guess 

13Mil being reported. So 5/65 is my guess. I doubt they ever tell us the years on the deal.

[UMFan83]

Along the lines of predicting contract

 

bravo George  doesn’t erase the dog horsefeathers job you’ve done the last 15 years but it’s a start  

 

[NorthsideAvenger]

I am pleased the Bears got their first choice but I am taking a wait and see approach with Ben and his coaching staff. 

[Wilson A2000]

22 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Along the lines of predicting contract

 

bravo George  doesn’t erase the dog horsefeathers job you’ve done the last 15 years but it’s a start  

 

Yes bravo, but it’s pretty disappointing that many folks in the NFL are surprised that you are willing to pay top coaching dollar. The Bears had been cheap. 

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, raw said:

I'd love to make Caleb happy and bring back Keenan, but he's a double digit million AAV contract, easy. Get younger, faster, and cheaper. Put the money into the trenches. You can get a top FA center probably for less money than Allen. Or a Kevin Zeitler.

They should let Allen walk, wouldn’t surprise me if Tyler Scott suddenly emerges. 

[minnesotacubsfan]

Raw was right; the Tomlin and McVey trade proposals were more a smoke screen to tell Ben “we’ll pay anything for the right coach”

 

hopefully Ben is the right coach!

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, raw said:

 

 

I’ve no doubt they’ll draft a RB on day 2.

[Wilson A2000]

19 minutes ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

Raw was right; the Tomlin and McVey trade proposals were more a smoke screen to tell Ben “we’ll pay anything for the right coach”

 

hopefully Ben is the right coach!

It was a good smoke screen. I give credit to Poles or Warren for that.

[gflore34]

11 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

It was a good smoke screen. I give credit to Poles or Warren for that.

The whole interviewing numerous candidates, inquiring about trading for a coach was a smokescreen.  Well, some of the networking was probably intentional,  I believe they knew who they wanted the moment Eberflus was fired.  I also believe Poles wanted to fire Eberflus but was forced to keep him on.

[Wilson A2000]

2 minutes ago, gflore34 said:

The whole interviewing numerous candidates, inquiring about trading for a coach was a smokescreen.  Well, some of the networking was probably intentional,  I believe they knew who they wanted the moment Eberflus was fired.  I also believe Poles wanted to fire Eberflus but was forced to keep him on.

If so, that’s why Poles wasn’t fired. George or Kevin knew that they might have owed Poles for that.

[BigSlick]

2 hours ago, raw said:

13Mil being reported. So 5/65 is my guess. I doubt they ever tell us the years on the deal.

I hope this is the final nail in the coffin of the narrative that the Bears ownership is “cheap” 

[Rcal10]

I wouldn’t be shocked when a RB in rd one and the  2 OL in rd 2. Or sign an OT or two and draft an edge rusher. Lions did draft Gibbs early. I can see the Bears doing the same. 

[gflore34]

5 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I wouldn’t be shocked when a RB in rd one and the  2 OL in rd 2. Or sign an OT or two and draft an edge rusher. Lions did draft Gibbs early. I can see the Bears doing the same. 

Draft’s pretty deep at RB no reason to draft one in the first round.  Go OL or if Carter is there at 10, go DL in the first.

[raw]

2 hours ago, gflore34 said:

The whole interviewing numerous candidates, inquiring about trading for a coach was a smokescreen.  Well, some of the networking was probably intentional,  I believe they knew who they wanted the moment Eberflus was fired.  I also believe Poles wanted to fire Eberflus but was forced to keep him on.

Word is they basically decided on Johnson around Christmas. The numerous candidates were in case Ben didn't want them back. Also, there's was a decent chance Johnson could have gone to the Superbowl. They couldn't sit around and wait for him potentially for 4 weeks only interviewing a handful of people. They literally had to waste time. LOL

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, raw said:

Word is they basically decided on Johnson around Christmas. The numerous candidates were in case Ben didn't want them back. Also, there's was a decent chance Johnson could have gone to the Superbowl. They couldn't sit around and wait for him potentially for 4 weeks only interviewing a handful of people. They literally had to waste time. LOL

With that being the case, it's still odd they had to fast track an interview with Eddie George to clear the way for the signing.  I'm sure they didn't really expect the Lions to lose their first game, but they could have been better prepared for that possibility.  That's really nitpicking though and, to their credit, at least they had a contingency plan with George and did what they needed to do.

[minnesotacubsfan]

5 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

With that being the case, it's still odd they had to fast track an interview with Eddie George to clear the way for the signing.  I'm sure they didn't really expect the Lions to lose their first game, but they could have been better prepared for that possibility.  That's really nitpicking though and, to their credit, at least they had a contingency plan with George and did what they needed to do.

They pretty much signed him the first reasonable day to do so

 

id day they did fine

 

 

[WrigleyField 22]

1 hour ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

With that being the case, it's still odd they had to fast track an interview with Eddie George to clear the way for the signing.  I'm sure they didn't really expect the Lions to lose their first game, but they could have been better prepared for that possibility.  That's really nitpicking though and, to their credit, at least they had a contingency plan with George and did what they needed to do.

I mean, if they had their contingency locked and loaded, not sure what else they needed to do.  Today was the absolute earliest they could have been able to have Ben available.  And they were ready for it.  If they ended up with an extra week of time they probably get a second round with Weaver or Flores or whomever and don't need to do the check the box interview with George.

[jumbo]

11 hours ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Maybe the Bears gave him a bigger bag of money. What do we think: 5/60?

Twitter guys who were calling Johnson to the Bears say 6/90

That is in line with what I heard last year, which was that Johnson wanted $15MM/yr. 

[jumbo]

13 hours ago, NOLA said:

DA is an awful head coach, but one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. He’s been patching together a geriatric unit for years into a serviceable defense.  Lots of straight man press coverage, behemoth D lineman.  

Dennis Allen selection has been praised by several NFL media types on Twitter. 

I do love the idea that DA would be head coach/defense while Johnson can be head coach/offense. 

Also word that Rizzi will come from NO to be ST Coach. 

Fraley possibly coming from Detroit as OL Coach or maybe have to elevate him to OC 

[BigbadB]

8 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

I wouldn’t be shocked when a RB in rd one and the  2 OL in rd 2. Or sign an OT or two and draft an edge rusher. Lions did draft Gibbs early. I can see the Bears doing the same. 

Yeah, I don't see that. Too many needs in the trenches to take an RB in the first. I think Braxton Jones gets moved inside, which makes LT in the first an absolute must. Then you can fill the remainder of the positions, including RB via free agency/draft. 

By my calculations, only Wright, Jones and Amegadjie are guaranteed roster spots next year. That's a lot of holes to potentially fill, and it's only two legit starters on a line that needs 5 legit starters.

 

[BigbadB]

10 hours ago, raw said:

I'd love to make Caleb happy and bring back Keenan, but he's a double digit million AAV contract, easy. Get younger, faster, and cheaper. Put the money into the trenches. You can get a top FA center probably for less money than Allen. Or a Kevin Zeitler.

Agreed. However, if Allen is only interested in the LA's or Chicago, I could see him being willing to lower his expectations on a contract. Caleb has called him the best player he's worked with, and seemed to rely on him as his go to. Maybe they need to take away that security blanket to expose him to the rest of the offense, or maybe with a better line in place and coaching that has a clue, Caleb can get to his true potential and make this an offense teams fear.

I doubt the Chargers want him back at big dollars. The Rams already have potent WR's.

Not advocating for Allen, but I could see him back next year.

[BigbadB]

Johnson was always at the top of my list, with McCarthy being my other top choice. I'm super happy about this news. Even more excited that Dennis Allen is his preferred guy at DC. Coaching experience, success as a DC, runs a 4-3 that won't create more holes to fill on D. 

Now, fix the mother horsefeathers OLine.