rawaction

If the Bears get Williams, I'd look to trade up to the Carolina range and draft Riley Reiff to play LT. If no DE brought in, I'd probably trade up to 12-15 range and draft Nick Perry. Getting a legit WR opens so many doors.

Not at all. Should leave room for OL help also and to re-sign Okoye, and whatever else they would need. I just hope they don't want to bring in Eddie Royal either. WE'RE GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER!

Don't forget Bates connection.

Him or Macey Brooks Marshall is a top 10 WR in the NFL. Love this move!

I'm starting to think this is a huge smokescreen. Bears have been rumored to be the front runners for Mario Williams, going hard after Vincent Jackson, and very interested in Laron Landry, Michael Hawthorne, Carl Nicks, Ben Grubbs, Kamerion Wimbley (if cut) was their #1 target last year before he re-signed with the Raiders, they were previously linked to Colston. Give me Wimbley (if/when cut), Meachem, McNeill, Bartell from St Louis and I'm a happy guy going into the draft.

Why not? He's a freaky looking person. He's like 7'5" with the wingspan of someone 11' tall. WTF is wrong with him?

And who would catch footballs on this team exactly?

I wouldn't be surprised to see Peppers gone as soon as 2013. He gets a significant raise after this season (base salary goes up almost 5Mil, I believe). Urlacher's a FA after this year. Briggs could be also gone by then. Forte could be gone if no long-term deal is reached. That would leave Mario and Cutler as the only big contracts on the team. That's very doable, and I personally don't think the dropoff would be that huge if you draft well at DE and LB, and have managed to shore up the WR and OL in the meantime.

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get close to what Sidney Rice got. Rice got 5 years/$41Mil. I'd guess 5 years and anywhere from 32-38Mil. Once Jackson signs and Colston looks like he's going to RE-sign in NOLA.....Manningham becomes the top guy on the board at WR probably based on his experience.

I don't want Manningham at all. I think he'll get too much money and he doesn't really have the potential to be a "go-to" WR. Size doesn't always matter, but when all else is equal...go with size (that's what she said). I'd rather go with Meachem or Morgan, who are over 6'1". Meachem in particular is a very versatile guy. He can run all the underneath stuff, though he stayed outside for the most part with Colston, Graham, Sproles, and Lance Moore in the middle. But he also has the speed and length to take the top off the defense. I'd love to pair him with a guy like Floyd, but I'd even take Wright or Stephen Hill if necessary. Hell, if Nick Perry is there at 19, I'd take Meachem with Sanu, Randle, or Jeffery.

I don't think he knows that he's not a lefty.

It doesn't maximize a new strength on the team, which is the passing arm of Cutler. I think a premiere pass rusher to go along with an even better pass rusher will bring more benefit to this team than Jackson. Not saying Jackson wouldnt help that much because he would help immensely, but if we got Williams we'd have the best pass rush in the league. As you know, Lovie's Cover 2 is absolutely dependent on getting to the QB (ok most defenses are). Having that pass rush changes or defense from slightly above average to among the best in the league IMO. Plus, while there are other options at WR that will help the Bears a ton, IMO the drop between Williams and the next best option is much bigger than Jackson and Colston. Yeah that's true, but the way I'm looking at it, we already have a premiere pass rusher in Peppers. Pass rush shouldn't be a weakness. I'm also thinking Izzy should have a little better season because he was inordinately down last year, IMO. I don't think the Bears will be a poor pass rushing team next year. Melton should also contribute... On the other hand, my thinking has us blowing years off a franchise QB arm, when we obviously don't see talent at that position very often. It's absolutely critical we capitalize in that area while we can because we struggle in that area and have a real opportunity right now. I have a certain confidence in our ability to court and/or develop defensive pieces. I'm much more nervous about our ability to assemble offense, and want to see us take advantage when we can. I wouldn't count on 31 year old Idonije getting any better. He's a run stopping DE who should come off the field on passing downs. They won't be poor rushing the passer even with the same group. But they could be the best with Williams. There's not a single player available better than Williams. Unless you're talking about a QB, where you can only play 1 elite player. Or a RB, where eliteness is largely dictated on other players. You get as many elite players on your team as you can.

It doesn't maximize a new strength on the team, which is the passing arm of Cutler. I think a premiere pass rusher to go along with an even better pass rusher will bring more benefit to this team than Jackson. Not saying Jackson wouldnt help that much because he would help immensely, but if we got Williams we'd have the best pass rush in the league. As you know, Lovie's Cover 2 is absolutely dependent on getting to the QB (ok most defenses are). Having that pass rush changes or defense from slightly above average to among the best in the league IMO. Plus, while there are other options at WR that will help the Bears a ton, IMO the drop between Williams and the next best option is much bigger than Jackson and Colston. Exactly. Plus, it's not like Cutler is completely incapable without a star WR. The passing game was on it's way to respectability (I know, not the goal) with a healthy Cutler, some misfit WRs, and clowns on the OL. If the Bears get anyone better than Roy Williams (not hard to do) and draft a WR anywhere in the first 2 rounds, they should automatically be better there this year. If the defense is that much better, status quo on offense would still make this a SB contender.

We can add a second tier WR though, like a Manningham and still get Williams. And draft a WR in the 1st, if we like someone enough. Manningham will get paid like a 1st tier WR. Huge Superbowl = big money. The Deion Branch Effect.

There aren't many guys like Jackson who is 6-5 and runs a 4.4. But there are plenty of WRs better than Vincent Jackson. There are plenty of WRs that are big enough and can get open. I really don't want to see the Bears get in a bidding war with a 29 year old WR.

All things being equal, I hate the thought of throwing a lot of money at anyone. I'd rather make signings like Okoye. A young guy with talent cut from a team that didn't utilize him to the best of his ability. Worked with Okoye and Tim Jennings, but of course did not with Gholston and Gaines Adams. That being said, if you can get Mario Williams, you have to try. If that happens, I'd spend the rest of the FA money on guys that should be cheaper than their talent dictates. Guys like McNeill if he gets cut from SD, Josh Morgan, Robert Meachem, Mike Brisiel from Houston, etc. I hate the thought of being stuck with a huge cap hit on a player who isn't likely to be worth it in a few years. That's what scares me about VJax and Colston.

For the right price, I'd be all over this. I prefer Mario Willams to be the first priority in Bree agency, though. Still can't figure out why Winston was cut. He's a really good player. I'd be all for a move like this, but Tice seems dead set that Carimi is a RT.

Kamerion Wimbley looks like he's going to be cut. That's a nice Plan B, if Mario Williams is Plan A.

You think? Rather be in that bracket than playing New Mexico as the 5 playing in the west. Vandy would be a tough draw at the 5 also. I'd take the Temple 4/5 matchup, but can't justify IU being there instead of Michigan. When in doubt, I'll take the small conference school every time. The tip time isn't a huge issue to me. They recently played a 9pm at home vs. Mich. St. And this isn't much later. I think it's easier to play later away from home. More time to acclimate yourself with the surroundings, I guess.

I don't agree. Nothing will take away from the UK win. That's the signature win of the season, not for IU....for anyone. Until yesterday it was the only time UK lost all season. ESPN uses Watford's shot to advertise for ESPN 3. If IU makes it that far and gets blown out, I don't think people the win in December will be less memorable/meaningful. I think it re-established Assembly Hall as one of the tougher places to play. I also disagree that this isn't a good draw for IU. I don't like that they got put in Portland, but once they became a 4-seed, it was the logical place for them to be. 3 of the #4 seeds are playing in either Portland or Alburquerque. And of the teams IU was in contention with for a 4 seed, all pretty much had better resumes, including Wisconsin and Michigan who righfully got to play in Nashville over IU. It actually would have benefitted them to be a 5-seed, as I think they would have been the best of the 5 seeds (over Temple) and gone to Nashville. Especially since New Mexico and Wichita prefer to stay west. As for UK, I like that matchup over any of the others. I don't think we can stay on the same court with UNC or Cuse. Wouldn't think that of UK, but we have and did. I'd rather play UK again than Michigan St, even if that was possible.

I think you guys seriously underestimate the power of money. If Washington pays him 1 penny more than the Bears, he's going to be a Redskin.

Damnable Skins. Makes sense. They can't draft anyone anymore. Their defense is already good enough to win a lot of games. If RG3 plays as well as CAM next year, they'll be a playoff team. Getting VJax would go a long way to making sure RG3 is that good right away.

Mark Sanchez now makes more than Aaron Rodgers. Really bad decisions by NFL teams seem to be popular today. It's not just the teams making bad decisions this off-season: http://imgur.com/gallery/1Xlz1 AHAHAHAHAHA

I'd rather get Mario Williams and a WR like Robert Meachem. Should be similar price to VJax and Mincey.

I'm surprised stuff like this doesn't happen more. I really hate it when players run off the bench on the offensive end to the scorers table. My peripherals would think that's a man running open probably 70% of the time. Guess that's why I don't play basketball.