rawaction

Well, this really blows.

The draft is the most important way to build a team. I'm happy with anyone that has a strong background in evaluating college talent. The Ravens, Steelers, Packers and Patriots have had the most successful drafts, without needing top 5 picks to get players (see Detroit Lions). The Falcons, Saints, and Chiefs are also teams that appear to be on the way up in talent evaluation also. Anyone with any kind of influence in those organizations would be ideal.

I think I like the Baltimore guy most, but I have no idea. If they get one of these top guys, I'd be very happy with how things went down this offseason. If they wind up with some second tier guy, like Angelo was, I'd be disappointed. Exactly. This is the premier job out there. Of the teams that need GMs. The Bears have had the most recent success. They have the most draft picks. They probably aren't as talented as the Raiders, but 4 picks in the top 90 vs. 0 for the Raiders, will change that this offseason.

I don't want anything to do with you either.

That time of the month and their cycles have synced up finally. Pretty much.

You should care. I already discussed in this thread what the Bears need to with their cap space this offseason (Forte, CB, DE, TE either re-sign players to stay status quo or spend more to improve). Cutler's due a contract after 2 years, and you don't want it to get to that last year. Peppers and Briggs are getting big raises.

LOL. So, I give you Rice, Holmes, Fitzgerald, Johnson, and Johnson who all got 8-12 Mil within the last 14 months, and you come back with VJ will get 7 max? You don't have anything to stand on with that number you pulled out of your arse. Granted, I can't see the future....but there's no logical reason to think VJ will get less than Sidney Rice, who was coming off of missing 3/4 of a season with a major injury and with only 1 season of any kind of production.

Ugh. What a stupid game. Reminded me of the NC State game. Michigan didn't have a prayer against either Zeller or Watford in the post, yet Zeller and Watford don't get a single touch in the post in the last 5 minutes. And it wasn't because they couldn't get open. Verdell Jones is going to be the death of me. Made a handful of really good passes and hit the biggest shot of the game, but he refuses to feed the post and generally sucks at basketball.

What makes you say that? He was franchised last year, made over 11Mil. Not that he'll make that much next year, but he'll most likely be the #1 WR FA on the board. Bowe will get franchised. Mike Wallace is restricted. Welker isn't leaving NE. Colston will re-sign with NO (Jackson's better than Colston anyway). DeSean Jackson could get franchised, but Vincent's better than him too. He's also better than Steve Johnson and Brandon Lloyd. He's not as old as Reggie Wayne. Sidney Rice was the #1 WR to leave his team last year, and he got 5 years/$41 Mil, and 18Mil guaranteed. And Rice had major injury questions surrounding him. Santonio got 5/$45 with 24Mil guaranteed and didn't even get the benefit of a bidding war. Maybe you consider #1 money what Fitzgerald got, but nobody has gotten what Fitz got. 8-9Mil per is what WRs of Jackson's caliber get. It's what Andre and Calvin Johnson make.

Good front offices with a good offensive line and a good QB should be able to turn 3rd - 5th round WR picks into viable options, especially when they have quality receivers lining up with them. Even when the Bears get a good front office. Don't have a good OL. Don't have quality WRs lining up. I think that's a whole helluva lot to come together in 1 offseason. If we had the OL or a WR like Jackson in place, then sure a 3rd round WR would be fine. But that's my issue. Jackson is a quality WR, but he's not that good that he would fix the problem enough to ease a 3rd-5th round WR into the offense. I think even with Jackson you still need a 1 or 2 pick in. And I think Jackson makes that less likely than a cheaper option, that may only be marginally less productive. But you seem to be complaining about the notion that if they sign Jackson they won't spend a 1st or 2nd on a WR, when in fact, if they do sign Jackson, then a 3rd or 4th round WR mixed into the rest of the group should actually be a good thing. No. I'm saying that Jackson's not good enough with the rest of the group. And I'm saying a 3rd or 4th round WR, probably won't be a factor in 2012.

You sign a Garcon type to be your #1 receiver and you've still got one of the worst receiving corps in the league. I could get on board with getting a Garcon AND a Manningham. And I don't see why signing Jackson would preclude getting a WR early in the draft. "Only" 20-25 million? That's gotta put you at or near the top for available cap room. You sign a Garcon and draft a Michael Floyd....then you're in business, though. I think Jackson precludes you from getting a WR early in the draft, because you're talking about 20-30MIl guaranteed invested into the position with Jackson. I know 1st rounders don't get paid like they used to, but that's still a lot invested into the WR position for a team that still needs plenty of help on the OL, starters at DE, TE, CB; and soon to invest more money into RB and LB.

Good front offices with a good offensive line and a good QB should be able to turn 3rd - 5th round WR picks into viable options, especially when they have quality receivers lining up with them. Even when the Bears get a good front office. Don't have a good OL. Don't have quality WRs lining up. I think that's a whole helluva lot to come together in 1 offseason. If we had the OL or a WR like Jackson in place, then sure a 3rd round WR would be fine. But that's my issue. Jackson is a quality WR, but he's not that good that he would fix the problem enough to ease a 3rd-5th round WR into the offense. I think even with Jackson you still need a 1 or 2 pick in. And I think Jackson makes that less likely than a cheaper option, that may only be marginally less productive.

Bears only have an estimated 20-25Mil next year. 6-8 of that will go to Forte, whether he is franchised or signed long-term. And the Bears are either going to need to give pay increases to their current starters at CB, TE, and DE....or they are going to have to spend more to upgrade each position. And probably should upgrade SS and SLB. And most want to upgrade backup QB and TE. I'm a fan of signing guys who are under-utilized on their current, pass oriented offenses. I wanted Malcom Floyd and/or James Jones last year. This year, I'm looking at guys like Robert Meachem, Mario Manningham (now that Victor Cruz has taken off), and Pierre Garcon (was under-used when Manning/Collie/Clark was healthy). I think you can get guys like that pretty cheap, increase their targets by 30-40 and watch them produce. They're all better than what the Bears currently have. And guaranteeing one of these guys 10Mil is a lot better than guaranteeing an older V Jack 2-3 times as much to be marginally better. The Bears are still going to have to get a WR along with Jackson, if he were to be brought in. Jackson isn't that much of a difference maker that he comes in here and all the WR woes are solved anyway. The Bears are still going to need to develop a WR eventually. If you sign Jackson, probably aren't going WR in the first couple rounds. And if you don't go WR in Rounds 1 or 2, then you probably have a long shot to get anyone even as good as Earl Bennett...the current best WR.

If they figured out a way to make the line dominant, instead of barely passable, I'd agree with you. I should have clarified that I don't like spending 30-40 Mil guaranteed on a WR. The Bears need to bring in a FA WR, regardless of if they draft one in the first round like they should. I just don't see VJackson as that big of a difference maker to justify paying him 20-30 more guaranteed than the typical player, in a league where guys like Jabar Gaffney and Laurent Robinson are putting up big numbers off the scrap heap.

A top tier. Not THE top tier. He's not Calvin Johnson, Wes Welker, Fitz, Andre Johnson, Roddy White. He's not even Brandon Marshall, Mike Wallace, Hakeem Nicks or a healthy Steve Smith. He's a top 20 receiver easily, possibly top 15. Efficiency-wise, he was actually better than Nicks, Fitz, Steve Smith, Roddy White and Brandon Marshall. All the same, he may have been the third best receiver on his own team (Gates/Floyd). Yes. But my issue is he's MAYBE top 15, but will get paid like a top 5. He's also 29 and a character risk. I don't like spending money on a WR. I also don't like spending money on players over 27.

A top tier. Not THE top tier. He's not Calvin Johnson, Wes Welker, Fitz, Andre Johnson, Roddy White. He's not even Brandon Marshall, Mike Wallace, Hakeem Nicks or a healthy Steve Smith.

So, basically....he's not as good as them. If he was, he would be getting that many targets. Yet, he's going to get paid like he is as good as them. Plus, he turns 29 next week, and has 2 strikes from the NFL and is 1 more DUI away from a year long suspension.

yes, he's hardly the main target in SD. I'd be more interested to see how many times VJ has been thrown to compared to those other guys raw mentioned He had 25 more targets than Gates this year. He had 7 fewer in 09 and 8 more in 08. Last year, Jackson missed most games due to holdout/injury. Fitz played several years with Boldin catching 100 balls, Roddy White plays with the best TE ever, guys like Miles Austin and TO have had bigger seasons playing with Jason Witten who is just as productive as Gates.

This guy is regarded as one of the best GM candidates available in the league, without a doubt. And the draft success he has had with Ozzie is obvious. I'd be pretty excited to see this as the outcome of the GM search.

Call me crazy, but I'm not all that interested in Vincent Jackson. He's going to get paid like an elite #1 WR, but he's really not. Jackson's never had 70 catches in a season. Never had 1200 yards. If guys like Fitz, Roddy White and Calvin Johnson don't get 1200 yards, it's a down season. That's not to say the Bears definitely need a 70-catch, 1200 yard WR, but they don't need to pay a guy that isn't one, money like he is. Edit: Nate Washington, who obviously isn't highly paid produced 14 more receptions for just 100 fewer yards and 2 less TDs.

It's pretty clear the Bears GM job is the best, most desirable job out there. So, the Bears better not come out of this without 1 of the top names. DeCosta, McKenzie, Snead, or a few others.

Sundquist had some terrible drafts. Ashley Lelie was his 1st draft pick. Did follow that with Portis in the 2nd, but the rest of the draft was bad. Darrent Williams was a decent draft pick, but he was also responsible for the Maurice Clarett debocle in the 3rd round that year. 2006 draft was pretty good though with Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Schefler, Dumervil, and Chris Kuper. But yeah, I still don't want this dude. Say they want a talent evaluator, then they need to make that happen. Edit: I guess he isn't that bad. He was in charge of college scouting when they had some of their best drafts that led them to the Superbowls in the late 90s. But that didn't translate over as a GM. He is a little too aggressive for my liking. He was one of the biggest traders in the league with the Broncos. The Portis/Bailey trade worked out. And he did actually trade up to get Cutler. But I think he takes a lot of unnecessary risks trading up and down in the draft and taking guys with character issues.

I hate Volstad just for the fact that he's 6'8" and doesn't strike out people. Seriously, what's the point of you being 6'8"?

Interesting info I just came across. Mike Tice did call plays in 2002 for the Vikings as Scott Linehan got acquainted with the position of his first OC job. That Vikings team went 6-10 with Tice as head coach, but with him calling the plays, they were the #1 rushing offense and #9 passing offense. Mind you, that was the year AFTER Cris Carter retired. Also of note, that was the year the "Randy Ratio" was instituted. Randy Moss had 106 catches, but did have the lowest YPC and fewest TDs of his career until he got to the Raiders. In 2001, the Vikes were 7th in passing and 28th in rushing.