rawaction

From the sounds of things, Lance Louis has been the best OL in camp so far. Of course, "best" is a relative term.

Yep, hair courtesy of my brother the barber.

Awesome, even the OU one ;-). Is he from Texas? Yep, from Arlington.

Bragging.... Looks like I will have a nephew as the starting TE at Southern Illinois this year, as a redshirt freshman. Caught 4 passes for about 70 yards in the spring game with the #1s. Got another nephew who is a freshman WR on the #1 Oklahoma Sooners team (probably will redshirt).

Starlin Castro is amazing.

skjensen Sean Jensen So far, yes RT @AlexBerngard Has Chris Williams been playing as bad as you guys make it sound like? 6 minutes ago "

Park district wants to do the field turf. The Bears have not agreed to let them.

The only reason it's not an F is because it hasn't ended yet. Those high risk high reward guys probably aren't nearly as high a reward as we hope they can be. The fact is they needed "known quantities" at a couple spots. The team doesn't suck, but this free agency period did. It reminds me of the post Super Bowl draft which was a disaster - a whole bunch of a cocky "yeah yeah yeah, we don't care what you think we know football players and how to coach them" that blew up in their faces. There's something to be said for finding steals, but those should be the icing on the cake, and the Bears didn't bother to bake a cake this summer. Very good articulation and analogy. This is exactly the same as 2007. The Bears think they can win again with "their guys". Whether that is the guys that have been here all along, the guys they drafted that many thought were reaches (Conte this year; Bazuin, Wolfe, etc. in 2007 draft), highly drafted guys they think were miscast that they think can fit in their genius scheme (Okoye, Gholston this year; Jimmy Kennedy 2007), or the guys that played well for members of the staff in the distant past (Roy Williams this year; Archuleta in 2007). Hope it works out better this time.

Can't disagree with that. And no excuse with plenty of options, money, and reasons to significantly upgrade OL and WR.

Well it's not just that though. Osi is holding out because he wants to rework his contract. Yeah I obviously understand that. I'm surprised the Bears were in on the discussions because I'd guess if we traded for him Osi would get a contract similar to what Peppers got, and I cant see the Bears committing that much to the defensive line. But seriously, if they had Peppers and Osi on the same line, it would set the entire defense up for awhile. They keep telling us the key to the system is getting pressure on the QB with their front 4. They don't have Harris anymore. Peppers is the only real big money guy. They just drafted a guy who is going to be locked into a rookie contract and have a couple other low income contributors. The secondary is cheap. They didn't spend money on the offense. The key defensive players are kind of old. It could make a lot of sense to spend big on both ends to try and capitalize on their opportunity. Yeah, I'll never have a problem with them adding near elite level players even if not at a position of true need. Idonije is gone after the year. Wootton is unproven. Obviously, Gholston is a long shot at best. Peppers probably only has 2 more elite years in him, and even if not he's probably gone before his salary gets astronomical. As it stands, the Bears probably have to draft a DE next year in the first 3 rounds, if they don't re-sign Izzy.

Williams is not good. He's never going to be good. I'd rather the Bears realize this before the season starts and they lose games that matter because of him.

Hopefully, Williams keeps getting lit up in practice by 2nd stringers and struggles in the preseason opener. Maybe then the Bears will go out and get a Brian Waters, who fits in with the rest of the offseason of stopgaps, but unlike the others, he can actually still play.

I actually really like the TE prospects that the Bears signed as UDFAs. Andre Smith looked like a 5th rounder to me. He's a mammoth TE at 6'5", 272. Blocking TE first in what was a run first offense at VA Tech. Showed he could be a decent receiver as a senior and became a force in the redzone. Kinda in the Kellen Davis mold, but shouldn't be as raw as Davis was a few years ago. Kyle Adams is more of a developmental guy. Doesn't do anything great, isn't a great athlete, isn't a great or very experienced blocker, isn't a downfield threat. But he's a guy that could benefit from some NFL coaching and be a 3rd TE in this league. I think both give you more today than Manumaleuna did last year. Can't understate how terrible he was last year. Smith looks decent enough to make the team as the #3 TE. But with the way Martz likes to use his TEs and the lack of OL depth, I could see the Bears carrying 4 TEs as they did last year. There are a lot of NFL caliber backups available for peanuts that can be brought in before the season starts.

Bet the Vikes nab him. Vikings did just sign Michael Jenkins from Atlanta. They were pushing the cap as is. I think they are out.

Read the Bears are still about 14.5 Mil under the cap, give or take a few mil depending on how the multi-year contracts are structured (Podlesh, Adams, Roach). If they bring back Kreutz, that's probably going to take it down to 10Mil. If not, probably around 11Mil. I still think they could bring in a big dollar player, a Center, and a Guard depending how the contracts are structured (backloaded, signing bonus heavy). Either Justin Blalock or Braylon Edwards along with getting a C in here. If Edwards, they can do so getting a C and a cheaper G. But at this point, I don't expect them to make a big money signing. One interesting bargain at OG is Mike Brisiel of the Houston Texans. The Texans were the 3rd best rushing team in the NFL last year (in yards per carry). And NFL.com has cool stat showing Houston was #1 in the league in % of converting short yardage situations when running up the middle. FYI, the Bears were dead last at 33%. Nobody else in the league was less than 50%. He is just 28. Only problem, he is very injury prone, having only gone thru 1 of 5 seasons without an injury. Derrick Dockery is also interesting. Benched in Washington this year because he wasn't a fit to Shanahan, but had a good 2009. He's 30, but was a highly sought after FA just a few years ago, receiving a huge contract from Buffalo. But he was kicked out for not fitting their scheme also. At 6'6'", 326lbs won't have that problem here with Tice loving big linemen who like to maul. Jacob Bell just cut from the Rams is a really good pass blocker, but not great as a run blocker. Would be an upgrade also. Other than that it's either Leonard Davis or Brian Waters. I don't know that either of them will be cheap, but both are pretty decent and would be Ruben Brown like signings from 5 years ago. Ideal: Blalock, Kreutz, Hayden or Edwards, Kreutz, Waters

So... what are the alternatives? Jonathan Goodwin from the Saints. Chris Spencer from Seahawks. Samson Satele from Oakland. I think all are better than Kreutz, but the leadership thing will come into play. Goodwin at least has a ring. Spencer was drafted by Bears assistant GM.

First thing they need to do is slim him down. He came out at 6'2", 302 at the combine. Now he's listed at 315, which means he's probably heavier. He had 5.5 sacks as a 20-year old rookie. Only 5.5 in 3 years since. He's only 11 months older than Stephen Paea. So, he's still young enough to live up to his enormous potential. This move along with the Gholston move would be wonderful moves if they were accompanied by moves of substance. But right now, the Bears are trying to catch lightning in a bottle with the entire roster.

Is this offseason real?

I'm still boggled by what is going on in Chicago. I've tried to give the team the benefit of the doubt, but the more I think about it...the more the last week makes no sense. This is a team who's coaching staff had their jobs on the line last year. They made a big signing with Peppers and made a legit run for the Superbowl. Despite a pretty good season, the Bears showed some clear and obvious flaws. And the Bears watched first hand as their biggest rival went to the Superbowl on their field. They watched as their franchise QB (the first franchise QB they've had in 60 years) sat injured unable to do anything to help his team mount a comeback. Turn the page to July 2011. 6 months to prepare for free agency. After a solid draft, the Bears had to know they still had holes to be filled. The Bears have the 5th most money to spend in the NFL, in a season where you absolutely have to spend the money. At first, I thought it was unrealistic of me to expect the team to break the bank for really the 3rd offseason in a row (Cutler, Peppers). But then I thought, they can afford it. And not only can they afford it...they kind of have to buy it due to the new CBA rules of a 99% cap. I wasn't expecting Santonio Holmes and Nmamdi Asomugha to be given the bulk of the 34-37 Million the Bears had to spend. But there was really no reason not to expect the Bears to go after a WR like Braylon Edwards, as was rumored during the lockout. There was no reason not to expect the Bears to go after an OG like Harvey Dahl. Worst case scenario, the Bears pay big money again for another pass rusher. I think most Bears fans would have been fine with 1 big signing if they went bargain shopping everywhere else. Because again, if there was anyone in the NFL that could afford it based on cap space and the lack of cap space required to re-sign its own necessary players...it was the Bears. There are still some solid players out there that can salvage this offseason, but I can't help but to be disappointed that a team that was literally a couple solid blockers and a reliable WR away from the Superbowl last year would be so unaggressive in their pursuit to take the next step right now.

I always thought Hurd was a guy that could break out and be a good WR. Actually figured he would break out (though not to the same extent) instead of Miles Austin in Dallas.

2nd most wins in the NFC in the last 6 years. The problem is consistency. 3 double digit win seasons. 2 sub .500 seasons in the last 6 years. Even the good teams in 2005 (29th ranked offense), 2006 (Grossman), and 2010 (30th ranked offense) had major flaws and won because unsubstainably good defense and special teams. I'm a big believer in the 3 phases of football, because the Bears have shown that you can win with substandard qualities (mostly on offense). But alot of this is perception: people value offense above all. The fact is, building a team on defense is valid. The Bears do really well in everything *except* offense. I do believe we need to succeed on the offensive side of the ball to be a consistent winner like the Patriots. But casting this team as a bunch of bumbling idiots is what gets me. We all like to complain about Angelo, complain about Lovie's decisions. But let's not take it too far. There are real accomplishments on those resumes. Would I like it to be better? Of course. But it's not......the Texans (sorry to pick on them). Or the Browns. But great defense has not shown to be sustainable. After the SB year, the Bears were a bad defensive team for 2 of the next 3 years, with the same coaching staff and pretty much the same key personnel on D. They were 28th, 21st and 17th in D from 2007-2009, after 2 years of a top 5 defense. Can argue that guys like Mike Brown and Tommie Harris got hurt and never were the same or guys like Vasher fell off. But that's what happens on defense. It becomes very player dependent and if those players don't play well, the D is bad. On offense, it's scheme that sustains production. We've seen NE win 11 without Brady. We've seen Manning win with WRs nobody has ever heard of until they're on the field. We've seen SD and Philly change franchise QBs while they were a double-digit win team and come back and win 10 again.

2nd most wins in the NFC in the last 6 years. The problem is consistency. 3 double digit win seasons. 2 sub .500 seasons in the last 6 years. Even the good teams in 2005 (29th ranked offense), 2006 (Grossman), and 2010 (30th ranked offense) had major flaws and won because unsubstainably good defense and special teams.

How does Jay Cutler feel right now? -Come to Chicago with high expectations. Goes thru a 7-9 season in his first year. Throws league high in INTs -2nd year, no OL help brought in. No WR help brought in. New offensive coordinator with a confrontational reputation comes in. Season was a success overall, but Cutler suffered over 50 sacks and the season ended in fiasco with many of his own fanbase throwing him under the bus. -3rd year. On the eve of training camp opening, still has no OL help. Still has no WR help. Just lost his best friend on the team and his favorite receiver. He can't be feeling too good about being in Chicago long-term right now. I'm sure he'll say all the right things, but this can't be what he had in mind. Granted there's a lot of time to heal all the current open wounds, but it's probably going to take 2 OL and a really good receiving target to get the franchise QB back to really feeling confident about his and the team's chances.

Gettis rumors starting now. I'm hoping that Connor is just an assumption based on the fact that the player involved was pending physical and Connor broke his hip last year.

Connor's not a bad player. He has missed 21 games in his 3 year career. But yeah, he's a freaking linebacker. A LB is not worth Greg Olsen.