davell

Marshall had the best WR yearly grade in history and by a fairly substantial margin.

Raw just brought up an interesting point to Biggs on Twitter and I figure it'll come up here fairly often over the next few months.....Biggs mentioned he thinks the Bears would draft almost solely defensively.....Raw brought up the need to keep giving to the strong side of our team as well. Closer to a 50/50 split on picks. So, while it's obviously too early to know exactly what we'll have coming back or what we do in FA, what possibilities could you see us using draft picks for on offense? If McCown isn't re-signed, QB is an obvious one, maybe even an early rounder. But I could see a late rounder used even if he is brought back. I doubt we'd draft a RB even if Bush is cut. My guess is we can find a journeyman number 2, if Ford doesn't appear to be the answer. What if Watkins were somehow on the board at 14? It'd be hard for me to pass him up, even with the needs on the other side of the ball. At any rate, I could see a late round pick used on a WR that may have kick returning ability and/or a blocking TE type, even if I think thats more likely to get addressed in FA. Definitely think we'll take an O-Lineman, maybe 2, if Garza is not brought back. So while I figure most of the early round picks will eventually go towards the D-Line and the secondary, I think Raw is right, in that we'll still draft some offensive help as well.

I see that Melo has us on his short list of teams he'd play for. Obviously it'd take some maneuvering to make it happen, worth it or not?

The best thing about today is if we were only going to bring back 3 FA out of our entire group, we got the exact 3 already in my mind.

I want to do it as well, figured we'd make a deal or two bringing in more prospects, which is why I haven't thought much about it yet. Maybe wait til Febrruary 1st or so?

You don't have to draw a straight line between the two injuries for it to be illustrative of the point. "Injuries beget injuries" means not only that you can hurt yourself compensating for one injury, but also that injuries(and especially 2nd and 3rd injuries like Cutler has already sustained) happen to players who (for whatever reason) are more prone to injuries. Correlation does not equal causation. It is absolutely unfair and ridiculous to only talk about his health since he broke his thumb but ignore what happened before that. Your theory is wrong and the only support is that if you pick out a guy with multiple injuries that will, by definition, "support" the idea that one injury somehow led to another. Injuries do not beget injuries. Tom Brady missed a whole season with an extremely damaging leg injury that has not led another injury. Drew Brees injured his shoulder early in his career and hasn't led to anything since. Payton Manning broke his neck, missed a season and has played 32 of 32 games since. Their injuries did not beget injuries because injuries do not beget injuries. That's some old wive's tale nonsense right there. If you were talking about running backs you would have something to talk about. If you were talking about a running QB who got himself hit, and thus injured by those hits, you'd have something to talk about. FTW

Sickels sucks. He's also debating getting rid of Underwood. I honestly wonder if he has a single baseball source he talks to. Any of us can rank guys based on their stats and not much else, other than age versus level.

Lol if you're being serious. Isn't that Erik's alias? That would make a lot of sense. No, it's Cynosure's alias. Same crazy, but an actual Chicago fan. Mostly sticks to hockey insanity though. Originally banned for actively rooting against Cubs in hopes to be right about a point, to the extent of trolling game threads cheering when they did poorly. Damn. :lol:

Jay will receive 38 mill by March of 2015. Big ass signing bonus to help keep cap number down, hopefully?

Rodgers 62.5 guaranteed, Brees 60, Ryan 59, Peyton 58, Brady 57, Romo 55, Jay 54, Flacco 52, Bradford 50, Stafford 41.5. Definitely a fair deal for Jay and Bears.

Lol if you're being serious. Isn't that Erik's alias?

Definitely liking that Wilson is partof that group. Certainly sounds like Earl Bennett is not going to be back. Ha, didn't think of it that way. Doesn't look good for him, I guess.

Jay, Martellus, Wilson, Alshon, and Forte heading to Florida to work out with Brandon. Love it. I hope Brandon gets an extension here soon.

So, it sounds like they'd like for McCown, Garza, Wootton, DJ, and maybe one of Ratliff or Melton back? With a good chance of Peppers being cut based on no real talk of him?

The cap hits on first years of deals is usually friendly, with a jump in year 2. With us having so many FA though, it could include some even based deals, to help us from becoming a Redskin type team, who would look up every offseason and be 30 mill over the cap. We should definitely have room to be players in FA though, if we want to be. As for the 3 announced signings? [expletive] yeah!

Soler will get the benefit of any doubt because of his contract. That said, with the rust he had to have, due to length of time in between playing against good competition, I thought his 2013 season was excellent. Wish he hadn't gotten hurt obviously, but I think he'll be just fine starting in AA in 2014. I kind of suspect once the rust wears completely off, he'll be dominant too. I could see him getting a couple of months of AAA actually in 2014. With a chance to begin 2015 in the majors. As for Almora, I see an even split between Daytona and Tennessee for him. Followed by a 2015 start in AAA and a late season callup. That said, with those two being so tight, I guess it's possible they stick them together. In that case, I think Daytona is more likely than Tennessee, but I think they'd both be fine in AA honestly. I think Soler gets to the majors a bit quicker, but outside of injury(which is definitely a concern of mine for Almora, Soler gets more benefit of the doubt from me)I see no red flags that should hold either back.

Thursday seems late for the end of season media round-up. Seems like a lot of guys were set to do that today. They fired Lovie on Black Monday, just before he was going to address media, right? He was definitely fired on Monday. I don't remember if he was getting ready for a press conference or not. As for the Thursday date? I guess Thursday makes a bit of sense with the holiday, but I could definitely see some stuff getting done in time to announce it by then as well. Emery could wing a Q and A, if he wasn't technically prepared for it, so not being prepared seems a bit flimsy to me.

Trestman and Emery to meet media Thursday morning. Biggs speculates any moves they make will happen before then.

Saw a comment from Tillman hoping he's still here, with an insinuation he could take less to stick around. Same article mentioned reuniting with Lovie too for him, wherever that winds up being. If Briggs is cut, I definitely see that as a possibility with him too.

I go back and forth on where I see him winding up. Currently, I'd place percentages something like this.... Yankees 25% Dodgers 20% Mariners 15% Cubs 10% Red Sox 10% Angels 10% Rangers 5% Field 5%

Do you know what the word perspective means? You said their situation mirrors the Cubs. It does not. You said you grew up rooting for the Phillies you'd hate it. Well, you'd be one of the few. If you were the least bit honest you would have loved to have been a Phillies fan the past decade and knowing their financial strength probably have a lot of confidence in an ability to turn things around. Amaro sucks, but that does not compare with the discussion about [expletive] organizations that started this entire discussion. The Phillies don't belong the list. Again, I prefaced their title. I don't see their financial situation helping MUCH moving forward, although it could, if they get rid of Amaro, I suppose.My inclusion of them WAS a mistake since I mentioned during my lifetime. The statement originally spawned from thinking of train wreck organizations though and I stand behind that, they are one currently and could be for a while.

Putting Philly on that list is absurd. It's Amaro. If I was a fan of them, I'd be hating things right now, but from a fairness standpoint, I guess their current situation kind of mirrors ours from a few years back. Their first sub .500 season since 2002, a couple years removed from a 100 win season, several 90 win seasons, five straight playoff appearances, 2 NL pennants and a World Series title? That's quite a mirror. Do you know what the word "current" means? Do you see them being good again soon? No? Oh.

Yeah, I have a feeling that was us.

Putting Philly on that list is absurd. It's Amaro. If I was a fan of them, I'd be hating things right now, but from a fairness standpoint, I guess their current situation kind of mirrors ours from a few years back.

Don't kid yourself into thinking it doesn't need a lot of work. This offense was handcuffed quite a bit this year with the need to play 6 lineman at a time. I'd like Britton back. If we keep Garza, it wouldn't kill me, since we have so many holes on D and may not have a 2nd or 3rd to spare on drafting a guy we'd feel comfortable with starting.