Banedon

McCaskey defends Soldier Field turf. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/story/_/id/6828400/chicago-bears-president-george-mccaskey-said-keep-soldier-field-natural-grass-surface-safety-issue

Yes, but worth the gamble if he's cheap. Profootball focus had his as the 12th ranked LT last year. That's a step up for the Bears. Reunited with Tice. That could work.

I'll disagree about center being a downgrade. Should be a push at worst.

Martz says that Roy Williams is “an elite player” who should get 70 or 80 catches this season. The Smith/Angelo regime is gonna live and die by Mike Martz, aren't they?

Rex Ryan's new tattoo: http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/alternatethumbnails/story/2011-08/158257500-02111129.jpg

11 teams are $20million or more under the cap.

Angelo madly scrambling to sign 8 more special teams players to 1-year, $3million deals I'm guessing they eat up a decent chunk of that with Forte's extension.

Bears have $24 million in cap space left. http://blogs.suntimes.com/bears/2011/08/bears_still_have_24_million_in.html Also, Tice said after practice tonight that Webb will be LT and Carimi at RT...

This is his 3rd time with the Dolphins.

So your contention is that Roy Williams and Sam Hurd are the same or worse than Devin Aromoshadu and Rashied Davis? The argument is that the WR upgrades are countered by TE downgrades, since Olsen was a pass catching threat.

I bet you could even just say you're "Considering dropping it" and wanted to see what they could do to persuade you to keep it.

I've decided that the Bears are gonna sign Malcolm Floyd, Jared Gaither, and Zach Miller....then extend Matt Forte, and we'll all say what a great job Angelo did!! http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b45/sbreik/drunk/drunksmiley4.gif

Well [expletive]...reading that site has really made me much more pessimistic about the Bears moves. We should be signing Zach Miller. Also Jared Gaither.

Well that's ugly.

Supposedly the Giants want a 1st rounder. That won't happen, but that's what they want. What do the Bears currently have for 2012? All their picks plus the Carolina 3rd? I think so. Can't find an accurate list, but I can't find anything regarding any other Bears picks changing hands.

Supposedly the Giants want a 1st rounder. That won't happen, but that's what they want.

Randy Moss retiring. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/6823929/randy-moss-retire-13-seasons-153-touchdowns

At least the production and/or the weapons. I'd be willing to accept one or the other. But neither shouldn't be an option, and right now we have neither. The notion that they are going to utilize blocking tight ends with reqularity just means even fewer receivers in the pattern. Makes it even easier on the defense. Great pass rushes won't be stopped by a tight end chipping. Your blocking needs to come from your 5 linemen. I think they'll do the same thing they were doing in teh 2nd half of the season though, where they had Olsen and Manumaleuna blocking most of the time, rather than run routes. I think the argument is that if you're gonna do that, that Spaetz is probably the better guy for that than Olsen.

They were down 14-0 early and for most of the game, as soon as they made it somewhat interesting they were down by 14 points again. And then were down by 7 with 3 minutes left and a first down inside the 30...oh wait nevermind Lovie called a TO and then Martz called a WR screen on 3rd and 1. When I think of an "embarrassing" game, I think of the Patriots game, week 14.

Here's a good analysis of where the O-line stands currently... http://www.csnchicago.com/08/01/11/O-line-Biggest-question-mark-takes-cente/landing_insider_mullin_loud3r.html?blockID=545127&feedID=9399

Yep, still have Omiyale.

I have no idea where you are getting that Kreutz is 38. He just turned 34. And what I've read of the other guy it says he's 29. That is not young. That is a minimal gain in youth. But it's still a guy who has probably seen his best years and is a guy who has suffered a significant amount of significant injuries. Of the 2, Kreutz is probably the better bet to start 16 games this season. He's a respectable placeholder, but I can't consider it an actual improvement, and I have big doubts about his ability to stabilize the position for the intermediate term, let alone the longterm. Regardless, the line was bad, and via free agency all they have done is held steady. That is not a good thing. The draft picks are just making up for all those lost years where they routinely ignored the spot, but it is a group that requires 5 starters and an additional 2 useful fill-ins, and they are still lacking. Hmmm...yeah I'm not sure where I got the Kreutz age either. Brain cramp on my part. I understand your reservations, and I agree that the OL still needs more work. I'm still hoping for another signing there, though the options aren't nearly as exciting as they were a couple days ago.

The fact that they got more scheme friendly TEs is kind of meaningless to me because I don't see Martz or his scheme staying here much longer. Either they have a good year and he gets a better job, or they continue to struggle and they have to strongly consider making changes. Plus, we saw what a scheme friendly TE was last year and they had to cut the guy and waste millions. I've heard the same complaints about the new guy from Steelers fans. Yes, they got younger at center, but not in any meaningful way. They still got an old player with miles on his beat up body who is very doubtful to be any sort of longterm answer. Gholston is a pathetic joke. Barber is kind of worthless. There is some hope that Williams can rekindle some of his Martz-led ability, but he's a huge question mark. I'm very disappointed because they have literally added zero in terms of guaranteed upgrades. The defense is still led by the same aging group that has been on the decline for a few years, and the offense is still going to rely on Jay Cutler covering up for the weaknesses of the rest of the group. I applaud the concept of holding strong on the Kreutz situation. He didn't deserve the $4m, let alone the 4.5m. But when you have the opportunity to save money on a change away from legacy lineman, then you better utilize that savings in the form of actual upgrades elsewhere. The Bears had plenty of money to spend and plenty of spaces to fill, but with the vast majority of real upgrades now off the table, they stuck with the status quo. I'll diagree about Barber being worthless. He'll be a big upgrade over Taylor, and should be good for short yardage and red zone, which is an area that the Bears do struggle with. How are you considering Spencer old? He's 28. Kreutz was 38. I've heard people say that Spencer is better at run blocking, poorer at run protection, and then other people say exactly the opposite. At this point I don't know enough about the guy to be critical of the signing, but it's a center. We saved money and got 10 years younger. Seems like a good move. Ghoulston and Okoye are reasonable low risk high reward chances. Any production from either of those is just bonus. The Bears are still counting on developing draft picks from this year and last, and I understand the disappointment in that regard. Lots of FA's available, and it'd have been nice to get some big names in here. I will say that although they did try to get Colon, which I applaud, my biggest disappointment is that they haven't done anything following that failure to get another OL in here.

ROFL