BigSlick

There's something about the Lions that screams "paper tiger" to me and I'm not quite sure what it is. It may be that they looked extremely vulnerable in their match ups with the Bears, it may be that whenever I see a head coach who's a big time Emotions guy who makes poor strategic decisions I see doom on the horizon.

I know I'm going to regret saying this but - if Caleb Williams is even half decent as a rookie I think this is a playoff team. The biggest issue is... the division is pretty stacked. The Vikings are obviously the weakest link, but they're a team that always stays competitive and rarely bottoms out. The Packers are the youngest team in the league and annoyingly have, seemingly, against all odds, a good QB again. The Lions are coming off an NFC Championship appearance and as a clear 2nd best team in the NFC last year but... well, hangovers do happen. And the Bears as a pretty middling team really had their number in 2023 and should have swept them in the divisional series. ("should"). So it wont be easy. But they should be good.

If Sam Freakin' Howell can be swapped for a 3rd round pick, can we please get a goddamn 3rd rounder for Fields? Please?? Anybody???

I would argue the Bears don't actually have that many holes. They need one piece on defense. A pass rusher (admittedly, a very important piece) They need...a 3rd receiver and a few linemen on offense? (Assuming we draft Williams) And of course, depth everywhere.

I'll say it again, #IStandWithRyanPoles - I very much enjoy having a GM who's moves seem to have a logic and an overarching purpose to them. His tenure may go down in flames, but so far, 4 out of every 5 moves he makes I'm like "yeah, I see what you're doing here, and it's ballsy and good" Now go out there and get a franchise QB my man.

I truly don't think its much more complicated than the fact that the teams looking for a QB are already in position to draft one or do not want to spend draft capital on a guy who grades out at roughly the level of Gardner Minshew. It's always better to spend money than draft picks. I don't see Poles keeping his asking price for Fields too high. I think there simply just weren't many takers. I expect he'll be dealt between now and the draft or shortly after the draft. But! Who knows! I do not put it past the team to have both Fields and Williams on the roster - and if all you could get was a .... 5th rounder or something, then it certainly makes sense to keep him (and perhaps keep an eye on teams who suffer injuries during training camp and such).

I don't believe for a second that when Caleb Williams wanted to schedule a meeting with the Bears had any effect whatsoever on whether or not Justin Fields gets traded, or when he gets traded. This is a whole lot of people trying to spin a story out of nothing. I think the reason why they haven't found a trade partner for Fields has a lot more to do with the fact that he was the 23rd ranked QB by QBR in a season with several good FA options and a great draft for QBs than anything else.

I dunno if they're just shrugging their shoulders and are like 'fine, this back up Guard will be our center, whatever' or if they're planning things in the draft, but it is troubling. Especially in a year where we saw Center horsefeathers-ups really weigh heavily in games - Bears games obviously, but also very notably in the College playoff and in the Super Bowl. A good center is important!!

I wonder if that indicates Bowers is not someone they're really looking for at 9

I think the Bears really need to find at least one legit FA veteran receiver because with 4 picks after 1...you can't fill this WR corps to serious standards.

Dang, thats an impressive amount of money for Mooney who had a really rough year (but after a pretty solid career in a bad offensive environment)

We can’t possibly know, but that’s a strange conclusion to come to when Poles is the guy who utterly fleeced the Panthers last year. The signs point mostly to the rest of the league being uninterested in Fields as a starter. This should tell us something.

I have no idea what *actually* is going to happen, but I'm now mildly disappointed it wont be in Arlington Heights because it's an easier transit for me now.

I don't think the Bears are gonna settle on sticking with Fields because the market is so bad for him they can't get anything for him. That wouldn't make any sense. You stick with an asset because everyone else think it's a bad asset? It would be high-larious if they trade him to Minnesota and he ends up incredible. It's a risk I'd be willing to take, of course.

I'm ok with spending a little bit on RB. Typically i'm not for putting a lot of money into this position but they're gonna be a run heavy team and Herbert has dropped a bit in my estimation. Roschon seems promising but not a real workhorse back. Plus we have unlimited cap space so, whatever. But make sure to allocate some money on some horsefeathers Lineman, god damn.

With Poles locking down Jaylon for the next 4 years, I have to say, I’m feeling more and more pleased with how he’s operated as a General Manager. Obviously, he’s gonna be defined by this next draft and what he does at the QB position, but aside from a few slip ups (Velus Jones, the wide-receiver-who-must-not-be-named trade) he’s made a lot of prudent, sober moves, locked up the best talent from previous administrations, and maximized his assets. 2024 is a huge pivot point but he has my confidence at the moment.* *I fully expect this post to be quoted in 5 years as the team is moribund and futureless

the fact that Denver is paying 85 million dollars to make Russell Wilson go away makes it so utterly embarrassing he led a 21 point comeback against the Bears last year.

If you make your money in the Information Economy in any way (writing, social media, streaming etc) you are incentivized to find out what the status quo opinion is and to release something provocative or inflammatory. If it looks like the consensus opinion is that "Caleb Williams is pretty good and seems to have no issues going to the Bears" you have to figure out a way to generate clicks, and outrage is one way to do it.

This is the same thing I'm feeling when I look at JJ McCarthy

Here's hoping the McCaskey's have zero hearing at all when it comes to football decisions right now

This is actually very easily accounted for: Last 20 QBs drafted first Bryce Young (lol) Kenny Pickett Trevor Lawrence Joe Burrow Kyler Murray Baker Mayfield Mitchell Trubisky (woof) Jared Goff Jameis Winston (the best in a bad class) Blake Bortles 🤷‍♂️ EJ Manuel (I legitimately have no idea who this is) Andrew Luck Cam Newton Sam Bradford 🤷‍♂️ Matthew Stafford Matt Ryan (tough competition with Joe Flacco) JaMarcus Russell (horrible but also there isn't an NFL quality QB in this draft) Vince Young Alex Smith (Aaron Rodgers definitely bests Smith here, but Smith isn't a bad consolation prize) Eli Manning 🤷‍♂️ Ok - going through the list, I'd say in roughly 10 of these drafts the correct QB was taken first. (There's some argument to be made in some years, like, in 2004, between Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Phillip Rivers, who do I want? Rivers is the best overall passer but am I upset to end up with Manning and 2 Super Bowls? I dunno) ((There are also years where there's no good option, like 2010 - Bradford vs. Tebow, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy and Mike Kafka. Woof.)) I put this out there to say that it's not as much of a crapshoot as it may seem - or at the very least, it's a weighted crapshoot. You give yourself decidedly better odds with the 1st overall.

This is the only time I'll say this type of thing - I don't trust the Bears to find the diamond in the rough QB. I'd rather they just settle on the consensus best QB in the draft. They've not shown the ability to get *that* right in history, but they SURE as hell haven't shown the ability to find a steal QB prospect. Just get the guy everyone is pretty sure is really good. I absolutely love #assets but at a certain point its outsmarting yourself

It's unavoidable - Williams would get that kind of cult-like love for any QB prospect a team drafting a QB would get - hell, I watched Panthers fans desperately try to defend Bryce Young's potential all year long. People are gonna hold out hope for their guy. It's all the worse for Bears fans because we have literally not one had a guy you can say, with complete confidence, is an elite QB. And until we get one of those guys, our brains will remain broken.

alright friends, i guess i should pay attention to the 2024 Cubs now

I was watching game 7 at the Holiday Club with some friends of mine. When Rajai Davis tied it off Chapman, I walked right out of the bar, into the rain, and onto the Red Line (I lived in Rogers Park at the time). I simply couldn't watch what was happening. I listened to the game on the radio while going up north, got back into my apartment right when the 10th inning was starting and got to see Ben Zobrist take the lead. That game DEFINITELY took years off my life. But I also got to watch one of my favorite teams win a championship, so there's that.