jersey cubs fan

that is horsefeathering weird

I thought that stood a chance until the press conference, when it became clear the only goal of the offseason was to have a new QB. I guess I could see a situation where they bring back Trubisky if they somehow trade Foles and then draft a QB, which would give that QB a chance to either beat out Trubisky in training camp or save the team from him in week 3. But I really don't see it happening.

Watson is a realistic option if they really want him. You have to be willing to build a roster without multiple first round picks, something the Bears absolutely can do. But I've felt for a while they are going to wind up with somebody else a team is ready to move on from, as well as a draft pick. They can go into 2021 with a completely different quarterback room, top to bottom. But they'll still keep Bray for some reason.

I'd expect them to be "involved", but you have to imagine they have to way outbid a comparable offer from outside the division. Or, and hear me out here,

Yup. That 5 years was just a huge chunk of history when you think about it. Huge. lol - hi cards fans. Glad you weren't in DC on the 6th. You don’t know that

He makes $31 million and nobody is getting that money anymore

He makes $31 million and nobody is getting that money anymore

On the other hand they're moving on from the most blue lives matter guy on the team, which is cool. Also, he did some cool things but his legendary status is more theoretical than real.

I'm not really talking about injury, I'm talking about the guy who had to work his tail off in LF to just not suck at it, vs the guy who is actually good out there. Schwarber's lack of athleticism and lack of not being 23 anymore is a bigger red flag than Pederson's declining foot speed, imo. Both are on one year deals, so neither fan base needs to be too concerned about which body breaks down quicker. I was specifically responding to the rather weird assertion that going from Schwarber to Joc was bad because he might suck in LF next year.

Reads to me more like he's kissing somebody's else's than covering his own. He named Tom specifically for a reason.

The Tribune had a habit of making a splash just before tickets went on sale in February and this smells like Tom's version. It's pretty ridiculous but so on brand that Kaplan specifically says Tom Ricketts increased payroll, not the Cubs, or ownership, or the board, but specifically Tom has gifted us this wonderful thing. They took a slap in the face on season ticket renewals and this is probably part of the response to that situation. It's also a goofy trick to reduce your payroll from 180 to 120 then say we'll increase it to 150 (or whatever the details are), when the end result if you're still cutting payroll.

If you're worrying about either of these guys sucking in LF, I'd be much more worry about Kyle Schwarber's body letting him down than Joc's. I understand your point from just a 'look at him' perspective, but outside of a pretty freak accident where he then proceeded to exceed everyone's expectations in terms of recovery, I can't really remember a single injury he's had, and he's shown an ability(?) to alter his body to try to fit his approach. Pederson seems to have been incredibly healthy in his career, so he probably still wins the comparison, but not as worried about Schwarber's health as I used to be. I'm not really talking about injury, I'm talking about the guy who had to work his tail off in LF to just not suck at it, vs the guy who is actually good out there. Schwarber's lack of athleticism and lack of not being 23 anymore is a bigger red flag than Pederson's declining foot speed, imo.

He's probably slightly better than Schwarber and he's getting significantly less money. It's a perfectly cromulent move all on its own. Yeah this was my point. Sure he's getting significantly less than Schwarbers Nats contract but the arbitration estimates for Kyle were right around this amount. And he might also suck in LF. His foot speed is dropping every year, he's always had bad grades on his reads and jumps. He should also be entirely unplayable vs LHP. If you're worrying about either of these guys sucking in LF, I'd be much more worry about Kyle Schwarber's body letting him down than Joc's.

He's probably slightly better than Schwarber and he's getting significantly less money. It's a perfectly cromulent move all on its own. God, I want to call out the word 'significantly' there, but....you're probably right. This all sucks. It is significant in terms of the payroll Jed is being allowed to spend. Jed isn't the problem here is the only point I'm making.

In theory, but you get Watson and you have the best QB in the NFC under 32. And we are literally seeing right now what happens when you replace negative value QB play with top 5 QB play. Tampa was 7-9 with Winston and now is in the Superbowl. Granted, they didn't have to trade their early draft picks to get Brady. Where the Bears pick, drafting their own QB probably isn't possible without a move up. If they don't go into the draft with a legit franchise QB, it probably means they are going to trade this and next year's 1st round pick to move up for a QB. You're talking 1 more 1st rounder and some other pieces for a proven top 5 guy. The Cutler trade didn't set the Bears a step behind. Not properly surrounding him with talent on offense w/ the resources they did have did. And frankly, Cutler probably wasn't quite good enough. Definitely not a top 5 QB like Watson is. And Tampa is gonna get bum-rushed by KC, a team that drafted its own QB. It sure feels like five years after a Watson trade, we'll be saying "it's not his fault, he just doesn't have the cast around him." Just like we did with Cutler and Mack. I mean, I'll be excited if they do it. But I really just want to draft a successful QB of our own just once. I would pay big money to have the bears get bum-rushed by KC in the super bowl. Yes, the ideal is to draft a QB but odds are they aren't drafting a franchise guy at 20. I'd rather trade away the 20 plus a 4 for a chance at Tua than trade away 20 plus the next 1st rounder+ for a chance to draft the 3rd QB this year. They need to acquire a QB any way they can, and they need to draft one every year from now until the eventual franchise guy signs his first extension and then they need to draft 2 each year.

He's probably slightly better than Schwarber and he's getting significantly less money. It's a perfectly cromulent move all on its own.

The Bears signed a guy who was most recently a defensive analyst? at Nebraska. Bill McGovern, who by the looks of him would probably be the most pro-Trump coach in the NFL.

let's not give up the extra picks though. A 4th in 2022 and a conditional 2023 pick is barely extra. If he's a bust, the 2023 pick is probably nothing. If he's good, nobody will give a horsefeathers about a 4th and whatever that conditional 2023 is, unless it could conditionally be a first, and even then, I think people would be happy to have their 24 year old QB (I think he'd be 24 that year, don't make me do math)

Yeah. I think this would be a good way of hopefully setting yourself up for the long term, but if it fails you didn't pay a huge price. I'm *mostly* of the mind that a QB's rookie year doesn't tell you anything except maybe at the extremes. Even then, Baker Mayfield has settled into being pretty solid after having maybe the best rookie season since Luck. Josh Allen is now a star after being hilariously bad his rookie year. I think years two and three are when you start to know what a guy is, and so Tua's story is still mostly unwritten. So especially since Tua had a fairly normal rookie QB year, you buy him based on pedigree. And besides his injury (which I think is fully cleared at this point?) he's got better pedigree than anyone in this draft except Lawrence. If you have the opportunity to get that for #20 and a day 3 pick my gut says take it and run. And as a bonus you don't have to twiddle your thumbs through his rookie season. I get your thinking. And yeah, on the surface a mid 1st and future 4th for a top QB prospect is a pretty good deal. I just hate the thought of giving up a 1st to facilitate another team getting the best player in the deal. Also, not sure how I feel about Tua as a player. Considering it's 2 AFC teams, I really have zero concern about facilitating another team getting the best player. It's not like the Bears are giving up the best player, they're playing arbitrage here baby!

Do you think Tua is that good? He's probably got a better chance of being good than anybody else that would be available with that pick, and outside the top available QBs the Bears probably won't get, he's probably got the best chance of having a solid career going forward. It would be interesting at least. If Nagy can't make it work right away, they can move on with an organizational overhaul with all their important 2022 draft picks available, including what would probably be a high 1st/2nd/3rd. They'd also have the lottery ticket of Tua competing with whoever the new QB is drafted in 2022.

Also, that amounts to 2 first round picks, 1 second round pick, and 2 4th round picks for Watson and a 3rd round pick. Kelemete is nothing, a 31 year old guard who has injury issues and got benched this year. The Bears should easily beat that package, despite not having a top 3 pick. I'm counting 3 1st rounders still. 2 from Miami and the Bears. Texans would get 3rd, 20th, 36th and 113th overall this year, plus the a 22 1st and 4th. That's a hell of a freaking hall.

When you think about it, it's exactly what Pace would do, checks the horsefeathers up the present and future boxes. That wouldn't do a damn thing to F up the future.

Probably the right way to do it

first impression of his resume is, not great. Career college position coach. Spent some time as a co-defensive coordinator, but only a coordinator outright for four games when his cohort was promoted to interim head coach. One season in the NFL on a terrible team with a bad defense. Doesn't do much to counteract the theory that no top coaching candidates want to work with this group.