raw

The weird thing to me is Poles seemingly sided with Jenkins on that dumb penalty last year that resulted in a fellow offensive lineman berating Jenkins for the time/place of the offense. Poles said he was more or less disgusted with a lineman telling another linemen not to be a redass idiot defending his QB. Maybe something is going on communication wise with Jenkins not quite getting the pseudo support followed up by demotion to potential swing tackle. Exactly the thought I had as well. I've always operated under the assumption that it was Jenkins and 4 other guys on the OL this year. On the field, he seems to embody the tough, athletic persona this team has preached about since these guys were hired. I guess off the field though, there are supposedly issues with his personality. Doesn't like being yelled at or challenged or some horsefeathers.

Reports are saying that the team is actually more impressed by Fields than they expected to be. The Smith extension is interesting. While, I would have agreed with you completely a week ago, it seems like the "hold in" is happening because they are working on a deal. I don't know why Smith would show up at all if there was no progress on that front. He's being helpful in practice, Eberflus is speaking highly of him to reporters, and he was one of the few vets that showed up for all the offseason stuff (and he modeled the orange helmets damnit!). I also think Mooney is a guy they have identified as someone they really liked, even before camp. I could see him being traded as a big year means a 20M+ payday for him. And if they could get a 1st+ for him, I certainly wouldn't rule it out. Basically, I think this is an overly pessimistic view of the state of the franchise. That being said, you have every reason to feel this way. This has kinda been on the verge of a shitshow for the past 5 months.

Let's also point out that this suspension comes with no fine somehow (other than game salaries lost). And luckily for Deshaun, the Browns structured his contract so that he only loses $243,500 of the $230,000,000 they are going to give him as a reward for sexually assaulting 25+ women. That's just barely over a 1/10 of a percent of his contract for those scoring at home, (against a woman's will).

Kaplan patting himself on the back with the "I told ya so's"

yep - if they add another receiver they'll accomplish basically everything we wanted them to during the offseason. I'm expecting a roughly Reiff-caliber add at WR (Will Fuller is still out there...). I don't think we've seen $ details on Schofield, but I believe Reiff ate up about half of the available funds I'm assuming N'Keal Harry was the big add at WR. Pretty recent move with similar timing to the 2 OL signings. Plus, I believe they are on the field Thursday, so probably everything else they add will be after cuts or injuries happen.

Brisker signed. Roquan and Quinn in attendance today. Linemen signed. All is well at Halas Hall.

And nobody knows if Robert Quinn is going to show up or not. I liked the Poles hire. I'm 100% in on giving him a chance. But this offseason has been a disasters no matter how optimistic you look at things going forward (and I'm pretty bullish on the direction in general). But if you're keeping score at home...... - Best player holding out - Little support of your potential franchise QB in terms of money spent or draft capital used - Fired the guy that helped hire him - 3 of the players he's added have been arrested, after a pretty clean track record from the previous regime. Lot of other stuff too. I'm pretty optimistic that the team can be more competitive than the masses think due to players buying into a new regime, an actual plan on offense, an elite talent at QB and overall an easy schedule. But it's tough to pull a decent season on the field out of a disasterous offseason off the field.

Funny how good this is making Bears fans feel on social media. The Bears will likely have 3 below average players on the interior. But I guess it's better than 2 below average and 1 flat out liability. Schofield is a good pass blocker. Below average run blocker. Honestly, I feel like you can hide his run blocking if Patrick is good at C and your RT is a decent run blocker. Interesting here is this probably puts a position change for Jenkins or Borom out of the forefront and they are battling it out with the rookie Jones for the 2 OT spots. I know Jenkins was not their pick, but no way this regime can NOT start easily the highest picked (aka most talented) player on the line somewhere.

This kinda makes the point. As a fan of a team you have to hope to be extremely fortunate with a draft pick, or you're at the whims of whatever a top player feels like doing for his next gig, sometimes both. For me at least it's difficult to be invested in a team that has so little autonomy relative to other sports in its ability to create a championship roster. I get that and mostly agree with it, at the same time it's the best league for its players. The challenge is for capital/management to build an environment where people want to stay and gravitate towards. I can see a situation in the near future where a team offers some small percentage of ownership to high-level influence players. N = 1 basketball is by far my son's favorite sport to watch on TV. That's what makes the NBA better than MLB, for one. NBA actually markets its players. MLB markets "the game". Trout might be the best baseball player of all time, he should be everywhere like LeBron is. And he plays in a huge market in LA, just like LeBron. I also think MLB has as much autonomy as the NBA for franchises to create championship rosters. Just like the NBA, your franchise has to be willing to pay the luxury tax. Obviously, players can't choose where they want while on a contract. And it takes more than 1-2 players to swing a 26 man roster instead of a 15, but MLB teams have just as much ability to spend like the Dodgers and Yankees. And nothing is stopping players from recruiting other big names the way the NFL and NBA do.

I kinda agree. There's no battling for rebounds, no defense until the end of games. There's 3-point shots and then everyone gets back on defense, leaving uncontested rebounds for the defense (why you have guards getting double digit boards these days). But I think overall, the talent and athleticism right now overshadows everything else. Just a much more athletic and skilled game these days.

This speaks volumes about the absolute dumpster fire that is the modern NBA. The worst American professional sports league and it isn't even close. Not sure how that speaks volumes about anything. Also, statistics (ratings and other metrics) show the exact opposite of what you're saying is true.

Yeah, just felt like he wasn't comfortable with what he was seeing. Funny because he made the comment about the game being slow to him in preseason, but it definitely seemed like he had trouble processing quickly enough. I was especially concerned about him being seemingly unsure about basic concepts and coverages that he mastered at Ohio St. Like there were RPOs he didn't pull the trigger on and took sacks. And because they were RPOs (run blocking OL), it made the OL look much worse because of quick pressure, but the ball should be gone almost instantly. It's not like he's a dumb dude either. Historic wonderlic test, IIRC for whatever that's worth. But anyway, I do truly believe that a full camp will help him improve on this. The mechanics fix will help with the timing and get the ball released a split second quicker, but I think it's more mental than mechanical for him. Trusting what he sees. And that's why I'm pretty bullish on Getsy. Fields was one of the best deep ball passers in the league. He also was amazing throwing on the move (5 of 7 TD passes were on the move, only ones that weren't were touch pass to Grant vs. GB, quick hitter to Byrd also vs GB). And is crazy as it sounds, he just needs to get comfortable not looking to go deep or escape the pocket. Sure, he can be very successful doing what he does. But for him to meet his immense upside, he has to be able to make quick reads and get the ball to playmakers quickly. Him being a playmaker on his own is just icing on the cake. And I think that's what is meant by "doesn't need much help".

He was going to be cut. Bears gave up the pick to not give him an open market. The Patriots run a pretty adaptable scheme, but I do think Harry is a better fit in the Shanahan scheme the Bears project to run. He's a good and willing blocker, which helps in outside zone. He's a big body who can shield defenders on a slant, which is good on RPOs. He doesn't separate or get open well, so you have to create separation for him at times. And the Shanahan O is big on making pass plays look like run (whether playaction or thru blocking scheme) so that will help Harry create some space. He and St. Brown are the only true X WR types the Bears have on the roster, and they are pretty similar low risk gambles. I think he'll make the team over guys like Moore, Sharpe, and Pettis; which makes him the 5th or 6th WR. If between he and St Brown you can get one of those guys to give you 20-30 catches (30-40 combined), then I'd call it a success.

OK, that move is awesome. Big upside, no downside. 7th round pick 2 years from now is the equivalent of nothing. Harry still has some upside in the right system. Also fits the X WR need the Bears have had all offseason. They can probably cut dude who got arrested last week and get some solid PR out of this whole thing.

That's pretty much where I am with everything. 27th on offense is actually higher than I would have expected by 1 or 2 spots. But I do think this is a top 10 defense and a potentially good special teams group. I think a key will be Fields not turning the ball over. I think the staff is really focusing on the short stuff. The Shanahan offense is full of playaction, rolling pockets, quick reads and getting the ball out quick. I think Fields' struggled there last year because he simply didn't want to take that stuff. And when he did, he was basically forced to throw short because of quick pressure. But if he cuts out the fumbles (the INTs weren't really that bad overall), the offense can be serviceable, while bad. We've seen teams get by on a bad OL. We've seen teams produce despite poor WRs. And I think protecting the ball, combined with that top 10 defense and everyone buying in with optimism of a 1st year coach, the Bears can be better than many think (think 2020 WFT).

The Browns are somehow in not that bad of a situation, all things considered. Browns got 2 3rd round comps for Adofo Mensah going to the Vikings. So they have a couple early picks the next few years despite not having any 1sts from the Watson trade. They also somehow have managed to have a TON of cap space in 2022 still (48M+ depending on how much they ate of Mayfield's money). I think the play here will be a trade for Jimmy Garoppolo. Jimmy G is now the last domino remaining, they aren't going to trade him to Seattle, so that leaves the Browns as the only team with a huge QB need that might make a move. Once the Watson suspension is official, I'd imagine the Jimmy G trade goes down shortly thereafter. Jimmy G would give them a guy that can give them a legit QB that has shown he can take a team to the playoffs. They are also one of the few teams that can afford to take on his contract at this point. And that contract isn't terrible, considering he's a FA after 2022. Which works out perfectly for the Browns, who will likely get Watson back in 2023. Jimmy G would probably want a long-term deal in a trade, but the market is dried up and this would serve as an audition season for him where he makes a lot of money and he has a good enough team that he can take them to the playoffs and get his long-term deal after the season with another team. The Browns are in cap hell going forward, but Jimmy G doesn't really affect that since he's a FA.

lmao, guessing thats the last of the MLE and will avoid the tax. I'm not sure what the point is as he's ok defensively but doesn't solve any of the major issues the Bulls had last year. Nah, still have the same ability to add 1 more MLE player.

I think they confused rim protection with just being tall. Replacing Tristan Thompson with Drummond and DJJ with Gallo is probably a net gain, but it probably takes them from 6th seed to.......a 6th seed that clinches a couple days earlier. I mean, health is obviously the million dollar question with this team. They were one of the best teams in the NBA (and the analytics backed it) when they were healthy. They lost arguably (is it even, really?) their two most important defensive players right when their schedule was getting to its toughest point. With those guys they were one of the best defensive teams in the league, disrupting passing lanes and causing constant havoc. Without them, what was arguably their biggest strength turned into a huge weakness. On top of that, their second best player was playing through an injury all year. Remains to be seen if some semblance of a healthy season is in play for those guys, particularly Lonzo, but if it is, this is team is better than that. They were a 6th seed with all that crap happening. EDIT - Also, I, personally, have major doubts about Patrick Williams but plenty of people (people who know a lot better than I do) believe there's something there. If there is and he's capable of taking a leap and putting some of his freak attributes to use, all bets are off. Yeah, part of that is me assuming injuries again. COVID stuff and hopefully Caruso's injury(ies) were flukes. But even if they do finish as a higher seed, I don't think they made up enough ground to catch the Celts, Heat (who are in on Durant too), Bucks, and Sixers (assuming Harden back and they add) in a 7-gamer.

I think they confused rim protection with just being tall. Replacing Tristan Thompson with Drummond and DJJ with Gallo is probably a net gain, but it probably takes them from 6th seed to.......a 6th seed that clinches a couple days earlier.

there have been dozens of signings already. woj and shams are tweeting every minute Bamba, Boucher, Hartenstein, some I'm forgetting and even some of the wing options that I've seen mentioned like Oladipo and PJ Tucker are off the table. I'm guessing the Bulls are going after Gallinari Rim protector would be nice (though I'm more wanting to replace Vooch than back him up), but I think I'd prefer Gallinari to any of the bigs who have signed. Doesn't play D, but has size and can shoot. 2 birds, 1 stone guy.

I only see two reported deals (Monk and Jordan) Bamba back to Orlando Hartenstein to NYK Portis back to Milwaukee (not a realistic get) Tucker to Philly

So compiling rumors, Bulls are interested in: Gallinari, if cut by Spurs Hartenstein, but may be too pricey PJ Tucker, but don't want to use the full MLE because they don't wanna pay the tax Andre Drummond, at minimum salary Bamba is interested in them, but they aren't interested at his price tag Doesn't sound like Coby is going anywhere, he's their Lonzo insurance at this point Doesn't sound like a Vooch trade is happening Gobert probably not realistic Mitchell Robinson probably back to the Knicks Clearly trying to add defensive presence, but not sure the impact that player would have at 15-20 minutes per game behind Vooch and Williams

She looked good at times. Lost the first 2 points, then ran off 4 straight that I saw. But wound up losing that set 7-5. Dominated the 2nd set and 3rd set went to tiebreaker. Definitely rust there and probably some stamina issues. Plus she's 40 now, which is crazy to me. I don't imagine she's done for good, but gotta be getting close.

Health has played a HUGE factor in the NBA playoffs in recent years. The Bulls probably aren't good enough to overcome any of their core players missing critical time. If Lonzo isn't healthy, I'm not sure anything else they do matters all that much. There's just nobody with his level of defense and shooting that the Bulls can afford to add as a contingency plan.

Yeah, at this point I want it over for him. Has to be in unbearable pain and discomfort. Pain/discomfort wise it's, to my understanding, not physically so. Mentally is of course a different story. Not to minimize that aspect, but having lost a uncle to a similar disease to ALS, I'll say the emotions around end of life care and quality of life and such are generally much more complex that say, someone who's body is being wrecked by cancer. Ok, I've been trying to figure out this comment but I'm really not sure what you're saying here. LOL.