raw

It's funny to look at mock drafts around the internet and seeing people's thoughts on the Bears draft picks. Either people don't like or don't understand the Bears situation and don't understand their GM. The prevailing opinions are the Bears are NOT able to get any QB in a trade. Obviously, mock drafts don't really touch on free agency, but I've seen mocks predict trades not involving just picks. I've seen mocks with teams trading up for QBs. But never the Bears. Not only that, but the Bears don't even pick a QB in any of them. Pass on Mac Jones (which would be fine). There's even a mock that has Justin Fields going 24th to the Steelers, meaning passed on by the Bears (which would be terrible). It's weird because everyone acknowledges the Bears need a QB. Most acknowledge the pure desperation they have for a QB. They've been rumored to be in on Stafford, Wentz, Carr, Watson, Wilson, and Minshew. I've read rumored interest of Dak (if available). They have ties to Mariota (Pace tried to trade up for him in 2016). Yet, nobody has the Bears moving for a QB. Even weirder, I'd say over half the mocks around the web have them going WR in the 1st round. They're also assuming Allen Robinson walks. While that could happen, I think it's much more likely he gets tagged. I know mocks should be taken with a grain of salt, especially from the same people that thought the Bears were taking defense in 2017, even after the trade up to 2. But some of this stuff is just insanely uninformed.

Man, if Russell Wilson really mentions the Bears as a team he would play for, you offer a trade, right off the bat, that would make Seattle consider a deal even if they don't plan on trading Wilson. I don't really like the thought of trading 3 1sts for a 33 year old QB on the surface, but this is a top 5 guy still playing at an MVP level with no signs of slowing down.

Another year, another season where IU has its token top 10 team they unexplicably sweep only to likely put themselves on the outside looking in because they can't beat Rutgers, or Penn St, or Nebraska.

I think if GarPax were still in charge they would be without a doubt standing pat to try to squeeze out a playoff appearance. Im thinking AK and crew will take a more long term view and not let some success deviate them from their plans. That doesn't mean they will gut a team that has a lot of positive momentum and seems to be growing with a competent coach but I think if they can get some long term value for a piece that won't necessarily gut the team they will strongly consider it. There's also a ton of value is giving these guys playoff experience. There's definitely value in not gutting the team around Zach LaVine to show him you can build around him. Thad and Sato make this really difficult though. The Bulls would likely pull the trigger if they can get a PG for Lauri, but that could cut down Sato's minutes or require Thad's salary to match depending on the PG they would get.

Bulls are in an interesting spot. Obviously, looking like a potential playoff team and just 1/2 game out of the 4th seed in the East. But also obvious is that they likely aren't getting out of the 1st round of the playoffs as constructed. They have been on a great run without Lauri and Otto Porter. So, I would think those guys (one a UFA after the year, the other RFA) would definitely be on the trade block. But then there's guys like Thaddeus (Thadgic Johnson) Young, Tomas Satoransky, and Garrett Temple, who aren't going to be part of the Bulls going too much further in the future who could bring back some decent assets but are a HUGE part of the winning rotation right now. They probably have to keep the latter 3 for a playoff run this year. But if they get an offer they can't refuse for any of them (or have to add them as part of a Markannen/Porter trade) then it's probably worth screwing up the rotation this year for long-term gain.

As bad as the Bears have been at drafting and developing QBs, their inability to do so with pass rushers is equally bad. Floyd never developed into a pass rusher and before that wasn't Mark Andersen the last one? And Anderson was basically a 1-year wonder. They've plugged pass rush through free agency and trade for the most part this century - Quinn, Mack, Peppers, Ogunleye. They've really failed at all the premier positions. If I had to rank the top 5 most important positions in football they'd be QB, OT, Pass rusher, CB, and recently I'd put WR 5th. Not only have the Bears had a sheer lack of picks at this positions, they've failed when picking these positions early. QB- no early picks o QB between 2003 (Grossman) and 2017 (Trubisky) OT- Only 4 picks on tackles before the 5th round this century. Those pick were Gabe Carimi in 2011 (injured bust), Chris Williams in 2008 (bust moved to guard), Marc Columbo (Bears bust, who Cowboys got a few good years out of) and Mike Gandy in 02 and 01 respectively. Pass rusher- Floyd and McClellin are the only top 100 picks this decade. Going back to 2000 throws more bad picks in there, Dan Bazuin and Michael Haynes (Alex Brown was pick 104 in 2002). CB- Actually have done well here. Jaylon Johnson's the only Pace pick at CB (that wasn't moved to S). Fuller was a previous regime pick, which worked. Tillman was the previous early pick at CB. But have been able to add guys like Vasher, Bowman, Callahan, etc. here thru the draft UDFA process. WR- Jeffery was a good pick. But since, Miller and Kevin White. Some OK picks mixed in (Bennett, Knox, Hester, Berrian) and some bad (Iglesias, Bradley)

Good game. Embiid is a monster. Bulls are close, but still so far away. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

what part of "tank this horsefeathers" dont you understand The people who are serious about Darnold being a reclamation project aren't pro-tank. They have just been bludgeoned by the team for decades so they have no standards for the team There's 1 partially pro-Darnold post in this thread.

It's not outrageous to think he can be fixed. Probably is to think Nagy and DeFilippo and co. can fix him. Agree with your assessment of him though, in regards to Pace's interest. The news that Pace never offered Wentz or Stafford is interesting to me. Honestly, it either says to me that Pace isn't going to go stupid for a guy that might not be the answer (or isn't allowed to) or maybe thinks he has a legit shot at a legit answer. I do still think in the end it will be someone like Mariota and a draft pick. Mariota is just as much of a reclamation project as Wentz, and may cost just money if the Raiders stick w/ Carr. Pace had interest in him the year he was drafted.

LaVine's a killer, man. He went from needing to carry the team to respectability because there was nobody else to wanting to carry the team to wins. He hasn't always come thru in the clutch this year, but he's stepped up and taken over on the offensive end and even turned it up defensively when the team needed him to.

Works for me. Wentz hasn't actually gone anywhere either, so there's still opportunity to revisit when he and/or the Eagles become more reasonable. I tend to think at least one, probably both of Bridgewater/Garappolo can be had too. They're a little lower upside than Wentz, but that much safer. And I'd say the expected production of all three guys is similar (somewhere in the teens if you were ranking every QB ordinally). For me, the play is to get whichever of those three guys costs the least in draft picks and take a day 2 QB in the draft. In FA, do what you can, but don't add any long term $ except maybe a Robinson extension. Yeah, other than Watson and Prescott, none of the options are long-term, franchise changing QBs. Wentz, Bridgewater, Jimmy G, MInshew, etc. are all guys that can get the team by for a couple years (at best) while you hopefully draft and develop an actual real long-term QB. If they can get any of the latter guys, I'd hope it's for cheap enough that the Bears can potentially add an early QB in this draft, even if they have to trade up (Lance). Derek Carr is an interesting one, because he's probably somewhere in the middle. He's better than the latter group, but would be treated like he's one of the elites, requiring a lot of trade capital and likely a big contract extension.

Sounds like the Bears are all but out of the Wentz "sweepstakes" now. They won't trade for him unless they know he wants to be in Chicago. No word on whether he would want to be in Chicago, but definitely prefers Indianapolis. Definitely seems like the Bears had the best offer though. I probably like Wentz more than most Bears fans, so I had talked myself into that this was going to happen. NGL, I'm slightly disappointed, because I don't know where else the Bears can realistically go to find competent QB play. Not that Wentz was guaranteed competence, but not many of the other options seem very realistic at this point. Carr doesn't seem like he's being traded. If Watson gets traded, it won't be to Chicago. Sounds like Dak is getting tagged again. Doesn't seem like they're interested in draft prospects.

So the theory now is the Bears have been the most aggressive in Wentz trade talks, but Wentz really wants to go to Indianapolis. Not sure why what Wentz wants matters, but many still think the Bears get a deal done, and several reports that they haven't (and probably won't) give up #20. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

Believe he was 6th in QB pressures this year.

Ah yeah, that's true. And the Packers have a true need on the D-line, unlike the Bears and Steelers.

If Watt would play for a significantly lower cap hit than the 12 Hicks is going to get, then yes. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk with Goldman back and Nichols coming on, Hicks isn't as critical as he once was. Quinn, however.... I also would be a bit surprised to see JJ Watt taking a big pay cut, however. I'm sure he'll still get a choice on whether he wants to take a big paycut or not, but he's probably an 8Mil + incentives type player at this point in his career. But with his reputation and marketability, if he wants to continue to be a 15M/year player, I'm sure there are several teams that will oblige him. But if there's anyone that doesn't care about money and would take much less money in order to win a ring, it's JJ. The teams that make the most sense are Pittsburgh with his brothers or Chicago with his wife, unless he goes for a pure ring chase. And those 2 teams don't have the cap room to pay him a bunch.

Watt would be fun with this defense. The problem is with Mack, Quinn, Hicks and Goldman....adding Watt would be about 75M in cap going to the front 5 of the defense. But if they could trade Hicks, and sign Watt for a small cap hit in 2021, it would be a move I would like. Watt does have the ability to rush from the edge if Quinn can't turn it around. Although, I just saw Vita Vea dominate rushing from the edge in the Superbowl so maybe they could get similar from putting Hicks outside at times. You want to trade Hicks and replace him with Watt? If Watt would play for a significantly lower cap hit than the 12 Hicks is going to get, then yes. Sent from my SM-A115AZ using Tapatalk

The Bears need more old DE. Watt would be fun with this defense. The problem is with Mack, Quinn, Hicks and Goldman....adding Watt would be about 75M in cap going to the front 5 of the defense. But if they could trade Hicks, and sign Watt for a small cap hit in 2021, it would be a move I would like. Watt does have the ability to rush from the edge if Quinn can't turn it around. Although, I just saw Vita Vea dominate rushing from the edge in the Superbowl so maybe they could get similar from putting Hicks outside at times.

Dream scenario-19 teams pass on Wilson citing his leadership, etc. problems, falls into the Bears lap. Bears take a chance on the potential locker room cancer and Wilson becomes the first franchise QB in modern Bears history, kicking GB ass along the way while ridiculing them. For once the Bears get to make the rest of the NFL look like horsefeathering idiots. If he makes it past 8, trade up to get him. Hell, if he gets past the Jets, I'd trade a pair of 1sts and a 3rd to move up for him over trading 2 firsts for Derek Carr.

Minshew is low-key.....not terrible. He completed over 66% of his passes this year. He played at a 4000 yard, 30 TD pace this year. And he quietly doesn't make many mistakes. His INT rate is only 1.4%, which is the same INT rate as the all-time leader in NFL history, Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, he's very young in his career, but he's probably not a guy that's going to all of a sudden be careless with the ball. Even if he never puts up those impressive numbers over a full 16-game season, he only has a 900K and then 1M cap hit over the next 2 years. Not a guy that's going to save Pace and Nagy's jobs, so I don't think he's a realistic option, but if the Bears wanted a bridge QB, with at least some potential, he's one of the better options. Has a bit of a fumbling problem though. 18 fumbles on 20 starts. Yikes. Didn't look at that, just passing stats. Fumbles are a worse issue than INTs to me, simply because fumbles from QBs typically go backwards in field position.

Minshew is low-key.....not terrible. He completed over 66% of his passes this year. He played at a 4000 yard, 30 TD pace this year. And he quietly doesn't make many mistakes. His INT rate is only 1.4%, which is the same INT rate as the all-time leader in NFL history, Aaron Rodgers. Obviously, he's very young in his career, but he's probably not a guy that's going to all of a sudden be careless with the ball. Even if he never puts up those impressive numbers over a full 16-game season, he only has a 900K and then 1M cap hit over the next 2 years. Not a guy that's going to save Pace and Nagy's jobs, so I don't think he's a realistic option, but if the Bears wanted a bridge QB, with at least some potential, he's one of the better options.

I don’t think the issue for anyone is Wentz in and of himself. The Bears need someone the play QB next year and he certainly isn’t the worst option. The question is the cost to get him in cap space and draft capital. There’s a trade for Wentz that makes sense. It’s just that most of us have zero faith in Pace to be able to pull it off and pretty much every news leak and/or baseless speculative tweet on possible packages confirms our fears. Nitpicky point, but the random leaks in lying season don't confirm anything. I agree that the suggested trades are not good, from a Bears perspective, but the devil is in the details. Even if they do something like trade their 2022 1st (on the surface a horrible idea), maybe they're getting back the Eagles 2nd, which makes a good bit of sense from a value standpoint. If the Eagles are giving a 2nd this year and getting a 1st next year that's a steal for the Bears at that point, especially if they take Foles also. I'm guessing if the Eagles are giving a 2nd, it would be a 3rd this year going from the Bears as well as a 2022 1st. But in general, if the Bears don't have a net loss of a top 3 pick this year and lose just 1 next year, I'll take that in most scenarios.

Based on league revenue. I believe the salary cap is 50% of the total league revenue. So, 180M X 32 teams = 1/2 of the money made by the league. Players get half, owners pocket the other half split evenly.

Ok guys, chill out a bit. Nobody's getting Carr without giving up a 1st and at least another top 100 pick. We don't even know for sure that Wentz will be an overpay. There will be plenty of time to complain about this trade after it actually happens.