WrigleyField 22

I'd be shocked if they traded Smith. But that hasn't stopped even Bears fans of suggesting it. FA in 2023. They should be talking extension this offseason though. I'd assume 5/90 as a starting point which is 4/80 in new money.

At the same time I can't put it past Rodgers to facilitate a restructure that leads to him being traded to his preferred destination and then horsefeathering over Adams where the Pack tag him for 2022. And I'd actually kind of feel bad for Adams in that scenario.

Minus the Bears knocking them out of the playoffs, yesterday won't get any better. Get him out of here, ASAP. He's the MVP two years in a row. I'll take my chances with Love and their financial situation. I could see Rodgers restructuring his contract, but $50 mil is a lot to find It would be pretty shocking if Rodgers would restructure. It only happens as a package deal of Rodgers and Adams both agreeing to new deals simultaneously IMO.

I'm getting kind of greedy, but I almost want Rodgers to run it back another year because the last last dance would not go as well as the first try and it would bury their cap hole even further. If they let Adams walk and trade Rodgers a lot of their cap decisions are easy and it's a one year cap clearing job where they are well positioned to tank. They would have a bounty of picks including a probable top 3 pick in 2023, comp picks, and whatever else they get in a Rodgers trade. And they'd have tons of cap room. Plus if they run it back for 2022 maybe the Bears can be the ones to put the final nail in the Rodgers-Packers dynasty coffin.

Please refer to him by his proper name, Throw Rogan.

This Last Dance reboot was kinda anti climatic huh Gotta go for Last Last Dance

Bears got an agent inside the Packers org IMO

I'm not sure I see Khan as a guy to directly grow into the Phillips role. It would basically be the Roseman/Loomis role and Philly and New Orleans still have business Presidents separate from Football Ops. But yea that keeps the setup like (supposedly) now where the football ops won't report through the Business Pres but to ownership directly.

Interesting. Theres been growing speculation of the Bears trying to double dip with a Khan type above a personnel focused AGM. But Minnesotas offer would beat that. I'd take a Khan-Brown pairing if possible over just Poles. But really good they are keeping in the game and perhaps full control of Bears > full control of Minny which is a promising sign as I wasn't totally sure was the case. Probably highly dependent on one's opinion of Fields.

#analytics

DBB had an incredibly vague tweet. Then saw this, but yea failed to see anyone actually sau that Khan and Leftwich please. Who knows at this point what's going to happen. Hhm Khan and Leftwich do have a Pittsburgh connection. I'm nervous about Leftwichs short coaching career but to some extent his playing career must make up for that. I liked this guy's coach previews. Heres Leftwich's https://ontapsportsnet.com/2021/12/03/byron-leftwich-future-head-coach-nfl-buccaneers-offense/ He has a "coach tree" chart. And yea, Leftwich would really need to extend outside if his immediate network. Nagy really had the same problem and kinda was saved by being able to keep Fangio and his staff.

DBB had an incredibly vague tweet. Then saw this, but yea failed to see anyone actually sau that

Ima need you to be more specific than that.

A silly and fun thought exercise as we inch closer to a possible new GM:

There was also a part about his sources tell him that the Bears are asking bad questions in these interviews. Also flimsy but its he claims its sourced so I thought I'd share. In reality it sounds like news for angry Bears fans that are looking for ways to be more angry I mean, you'd hope Polian would prep them well, but I guess he can't stop George midstream if he wants to ask a candidate mid interview some asinine question.

Schoen should grab one elite prospect. Trade down the other if he can for other assets. Do a big sell off of whatever vets he can and blame "Cap hell" and then enter 2023 or 2024 well positioned for QB of choice and a totally clean cap situation. That could or could not look attractive to a coach. If there were a 2022 QB prospect they liked or were in alignment on aggressively going after Wilson/Watson that could be appealing to some coaches too.

Bears Twitter seems surprisingly tame about this first domino dropping.

They seem to be in 'why would you go to coach Daniel Jones instead of Fields?' mode. And I get it, I'm high on Fields too. But its very possible Daboll isn't quite as high, or prefers to being able to pick his own QB of the future. It probably won't be in this draft, but in the meantime having 2 top-7 picks is not a bad starting point. Yea, I'm sure it will be Fields vs his own choice, whether from this class or in future.

I don't know, rumor mill is hot in Caldwell as just HC now. Though maybe he feels like he'd turn down a HC gig for the "right" OC gig. Didn't Kubiak walk away from HC and the resurface as a OC. Older guy, had some undetermined health issue. As for a Kahn/Hortiz pairing, I guess it depends on where Hortiz ranks in Ravens FO. He might already be the "Secondary" guy under DeCosta. If he is they might not let him move laterally. And Ravens tend to be a really loyal org that people don't love to move away from. DeCosta turned down opportunities for years.

Someone like Joe Haden would be the high floor vet. PFF estimates a 1 year $5M. Not sexy, but stable. On older side at 33, so not without risk, but a good hedge to maybe pass off torch to a young guy.

Spotrac estimates him at 5.7M. PFF doesn't even have him in their FA tracker list, let alone a valuation. Over the Cap calls his valuation 8m which is supposed to be somewhat based on PFF grades, but isn't supposed to be a FA estimate. But yea he's a guy I was thinking of who hopefully falls into the 7ish range. Young, experienced starter. Seems solid enough. PFF estimates some of the older CB around $5M, which might be fine for a 1 year stopgap.

Ah yeah, I forgot Leno re-signed. But I think I disagree with most of this. I think the splashy WR needs to come thru the draft. This draft, like most other drafts in recent years, is loaded at WR. We've seen WRs go from draft pick to all-pro level in a year or two. Jefferson, Deebo, Calvin Ridley, Chase, Waddle. Granted, most of those guys are 1st round guys, but Deebo was a 2nd rounder. As was AJ Brown. Ridley and Jefferson mid-to-late 1, so it's not out of the realm of possibility that a WR in that similar vein is there in the early 2nd. The Bears just drafted a 1000 yard WR in the 5th. They can certainly find a decent in the early 2nd. Like I said, add a WR just for legitimacy. Someone you know can put up numbers if your rookie isn't a stud right away. Doesn't have to be special, just a step or 2 up from a Goodwin/Byrd type. And doesn't have to be expensive or long-term. Also as for TE, I think people only want a U-TE because they are used to the Nagy offense where he told us he needed 2 TEs. But the Bears #2 TE had 23 targets and 14 catches. That's not anything they need to make a splash for. Sure it would be nice to have Njoku or something as a pass catching TE, especially with uncertainty at WR. But it's definitely not a must, especially when Kmet is still going to get the majority of the snaps. If Daboll gets the job, the Bills TE2 had 1/2 the production of Jimmy Graham. Again, not a must for an elite offense. Lastly, I personally hate spending big money on FA CBs. I don't want to spend double digit millions on a guy that doesn't completely shut down his guy, with a caveat that I'm fine keeping your own guys like they did with Fuller and probably will with Johnson. I feel like CB is typically the biggest overpaid position in free agency. Like I'm sure the Jags aren't ecstatic about 13M per for Shaq Griffin and 0 INTs this year. He's marginally better than a CB that would cost half of that per year. I don't think they NEED a U-TE, but TE does look a little deeper than WR in FA and you still want another reliable pass catcher IMO. I don't think they'll be at the very top of the WR market, so basically just a strong #2 and slot or that U-TE depending on how the markets turn out. I don't really doubt a guy like Daboll would adjust his scheme to having two TE targets. If Fields was more established, I'd feel better about him lifting up more average WR, but until that day happens I think you help his development with solid weapons. If they fail to get reliable pass catchers they may be stuck with thier only decent option being a run heavy ground and pound, which could work ala Titans, but probably isn't ideal for Fields development. In the draft, at 39 that's not quite premier prospect range and it's just so hard to predict how the draft will play out. 2nd rounders like Deebo or Pittman have taken a year or two to break out, generally. A lot of the guys you listed as you said were first rounders, often top 10. Shaquill doesn't look like a good signing (though INT are always gonna be fluky), but something like 7-8M could definitely get you some stability. Not sure how they can roll a Vildor and whatever like rotation out there. Though it is supposed to be a deep CB draft, I think you at least need something in FA. With the nickel spot you could still have an open competition with Graham and draft pick. At very least get a good nickel.

Leno is off market FYI. So I agree no tackle. Interior could be one guy or could be totally rebuilt, but Daniels will be the first big decision and rest falls into place from there. I'd like to see two new splashy weapons, a WR and either a second WR or U-TE. Mooney and Newsome will be the only WR under contract. On D theg probably need to spend a decent chunk at either CB or nickel. At that point you've probably exhausted any realistic spending that a new GM would want to do, who will likely not want too many eggs in the new basket. But focusing spending on weapons for Fields could be critical to his development. And a big leap from Fields is the most impactful thing this franchise could get.

Back on track to finish by March now.