WrigleyField 22

The point was more of you can't look at the schedule and say, "oh we can't start Fields because Aaron Donald is on the other team, and it's on the road and in primetime, it may be too much for the rookie". The 2nd paragraph was more of a general statement about people wanting a rookie to sit simply because he's a rookie. Fans and coaches, including our very own Nagy who keeps talking about how Mahomes sitting helped him, think this way and there's really no semblance of proof that sitting for the sake of sitting actually does anything positive or negative. Like Mitch didn't suck because he was thrown in Week 5 instead of sitting all season as originally planned. I would mostly disagree that you can ruin rookies, but I do believe there have been extreme cases (David Carr the most glaring one) where rookies have been ruined by what they are surrounded by (coaches, teammates, bad OL, bad WRs). I don't think the Bears are that much of a disaster that they will ruin Fields by throwing him in week 1 vs. week 14. Obviously, you wait until he's completely ready as a QB but I think it's a dangerous proposition to wait until Jenkins is ready. There's a chance Jenkins can never handle his job. He could be just a bad player. You can't keep Fields off the field because your rookie tackle can't play. That's like sitting Cutler until Chris Williams proved he could handle his job. Obviously, it's the line as a whole, but Cutler's line was pretty bad pretty much the whole time he was here. Granted, he wasn't an inexperienced rookie but I think the point remains. Waiting on the OL to solidify is similar to waiting for a home game against an easy opponent. Those have nothing to do with the QBs ability to run the offense correctly (successfully is a different story). Definitely. This isn't an expansion franchise line that is going to be in front of the QB, even if it turns out Jenkins sucks.

100% to all of this. NFL coaches and fans are needlessly conservative. And they end up making things up. I saw someone claim that ideally you don't start someone at LT because it's the "hardest" position in the line. And when I looked up the 10 highest paid LTs, 8 of the 10 were year 1 starters at LT and the other 2, year 2 starters at LT. (there's probably some survivorship/selection bias there, but still) For QBs, unless there is some mechanical overhaul you think needs to happen, which obviously comes with its own risks, the guy should be out there as soon as he can handle the full playbook at the latest. And based on what we've heard with Fields that shouldnt be an issue (besides Dalton only has like a 1.5 month headstart in the O).

Well the Bears definitely learned their lesson with the Glennon draft day party surprise lol. I mean tough horsefeathers for Glennon, I found it more funny than anything and he got paid handsomely to horsefeathers down his leg for 4 games, but probably best they didn't do the same again.

I'm admittedly a contrarian on this point, but moving Quinn's guarantees doesn't make him harder to cut later on. Yes, it creates a potential big dead cap penalty in 2022, but it's offset by the 2021 savings you need now. The only difference is timing, but it's all a sunk cost. And sunk costs shouldn't determine personnel decisions. The only cap downside is it makes it much harder to trade him in 2021, but I'm assuming that's a very narrow possibility anyways to the point that it's of zero concern. Correct in that it’s the same net money over time, but still makes him harder to cut. You’re paying him less now to pay him more next year when you cut him. Overall, it’s the same money, just paid during different cap years. And paying him more guaranteed 2022 money makes him harder to cut after this season. Its a pedantic point, but restructuring Quinn really doesnt matter. Ultimately every unearned contract you go forward with is a choice. For example, is Hicks worth 10.5M? Is Graham worth 7M? Is Charles Leno worth 8.9M. Etc. Each of those is choices. Spend it now or spend it on a replacement. Or save it all for the future. Quinn restructure or Mack's is just an excercise in timing. But just cause you may have answered those earlier questions poorly, doesn't mean playing around with timing of another dead hit is bad or affects 2022. The decisions on the other guys in 2021 is what actually affects 2022.

Anothony Miller news incoming next?

I'm admittedly a contrarian on this point, but moving Quinn's guarantees doesn't make him harder to cut later on. Yes, it creates a potential big dead cap penalty in 2022, but it's offset by the 2021 savings you need now. The only difference is timing, but it's all a sunk cost. And sunk costs shouldn't determine personnel decisions. The only cap downside is it makes it much harder to trade him in 2021, but I'm assuming that's a very narrow possibility anyways to the point that it's of zero concern.

A reminder of how well Alex Smith did to ensure Mahomes didn't see the field until Week 17. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitAl03/gamelog/2017/ I don't think Dalton is going to Glennon it up. But Fields is more ready that Trubisky was, and Dalton also isn't going to play at a Pro Bowl level, nor is he in year 5 of Nagy's system. Dalton's head start in the system is like 2 months. Really the more I think on it, Week 1 wouldn't surprise me, but NFL coaches are a notoriously conservative bunch.

No such thing as a Leno truther. Just contrarians who probably complained about Leno all through the past 2 years until the day he was cut. Decent portion of the fan base also just seems terrified at "ruining" Jenkins, but most of what I've read has me pretty bullish on his ability to play LT just fine. I admittedly am a bit of a "The Blind Side is Overblown" truther myself though, so YMMV.

Yeah I just worry about the fact that Nagy was on the Chiefs when they sat Mahomes his rookie year (besides Week 17). He's already alluded to this in press conferences. I dont think anyone thought Mahomes was nearly as polished as Fields is, however. I think the pressure will be to move Fields into the starter role asap Didn't a lot of the things that Mahomes supposedly had to work on basically end up being totally moot because he was just so good? So basically; 1. Adjusting from Air Raid to a Pro offense (he hadn't ever ran a huddle!) - Probably didn't need a whole season for that 2. Things like mechanics to which he basically responded with a "lol no I'm going to throw from 20 different arm slots, from my back foot, and sometimes even facing the opposite end zone because I can"

Restructure Quinn. Cut Graham/Hicks. Even a Goldman restructure is out there- that's only a few mil, but any FA add this late shouldn't be a ton of money- not sure who's even out there-anyone actually better than Trufant, or is it about just throwing bodies out there?

Most teams still seem to want to put a vet up those first few games. Even from last years class, I think Burrow was the only day 1 starter. But teams will make it very easy for their starting vets to be Wally Pipp'd. Oh Dalton had a hang nail before week 5. Guess it's Fields' job now.

What do you think they will do with that cap room? Or did they need it in order to sign their draft class? I suppose holding onto it for an extension would be a good idea, or maybe to work out a long term deal with Allen Robinson We gotta consolidate these threads lol. Mods can we just lock this one and go with the 2021 thread? Short answer 4.6M after signing the rookie class, but that's pretty much maxed out since you want to leave cushion (your in season cap always runs higher than your offseason 51 man number)

Updating my own depth chart used to be an annual tradition of mine. But I don't have time for that anymore so heres a well written article instead : https://theathletic.com/2562428/2021/05/03/bears-depth-chart-projection-when-will-rookies-justin-fields-teven-jenkins-be-ready-to-start?source=user-shared-article Also, with the Leno move they should be at about 4.5M in space. But for in-season cap and cushion for in season moves that's pretty much maxed out. This depth is probably staying more or less the same unless some other large cap move and corresponding FA addition happens.

Also, if the plan is for Jenkins and Borom to be the tackles by 2022 and Fields the QB, that's a really cheap trio for 3 positions that would otherwise cost A LOT of money in the open market. That leaves a lot of money to put elsewhere into the roster and alleviates many cap concerns. 2022-24 is a great window for Pace to go all in on now. Hoping for an announcement of an ARob extension in the next couple weeks. :beg:

Without context of cost, position difference, and replacement cost, this comparison is totally meaningless. The only two that are remotely comparable on a non-adjusted basis is Ifedi-Leno. But Leno is still 2x the cost of Ifedi. For any of the other guys we have to start looking at replacement cost. I know the Dalton-Fuller example has been beaten to death, but needless to say the QB market is like none-other. Graham is the only one I really don't get. But I will at least take a wait and see approach. By mid-May things should start to shape up if we see other moves made or not.

Porque no los dos? For whatever reason, seems like they like Graham.. He's basically a very expensive red zone specialist. Oh well.

Charles Leno is being released. He was no star, but hell be missed. Obviously they see Jenkins as a LT. Gives them some needed cap room. Jenkins-Daniels-Mustipher-Whitehair-Ifedi Backups : Wilkinson-Hambright-Bars-Simmoms-Borom Probably carry 8 or 9 with 2 on the PS.

Good link for tracking Bears UDFA signings. 12 so far.

He can probably stick around as a backup at least, and there's some starter potential I think.

And a project sounding WR. Dazz Newsome, North Carolina. Both sound like projects and both have return potential.

Sounds like he could be viewed as a G too. Pace hasn't had luck with any day 3 OL, other than I guess Mustipher as a UDFA. So this probably doesn't speak highly of the two guys from last year. The scouting report does sound somewhat interesting. Perhaps a guy Castillo can coach up. Just a question if they have to burn a roster spot or if hell need to sneak through on the PS.

If they can get a pick I don't mind it, but I definitely wouldn't cut him.

This is a confident dude. He basically said, I don't care who lines up across from me, I'm going to attack you and impose my will on any man, and wear them out throughout the game. Hes not timid in any of his answers and is highly articulate. He's a good interview.Watching his interview against Fields is so interesting. Obviously Fields is used to a lot more of a spotlight on him given the program and his position. Almost every response was measured. Teven comes off way more honest and almost adolescent in his style. But yea that makes him a more fun interview.

Nice in depth Jenkins video. The highlight is the first 40 seconds where he calls his comp "Bryan Bulaga with Rabies" :lol: