WrigleyField 22

Depending how lean you wanted to go I believe it would have just been a 4th, not a 3rd, and not multiple ones. He clearly has a draft focus on accumulating extra picks - equivalent to what comp picks would be. I'm not concerned that he didn't get comp picks Y1. It's an all encompassing approach. Thought for sure it was gonna be a 3rd, but even so, this was the year to do it. We should have stayed away from all FA linked to compensation. Sent from my motorola one 5G UW using Tapatalk Pretty clear to me that the valued guys who would help build the culture. Ymmv on that obviously, but to the extent FA bring a specific value you're looking for, comp status just can't weigh it. It's more a marginal thing. If Poles isnt playing comp picks by 2025 I'll be more concerned, but even despite that he's very likely to string together 30 picks through first 3 drafts. The vision/mission is there.

Depending how lean you wanted to go I believe it would have just been a 4th, not a 3rd, and not multiple ones. He clearly has a draft focus on accumulating extra picks - equivalent to what comp picks would be. I'm not concerned that he didn't get comp picks Y1. It's an all encompassing approach.

Huh? I think he meant Pace, and specifically Pace not attacking the loopholes until just before they were closed. It's like when the Cubs finally figured out that you can draft committed high school kids in the mid rounds and give them ridiculous sums of money to forego college one year before the MLB said 'screw that' and changed the rules. At least it caught Theo's attention Oh. Well the loopholes were helpful, but not like totally dummy proof. Baltimore still needed to work on a draft surplus over long time to help create that self sustained cycle. We're talking they were doing this YEARS before Pace ever set foot in Chicago. Pace did finally get his first big comp class about 5 years in - which, he wasn't left with a lot of good comp assets. But traded away his best comp pick for Foles (lol) Poles could have swung a comp strategy last year. But I don't think it's like a huge deal. And it won't happen this year. Probably not in 2024 either. By 2025 we might see that cycle play out if Poles is thoughtful on it. In the near term there are other ways to build surplus picks in mid to late rounds besides comp picks. And early indications are that Poles will be keen to those.

Huh?

The 3rd rounders for 49ers are all for minority candidates being hired I think. So get Alan Williams and Ian Cunningham HC/GM jobs (after next year). The other comp picks are basically just by losing more good players than signing good players in FA. Though details are a bit more complicated than that. There used to be a few easily exploited loopholes, but those are basically closed. Sooo draft well (such you can't keep all your second contract guys) and have diverse hiring/promotion practices. Bears were the last to exploit that loophole by cutting Mike Davis in 2019 before what used to be the deadline for him to be considered having a full season. Davis went on to be useful for another team and has had a couple decent years since. That was one loophole. The one the Ravens just abused for years was the option loophole. Nearly every contract they gave out had team options in years 3-5. So rather than cut guys, they declined an option and kept the comp value. Now guys have to see through the full max term of the contract. The Bears actually tried this loophole for the first time with the Bobby Massie contract and right after they signed the deal, the league closed that loophole lol.

The 3rd rounders for 49ers are all for minority candidates being hired I think. So get Alan Williams and Ian Cunningham HC/GM jobs (after next year). The other comp picks are basically just by losing more good players than signing good players in FA. Though details are a bit more complicated than that. There used to be a few easily exploited loopholes, but those are basically closed. Sooo draft well (such you can't keep all your second contract guys) and have diverse hiring/promotion practices.

Very little I'd imagine. I don't know that any teams looking to trade up are distracted by vet QB options right now. Maybe Las Vegas is the one I could see going either way.

Yeah, I read that too. Any guesses who the 7 are? Assuming none are QBs, I'd think: Will Anderson, Devon Witherspoon, Tyree Wilson, Myles Murphy, Christian Gonzalez, Peter Skoronski, and depending on how they feel about the recent off-field stuff, Jalen Carter. I know they met with Bijan Robinson too, and he's as good of a talent as there is in this draft, but IDK if they'd consider him #1 overall. Now this article treating it like it's 7 total, presumably counting QBs. Which I guess is how a team should do the grading. So maybe 7 is his floor https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl-insider-says-bears-comfort-205726794.html?src=rss

The contract of an injured player taking up cap space isn't what owners are worried about.

There's probably offers in the 2 to 4 range that I could come up with that wouldn't have the next year FRP, but I'd take over dropping to 9. On the other hand, I think I read somewhere that Poles had 7 guys he liked at 1. Assuming that was 7 non QBs, then he should gladly drop to 9 and still get one of his top tier guys.

Best available in what way? The only option with a 2024 FRP?

JSN baby.

MEH TBH all the options sort of blur together me but that's one I see toward the top of people's lists, and figure with Poles' KC connection and the vast resources we have its noteworthy. PFF grades in KC were good, not great and he was a lot better in Baltimore. At the very least it gives the Bears another option to play with. He'd certainly be a solid upgrade at RT even if he isn't everyone's choice. Based on the little bit we know from Poles quotes and his OL targets last year, he probably isn't Poles ideal OL type. That and some of the way Poles has talked about draft capital, wouldn't surprise me if he wasn't pounding the table for Brown in KC. That said he's obviously good and would raise the floor a ton. But for how much the investment will actually be you could probably spread around the love a lot more with two holes and get most of or all of what Brown provides.

MEH

I still blame Hinkie for ruining a generation of sports fans to trust the process.

Sports tanking is the real reason everyone is leaving Illinois.

Trust the process

The very highest I think Poles can justify a QB would be like 3rd round for say Hendon Hooker. Any picks before that (64) should be going to find immediate starters/rotation guys with a good chance of being impact players. And even then I probably wouldn't want to burn 64 if they don't get a big trade haul for #1.

Hotly debated and you're gonna piss off someone either way. Welcome.

There are 3 tiers of 2nd contracts for RBs. The elite tier is 15-16M/year = McCaffery, Elliott, Kamara The 2nd tier is 12-12.6M/year = Aaron Jones, Henry, Mixon, Chubb Then the 3rd tier is all the way down at 7-8M/year = Conner, Fournette, Ekeler Now there's a guy in each tier that probably shouldn't be their (Elliott down 1, Henry and Ekeler up 1), but I think Montgomery would rightly value himself in that 2nd tier. Maybe he's not on Derrick Henry's level, but he's clearly better than Fournette and James Conner. And Barkley obviously belongs in that elite tier. So, you're talking about 12M for Montgomery vs. 15M for Barkley. Barkley is worth that difference. Now to be fair, Montgomery may not get 12M on the open market as all those guys re-signed to avoid hitting the market, so there may not be an open market to pay a guy that much. But that's besides the point for the Bears who would be paying for him NOT to hit the market. I guess there's a scenario where he hits the market, realizes he's not valued in that 2nd tier and signs back with the Bears for like 7-8M/year, but that's risky for the Bears to let him hit the market. And still, if the Bears miss out on Barkley, they could go much cheaper than 7-8M for a backup RB and give the reins to Herbert. I was surprised when you got to the part of Montgomery being in the second tier. I do not think the broader public views it that way. I just looked at a few different lists for the top FA RB's for example, and Montgomery is usually 5th on those lists. That would be a stunning contract for me if he got 12 million a year. A year ago I would have said DM had a chance to hit 12 to match Mixon (which isn't even the same as cap% adjusted that would still be a smaller deal). But I definitely got less bullish on that just on how the market has shaped up, and partially just on DMs play. He didn't really change, but I think seeing Herbert's explosiveness in the same scheme really confirmed some of DMs weaknesses. Plus I really think Mixon proved he isn't worth that deal and Aaron Jones had a similar deal he just agreed to negotiate down. So I think the RB market still hasn't fully had its corrective adjustments in the market. Still has some good things going for him, but he's really a short yardage and 3rd down back, who's ideally paired in a timeshare. PFF has him at 3/19.5 I had put it at 3/25 before they did that estimate. That seems like a likely range though, unless he gets stuck holding out and missing the market and has to go with more of a prove-it deal.

Pretty interesting. May dig in more later. Bears aren't awful, but could be better. Poor food grade. We better be giving Fields the best Vegan meal options possible! https://nflpa.com/chicago-bears-report-card On individual grades you can see how much players love Halas Hall renos: top 5 for weight room, training room, and locker room. All teams grades https://nflpa.com/nfl-player-team-report-cards

For the two dead kids and their families, definitely.

And just like that, heres more. It's a misdemeanor offense.

Yikes I know theae guys are still basically children and most of us did really stupid things in our late teens / early 20s. This is a bad look for him though. Wonder if it will drop him.