Toast88
Well-known member
- Joined:
- May 10, 2014
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At first blush, recent moves don’t make much sense.
Why sign Dalton when they already have Foles?
Why cut Fuller for $20 mil when that’s almost the exact amount you’re putting into the quarterback room?
Why trade Hicks despite the fact that you absolutely don’t have to? (No, the cap does not dictate you have to cut him, especially after cutting Fuller.)
Why make all those moves, but keep Graham and offer $12 mil to Golladay?
Yes, Pace is incompetent. But I think there’s also another reason:
Pace is resetting the Bears into an offensive squad, and is willing to cut cap weight off of the defense to eventually make room on the offense.
Honestly, this makes a lot of sense. I don’t buy for one second that Pace is on the hot seat. It’s not a win-or-else year.
The McCaskeys see Pace as family, and he’s the next Ted Phillips. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ted retire and Pace become the new team president over the next few years, allowing the McCaskeys to never have to make anymore football decisions at the GM level.
Fuller cost a lot of money. Hicks costs a lot of money. Mack (who will be cut or traded next year) costs a lot of money.
You know what else costs a lot of money?:
Golladay
Robinson
Russell Wilson
Other top offensive talent that Pace is going to be gunning for over the next few years.
With all this in mind, it seems pretty clear to me that this is a planned transition year, the beginning of turning from a defensive team into an offensive one. Look for the Bears to go offense-heavy over the next couple of drafts and to be very active in 2022 free agency on the offensive side of the ball.
Will it work? Who knows.
Is Pace still an idiot? Absolutely.
But I do have to say, I’d much rather spend money on the offensive side of the ball in 2020s NFL than on the defensive side.
Now if only they had some good offensive coaches.....
Why sign Dalton when they already have Foles?
Why cut Fuller for $20 mil when that’s almost the exact amount you’re putting into the quarterback room?
Why trade Hicks despite the fact that you absolutely don’t have to? (No, the cap does not dictate you have to cut him, especially after cutting Fuller.)
Why make all those moves, but keep Graham and offer $12 mil to Golladay?
Yes, Pace is incompetent. But I think there’s also another reason:
Pace is resetting the Bears into an offensive squad, and is willing to cut cap weight off of the defense to eventually make room on the offense.
Honestly, this makes a lot of sense. I don’t buy for one second that Pace is on the hot seat. It’s not a win-or-else year.
The McCaskeys see Pace as family, and he’s the next Ted Phillips. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ted retire and Pace become the new team president over the next few years, allowing the McCaskeys to never have to make anymore football decisions at the GM level.
Fuller cost a lot of money. Hicks costs a lot of money. Mack (who will be cut or traded next year) costs a lot of money.
You know what else costs a lot of money?:
Golladay
Robinson
Russell Wilson
Other top offensive talent that Pace is going to be gunning for over the next few years.
With all this in mind, it seems pretty clear to me that this is a planned transition year, the beginning of turning from a defensive team into an offensive one. Look for the Bears to go offense-heavy over the next couple of drafts and to be very active in 2022 free agency on the offensive side of the ball.
Will it work? Who knows.
Is Pace still an idiot? Absolutely.
But I do have to say, I’d much rather spend money on the offensive side of the ball in 2020s NFL than on the defensive side.
Now if only they had some good offensive coaches.....
