*OFFICIAL* Offseason Rumors, Signings, and Shenanigans

[napo55]

I think the salary actually says a lot of guys on rookie contracts and 1 year deals.

I would also say we are more talented at the postions that matter. Here is where I would say we are clearly more talented.

1. QB - Single most important position so getting better here pretty much makes us more talented than last year almost by itself.

2. CB - Gordon, Young and 2nd year Graham make this way more talented especially if 3rd year JJ also improves.

3. S - Brisker obviously improves this unit and DHC and Hicks look solid as depth.

4. Off Ball LB - Morrow is much better than DT or Ogletree IMO and Quan is Quan.

5. RB - Herbert in his 2nd year and Ebner make this a more talented unit.

Here is where I would say we are clearly worse.

1. IDL - Losing Nicholls and Hicks is a bigger loss than gaining Jones IMO.

2. Edge - Losing Mack and Quinn being a year older are bigger losses than the additions and Gipson going into 3rd year.

And here is where I would say it is a bit up in the air.

1. WR - Only loss was ARob but he sucked last year. I think Pringle, VJJ and others are potentially more talented than just having ARob but it is debatable.

2. TE - 3rd year Kmet is better than 2nd year Kmet and we are deeper. I have this as debatable only because Graham was a TD machine so remains to be seen who can be that RZ TE.

3. OL - Peters had more experience obviously but this is a deeper albeit inexperienced OL. How talented there are will really come down to the rookies and 2nd year Borom and Jenkins. So could go either way.

So I think we improved at 5 positions including the nost important one, got wprse at 2 and 3 can go either way. On balance that adds up to more talent especially if one od the 3 spots up in the air goes our way.

I think this is an excellent analysis. I would say, though, that even if the WR group is maybe a bit better, it is still rated as the worst or near worst in the NFL by most analysts. So an incremental improvement here does little to help the second year QB that the franchise has invested so much in.

 

[botfly10]

This has been a weird offseason where Bears fans know they weren't good last year, have less talent this year, and then they get mad when people say they're going to be bad. I don't think anyone "wants" the Bears to fail, but there are some that are more interested in being "right" than whatever the actual results are. This has been going on for a few years now, IMO

to add to this -

It has also been weird in that fans generally hate Pace and are glad to see him go. Most list his main failures thusly:

1. Completely blowing the top of the draft
2. Squandering draft capital in trades, often unnecessarily
3. Relying on FA to cover mistakes, saddling the cap with shit contracts

These same fans (and national media) have been on the rampage, furious that Poles has refused to follow what is essentially the same approach.

It is baffling.

Cause fuck building through the draft and internal development cause that may take more than one offseason...

 

[Aquineas]

to add to this -

It has also been weird in that fans generally hate Pace and are glad to see him go. Most list his main failures thusly:

1. Completely blowing the top of the draft
2. Squandering draft capital in trades, often unnecessarily
3. Relying on FA to cover mistakes, saddling the cap with shit contracts

These same fans (and national media) have been on the rampage, furious that Poles has refused to follow what is essentially the same approach.

It is baffling.

Cause fuck building through the draft and internal development cause that may take more than one offseason...

I'm not as baffled by it- I believe (but I want to stress I do not have evidence) that Pace was given marching orders to win one for Virginia. Prior to the 2021 season anyway, he was salvaging the future to "win one now." At least, that's the only context that some of those decisions made sense.

 

[DrGonzo]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1541857945583079427

This kind of deal for a #1 WR seems almost normal now, especially after the Hill and Brown (and other Brown) trades. Glad the Bears are buyers next year but warry of tying up so much of the cap in anyone who is not a franchise qb.

 

[Canth]

True or False?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1541787614080016387

My view is that the Chicago media is extremely cynical and to a degree I find them lazy - although that is true for a lot of media anymore. I don't have a problem with being critical. But, they go way beyond that into being cynical a lot where they were not really even giving Poles and Eberflus a chance. And they have a lot of easy, obvious, lazy takes. They will just spout a quick blurp about the overall stats and not take the 5 minutes to delve into it a bit. They may not be factually wrong, but for someone literally being paid to follow the team, I am amazed at the number of times they cannot spend just a few minutes to look more informed and have a more in depth discussion or analysis.

I forget which one, but one of them even tried to get a Colts player to speak ill of Eberflus at the Probowl - asking isn't he happy to not have to deal with Eberflus and his HITS principle anymore because the Chicago media instantly rejected it as it was an acronym and 'coachspeak'. They also gave him crap for using the terms "The Whys". Now, on a message board, sure, I can understand doing the instant dismissal. When your actual job is to be reporter and/or journalist, you are supposed to be able to listen to the entire message and figure out that Eberflus actually is able to expand beyond just that phrase and talk actual coaching - at least so far.

I can understand being cynical of the organization because of the history. I can. But, direct that to McCaskey and Ted Philips. I thought it was over the top to just dismiss the new regime based on things that happened before they got here. Especially when you consider the last time the Bears won a playoff game - it was using the same principles (loafs, HITS, whatever you want to call it) that Eberflus is bringing! Although, in his own words, it has been refined and standardized over the years. My main takeaway is that is about getting guys to stay engaged and finish. IMO, that's a good thing, especially with what is now a young team. IMO, it didn't make sense to write it off in January.

However, I will say that I do not believe any of the Chicago beat writers want the Bears to be bad or want them to lose. They all do better when the Bears are good and winning. The interest and the ratings pick up. So from a bottom line perspective, I truly believe they want the Bears to do well - it makes everyone money in the business to have a good Bears team. That is even true at a national level due to the size of the market and the fan base.

 

[Canth]

The criminal case against Watson was not pursued either.

I think argument is no criminal case and Watson settled because NFL was draging their feet as he has already missed a year and they would have delayed ruling even further if he did not settle.

So he has a reasonable argument the NFL forced him to settle and like Kraft he is not under criminal investigation anymore.

As for unwilling participants, hard to prove that now if they are under an NDA. All you have now are allegations not subject to cross and for which 2 grand juries declined to pursue.

I think another pretty big difference is that Kraft only went to the one massage place - and right or wrong, so did a lot of other guys for a similar service. And he likely paid them for it - so it was a more of case of 'simple' prostitution. If you want, feel free to argue exploitation. But, as near as I can tell, all parties knew what was going on and agreed to it.

Watson went to what? 60+ different masseuses that he found. Clearly, he didn't have a fully up front agreement on what he intended or wanted to do and not all the women welcomed his attention in that manner. IMO, he was preying on those women and daring them to do anything about it. Sure, there were some that were ok with it, but obviously a lot of them were not fine with what he was doing.

The only thing similar is that a massage was involved at some point. Beyond that, it was two very different approaches, exchanges, and extent of what was going on.

 

[HearshotKDS]

This kind of deal for a #1 WR seems almost normal now, especially after the Hill and Brown (and other Brown) trades. Glad the Bears are buyers next year but warry of tying up so much of the cap in anyone who is not a franchise qb.

Scary Terry might be making more this year than the Bears entire starting OL.

 

[Canth]

Also, one legit criticism of Poles is that he probably has not done enough to help Fields. Yes, I expect the better coaching and hopefully a scheme that makes sense to allow for improvement.

I understood the draft picks. They had so many holes that you cannot pass up better talent to force a pick. No issue there.

However, Poles himself pointed out that a young qb's best friend is a dependable WR. My assumption is that they are hoping that Mooney is that guy. I would have liked to have seen Poles be a bit bolder in acquiring a WR that had a bit more talent or proven production than say EQ. I get that the WR went completely off its rocker at least in part due to the contract the Jags handed out. But, it would have been nice to see one other WR that you think Fields could legit trust a bit to make a play - especially as there seemed to be some veterans to be had for cheap deals. They were cheap deals for good reason, but still...would have been nice to see the Bears get one of those.

 

[Brownie]

I think this is an excellent analysis. I would say, though, that even if the WR group is maybe a bit better, it is still rated as the worst or near worst in the NFL by most analysts. So an incremental improvement here does little to help the second year QB that the franchise has invested so much in.

I hear you, but I'm not concerned about ratings. I'm concerned about results within the system in actual games.

I'm sure some groups are rated higher, and won't even make it through a full season of ups and downs, injuries and other nonsense. Our group has a chance to be competent (which is saying something for us) and all those guys seem to want to be a part of a good offense (which is a big step).

 

[KittiesKorner]

So a city is cynical about being competitive after winning one playoff game in the last 15 years? Fake news fear porn!

 

[napo55]

I hear you, but I'm not concerned about ratings. I'm concerned about results within the system in actual games.

I'm sure some groups are rated higher, and won't even make it through a full season of ups and downs, injuries and other nonsense. Our group has a chance to be competent (which is saying something for us) and all those guys seem to want to be a part of a good offense (which is a big step).

Let's hope. Playing behind the O line that gave up the most sacks in the NFL (58) means these receivers will have to get open fast. Yes, I know, the play calling was bad last hear, and screen passes and QB roll outs could help. But the receivers will have to make real improvement for Fields to have any kind of success.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

These Lambert articles are shit.

Every single one is just a quote pulled from a national media source padded with drivel.

True, the pulled quote is usually interesting. But that's it. Just an interesting quote pulled from someone else's interview.

Every single one could just be a simple tweet without losing any of the content.

@Mighty Joe Young

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

This kind of deal for a #1 WR seems almost normal now, especially after the Hill and Brown (and other Brown) trades. Glad the Bears are buyers next year but warry of tying up so much of the cap in anyone who is not a franchise qb.

Lol he’s not even that great of a receiver.

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

lol look at Dongbears on day 334 of the dislikes don’t bother me campaign. Fkn reetard.

 

[Discus fish salesman]

Lol he’s not even that great of a receiver.

McLaurin? I think he'd be top 10 if his qbs weren't terrible. His production has been impressive for how bad his qbs have been.

Btw I noticed dong is still disliking like 5 different people 2 weeks later. What a life he lives. He is thee worst

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

McLaurin? I think he'd be top 10 if his qbs weren't terrible. His production has been impressive for how bad his qbs have been.

Btw I noticed dong is still disliking like 5 different people 2 weeks later. What a life he lives. He is thee worst

You could argue Mooney too, similar production

 

[botfly10]

@Mighty Joe Young

Has Vash the douche been defending Lambert or something?

 

[remydat]

The NFL has not suspended him so not dragging their feet nor forcing him to do anything. Watson would need to take that up with Houston and even then Houston was told he wanted out before sitting him and allowing a trade. Just shitty timing on Watson's part though his contract may say otherwise. NFL has been waiting for results/info before determining how to punish (or not) Watson.

You made a point to mention Watson paid millions for them not to talk. My point is the NFL was unlikely to do anything if the cases were still ongoing so he paid millions to move things forward with the NFL. It is not a conincidence they now hearing his case now that the bulk of the cases are settled.

And yes I am aware that it was Houston that sat him but I doubt they did so wothout some input from the NFL.

 

[remydat]

We're still toeing the line of talking about talent vs. actual performance.

For example, 2022 Fields isn't more talented than 2021 Fields. He's still the same person. He will probably be a better player than he was with no camp reps, but he's still the same physical talent. The Bears added cheap free agents (those 1 year deals) and 8 of the 11 picks were drafted 2nd half of Day 3.

CB is definitely better. S has more talent. LB is more debatable. Morrow is an upgrade, but the depth is probably worse. RB is iffy as well, as I liked Damien Williams signing, and I'm not an Ebner fan at all.

Again, I fully expect the Bears to be improved from 2021 to 2022, but I think the difference will be in the coaching and scheme fits, rather than the talent. And I fully admit more talent doesn't necessarily mean a better team. Like if the Bears added the same guys Jacksonville did this offseason, I'd think they be a more talented team on paper. But the needle in performance wouldn't be moved all that much.

Talent isnt just physical but also mental. Fields is more talented now because he likely understands how to use his gifts better now that he has a better grasp of the game. In addition he is continuing to work on his body as now he is 2 years in on an NFL regimen so he probably has improved his physical gifts as well.

The same goes for all the young guys. NFL training is a vast improvement to college so these young guys bodies are developing and filling out due more time in an NFL strength and conditioning program. This is especially true with Poles emphasizing cutting down on body fat % for example. Doing so means a leaner, fitter and more talented player.

So in short, talent is not static. Younger guys are still working towards physical and mental peaks talent wise.

 

[remydat]

I think another pretty big difference is that Kraft only went to the one massage place - and right or wrong, so did a lot of other guys for a similar service. And he likely paid them for it - so it was a more of case of 'simple' prostitution. If you want, feel free to argue exploitation. But, as near as I can tell, all parties knew what was going on and agreed to it.

Watson went to what? 60+ different masseuses that he found. Clearly, he didn't have a fully up front agreement on what he intended or wanted to do and not all the women welcomed his attention in that manner. IMO, he was preying on those women and daring them to do anything about it. Sure, there were some that were ok with it, but obviously a lot of them were not fine with what he was doing.

The only thing similar is that a massage was involved at some point. Beyond that, it was two very different approaches, exchanges, and extent of what was going on.

Oh I agree it is different if these women are credible. The point I was making is that if you now have no one talking because he has settled all these cases then you are not left with a lot of evidence. Then it just becomes he had a lot of massages some things were alleged but never proven in a criminal or civil case.