Discus fish salesman
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GB will tag Adams if he doesn't sign long term. There's zero chance he is an option.
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Mdbearz
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I'm not sure the Bears really have any leverage for a few reasons:
1. If Robinson has been able to play at a top ten level with arguably some of the worst QBs in the League (he made them better), then is there any doubt that, barring injury, he will have another top ten season. And if Dalton and Fields actually have chemistry with him he could be looking at a career best.
2. The NFL TV deals will result in a very nice increase in cap space, so his current expectation for salary might actually go up. The Bear's front office should be aware of this and would be wise to perhaps be willing to over pay now to avoid the "inflation" cost.
3. Bears have always maintained that they need a locker room full of high character players. Well, Robinson has been nothing but professional in his approach to the game and it could be argued that brings added value, that they might not find elsewhere.
1. If Robinson has been able to play at a top ten level with arguably some of the worst QBs in the League (he made them better), then is there any doubt that, barring injury, he will have another top ten season. And if Dalton and Fields actually have chemistry with him he could be looking at a career best.
2. The NFL TV deals will result in a very nice increase in cap space, so his current expectation for salary might actually go up. The Bear's front office should be aware of this and would be wise to perhaps be willing to over pay now to avoid the "inflation" cost.
3. Bears have always maintained that they need a locker room full of high character players. Well, Robinson has been nothing but professional in his approach to the game and it could be argued that brings added value, that they might not find elsewhere.
Discus fish salesman
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I dont think either side has much leverage which is why nothing is happening.
1. I've argued this point quite a bit and I guess we may get a chance to see soon. Robinson has feasted having trash qbs that lock in on him and can't hit their other targets with a deep ball. I think his numbers could definitely be worse with a good qb who can distribute the ball to the other options and hit guys like Mooney on a deep ball. A more functional offense could lead to less targets for him.
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I don't have a link handy, but I have seen a couple of reports that the Bears have not made any attempts to negotiate with Robinson since the start of the 2020 season. Since then, all that has happened is the team placing the franchise tag on Robinson and him signing said tag.
I was hoping against hope that they may try once more this past week before the deadline, but looks like both sides are fine with putting this off until 2022.
Canth
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Yeah, I have seen that reported as well. I guess that I am naive enough that I really don't understand why there has been basically zero negotiations for over a year. Maybe there have been some check-ins and that just doesn't really count, like: We are still at this number, you any different? No? ok, good talk....and then they all just move on for the next couple of months.
Discus fish salesman
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Yeah it is kind of odd the lack of interest in figuring something out. Maybe bears were wanting to see the qb situation fixed and how it affects the wr room, then go from there? Really no clue on the disinterest
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I am thinking that is exactly how it went down shortly before the tag was applied.
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Yeah, I get waiting out to see how this offseason went. I thought maybe they would try something before the 7/15 deadline, but there is nothing but silence. Sounds like they are miles apart then.
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What are you talking about? They have 40 players under contract through next season, the draft and UDFA's will easily make up the 11 spots and then some. Tagging AR and cutting Quinn leaves them $20M for FA and the draft .
rawdawg
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The thing about Robinson's stats is they can't get much better other than TDs. He's averaged 100 catches the last 2 years. Unless he gets 20-30 more targets than he ever has (bad QBs help with # of targets as they're leaning on him when in doubt) then he's not getting much more than 100-110 catches. He's averaged 1200 yards the last 2 years and already has a 1400 yard season in Jacksonville. He said he was focusing on creating more after the catch, even if he does, I don't see much more than 1400. He also had a 14 TD season already w/ a bad QB. So, slim chance he puts up a season that takes his price up.
I also don't know that the cap and TV deal is going to make too much of a difference. Money was still being thrown around this offseason with teams adding void years. If the Bears wanted to have Robinson signed, they could have made it work (not saying they DON'T want him signed). I think the bigger issue with WRs is that there are so many good ones coming out in the draft every year. There's a decision to make to pay a top guy 20M vs. a guy on a rookie deal in a league where the top guys like Hopkins, Julio, Diggs, Cooper, etc. have been traded and guys like Jefferson, Ridley, DK and McLaurin are putting up similar numbers on rookie contracts.
Bears have plenty of leverage and used some of it by showing interest in Golladay to get Robinson to sign his tag.
Discus fish salesman
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I go back and forth on paying him that kind of money. I like arob, but hate paying a wr that money unless they are Julio or Hopkins or Tyreek level unstoppable. The draft is so deep now and if Mooney develops you can save that 20 mill and sign a cheaper option like Gallup or Fuller and go get a WR in the draft and just have a unit with solid depth.
napo55
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For a team with one of the worst offenses inn the NFL, you would think signing their best offensive player would be the highest priority.
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Visionman
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Here’s a thought…if Fields really is what we hope, perhaps he doesn’t need a WR like Robinson after his rookie year. Maybe he could benefit from a bigger playmaker than a reliable possession guy at that point…
rawdawg
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Yeah, this is something that has gone thru my mind as well. I think Fields' game is very similar to Watson, IMO. Likes to hold on to the ball until the last possible moment in order to make the bigger play. Watson just put together his best season after the Texans got rid of Hopkins and gave him a WR corps of fast guys with big play ability. I wonder if the Bears could be thinking along those same lines. I don't like that they are thinking like Bill O'Brien, but they did bring in Byrd and Goodwin to add to Mooney to give the Bears 3 guys at least similar in style to what the Texans had (Fuller, Coutee, Cooks) in 2020. It's also similar to the type of WRs that Fields had at Ohio St.
If Fields is a superstar, it likely won't matter what they do with Robinson. But they are going to likely have to make the Robinson decision before they know if Fields is truly a star.
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There seems to be some real bad blood between the Bears and Robinson’s agent. He publicly accused the Bears of deliberately not targeting Robinson in the red zone in order to lower his value.
Enasic
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Def was under utilized in the RZ but also missed some opportunities as well. Thinks that’s more on nagy than pace though. Nagy always shot him self in the foot in the RZ. Doubt pace told nagy “Hey, instead of scoring TDs in the red zone you should call the most idiotic plays one could think of….and if we have the defense on their heels, please call a time out so they could sub and then call a play that has no chance.”
Not buying the conspiracy from Robinson’s agent. Nagy just isn’t good. There prob is some def bad blood between the two sides though.
napo55
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So losing their best offensive weapon who dominated the receiving stats won't make any difference? Who will fill the void? Goodwin seemed to be at the end of his career in San Francisco. He had only 12 receptions that year and was targeted less and less his last two years. Byrd, an UDFA, has had only one decent year and N.E. didn't seem to mind seeing him go.
Mooney certainly has promise, but most don't see him holding up as a 1 receiver. His huge success is still a projection
So if AR goes, you're betting on potential and some fringe players. Not a very good way to support your prize rookie QB.
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I believe ARob overvalued himself. His agent seems like a turd, but ARob talks like he trusts him without a second guess at all. Who else remembers Briggs' "I'll never play another down for the Chicago Bears". At least he's not that bad. I wouldn't doubt if ARob's social media is a large part of his agent's diabolical plan.
Pace might be holding the line on his cap for ARob, which he's surprisingly done at times. It's his FA overspending on those "conviction" guys that's the problem.
Could be hoping that ARob eventually balls out enough that he gives a hometown discount, which actually amounts to coming back down to market value, which he's asking more than currently. ARob can't bitch when getting top 5 $ on the tag. It's his own doing.
After playing with Fields, ARob might want to stay and enjoy some consistently good QB play for once. His stats might still bring down his market if Dalton rolls for half the season.