Bears interested in Kareem Hunt?

[dll2000]

31 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

From a fit/ability/cost standpoint sure, but none of those matter without availability and that’s SUCH a question mark now. It would make sense to prioritize more of a sure thing. The Bears are trying to win the Super Bowl THIS year. Hunt will by all accounts be available at most only part of the season, and possibly not at all. I think we are overlooking that more than we should be.

If anything I think that NOT signing Hunt gives us more of a look into Pace’s offseason plans. Namely, I think it means he’s at least looking at acquiring our next top back in free agency. Think about it - if Hunt is already in the fold for late 2019 and beyond on a RFA tender we aren’t getting any RB of consequence in FA. Coleman, Bell, Ingram, etc. are all going to want to go be the guy. With Hunt in play they’re off the table even if Hunt doesn’t actually play at all. That’s bad business for Pace. Even if he doesn’t ultimately end up targeting those guys closing his options way off ahead of FA for such a question mark is not a prudent move.

Cleveland, on the other hand, HAS that luxury. They already have Chubb and Johnson. If the Hunt thing blows up in their face they still have Chubb and Johnson under contract for the next 3 years. Financial risk is nothing. PR hit is muted with their fan base. If we add Hunt and then presumably push RB down the draft need board if he’s unavailable for most or all of 2019 then we’re left with the group from last year that isn’t good enough, and Pace is an idiot. 

We have 2 more years with Mitch making < $10M. This could very well be the offseason Pace tries to go 2018 Rams in the offseason where they added Suh, Peters and Cooks while their QB was cheap. Until I have reason to think otherwise I won’t rule it out that Pace is thinking BIG with RB, with Le’Veon even in play. The opportunity we have this offseason in particular to take the big swing and not suicide our financial future is one we may ONLY have this offseason. The 2018 Bears with replacement level replacements for Callahan and Amos with Le’Veon Bell at RB are arguably the SB favorite in the NFC. Pace built this roster meticulously over 4 years to have an extended championship window, but if there was ever a time for him to push his chips into the middle it’s now. 

@WindyCity:  "10-12 in available cap space. Adjust your free agency expectations accordingly."

Mack was the big free agent move.

You still have to bring in a K, Guard, NCB, S, TE, RB and OLB within that 12 million.  Now every position except K is depth so you can bring in cheap guys.  Guys that may not even count against cap under cheap veteran rules.  

So you get maybe one Free agent of note.  And maybe another one or two on a 1 year prove it deal.

The team depth chart as it stands now isn't going to change much I don't think.  Last year was essentially two drafts and two off seasons.

 

 

 

 

[dll2000]

Hunt may not have been available for awhile, but it hurts because he was solid depth in a contending year.  

19 or 20 games is what it takes to win a Super Bowl.  That is a lot of games to survive injury wise.  Having a back of that caliber waiting to tag in is pretty special and useful.

That he knows plays, proven he can play and is ready to go can't be overlooked.  Would of's and should of's at this point.

 

[Sugashane]

48 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Hunt may not have been available for awhile, but it hurts because he was solid depth in a contending year.  

19 or 20 games is what it takes to win a Super Bowl.  That is a lot of games to survive injury wise.  Having a back of that caliber waiting to tag in is pretty special and useful.

That he knows plays, proven he can play and is ready to go can't be overlooked.  Would of's and should of's at this point.

 

Exactly. Hunt isn't going to be banned all year, he will be available come postseason, if expect 6 to 8 games at most missed. 

 

He will likely play as many games as Long. Lol. 

[AZBearsFan]

4 hours ago, dll2000 said:

@WindyCity:  "10-12 in available cap space. Adjust your free agency expectations accordingly."

Mack was the big free agent move.

You still have to bring in a K, Guard, NCB, S, TE, RB and OLB within that 12 million.  Now every position except K is depth so you can bring in cheap guys.  Guys that may not even count against cap under cheap veteran rules.  

So you get maybe one Free agent of note.  And maybe another one or two on a 1 year prove it deal.

The team depth chart as it stands now isn't going to change much I don't think.  Last year was essentially two drafts and two off seasons.

I’m not saying they SHOULD go nuts. I’m saying they have the flexibility to make bigger moves than $10-12M should they choose to do so, especially if they look to replace Amos and Callahan with guys already on the roster (also a very distinct possibility) and don’t go the route of a highly paid FA kicker (another very distinct possibility). Outside of that all of the other spots you identified are depth signings or drat picks to be developed. They can dip into future cap space if they want, and while those moves have varying consequences down the road the window is now. 

[soulman]

6 hours ago, Tyty said:

Ah well @Tyty is the village idiot, everything he says is generally satirical. @Sugashane tries very hard to be as funny as tyty and he does okay but has noticeably far less footballs on here. He also has a much firmer grasp on reality and happiness. @CBears019 is an egomaniac cause he’s a mod and thinks he’s better than everyone cause he once scammed Chase bank for thousands of dollars or something. @GOGRIESE complains quite a bit. @TankWilliams is a big tall nerd who can always see the weather and basketballs, he’s a basketball god of sorts. @Madmike90 is Scottish and lives in a castle and eats crumpets and has somehow managed to find out a lot about the Bears despite his country’s limitations. Everyone else is a carbon copy of each other pretty much and are all beautiful souls that deserve your spect

LOL 

Now I guess I need to copy this and send it to myself in a PM for future reference.  Can't tell the players without a score card can ya'?

For years I've posted around the same 30 or 40 guys and you get to know most of them pretty well after a decade or so.

In time I'm sure it will be much the same here and I often exhibit a dry sense of humor that may at times be mistaken for sarcasm when it's not.  When I choose to get sarcastic it's never that well hidden.  LOL

So have mercy on the alien new boy here while I assimilate.

[soulman]

11 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

Maybe Pace tried but Hunt wanted to stay home

I have to believe Nagy's reaching out to him indicated some interest beyond just Hunt's well being so that could be entirely possible.

[soulman]

9 hours ago, Sugashane said:

I'm in 100% agreement @JustAnotherFan. Pace is a hell of a GM but not claiming Hunt was a mistake, especially when the draft capital is so limited this year. It would have been the best move he probably could have made this off-season. 

Strictly from a football standpoint I'd agree Shane but it could have been a PR nightmare.  Just this AM Biggsy wrote about how not having to decide on Hunt was probably best for the franchise overall especially after the Ray McDonadl's catastrophe.

Hunt has some issues and IMHO even after he serves his suspension he'll still have some work to do.  Anger/violence issues like Hunt has shown don't go away just by promising to be a good boy any more than it stopped Josh Gordon and Randy Gregory from druggin'.

At least in Cleveland if he does get in trouble again he's a home town boy on a team that tolerated both Gordon and Manziel.  If he was on the Bears and got into another jam the Chicago Sports media would crucify him and Pace and McCaskey.  I believe that.

[AZBearsFan]

In 2018 there were 28 backs with at least 100 carries who averaged 4.5 ypc last year (Hunt 4.6), which doesn’t include Le’Veon Bell. Of the 14 backs who had 200 carries, 10 of them averaged at least 4.5, and that’s a list NOT including the following:

Mack, Kamara, Lindsay, Chubb, Hunt, Gordon, Coleman, Brenda, Crowell, Ingram, Cook, Aaron Jones, Drake, Kerryon Johnson, Cohen, or Hunt’s own replacement Damien Williams. 

To me Hunt’s biggest appeal wasn’t that he’s got a unique skill set. A quick look at that list and you can see that he doesn’t. It was that he was a known. But missing out on him isn’t a total disaster by any means. Not only are guys with comparable skill sets all over the league, a good chunk of them were taken in or after the 3rd round. 

[WindyCity]

The reason I am a little upset about missing out on Hunt.

Because in an offseason where the Bears have limited cap space and draft picks, he was a clear upgrade they could afford.

The Bears are more than likely to downgrade at SS, possibly NB, potentially RG. Hunt was a clear upgrade that they could actually afford.

[WindyCity]

If they spend big money on a RB I will self ban myself for a week. I cannot see it happening.

 

I think the Browns jumped the line on Hunt. I think the Bears and many other teams were waiting for the suspension to be announced and the Browns swooped early.

[Sugashane]

9 hours ago, Tyty said:

Ah well @Tyty is the village idiot, everything he says is generally satirical. @Sugashane tries very hard to be as funny as tyty and he does okay but has noticeably far less footballs on here. He also has a much firmer grasp on reality and happiness. @CBears019 is an egomaniac cause he’s a mod and thinks he’s better than everyone cause he once scammed Chase bank for thousands of dollars or something. @GOGRIESE complains quite a bit. @TankWilliams is a big tall nerd who can always see the weather and basketballs, he’s a basketball god of sorts. @Madmike90 is Scottish and lives in a castle and eats crumpets and has somehow managed to find out a lot about the Bears despite his country’s limitations. Everyone else is a carbon copy of each other pretty much and are all beautiful souls that deserve your spect

 This was basically FF's version of a Deadpool 4th wall break. 

 

I respect the accuracy as well, especially the okay part for me. I, in fact, think of myself as the okay-est poster here. 

[Sugashane]

2 hours ago, soulman said:

Strictly from a football standpoint I'd agree Shane but it could have been a PR nightmare.  Just this AM Biggsy wrote about how not having to decide on Hunt was probably best for the franchise overall especially after the Ray McDonadl's catastrophe.

Hunt has some issues and IMHO even after he serves his suspension he'll still have some work to do.  Anger/violence issues like Hunt has shown don't go away just by promising to be a good boy any more than it stopped Josh Gordon and Randy Gregory from druggin'.

At least in Cleveland if he does get in trouble again he's a home town boy on a team that tolerated both Gordon and Manziel.  If he was on the Bears and got into another jam the Chicago Sports media would crucify him and Pace and McCaskey.  I believe that.

That's fine, I am totally in agreement. My logic is simply this :

 

-Hunt is a great talent, but more importantly he was VERY cheap for at least these next two years. 

- He already knew the system, decreasing the issue of missing time. 

- We fill a hole without jumping into our depleted 2019 draft capital

- Unlike anyone outside of Mitch and Cohen he can make people miss for YAC.  That helps Tru a lot,  as not one seemed to break any tables with regularity after a catch. 

-He averaged about 100 yards per game total,  while the ball was spread to a number of talented players like Hill and Kelce too. 

-If he lapsed and acted like an idiot then cut him and move on, you invested almost nothing into him. 

 

Now we aren't talking a guy like Barkley, LT, etc. But for the limited cost be would have carried I think he was well worth it. 

 

As far as PR goes it is hard to get too in depth without be getting political and losing my Valentine chocolates from @CBears019 but i well say at some point Pace and Co just have to say **** thr media. There is no pleasing eveeyone but winninf will make life easier to deal with the poor press. The Patriots have been relentlessly butchered by most outlets (deserved or not, doesn't matter) but keep chugging along. But they keep winning so who cares? I'd rather be the hated team that dominates year in and year out rather than the lovable losers that we often seemed to be the last decade. That is a stretch but just making my point. 

 

And again I want to point out all my points are my own views, I don't do the guessing game for what Pace will do, or pretend to have a clue to his mindset or rationale. I just hope he makes the best calls possible. 

[Epyon]

Hypothetically:

Lose

1. Amos for Bush or Draftpick (and imo we'd need to draft at least one guy here)

2. Callahan for McMannis

3. Long for who was it this year Witzmann or something? I'm blanking hard on this. Regardless Witzman or Draftpick

 

Gain

1. Leveon Bell

 

That's expensive as hell, and it costs significant remaining cap (even after clearing out extra space by dumping Long).... but... hard to say that isn't just a flat out better overall team.  Amos is entirely expendable, despite being solid. I don't know that I'd want to run with Bush, as he'd be the weakest link by far on the entire defense, but we could draft a safety.

Callahan for McMannis is a downgrade.... but McMannis makes up for it being cheaper and healthy.

Long is quite possibly the most expendable player on the team right now. He's just not healthy, and didn't play well when he was healthy. The injuries are taking their toll.

 

[JAF-N72EX]

20 hours ago, dll2000 said:

Agree 100%.  What we don't and probably won't ever know is whether it was Pace's call.  Nagy obviously wanted him. 

I won't ignore this as a possibility because you could very well be right.  However, If Pace doesn't have this much control over the team by now, then something is wrong here and we all need to start questioning who is really in charge and start questioning who we are &/or not praising whenever it seems fit to. (I.e Is he responsible for the draft and the FA?).

So is it McCaskey or Phillips who have been shackling Pace? This opens up a whole nother can of worms because I'm still not convinced that it was Pace who chose Nagy in the first place and I said that the day we signed him. But I digress on this part. 

Anyhow, yes, Nagy wanted him and that's where my problem lies. IF Ngay wanted him then why did Pace deny it? At this point, Pace has put it all on the line and has trusted his selected staff to make the right decisions to make the team better so why stop now? Why stop Nagy from getting a familiar face on board?

If we're just gonna look at it that way, then I would LIKE to think Pace has learned from his mistakes in the past when he put too much trust into Fox and we seen how that went. 

There's a flaw here either way you look at it.

[JAF-N72EX]

20 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

Maybe Pace tried but Hunt wanted to stay home

1) Players on waivers don't get to choose where they go like they do in FA.

2) Chicago is not that far from his home. I'm from Toledo Ohio where he went to UT at and have traveled all over (including CHicago MANY of times) and I can tell you right now that played no factor into it. I don't even fly by plane and It's a easy trip to make.