Sugashane Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 (edited) This mock assumes that the Bears offense continues to be atrocious and results in another immediate and embarrassing exit from the playoffs with a sub-14 point offensive output. The incompetence of the players and offensive staff finally causes the organization to make a dramatic change. This is not what I think will happen, this is just my own mock. Fire – GM Ryan Pace HC Matt Nagy OC Bill Lazor OL Juan Castillo ST Bill Tabor Pace did a great job of building the defense and reinvigorating the locker room, but I don’t believe he is the guy to take the Bears to the next step. He has continuously failed to invest draft capital in the OTs and has repeatedly made poor FA signings. Getting ARob doesn’t make up for all that. Nagy is a player’s coach and nothing more. Trubisky has regressed each year under him and he has shown he cannot evaluate talent or performance well enough to warrant his services to continue. There is a small window for this defense as is and he has helped the offense continue to be a liability. No more. Lazor is a guy who has not seemed to help the team or QBs much, so there is no reason to keep him. Castillo is a guy who has helped the OL seem better when healthy, but this offseason will revolve around getting bullies on the OL. He is a zone based coach, so we will get someone who already knows what the new HC will want. Tabor sucks overall. He has been an upgrade from his predecessor but not enough to warrant keeping. Mediocrity as a player isn’t to be accepted, so coaches should have the same standard. Hire – GM Joe Horitz – He has been under the top brass in BAL for years, has seen the team adapt and grow to continuously contend. He has helped add playmaking talent to BOTH sides of the ball. Tenured with BAL since 1998, he has been with some of the best football minds in coaching and management. He has seen the Ray Lewis career, Ed Reed, and all the way to Lamar’s ascension. The picture of stability this team has had 4 losing seasons this century. This will be the 13th postseason appearance in that time as well. HC Greg Roman – He headed the change of offense to go directly from Flacco to Lamar Jackson – in the same season. Jackson’s ability to play QB was rightfully questioned, but his game has grown in leaps and bounds. Yes he still is a run-based QB, it would be foolish to waste elite athleticism and speed like that. But his passing is WAY ahead of anything I would have expected. Throwing motion is tighter and higher, accuracy is vastly improved, doesn’t fall back when he throws like he used to. THAT is development. OC James Urban – He has been Jackson’s QB coach, and will work with Flip (who stays at QB coach) to develop whoever they draft. His work with Roman the last few seasons was critical in Jackson’s development. He will bring the experience of developing Jackson to develop the young QB we go after this draft. OL Richard Angulo – He is the assistant OL coach for BAL and has been learning under D'Alessandris. They favor big, powerful guys and that will help the run game immensely. They took Orlando Brown and adapted to his weakness (lateral mobility) by ensuring they could use his strengths (size, strength, length) by simply chipping in EDGE to make sure he gets those bear paws on them if they get really wide. He won’t allow the borderline feminine blocking we have been subjected to the last few years. ST - Byron Storer – He has been with the Raiders for 3 years as the Assistant Special Teams Coach. In that time the Silver and Black has found a guy in Carlson to take over as the franchise kicker. He also had Cole set numerous rookie punter records and had a jump in starting field position off kickoffs (top 5 in NFL) and a dramatic improvement in kickoff coverage (14 spots improved). We look at him to develop young guys and add discipline to the special teams group. Bears Cap Currently (assuming $175 mil cap max and 2020 rollover) - $4.70 mil Franchise/Release/Trade/Restructure WR Allen Robinson – FRANCHISE (irrelevant to cap – read later) I don’t see him re-signing, especially with the QB and OL being weak. Sanu pulled a 2nd round pick, so ARob should fetch more. That’s why I’m not going after a compensatory pick since the best would be 3(33) for the pick you can possibly get with them. LT Charles Leno – TRADE (saves $6.21 mil) and gains 2021 5th round pick He is trash in the run game but is a serviceable passblocker, and at the age of 29 he has a few years left to play at least. Someone will need a vet blindside blocker. In a year with down cap his hit is minimized by our dead cap hit, making the deal more attractive for his new team. RT Bobby Massie – TRADE (saves $6.7 mil) and gains a 2021 5th round pick Our best tackle is a cap casualty. Need to move on and get younger, he is 31 so he can’t command more than Leno, but is a better all-around blocker so he should fetch about the same. Also like Leno, we are paying dead cap so his cap hit to the new team is friendlier for them too than searching in the FA market. CB Kyle Fuller – EXTEND/Restructure Was a $20 mil cap hit for one year, is extended by 4 years and 60 million ($40 mil guaranteed). Contract and cap is now 8/14/17.5/19.5/21 Kyle has balled out and been extremely physical, but he is seriously low on his guaranteed money left. This deal helps everyone. He gets $20 mil up front (half his guaranteed total) and makes another $12 mil for the season on top of that, and the Bears get $8 mil in cap relief for the year. DE Akiem Hicks – EXTEND/RESTRUCTURE (saves $7 mil ) Our dominant big man, he gets to get a significant final contract to end his career with the Bears. He was set to make $12 mil this next year, but is now set to sign a 4 year $48 million ($30 mil guaranteed) deal to add to it. Cap hits are now 5/12/12/14.5/16.5. TE Jimmy Graham – CUT (saves $7 mil) Jimmy is a red zone threat and has shown he has been able to secure some tight throws, but Kmet needs to step in and take the top spot over. Simply put he doesn’t stretch the field well enough to be a U and isn’t a good enough blocker to take over the Y. $10 mil for a red zone threat who does little between the 20 year lines isn’t a good investment, especially with the cap restrictions the Bears are facing. CB Buster Skrine – CUT (saves $5 mil ) ß Post June 1st cut Skrine actually hasn’t been bad at all, but he just isn’t worth keeping at that price in a restricted cap. He is the literal definition of a cap casualty. Total Cap Now - $48.61 mil Re-sign OG Germain Ifedi – 2 years $5 million ($3 mil guaranteed) – 2/3 He has been a mixed bag but fits more in a power scheme, and will do better with a real offseason to get technique down at OG. Plus with Daniels return to form being in question he gets retained and a pay raise. S Tashaun Gipson – 2 years, $4.5 mil (3 mil guaranteed) - $2/2.5 He has been a good running mate for EJax. Unfortunately he is 30 and in a down market so this will be the best offer he gets. LS Patrick Scales – 4 years $4.5 mil ($2 mil guaranteed) - $0.5/1/1/2 Easy to forget when he does this little thing so damn well. Let him keep it up. Total Cap Left - $44.11 Free Agency LT Alejandro Villanueva – 4 years $44 mil ($28 mil guaranteed) $4/11/11/18 BAL runs with big, powerful guys but wants their blindside protector to be a passblocking specialist. Villanueva is just that, a 6’9”, 320 pound mammoth who is best in the pass game but solid in the run game. He would warrant more if he was younger, but regardless he gets his biggest payday in his final deal ($18 mil total his first year), and the Bears get a massive upgrade at LT with cap flexibility. RB Adrian Peterson – 1 year, $1.2 million ($1.2 mil guaranteed) BAL uses two power runners in Ingram and Edwards, Chicago will pair Montgomery with Peterson. AP isn’t a bellcow back anymore and doesn’t offer much as a receiver but he is a hell of a tough runner still and this is a cheap spot to fill without using a draft spot in more important positions. WR – Allen Lazard – 2 years, $7 million ($3 million guaranteed) - $3/4 We need one big WR, Kmet may get moved around and some play in the slot or outside but we need a rangy player to stretch the field too. Lazard is 6’5” with a long wingspan to match, so our QB has one more big target that has some nice speed too. WR John Ross – 2 years, $4 million ($2 million guaranteed) - $2/2 He never became anything near what CIN hoped when they drafted him. Maybe we can get a deep threat. He can’t warrant much and at the minimum he and Mooney will push the safeties back for the run game, or maybe we could actually get a few shots deep to connect. OT/OG David Sharpe – 2 years, $5 mil ($3 mil guaranteed) - $2.5/2.5 Getting big uglies is a priority. Sharpe comes in at 6’6” and slimmed DOWN to 330 pounds. He may be a swing tackle or may be a straight OG, but he has power for days. May have a hot/cold motor, so sticking him next to a vet might be key. OT/OG Zach Banner – 2 years, $3.5 mil ($1.5 mil) – $1.5/2 He tore his ACL or he might have been on his way to a pretty good jump in his contract. He is a monster at 6’8” and 360, and is a teammate of Villaneuva. When he comes back he will still have a great size advantage to allow him something to lean on. Like Sharpe he may be in the inside or remain as an OT, regardless he is able to at least hold a spot down while we get more youth on the OL. EDGE Solomon Thomas – 2 years, $7.5 mil ($3.5 mil guaranteed) – 3.5/4 Thomas tore his ACL so if he passes a physical he still has a lowered value, and in a pretty damn good FA class at EDGE. Here I take him because of his measurable and hoping they can get something out of him. With measurable that compare closely to the likes of Kerrigan and Cushing I put him with Mack and tell him to copy everything he does. If he clicks then you have a young cheap rusher that has the size to move around, at worse you have a slight upgrade to Mingo as a rusher. TE Marcedes Lewis – 2 years, $5 mil ($4 mil guaranteed) - $2/3 Kmet will keep learning and improving his run blocking hopefully but BAL has a monster runblocking TE in Boyle. Bears get a temp that is as close as they can find to Boyle in Lewis. Being old and not near the threat in the passing game he previously was Lewis is much cheaper than Jimmy Graham was. QB Robert Griffin III – 2 years 4.5 mil ($4 mil guaranteed) 2.25/2.25 Roman has a system to implement and having a QB that has been in it for a few years will help accelerate the growth of the entire offense. RGIII isn’t going to be looked at as a starter but he is still a high end athlete and has system familiarity, so this is well worth the price he fetches here. K Cairo Santos – 1 year, $1.5 mil He has been serviceable but not worth giving a big extension to. S Deandre Houston-Carson – 3 years $5 mil ($3 mil guaranteed) – 1.5/1.5/2 McManis is going to be 34 next year so it is time to pass the torch to a younger ST standout. DHC gets leaned on to become the top ST star and top reserve safety. Total Cap Left - $19.16 Bears Draft They start with these picks so far: 1 (25) 2 3 5 5 (Leno) 5 (Massie) 6 7 (Shaheen) There are three trades, the first prior to the draft and the second and third during the draft – Bears trade 1(25), 2022’s 1st, 2022’s 2nd, and Allen Robinson Giants trade 1(2) Bears make a huge jump to number 2 to select a QB well before the draft. NYG needs a TON of help, and ARob gives them a legit number one since the Engram focus in the passing game has failed. With this they get a true number one WR to pair with Barkley, Engram and Jones, two firsts and a pair of 2nd rounders. That is a lot to put together with their own picks in rebuilding the G-Men. The Bears need to find a franchise QB and to do so they make a bold move. Bears trade their 3rd rounder and Anthony Miller Titans trade their 2nd round pick Titans have a QB and RB duo to envy, but Brown, Humphries, and Davis are all just decent players. Miller has had flashes of brilliance and with Tannehill and Henry to take the focus off him and Vrabel to drive him TEN bets they can get the most out of Miller. Bears will have their pick explained, but they were not content to wait on Miller to become the guy anymore. Bears trade two 5th round picks from this year Any team trades a single late 4th round pick Now the draft- 1(2) Bears take QB Justin Fields (Ohio State) – 6’3”, 225 lbs Fields has a ton of arm talent, elite athleticism and fantastic speed to pair with sub-4.5 40 speed. While he isn’t in the same league of athleticism as Lamar Jackson (what QB is?) he is miles ahead of Jackson as a passer. Roman gets his chance at a franchise QB with a ballsy trade to go up and get his guy, and they have built a powerful offense around him like they did in BAL for Jackson. With two power runners, a top blocking TE, a receiving TE, and a mix of speed and size WRs Fields has enough to work with in this downhill offense. *** Noteworthy idea – Lawrence has already claimed he doesn’t know if he will stay at Clemson or not, so there are whispers he doesn’t want to go to the Jets. If the Bears can get the 2nd overall pick they may be able to swap their pick in Fields for Lawrence too, as they would be able to speak with Lawrence pre-draft like any other team. I doubt he would pull an Eli Manning/John Elway but if so even better for us. 2A – OT Jackson Carman (Clemson) – 6’5”, 348 lbs Villanueva took over the LT spot, and Jackson can immediately take over the void at RT. He is a big, mean dude and has enough athleticism to play LT too. But he is an absolute mauler in the run game, the like we haven’t had since Kyle Long was healthy and pissed off. When Villanueva retires expect him to look at kicking over to LT. 2B (Miller trade) OT/OG Daniel Faalele (Minnesota) 6’8”, 400 lbs Madden made, he isn’t the freak athlete Becton was and isn’t technically sound enough to warrant a 1st. I do think he can make a playweight at 370-380 though, he doesn’t carry as much bad fat as you would assume for his listed size. I would play with the line where he and Carman switch from RG and RT, because like Orlando Brown when he gets his hands on his defender the play should be over. I wouldn’t have an issue with using Kmet or Lewis next to him to chip the EDGE into him either. Really these two are set to eventually be the bookends of the OL. 4th DL Tedarrell Slaton (Florida) 6’5”, 365 lbs Slaton is a NT that is doing all the dirty work for the Gator defense. With Goldman out the Bears have had an obvious drop in physicality and the ILBs have suffered a degree due to it. Slaton comes in and can either pair with Hicks and Goldman for a monstrous 3 man front, or he gives the Bears a guy that can rotate at NT and 5T to allow Hicks and Goldman to rest more. He is a guy that will bring physicality and toughness to a DL that can use an influx of it with RRH, Jenkins, and Edwards all hitting the open market. 5 – Nico Collins (Michigan) – 6’4, 220 lbs Nico is a physical WR who can fight through press coverage. He fights for YAC (which will be paramount in this offense) and is a competitor who goes after the ball hard. Obviously with his size he will be a redzone threat, but he isn’t a speedster. I don’t expect him to test especially well, so his numbers help drop him down. Look for a poor man’s Brandon Marshall with him. 6 P Max Duffy (Kentucky) – 6’1”, 190 lbs The best punter in the draft, no reason to overthink it. Pat O’Donnell isn’t worth investing $2 mil in per year, and now we have a ST coach who has worked with punters with great success. Let him work with a guy who has a monster leg like Duffy and we might have something to really flip the field. 7 (Shaheen) DT/FB Labryan Ray (Alabama) – 6’5”, 290 lbs Ray has no pussrusher moves or countermoves. He is a bullrusher who is high effort and mean as hell. At that size he is surprisingly lean and rocked up. He can anchor and will likely do well to add 15 pounds of acceptable bodyfat, but he is a wolverine who has enough athleticism he can play inside on a 4-3 or in multiple spots in a 3-4, as long as you’re not hoping for him to be more than a run defender. I want to copy what BAL did with Patrick Ricard – put a mean athletic 300+ pounder in at FB to blast people with reckless abandon. Ray may pull some double duty but will find his home longterm at FB. UFA CB Mac McCain III (NC State) KR Brandon Smith (Fayetteville State) RB Santo Dunn (Morehouse) These three will be highly sought after for returner jobs. With the cap being restricted I am not sure we could re-sign Patterson (though if he would take a discount I would in a heartbeat) and Cohen might not have the explosiveness to be a full time PR. So I drive for these three and put an open competition for them to take the roles. Depth Chart QB – Fields, Griffin III, Foles HB – Montgomery, Peterson, Cohen FB – Ray WR – Mooney, Lazard, Collins/Ross, Wims, Ridley TE – Kmet, Lewis, Clark OT – Villenueva, Carman, Sharpe, Banner OG – Daniels, Faalele, Ifedi C – Whitehair, Bars/Hambright/(Daniels) DE – Hicks, Slaton, Nichols (passrusher) NT – Goldman, (Slaton), McCullers OLB – Mack, Quinn, Thomas, Gipson ILB – Smith, Trevathan, Iggy, Teo CB – Fuller, Johnson, Vildor, Shelley, Roberson FS – Jackson, Houston-Carson SS – Gipson, Lucas K- Santos P - Duffy LS- Scales RET – McCain/Smith/Dunn 2022 and Beyond 2021 allowed a massive boost to OL to be made, a franchise QB, and places to be patched with vets. That being said there are several spots that will need updated, like WR, HB, and ILB. Here are guys that can be cut to allow more cap space for more moves in 2022. I have no doubt Horitz and Roman find guys to contribute. Several contracts like Foles, DT, and Quinn (likely post-June 1st for him)will allow more resources to be placed in skill position and depth at other spots as well. Edited December 13, 2020 by Sugashane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardown3231 Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I'd be lying if I said I hated any part of this Good work, dude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
41st ward Chicagoian Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Nice work indeed. Very bold. Love the fire pace part. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigbear72 Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I'm actually on board with most if not all of this. It would leave our WR core a little thin on proven talent (as in a lot thin) but I trade that for the upgraded OL any day. We can grab WR help in 2022. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBears019 Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Bears trade 1(25), 2022’s 1st, 2022’s 2nd, 2022 2nd and Allen Robinson Maybe I’m missing something, but where is the second 2nd round pick coming from? Anyway, I love the attention to the OL that this mock gives. Bold moves everywhere and I love it. I do think it would be tough to get much of anything in return for Massie, much less a 5th. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardown3231 Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 43 minutes ago, CBears019 said: Maybe I’m missing something, but where is the second 2nd round pick coming from? Anyway, I love the attention to the OL that this mock gives. Bold moves everywhere and I love it. I do think it would be tough to get much of anything in return for Massie, much less a 5th. Isn't it coming from the Miller to TEN trade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epyon Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I like the majority of this with the biggest notable exception being the qb choice of Fields. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 I have it an A+ after fire Pace. I am not sure they can pull off the trades you suggest, but I love the overall concept for the offense. I love Justin Fields. I would make an insane move for him, but I am not sure they can pull that off from 25. Not many teams want to go from 2 down that far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, CBears019 said: Maybe I’m missing something, but where is the second 2nd round pick coming from? Anyway, I love the attention to the OL that this mock gives. Bold moves everywhere and I love it. I do think it would be tough to get much of anything in return for Massie, much less a 5th. Sorry. Typing late and doubled up on the 2022 2nd. Good catch, I'll edit that out. Edited October 31, 2020 by Sugashane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 2 hours ago, beardown3231 said: Isn't it coming from the Miller to TEN trade? That's what we used to get the the Faalele. It's just a typo in my part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 10 hours ago, Bigbear72 said: I'm actually on board with most if not all of this. It would leave our WR core a little thin on proven talent (as in a lot thin) but I trade that for the upgraded OL any day. We can grab WR help in 2022. You're right, it is definitely thin. I believe QBs make the receivers more than receivers make the QB, and after looking at BAL's WR corps I figured WRs would just have to be the weak point for a year. With the OL beefed up, and hopefully Kmet making me look like an idiot for my pre-draft views on him, I'm just betting they provide enough speed and size mismatches to keep defenses honest. Really it will be dependent on Fields being able to connect on the open deep balls. Might need an old vet to lead them too, IDK. As far as the move for Fields, it definitely is a massive jump. I think it might even take a 2023 2nd or even that year's 1st to get it done too (maybe that was the second "2022 2nd rounder" I had to edit out? IDK). I'd still try to get Lawrence to refuse to go to NYJ and make a play at him but I'd be willing to make the bet with either kid. It sucks to lose the picks but lacking a real franchise QB is worse than missing picks, so I'll bet the farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 I just like the idea of building a more QB friendly offense to ease in the next QB. Big investment in the OL. A coach who runs the rock. The QB can come in and manage until he is ready to roll. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 I like this for actual reasons, but mostly it would be glorious to watch people melt down about trading up to 2 for a QB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WindyCity Posted November 1, 2020 Share Posted November 1, 2020 31 minutes ago, RunningVaccs said: I like this for actual reasons, but mostly it would be glorious to watch people melt down about trading up to 2 for a QB If we get Fields I don’t care if it is Pace making the trade. Even if we get ripped off like most Pace trades. He is 6’2” 230lbs Kyler Murray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 4 hours ago, RunningVaccs said: I like this for actual reasons, but mostly it would be glorious to watch people melt down about trading up to 2 for a QB We would have to start a thread here just to post the best/dumbest Facebook and social media posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.