2023 FA Targets

[Ty21]

6 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

Link isn’t showing for some reason…

I love this signing…been high on Green ever since he was coming out of USC…is athletic & long and can play inside & out…cheaper version of what we are getting with Walker…these are the type of pocket pusher DL we should be able to sign cheaply…add he is still young this is the perfect flyer.

Couldn’t get the image to appear on mobile. Sometimes happens. 
 

He’s nothing more than a depth rotational piece but a good signing regardless. I was so high on Ogbonnia Okoronkwo but he’s another Texans DL guy that has played okay at times. Probably would’ve been at least our 2nd best lineman last year lol

[AZBearsFan]

31 minutes ago, Madmike90 said:

Link isn’t showing for some reason…

I love this signing…been high on Green ever since he was coming out of USC…is athletic & long and can play inside & out…cheaper version of what we are getting with Walker…these are the type of pocket pusher DL we should be able to sign cheaply…add he is still young this is the perfect flyer.

They have very similar athletic profiles and will probably play the same position and serve the same role with Green the depth piece. Another floor setting type of move with a guy who’s shown to be a decent depth piece in such a role.  

[Madmike90]

36 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

They have very similar athletic profiles and will probably play the same position and serve the same role with Green the depth piece. Another floor setting type of move with a guy who’s shown to be a decent depth piece in such a role.  

This is exactly what I expect is to be adding…I think if you look at what Flus had with the Colts it was one star interior player then a lot of rotation pieces who all played meaningful snaps to keep everyone fresh…I would have no issue with us building the same type of DL this season…

Would still love to know what the Vikes are going to do with Za’Darius Smith because he would be another nice fit on the edge.

[Sugashane]

I'd still really like to add Ngakoue. He isn't the conventional DE for Flus and doesn't even have to be a starter because he is proven trash vs the run. But use him like Aldon Smith was used by SF. Sub him in on passing downs or specific sets and let him just pin his ears back.

 

Your base DE likely will be kicking in with some regularity so just make the swap happen and hope he continues his 8+ sacks per season trend. 

[malagabears]

11 hours ago, Madmike90 said:

This is exactly what I expect is to be adding…I think if you look at what Flus had with the Colts it was one star interior player then a lot of rotation pieces who all played meaningful snaps to keep everyone fresh…I would have no issue with us building the same type of DL this season…

Would still love to know what the Vikes are going to do with Za’Darius Smith because he would be another nice fit on the edge.

This is exactly the mold of player Flus wants on the Dline:

6.4

275-280 lbs.

34 inch arms

9.0+ RAS 

[AZBearsFan]

4 hours ago, malagabears said:

This is exactly the mold of player Flus wants on the Dline:

6.4

275-280 lbs.

34 inch arms

9.0+ RAS 

I’m not sure there’s really a mold for him, or at least not one that we can see yet. Last offseason they targeted AQM and Dominique Robinson (both 6’5” 253 lb, 33” arms) at DE who are both completely different profiles at the position than Walker and Green. 

[dll2000]

The or ‘a’ reason I wanted Jawaan Taylor so bad in offseason is going into draft I feel like I have to take an OT early now or I am not getting one.  And I need one.  

And none of them are sure things.  I know I have a likely baseline of play with Taylor.  Or even McGlinchey who i didn’t like as much. Or even Brown who supposedly is still really unathletic.  Or Conklin earlier in year (it could have been whispered to his agent we would pay a ton more before he resigned with Browns).

I want to be free to take Jalen Carter at 9 if he slips and I think he is good mentally.   That is just example.  Could be Witherspoon or whoever.  Point is I want to be free to take my BPA.  I want to swing for fences. 

I just don’t buy that teams like KC and Denver can pay all its stars and premium positions and we can’t.  Especially when we are paying no one.  What are we the Oakland A’s now? The cap can be manipulated where there is a will.  We didn’t even have to.  

[Ty21]

16 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

The or ‘a’ reason I wanted Jawaan Taylor so bad in offseason is going into draft I feel like I have to take an OT early now or I am not getting one.  And I need one.  

And none of them are sure things.  I know I have a likely baseline of play with Taylor.  Or even McGlinchey who i didn’t like as much. Or even Brown who supposedly is still really unathletic.  Or Conklin earlier in year (it could have been whispered to his agent we would pay a ton more before he resigned with Browns).

I want to be free to take Jalen Carter at 9 if he slips and I think he is good mentally.   That is just example.  Could be Witherspoon or whoever.  Point is I want to be free to take my BPA.  I want to swing for fences. 

I just don’t buy that teams like KC and Denver can pay all its stars and premium positions and we can’t.  Especially when we are paying no one.  What are we the Oakland A’s now? The cap can be manipulated where there is a will.  We didn’t even have to.  

So you’re suggesting we get bent over a barrel by free agents out of desperation, or that we tamper with a player lol. 

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, Ty21 said:

So you’re suggesting we get bent over a barrel by free agents out of desperation, or that we tamper with a player lol. 

LOL.  I teach all my offensive players to hold, but to hold in ways that are unlikely to be flagged.  

If you aren't taking rules of a game to the absolute max and maybe a little beyond you are doing it wrong.

 

 

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, Ty21 said:

So you’re suggesting we get bent over a barrel by free agents out of desperation, or that we tamper with a player lol. 

I don't see it as being over barrel to overpay for a FA of need.  You don't want to do it again and again.   When you miss on drafts over years it is a necessity.    I was under impression that we cleared an insane amount of cap space to do just that.   Not sit on it.

But that being said.  I am okay with passing on FA OTs - IF - you highly believe in a specific OT or OT(s) in draft that you like better than FA options and you have a plan to get them.

If I really like an OT or 2 in draft - there is no point in me signing a big FA OT.    Then my draft OT sits or displaces another resource I have in hand that I like (Braxton Jones - presumably).

It is a redundant use of a valuable resource.

 

[Ty21]

15 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

When you miss on drafts over years it is a necessity.

That’s one of my biggest knocks on Poles and Eberflus: how many bears drafts they’ve missed on. 

16 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

I was under impression that we cleared an insane amount of cap space to do just that.   Not sit on it.

Desperation doesn’t give you a championship. It gives you a perennial loser. If they thought one of the available tackles was a guy they felt worthy of a considerable contract I’m sure they would’ve gone harder but there wasn’t a single available OT that didn’t have considerable concerns. The OT we were reportedly in on signed very quickly with the broncos. 
 

21 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

But that being said.  I am okay with passing on FA OTs - IF - you highly believe in a specific OT or OT(s) in draft that you like better than FA options and you have a plan to get them.

Doesn’t this deflate your whole argument here? 
 

The fun thing about the nfl off-season is that you’re not disqualified from signing free agents after the draft. Knowing what’s there, taking what you like then going in after to get cheaper deals on players that do have some level of talent. 

[dll2000]

19 minutes ago, Ty21 said:

 

Doesn’t this deflate your whole argument here? 
 

I am not really arguing.  I am trying to figure the thought process.

Bottom line is we need to upgrade OT and C before game day.

If we get Darnell Williams or Paris and Tippman or John Michael Schmitz or Steve Avila (assuming he can play center) I am just fine with passing on FAs.

 

 

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

I am not really arguing.  I am trying to figure the thought process.

Bottom line is we need to upgrade OT and C before game day.

If we get Darnell Williams or Paris and Tippman or John Michael Schmitz or Steve Avila (assuming he can play center) I am just fine with passing on FAs.

 

 

To be fair, Mustipher to Whitehair at C is a clear upgrade even if not the one people want (though, again, that’s the floor now and a DP may further bolster there).

Poles has already said he’s planning on addressing OT in the draft. Whether that’s an OT at 9 or one in R2-4 with a subsequent signing of Wynn/Fant/Donovan Smith, who knows. There’s so much push for an immediate answer to everyone’s questions though, when arguably the biggest place where teams look for long term upgrades is still 3 weeks out. If the draft and its immediate aftermath comes and goes and we still don’t have any idea what’s happening at OT then by all means people should fire away, but man, the distress to downright meltdown about what is still a very incomplete process here that is happening in some places is really something else.

[Sugashane]

3 hours ago, dll2000 said:

LOL.  I teach all my offensive players to hold, but to hold in ways that are unlikely to be flagged.  

If you aren't taking rules of a game to the absolute max and maybe a little beyond you are doing it wrong.

 

 

If Roquan could have a friend call other franchises to gauge interest in him I don't see why Poles couldn't have a friend call a few players to gauge their interest in coming to get paid in Chicago. lol

 

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

I am not really arguing.  I am trying to figure the thought process.

Bottom line is we need to upgrade OT and C before game day.

If we get Darnell Williams or Paris and Tippman or John Michael Schmitz or Steve Avila (assuming he can play center) I am just fine with passing on FAs.

 

 

Who? You mean Darnell Washington and convert him to OT?

I tried to google the name and a British soap opera actor popped up. lol

 

Edit - You meant Wright. My favorite OT and his name didn't even click. Sorry, I'm a moron. 😒

Edited April 7, 2023 by Sugashane

[StLunatic88]

47 minutes ago, AZBearsFan said:

To be fair, Mustipher to Whitehair at C is a clear upgrade even if not the one people want (though, again, that’s the floor now and a DP may further bolster there

Mustipher to Whitehair is a significant upgrade. Even to just Patrick if that’s who it ends up being is and upgrade. And with the way they went about the OL market in Free Agency, I’d say Poles is completely comfortable having either one of those two as the starting Center in 2023. So we all should get used to that. 

Because as much as I like Tippmann, and how reliable of a Center Wylper might be in his career, anyone outside of John Michel Schmitz (or Skoronski if you’d shift him that fast) I’d have a very hard time seeing any of them being Day 1 starters at Center.