HuskieBear Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) Real quick mock with players bouncing around my head as targets. This isn't nearly a full offseason, but me playing around on OTC and mock simulators. Going to make any trades/players acquired basic (i'm not over thinking numbers or anything) 2023 Offseason Cuts Whitehair - saves 5.8M AQM - saves 3.9M No other players stick out as cut candidates. No 6/1 cuts since we have the cap space to absorb now and be done with it/leave as little dead money moving forward as possible Resigning Reiff - 3M Morrow - 2.5M DHC - 2M Watts - Minimum Pennel - Minimum Scales - Minimum Adams - Minimum Blasingame - Minimum Wesco - Minimum Mustipher - ROFR/2.6M (low key hate this, but alas) Evans - RFA 2.6M Eiselen - ERFA 870k Reiff is resigned as a backup tackle/swing tackle. Morrow resigns as starting WLB again - i know we want to upgrade our LBs, but that might be a next season kinda thing. DHC is a captain and ST stud, as well as capable backup. Minimum depth signings everywhere else. Mustipher comes back to compete with Kramer to be backup C. Extensions Johnson - 5 years/80M - $16M/year Kmet - 4 years/48M - $12M/year JJ doesn't have the flash, but as a 2nd round player he's come in and played like a low level 1 or high level 2 and gets paid accordingly. Kmet was singled out by Poles in his end of year press conference as a dude and gets rewarded for it after his best year as a pro. Poles rewards guys with extensions. Need to see Mooney after the injury first. Free Agency Da'Ron Payne - 5 years/90M - $18M/year Zach Allen - 4 years/28M - $7M/year Orlando Brown - 5 years/110M - $22M/year I don't plan on filling FA out more, just gonna focus on the big guys. Orlando Brown gets paid as a LT like he wants and KC might not be able to afford that. Absolutely massive human being, maybe an overpay, but having him until his age 32/33 season could be worse. Everyone knows about and wants Payne, don't have to get into much detail here. Allen might be an underpay here, could see him getting a good deal, but this gives us a starting DE with the size Flus wants and is a young, ascending player. Draft *TRADE* Bears trade 1.1 in Colts for 1.4, 2.25 and a 2024 1st. This might be reasonable, this might be light, it might be too much. Tried to keep it fair and basic 1.4 (from Colts) - Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia - is this redundant with Payne? no, can never have enough pressure up the middle and would make us a force there. could also allow us to rotate both guys to keep them fresh 2.35 (from Colts) - Drew Sanders, LB, Arkansas - i went back and forth with this pick. Simulators are all over the place - Ringo was available in one and thought about grabbing him as our trevon diggs next to jj and putting gordon in the slot. van ness was available in another and would instantly give our dline 4 new starts. in the end, Sanders was available in both and i went with him. Sanders is 6-5, 240 and can run. Originally a 5 star edge recruit, he started out at bama before going to arkansas where he finished the season with 9.5 sacks as an off ball LB. needs to be better with diagnosing plays, but i think he could be the WLB Flus is looking for - especially with Sanborn manning the middle now. Morrow starting at SLB with Adams/Weatherford/Thomas backing up is pretty decent. 2.53 - Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State - ohh baby are our OTs BIG. I know Poles likes athletes, and for their size, these guys are athletic. Jones made a good decision going back to school this year and definitely got better, showing scouts he could use his bigger body with technique rather than just size. again, this is a guy that was available in both mock simulators i did. Jones and Brown will make it difficult to go through, forcing guys to go around them and giving JF1 a pocket to step up into, and both guys are road pavers. He's not a finished product, but a right side with Jenkins and Jones would be fierce. 3.64 - Zach Harrison, Edge, Ohio State - sticking with my "both simulators (pfn and pff) need to have the player available rule, i went with a physical specimen to add to our dline. He doesn't have to start right away, as Gipson and Allen can start with robinson as a rotational piece too, but it gives him a chance to come in and get better with technique, while also giving us a guy oozing with potential who should have multiple opportunities to get after the QB with payne/carter/allen also on the line. I thought about going with TE Tucker Kraft here, as it would give JF1 another weapon on the field - even with Kmet being extended - but he just straight up was not in the PFF simulator. I also thought about a potential trade, this seems like a good place to move down a little bit and try and pick up another mid-round draft pick, just don't know the value and they're hard to predict. Could use another mid-round pick here though because... *TRADE* Bears trade 4.103 and a conditional 2024 5th round pick to the Cardinals for WR DeAndre Hopkins. I honestly don't know what Hopkins would go for. I'm sure AZ wants a day 2 pick, but with his current age, contract, and sussy/injury history, they might not get that. Plus Dhop has a no-trade clause and would likely want a new contract. Our first pick on day 3 might sway them, plus we can give DHop a new deal with front loaded guarantees and spread the hit out on the back end. The conditional pick is based on player/team production/success - a 4th just seems light, so i threw that in. We saw what happened when Hurts got a guy he could trust, and Hopkins could be that for Fields. 4.134 (from Eagles) - Kenny McIntosh, RB, Georgia - ok, breaking my rule a little bit, as PFF doesn't have us with PHI's 4th rounder from the Quinn trade and Kenny went 4 picks before us on this one, and Roschon Johnson went 4 picks before us on PFN. I want to target one of those guys with our 4th rounder to back up Herbert. Both are bigger than KH24 and would be great backs to spell him, ultimately i went with McIntosh due to his pass BLOCKING abilities, which i feel are better than johnson's, but i wouldn't be upset with either of them. 5.137 - Jake Haener, QB, Freso State - For years we have neglected the QB position in the draft and have trotted out journeyman backups in the 30s forever. Haener is drafted to finally give the bears a developmental QB on the roster. Haener is not expected to be a starter in the league - but i think he's on the level of Minshew and Heinecke. He doesn't have the most physical QB skills, but the dude is a baller and tough as ****. I think he would be a perfect backup in this league. I thought about a guy closer to JF's skill set like DTR, but went with the better player over better fit here. How much more enjoyable would our season be if we had a guy like Haener coming in at the end instead of Siemian or Peterman. 5.159 (from Ravens) - Josh Whyle, TE, Cincinnati - Kmet is entrenched as the starter, Wesco is resigned as a blocker, and we have Chase Allen and Jake Tonges as depth guys. Whyle comes in as a player with great hands and good acceleration, but could improve his route running and blocking. On day 3, i'm looking for potential and depth, and i think Whyle is a good combo of both and would come in as TE2 for us. Also, what draft picks we have is really all over the place once you get into day 3. i've seen this pick as 150, 154, 158 and 159. 7.220 - C.J. Johnson, WR, East Carolina - I've said it before, but these sites need to update their ****. both of them have us with 6th round picks, which i dont believe we have (sent LAC back to them last year, and traded ours for Harry). A MadMike90 favorite, Johnson has size (6'2'', 225) with massive hands and patrols the middle of the field well. He doesn't create much separation, but has big paws and turns into a RB with the ball in his hands. It's not perfect, but let's see what we can do here. Depth Chart QB - Fields, Siemian, Haener (R) RB - Herbert, McIntosh (R), Evans FB - Blasingame WR - Hopkins, Mooney, Claypool, Jones, ESB, Johnson (R) TE - Kmet, Whyle (R), Wesco LT - Brown LG - Jones, Carter C - Patrick, Mustipher RG - Jenkins, Leatherwood RT - Jones (R), Rieff DE - Allen, Harrison (R) DT - Payne, Jones DT - Carter (R), Watts, Pennel DE - Gipson, Robinson WLB - Sanders (R), Weatherford MLB - Sanborn, Adams SLB - Morrow, Lewis CB - Johnson, Jones CB - Vildor, Ojemudia NB - Gordon, Blackwell FS - Jackson, Hicks SS - Brisker, DHC P - Gill K - Santos LS - Scales Roster is set. Current biggest needs looking at this is CB2, C, NT, depth G, backup C - but can't fix everything in one offseason. Obviously back 5-7 guys are interchangeable based on other FA signings, draft picks, and UDFA. Would try and sign K Jake Mooney from Michigan as a UDFA to compete with Santos. 3 new starters on the Oline (Orlando Brown at LT, Dawand Jones at RT, Braxton Jones at LG) and 3-4 new starters on the DLine (Allen, Carter, Payne, Harrison). New toys for JF (Hopkins, McIntosh, Whyle, Johnson), and a potential WLB of the future with Sanders. Edited January 31 by HuskieBear 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I am a little sad you didn't resign Montgomery. I take Kenny McIntosh and Josh Whyle a lot in these slots when playing with simulators. I like Whyle. I discovered him earlier this week or whenever I did as I randomly watch players I draft in simulators late. He moves pretty fluid for being so tall and he has really soft hands. Obviously he presents a nice visible target for a mobile QB looking for an open man while scrambling. His blocking isn't horrible either for a college TE (most are horrible blockers). He can be a useful guy with some upside for a 5th or 6th round pick. McIntosh is just a solid RB. I am strong advocate of spending a 5th on a good RB like every other year. Just keep a pipeline of potential. I like idea of taking a QB when you have a lot of picks. Jake Haener is as good as any. Never know when it will payoff. Like buying a lottery ticket or 4 team parley or whatever metaphor. Rare win, but can be a big payoff. We never do it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankWilliams Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Just curious about Hopkins, seen a lot of folks mock him. Any specific reason why we think he's on the trading block, other than AZ is in shambles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskieBear Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 49 minutes ago, TankWilliams said: Just curious about Hopkins, seen a lot of folks mock him. Any specific reason why we think he's on the trading block, other than AZ is in shambles? he has a $30M cap hit this year and $26m next year, AZ only has $14M in cap space but can save $8M by trading him pre 6/1. Their franchise QB tore his ACL in december and wont play much of the season, so you'll have a 31 year old WR that will play most, if not all, of next year with a backup qb. it makes sense from AZ point of view to trade him and recoup some assets for the future while KM1 is out, they save some money in the short term as well. they aren't really going to be relevant next year, so can use the trade as a retooling. they still have hollywood brown, rondale moore, zach ertz, and trey mcbride as weapons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I would be SUPER happy with this honestly. OL is built to beat the hell out of people, thought I'd rather keep Whitehair as the bandaid center and Patrick the back up. I could definitely see some sets with the DL being Carter - Payne - Jones - Allen. That would be a seriously physical front 4 too. Jones isn't a typical NT but his ability to shoot gaps at least makes him a threat there. Good work man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 2 hours ago, TankWilliams said: Just curious about Hopkins, seen a lot of folks mock him. Any specific reason why we think he's on the trading block, other than AZ is in shambles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beardown3231 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Good work on this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Upgrading 2 OL positions over last year via FA and draft (which seems pretty likely - the FA at least should hit) and adding Hopkins completely changes way this offense looks and operates. Mooney and Claypool look completely different with Hopkins on the field as well. Adding Payne and a top rookie defender on DL/edge would be a large step in fixing the defense. But I don't see Poles trading for Hopkins. I think he stays young with a long outlook. I would love it if he did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ty21 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I’m still iffy on Kmet and what he actually offers. Making him fringe a top 10 TE makes me cringe a little. I’m so sour as a bears fan that I doubt we spend our money on two premier free agent targets like that but god I hope we do. It isn’t redundant with Payne to draft Carter too, as part of Payne’s dominance was having his bro Allen right next to him in Washington. Having another force on the line next to him gets us closer to being the monsters of the midway that much quicker, as the middle gets permanently plugged I love/hate Drew Sanders. It’ll change a lot before draft day, I’m sure. I’d be surprised if Dawand Jones is still there then, but if he is, we don’t need 4 other guys on the line. He can just lay down. A 4th and a conditional 5th is well worth buying Fields some confidence. I don’t love rb here. I figure a few guys of note will still be on the board later than this and it might be worthwhile to take a flyer on cb around this point to shore up CB2. It’s looking like a huge liability next year I’d also rather be in qb purgatory with Fields down than use a pick on the position here 😅 Love Whyle as a receiving te. He was my sleeper TE but with everyone talking about him, it doesn’t make him much of a sleeper. You only took him as a subtle kiss to MM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 10 hours ago, Ty21 said: I’m still iffy on Kmet and what he actually offers. Making him fringe a top 10 TE makes me cringe a little. I’m so sour as a bears fan that I doubt we spend our money on two premier free agent targets like that but god I hope we do. It isn’t redundant with Payne to draft Carter too, as part of Payne’s dominance was having his bro Allen right next to him in Washington. Having another force on the line next to him gets us closer to being the monsters of the midway that much quicker, as the middle gets permanently plugged I love/hate Drew Sanders. It’ll change a lot before draft day, I’m sure. I’d be surprised if Dawand Jones is still there then, but if he is, we don’t need 4 other guys on the line. He can just lay down. A 4th and a conditional 5th is well worth buying Fields some confidence. I don’t love rb here. I figure a few guys of note will still be on the board later than this and it might be worthwhile to take a flyer on cb around this point to shore up CB2. It’s looking like a huge liability next year I’d also rather be in qb purgatory with Fields down than use a pick on the position here 😅 Love Whyle as a receiving te. He was my sleeper TE but with everyone talking about him, it doesn’t make him much of a sleeper. You only took him as a subtle kiss to MM. Kmet is just a guy. Which is fine. He is a solid NFL starter which is nice. We have had a lot of bums at position in recent years. I don't think DL are ever redundant. Get as many good ones as you can. I would love to have Carter and Payne. I haven't seen Drew Sanders play yet. Dawand Jones is a monster of a human being. I like those guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuskieBear Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 On 1/31/2023 at 10:48 PM, Ty21 said: I’m so sour as a bears fan that I doubt we spend our money on two premier free agent targets like that but god I hope we do. i absolutely get this. but with the amount of money that we have and that fact that, at least in this mock, those resources are put into the OL/DL, i would have to think our 2 former OL decision makers and HC with an affinity for the 3T will make it happen. On 1/31/2023 at 10:48 PM, Ty21 said: I’d be surprised if Dawand Jones is still there then, but if he is, we don’t need 4 other guys on the line. He can just lay down i'm back and forth with him. he's a mammoth of a man, but i still worry about finesse rushers, especially guys with an inside spin move. would have love to have seen him all week in Mobile, but he just took off after day 1 with no explanation. that also seems like a pink flag to me (not all the way red, but concerning). do those questions push him down towards 53 a little bit? who knows On 1/31/2023 at 10:48 PM, Ty21 said: I don’t love rb here. I figure a few guys of note will still be on the board later than this and it might be worthwhile to take a flyer on cb around this point to shore up CB2. It’s looking like a huge liability next year i don't disagree. i wanted to get a CB in there, but nobody was around in the top 3 rounds and i don't know enough about the bottom rounds. my FA portion def isn't filled out, so there might be a guy we grab there to be CB2 this season. as far as RB goes, i think if we let Monty go we grab a guy in the mid rounds. i worry about mcintosh's vision in this system, but love his pass catching/blocking. On 1/31/2023 at 10:48 PM, Ty21 said: You only took him as a subtle kiss to MM. not necessarily a kiss, but at this moment i don't know enough about the guys projected in rounds 6-7. did i throw him in because i knew he'd likely be available there and thought he was interesting from a size/speed/catching ability? ya. i also thought about grabbing a K like Jake Moody to compete with Santos. in the 7th round your just as likely to find an arlington hambright as anything else 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 2 minutes ago, HuskieBear said: i absolutely get this. but with the amount of money that we have and that fact that, at least in this mock, those resources are put into the OL/DL, i would have to think our 2 former OL decision makers and HC with an affinity for the 3T will make it happen. i'm back and forth with him. he's a mammoth of a man, but i still worry about finesse rushers, especially guys with an inside spin move. would have love to have seen him all week in Mobile, but he just took off after day 1 with no explanation. that also seems like a pink flag to me (not all the way red, but concerning). do those questions push him down towards 53 a little bit? who knows i don't disagree. i wanted to get a CB in there, but nobody was around in the top 3 rounds and i don't know enough about the bottom rounds. my FA portion def isn't filled out, so there might be a guy we grab there to be CB2 this season. as far as RB goes, i think if we let Monty go we grab a guy in the mid rounds. i worry about mcintosh's vision in this system, but love his pass catching/blocking. not necessarily a kiss, but at this moment i don't know enough about the guys projected in rounds 6-7. did i throw him in because i knew he'd likely be available there and thought he was interesting from a size/speed/catching ability? ya. i also thought about grabbing a K like Jake Moody to compete with Santos. in the 7th round your just as likely to find an arlington hambright as anything else I heard he dominated while he was out there. Haven't seen it. Someone said he got sick. It is cold and flu season. Other guys may not want him out there spreading it. He is pretty sure fire within 2 rounds pick I think without senior bowl. He may have also just thought why push through being sick? I showed what I can do. Dude is 6'8 375. Monster amongst monsters. Running into him is like running into a fire hydrant. But still giants tend to be injury prone. They also get feet problems. I keep him in leg braces throughout his NFL career. I know NFL players usually don't wear them. If I was him I would. I like the giants on the OL as long as they can move enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chisoxguy7 Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 2 hours ago, HuskieBear said: do those questions push him down towards 53 a little bit? who knows Jones has Bill Belichick written all over him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugashane Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 On 2/2/2023 at 10:20 AM, dll2000 said: I heard he dominated while he was out there. Haven't seen it. Someone said he got sick. It is cold and flu season. Other guys may not want him out there spreading it. He is pretty sure fire within 2 rounds pick I think without senior bowl. He may have also just thought why push through being sick? I showed what I can do. Dude is 6'8 375. Monster amongst monsters. Running into him is like running into a fire hydrant. But still giants tend to be injury prone. They also get feet problems. I keep him in leg braces throughout his NFL career. I know NFL players usually don't wear them. If I was him I would. I like the giants on the OL as long as they can move enough. If the Bears would have listened to me and drafted Mailata we could have him and Jones as the bookends. The Two Tower references from LOTR would have been reason enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dll2000 Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 31 minutes ago, Sugashane said: If the Bears would have listened to me and drafted Mailata we could have him and Jones as the bookends. The Two Tower references from LOTR would have been reason enough. You wanted Mailata? Well done. He went in 7th. Wasn't he a rugby player? Those foreign guys almost never work out except as punters or kickers. Note sure Jones is the guy. He did really good for a 5th round rookie, but wasn't a great starter overall. He got bullied a lot in pass pro. Run blocking looked pretty good often. I never went back and closely looked at him. Just individual plays here and there you notice in real time. I have no faith at all in PFF numbers. I would like to watch a full game and compare it PFF grades sometime. I would like to see their each play grade vs. mine and see how it shakes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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