Bears Offseason Tracker

[dll2000]

5 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

Plural WR. We invested in three free agents last year at WR (counting Cruz) even when we thought we had Meredith and White already in place. I can’t see a lesser approach this year.  

That's his MO.  Throw a lot of bodies at a position of great need and hope one or more comes up ace's.

 

[pigsooie5]

The Sitton move was essentially written on the wall. I’d be fairly surprised if Pace signed Norwell given the crazy contracts I’m expecting from the Giants and Colts who are 2x as desperate for interior OL. I think you’ll see one of two options;

A. They secretly really like Jordan Morgan/Eric Kush and will go into camp with battling it out with the loser playing swing. 

B. They sign a mid-level replacement with youth and upside such as Zach Fulton or Spencer Long.

I would be happy with either and would much rather see our FA $ and 8 overall Pick used on more premiere positions/playmakers which this team desperately needs. 

[WindyCity]

Sitton was not declining and we do not need the money. I can understand if the Bears needed cap space, but they have 80 million so why not keep a good OG and not open up another hole.

They can like Eric Kush all they want, but he is a medical concern. How can they like Jordan Morgan? He barely played in the preseason and then didn't practice once all season. If that is the answer at LG talk about taking needless risk.

There is a decent chance the Bears are worse at LG in 2018, which doesn't make any sense to me when you consider we have a young QB and all our weapons are young or new.

[WindyCity]

My main problem with this is that they do not need the money.

Free Agency is clearly not Pace's strength so why make another need than the massive ones you have already?

Maybe Pace is gearing up for a big splash in free agency? We have seen that flop before.

[Superman(DH23)]

4 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

My main problem with this is that they do not need the money.

Free Agency is clearly not Pace's strength so why make another need than the massive ones you have already?

Maybe Pace is gearing up for a big splash in free agency? We have seen that flop before.

Sitton is absolutely declining.  He was still solid but hes no where near the all pro he was a few years ago, and he too is a health risk only hes 31 and costs $8M.  You can say they dont need the money all you want to, but as a gm you have to live by the Epstein Model, you pay for a players future not his past. They were not going to get $8M performance from Sitton this year. Its the smart move.  Even if they end up with a worse LG this year, it still was the right move

[WindyCity]

Getting worse doesn't do anything for you.

You do not win because of cap space and cap space is not going to keep Trubisky on his feet.

While declining Sitton was almost a consensus top 5 OG in the league last season so getting 8 million from him this season does not seem unrealistic. He has missed like 6 games in 4 years.

You can say live by the Epstien model, but the key difference is that Epstien lands the big fish. Epstien would let Sitton go and turn around and sign Norwell without question. Pace has been unable to do that in free agency.

Getting worse at LG in a huge season for your 2nd year QB has not upside.

[Superman(DH23)]

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Getting worse doesn't do anything for you.

You do not win because of cap space and cap space is not going to keep Trubisky on his feet.

While declining Sitton was almost a consensus top 5 OG in the league last season so getting 8 million from him this season does not seem unrealistic. He has missed like 6 games in 4 years.

You can say live by the Epstien model, but the key difference is that Epstien lands the big fish. Epstien would let Sitton go and turn around and sign Norwell without question. Pace has been unable to do that in free agency.

Getting worse at LG in a huge season for your 2nd year QB has not upside.

The Epstein model does not correlate 2 moves.  You view each move on its own merit, and idk anyone who would tell you that Sitton was a top 5 OG last year bc he wasnt.  He was probably in the 12-15 range which obviously is still more than serviceable, but again not the all pro he was a few years ago.  Sitton and his $8M hit are stoppers.  They are blocking the team from getting younger and continuing to build the core.  If you dont like the Epstein model, there is also the Bernstein model, does this move get you any closer to winning a championship.  Paying an 31 yo declining player $8M simply does not.

[WindyCity]

3 minutes ago, Superman(DH23) said:

The Epstein model does not correlate 2 moves.  You view each move on its own merit, and idk anyone who would tell you that Sitton was a top 5 OG last year bc he wasnt.  He was probably in the 12-15 range which obviously is still more than serviceable, but again not the all pro he was a few years ago.  Sitton and his $8M hit are stoppers.  They are blocking the team from getting younger and continuing to build the core.  If you dont like the Epstein model, there is also the Bernstein model, does this move get you any closer to winning a championship.  Paying an 31 yo declining player $8M simply does not.

It isn’t about getting 1 step closer to a Championship.

It is about protecting Trubisky during an important season. It is about not creating cap space for no reason.

PFF had him as a top 5 OG, Bleacher report had him inside the top 10.

 

If the Bears sign the Marcus Cooper, Markus Wheaton, Dion Sims, Mike Glennon, of LGs we are all going to be cursing.

You cut bad players, don’t cut good players, especially if you are bad in free agency.

[Superman(DH23)]

14 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

It isn’t about getting 1 step closer to a Championship.

It is about protecting Trubisky during an important season. It is about not creating cap space for no reason.

PFF had him as a top 5 OG, Bleacher report had him inside the top 10.

 

If the Bears sign the Marcus Cooper, Markus Wheaton, Dion Sims, Mike Glennon, of LGs we are all going to be cursing.

You cut bad players, don’t cut good players, especially if you are bad in free agency.

You keep bringing up bad in fa, which is a terrible overreaction.  As much as what you want to talk about Pace being bad and using last year as an example, i counter with 2 things.  1) he tried to go big and was rejected.  There are a lot of things that play into that, coaching uncertainty, qb uncertainty, etc... 2)But when he missed on the big gets he obviously had a price and a philosophy on the 2nd tier guys who almost all signed what really came down to 1 year deals.  All can be walked away from this year if Bears choose without any negative cap consequences.  Thats incredibly smart and forward thinking.  Things change.  The bears had trouble luring the big name guys here last year bc of uncertainty.  Thats no longer the case.  And if we look to 2 years ago when the Bears were in a similar situation, they had no trouble signing the first tier guys in Hicks, Trevathan, & Freeman.  Even Ray Mcdonald to an extent.  I have full confidence that Pace is going into the offseason with a plan, and if there is one thing we know about Pace, when he has conviction on somebody he goes and gets them.

[WindyCity]

34 minutes ago, Superman(DH23) said:

You keep bringing up bad in fa, which is a terrible overreaction.  As much as what you want to talk about Pace being bad and using last year as an example, i counter with 2 things.  1) he tried to go big and was rejected.  There are a lot of things that play into that, coaching uncertainty, qb uncertainty, etc... 2)But when he missed on the big gets he obviously had a price and a philosophy on the 2nd tier guys who almost all signed what really came down to 1 year deals.  All can be walked away from this year if Bears choose without any negative cap consequences.  Thats incredibly smart and forward thinking.  Things change.  The bears had trouble luring the big name guys here last year bc of uncertainty.  Thats no longer the case.  And if we look to 2 years ago when the Bears were in a similar situation, they had no trouble signing the first tier guys in Hicks, Trevathan, & Freeman.  Even Ray Mcdonald to an extent.  I have full confidence that Pace is going into the offseason with a plan, and if there is one thing we know about Pace, when he has conviction on somebody he goes and gets them.

Hicks, Trevathan and Freeman are all signed to well below top level money for their position. They were tier 2 guys.

The year before that he signed McPhee, Royal, Rolle and Allan Ball who all did not live up to their contracts.

What makes you certain he will not he rejected again by his top guys?

Wasting money is wasting money. The fact that it does not hurt the Bears in 2018 is a lie. Every cent that was given to garbage players could have been rolled forward into 2018. That 45 million in guaranteed money could be on the Bears cap right now making them the #1 team in terms of money to spend. 

Pace has struggled in free agency. That is a fact. He is going to cut 80% of the guys he signed last season. How nice would it be if a couple of those guys didn’t suck and could be contributors in 2018? The only guy who didn’t suck was the 1 guy he signed to a 1 year deal that we may lose.

[WindyCity]

You want to cut Sitton? Fine, but you should do it once you have a suitable backup in place.

Maybe they have Zach Fulton locked loaded. That would make this make more sense.

But to cut Sitton to make a run at Norwell and then missing, leaves you exposed.

[Pdogg]

1 hour ago, WindyCity said:

It isn’t about getting 1 step closer to a Championship.

It is about protecting Trubisky during an important season. It is about not creating cap space for no reason.

PFF had him as a top 5 OG, Bleacher report had him inside the top 10.

 

If the Bears sign the Marcus Cooper, Markus Wheaton, Dion Sims, Mike Glennon, of LGs we are all going to be cursing.

You cut bad players, don’t cut good players, especially if you are bad in free agency.

I believe PFF had Amos as the best string safety in football I have no faith in their grading system honestly. If we are that concerned that Pace is that bad in FA (I’m not a Pace fan) then we are doomed regardless, but what we can’t do is hold onto players based off gear of failure In FA.

[BEAR FACE DOWN ARROW]

I tend to be a lot more jolly about Pace than Windy, but I agree completely.  Sitton was getting old, but still played decently. More than anything I don't feel the Bears needed a self inflicted need for this offseason when there were plenty already.

[WindyCity]

6 minutes ago, RunningVaccs said:

I tend to be a lot more jolly about Pace than Windy, but I agree completely.  Sitton was getting old, but still played decently. More than anything I don't feel the Bears needed a self inflicted need for this offseason when there were plenty already.

There was enough work to do this offseason in a competive market without having to find a LG.

I would have preferred to keep it simple, and just have to totally redo OLB, CB and WR.

[Superman(DH23)]

21 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

There was enough work to do this offseason in a competive market without having to find a LG.

I would have preferred to keep it simple, and just have to totally redo OLB, CB and WR.

 But you dont have to totally redo olb and cb.  Olb you have obviously have floyd who is a core piece, you need to add another starter and maybe can upgrade your depth.  Cb you franchise fuller, then you make a decision on whether to keep Amukamara around or if you wanna go big after Butler.  WR is where you need to add bodies thru multiple means, but again its not like you need 5 brand new ones.  This much fret over an aging, declining, overpaid player is just ridiculous.