Bears 2019/20; George McCaskey is on the clock

[Susan]

the salary cap is a made-up construct bro

the rams and saints have proven you can stay competitive for several years even if you're cap constrained + lack first-round picks, and they've gone it with an iffy goff and brees in the twilight of his career. might as well try to win now

Get Russ now, air it the **** out and win 10-14 games a year with Russ for the next 5+ years. Who gives a **** about picks when you've got a franchise QB who's gone 98-45-1, hasn't missed a game in his career, won a Super Bowl, made it to another, thrown for 267 TDs to 81 INTs and knows when to tuck and run it. Rodgers STILL kills us every year with his feet and he's almost 40 and we never get a clean hit off on him because he's so smart.

Yes
And +1000
I just worry about our line with Russ
In order to maximize his career we’d want to spend everything else on that
But that’s like worrying about insurance when someone is gonna trade you a Porsche, when you currently got a ‘89 geo metro

I trust the interior with Bars/Whitehair/Mustipher/Daniels all being fairly young and proven. I'd tag & trade ARob for Orlando Brown and let him play LT and roll with Leno at RT.

With a good/great O-Line + Russ, I'd be willing to roll the dice on Anthony Miller finally figuring it out. Russ has done so much with so little at WR (besides Metcalf) and I think Mooney would be a monster with the best deep threat QB in the game.

[Chi town]

Get Russ now, air it the **** out and win 10-14 games a year with Russ for the next 5+ years. Who gives a **** about picks when you've got a franchise QB who's gone 98-45-1, hasn't missed a game in his career, won a Super Bowl, made it to another, thrown for 267 TDs to 81 INTs and knows when to tuck and run it. Rodgers STILL kills us every year with his feet and he's almost 40 and we never get a clean hit off on him because he's so smart.

Yes
And +1000
I just worry about our line with Russ
In order to maximize his career we’d want to spend everything else on that
But that’s like worrying about insurance when someone is gonna trade you a Porsche, when you currently got a ‘89 geo metro

I trust the interior with Bars/Whitehair/Mustipher/Daniels all being fairly young and proven. I'd tag & trade ARob for Orlando Brown and let him play LT and roll with Leno at RT.

With a good/great O-Line + Russ, I'd be willing to roll the dice on Anthony Miller finally figuring it out. Russ has done so much with so little at WR (besides Metcalf) and I think Mooney would be a monster with the best deep threat QB in the game.

I think Kmet would breakout too.

[Susan]

Yes
And +1000
I just worry about our line with Russ
In order to maximize his career we’d want to spend everything else on that
But that’s like worrying about insurance when someone is gonna trade you a Porsche, when you currently got a ‘89 geo metro

I trust the interior with Bars/Whitehair/Mustipher/Daniels all being fairly young and proven. I'd tag & trade ARob for Orlando Brown and let him play LT and roll with Leno at RT.

With a good/great O-Line + Russ, I'd be willing to roll the dice on Anthony Miller finally figuring it out. Russ has done so much with so little at WR (besides Metcalf) and I think Mooney would be a monster with the best deep threat QB in the game.

I think Kmet would breakout too.

Jimmy would probably stay considering:

Read on Twitter

Man, if Jimmy is the reason why Russ ends up here... Ryan Pace with the 4D CHESS BABY!

[CaPiTanAK]

Tom Brady is a pocket passer. He might be able to play until 50 (I keed). That Tampa team was loaded too.

Tampa's defense was elite, brady didnt carry them to a win.To give Reed/Mahomes that much difficulty to move the ball speaks volumes. Tampa shut down the MJ of football of this era

That elite defense gave them a mediocre record of 7-9 before Brady without any chance of winning the Superbowl.

You need an offense to win in the modern era of football and it starts with the QB position being elite.

[fleet]

Tom Brady is a pocket passer. He might be able to play until 50 (I keed). That Tampa team was loaded too.

Tampa's defense was elite, brady didnt carry them to a win.To give Reed/Mahomes that much difficulty to move the ball speaks volumes. Tampa shut down the MJ of football of this era

That elite defense gave them a mediocre record of 7-9 before Brady without any chance of winning the Superbowl.

You need an offense to win in the modern era of football and it starts with the QB position being elite.

Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Antonio Brown, Tyler Johnson. Gronk on top of a stacked tight end group. Fournette. Not bums. Then add a top ranked O- Line unit. Tom Brady is good, but he had plenty help. Your core point is understood, yet take care what is necessary putting a team around the QB.

[Kurt Heimlich]

My feeling for anything the Bears do under our failure lame duck GM is that of negativity, or at best, apathy. Trade 3 1sts for Russel? Sure thats an exciting splash. But it will still have the stench of Ryan Pace on it. If somebody without his significant failures of decision making made the same decision then it'd be a completely different spectrum of which to view.

Keeping the failure that is Ryan Pace is such a helpless feeling as a fan. When you're dependent on a decision maker who is as well established of a failure at the position in question as him, you can only shudder, close your eyes and pray for the best at whatever decision we're forced to accept via him.

[transplant]

I'm not a NFL cap expert, but I don't think enough is being talked about by the media with regard to the Bears cap situation. The 2021 cap hasn't been set, but most experts I've read expect it to be around $188mil. The Bears current 2021 salary commitments are at $192mil according to Spotrac (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/. They recently signed RB Ryan Nall, but his 2021 cap hit isn't included. Listening to the media, the common refrain is that "there are lots of ways for teams to to get under the cap." There's some truth to this, but it's not some magic wand.

You can cut players and you recoup the difference between the "dead cap" money (money already paid and pro-rated over the the length of a contract) and the player's 2021 cap hit. For example, one of the popular moves of this type for the Bears is to cut Jimmy Graham who has a $10mil cap it and a $3mil dead cap hit, for a net cap savings of $7mil if you cut him. However, Graham scored 8 TDs last season second only to David Montgomery's 10 TDs and the only other signed TEs on the roster would be Cole Kmet and somebody named Darion Clark. Buster Skrines is another popular cut. His 2021 cap hit is $6mil with a dead cap hit of $3.3mil for a net savings of $2.7mil. However, Skrines is the best slot corner the Bears have. Anyway, if you make these two "obvious" moves, you open up a little less than $10mil in cap space.

You could cut either of our starting OTs and save about $6mil for each. Of course, you'd need to spend something to replace them since the only signed OT are guys named Lachavious Simmons and Badara Traore (Rashard Coward, who sucks and Alex Bars are listed as guards but can play OT, but they're FAs so you'd have to sign them and pay them).

The Bears are over the cap, yet their only signed QB is Foles. Even for a pure semi-competent backup, you've got to figure $4-5mil.

Then there's the issue of signing our own FAs. Obviously, Allen Robinson heads the list. They can franchise tag him for a $18mil cap hit. They could reduce that a bit with a big signing bonus spread over multiple years, but it's big money any way you slice it. I'd like to see Cordarelle Patterson come back...he made $5 mil last season. The Bears kickers (P Pat O'Donnell and PK Cairo Santos) are both unrestricted FAs.

Khalil Mack has the Bears biggest 2021 cap hit ($26.6mil) and he also has the team's biggest dead cap hit ($37.4mil). This makes trading him as part of any QB deal (which I've heard from several talking heads) a non-starter. The Bears may be able to restructure Mack's deal, but there is an element to "selling out the future" to this since his contract is already very cap friendly.

Again, I'm not a NFL cap expert. Frankly, I look at the bears situation and think they're screwed 8 ways to Sunday. Watching how they somehow make this work will teach me a lot about how this ish works.

[Susan]

I'm not a NFL cap expert, but I don't think enough is being talked about by the media with regard to the Bears cap situation. The 2021 cap hasn't been set, but most experts I've read expect it to be around $188mil. The Bears current 2021 salary commitments are at $192mil according to Spotrac (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bears/cap/. They recently signed RB Ryan Nall, but his 2021 cap hit isn't included. Listening to the media, the common refrain is that "there are lots of ways for teams to to get under the cap." There's some truth to this, but it's not some magic wand.

You can cut players and you recoup the difference between the "dead cap" money (money already paid and pro-rated over the the length of a contract) and the player's 2021 cap hit. For example, one of the popular moves of this type for the Bears is to cut Jimmy Graham who has a $10mil cap it and a $3mil dead cap hit, for a net cap savings of $7mil if you cut him. However, Graham scored 8 TDs last season second only to David Montgomery's 10 TDs and the only other signed TEs on the roster would be Cole Kmet and somebody named Darion Clark. Buster Skrines is another popular cut. His 2021 cap hit is $6mil with a dead cap hit of $3.3mil for a net savings of $2.7mil. However, Skrines is the best slot corner the Bears have. Anyway, if you make these two "obvious" moves, you open up a little less than $10mil in cap space.

You could cut either of our starting OTs and save about $6mil for each. Of course, you'd need to spend something to replace them since the only signed OT are guys named Lachavious Simmons and Badara Traore (Rashard Coward, who sucks and Alex Bars are listed as guards but can play OT, but they're FAs so you'd have to sign them and pay them).

The Bears are over the cap, yet their only signed QB is Foles. Even for a pure semi-competent backup, you've got to figure $4-5mil.

Then there's the issue of signing our own FAs. Obviously, Allen Robinson heads the list. They can franchise tag him for a $18mil cap hit. They could reduce that a bit with a big signing bonus spread over multiple years, but it's big money any way you slice it. I'd like to see Cordarelle Patterson come back...he made $5 mil last season. The Bears kickers (P Pat O'Donnell and PK Cairo Santos) are both unrestricted FAs.

Khalil Mack has the Bears biggest 2021 cap hit ($26.6mil) and he also has the team's biggest dead cap hit ($37.4mil). This makes trading him as part of any QB deal (which I've heard from several talking heads) a non-starter. The Bears may be able to restructure Mack's deal, but there is an element to "selling out the future" to this since his contract is already very cap friendly.

Again, I'm not a NFL cap expert. Frankly, I look at the bears situation and think they're screwed 8 ways to Sunday. Watching how they somehow make this work will teach me a lot about how this ish works.

https://dcs.megaphone.fm/VMP4927603013.mp3?key=69f61c41b4802073ef63087b758b0911

Good podcast explaining what's up with different NFL salary cap things!

[transplant]

^^^Thanks, Susan. I'm listening to it now.

[Bulls69]

We just witnessed Tom Brady changing a bum team to Super Bowl winner. Yes, I’m trading three firsts for Wilson without thinking twice. We just have to do a lot of work scouting to get gems in the later rounds.

And Tom was also a free agent three first round picks is too steep plus you're going to trust Pace to craft a team

[dice]

We just witnessed Tom Brady changing a bum team to Super Bowl winner. Yes, I’m trading three firsts for Wilson without thinking twice. We just have to do a lot of work scouting to get gems in the later rounds.

And Tom was also a free agent three first round picks is too steep plus you're going to trust Pace to craft a team

that's a good point. seattle has managed to remain very good w/ wilson on a big contract through good team building. the texans, on the other hand, have been up and down w/ watson on his rookie deal because of complete GM incompetence. ryan pace is somewhere in-between

i have no problem in theory with giving up a lot of assets for an elite QB. like most people, i just don't want ryan pace in charge of building around that player after giving up those assets

[patryk7754]

I think we do whatever it takes to get Wilson. people are going to say it'll cost too much. No it won't. Picks are overvalued and if we have to trade 3 or 4 picks for a HOFer when we've had less good QBs than the browns that it would be stupid not to

[Dresden]

I think we do whatever it takes to get Wilson. people are going to say it'll cost too much. No it won't. Picks are overvalued and if we have to trade 3 or 4 picks for a HOFer when we've had less good QBs than the browns that it would be stupid not to

I agree. I just wish Wilson were 28 or 30 and not 32.

[patryk7754]

I think we do whatever it takes to get Wilson. people are going to say it'll cost too much. No it won't. Picks are overvalued and if we have to trade 3 or 4 picks for a HOFer when we've had less good QBs than the browns that it would be stupid not to

I agree. I just wish Wilson were 28 or 30 and not 32.

fair point but i think he has at least 10 pro-bowl caliber seasons left. And the same mindset should be had with Watson.

[fleet]

We just witnessed Tom Brady changing a bum team to Super Bowl winner. Yes, I’m trading three firsts for Wilson without thinking twice. We just have to do a lot of work scouting to get gems in the later rounds.

And Tom was also a free agent three first round picks is too steep plus you're going to trust Pace to craft a team

that's a good point. seattle has managed to remain very good w/ wilson on a big contract through good team building. the texans, on the other hand, have been up and down w/ watson on his rookie deal because of complete GM incompetence. ryan pace is somewhere in-between

i have no problem in theory with giving up a lot of assets for an elite QB. like most people, i just don't want ryan pace in charge of building around that player after giving up those assets

even though Ryan Pace has dug a big hole, he might stop digging


https://chicago.suntimes.com/sports-saturday/2021/2/27/22304526/nick-foles-remember-him-still-an-option-for-bears-at-qb

[Susan]

Read on Twitter

[MalagaBulls]

Presser today.

Read on Twitter

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Presser today.

Read on Twitter

In regards to what? Free agency? Future direction of the team? I'd be curious to hear what they say although it will probably just be the same old press filler.

[ATRAIN53]

Devin Hester helping out on the Wilson recruiting!

Read on Twitter

I hope we don't end up with Alex Smith backing up Foles.
Smith and Nagy were together in KC so there is some familiarity there.

Remember Smith is the guy the Niners drated over Rodgers. He loves any chance to prove that was a mistake.
Do we really want to give Rodgers even more incentive to beat us? He already owns us.

[MalagaBulls]

Meh, that presser is a whole lot of nothing, vomit really. Pace isn't saying anything and the beat writers are too soft with him. Turned it off after 5 minutes.