Bears @ Lions : The seasons final over 12pm CT

[The Sheik]

TV: Fox
Radio: WBBM

[Chewie]

Knox, Peanut, Manning out.

[Posey H8er]

It would be great to see another strong game to end the season on a high note.

I'll be in DeToilet to see this matchup of mighty teams.

[SportsWorld]

Brandon Marshall is at odds with Josh McDaniels again. We really need to swoop in and get him this offseason.

[The Explorer]

Brandon Marshall is at odds with Josh McDaniels again. We really need to swoop in and get him this offseason.

Why would Jerry Angelo trade for a good offensive player?

[NLK]

**yawn** If the BEARS lose, it'll be a culmination of 2009. I still want Lovie Smith axed! He, Ron Turner, and Bob Babich need to roll the F out of the city! Go to f-ing Sandy, Texas you P.O.Ss! We're not firing Angelo unfortunately, McCaskey's are in love with him. We gotta hope we get Shannahan, bring back Ron Rivera, and steal Brandon Marshall. Thats too much to ask for in one off season though...

[WEFFPIM]

Brandon Marshall is at odds with Josh McDaniels again. We really need to swoop in and get him this offseason.

Why would Jerry Angelo trade for a good offensive player?

Jerry Angelo might not be the guy in charge of making deals much longer

[SportsWorld]

Isn't Marshall a free agent this offseason? Or maybe that's just Anquan Boldin.

[Chewie]

This should probably be a whole different thread but KFFL's site shows the following WRs (among others) as being free agents after this year :

Miles Austin (DAL)
Jason Avant (PHI)
Steve Breaston (ARI) - RFA
Antonio Bryant (TB)
Chris Chambers (KC)
Mark Clayton (BAL)
Braylon Edwards (NYJ)
Lee Evans (BUF)
Malcolm Floyd (SD)
Vincent Jackson (SD)
Michael Jenkins (ATL)
Brandon Marshall (DEN)
Lance Moore (NO)
Terrell Owens (BUF)
Bobby Wade (KC)
Kevin Walter (HOU)
Demetrius Williams (BAL)

I personally think the site doesn't have the info right on who's restricted and who's not but Jackson, Marshall, and Austin clearly look to the be the prizes here. I can't imagine SD letting VJ go, though.

[SportsWorld]

Dallas probably isn't letting Miles Austin go either. I really think Brandon Marshall will be a Bear next season. He seems to really like Cutler based on what I've seen and the Bears really need to bring in a WR to be successful.

[Chewie]

Then there's this :
http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091231/FOOTBALL04/312319871/-1/HOCKEY

212 in NFL would have lesser free agency if no cap
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- Miles Austin of the Cowboys, Brandon Marshall of the Broncos and six other Pro Bowl picks are among more than 200 NFL players who would lose their status as unrestricted free agents this offseason if the league and its union can't agree on a new labor contract.

According to a list obtained by the Associated Press on Wednesday, there are 212 players who would be considered restricted free agents -- instead of unrestricted -- if there is no salary cap in 2010. There is at least one player from each of the NFL's 32 teams on the list.

Pro Bowl linebackers Elvis Dumervil of the Broncos and DeMeco Ryans of the Texans are in the group of potentially affected players. So are dozens of other starters from across the NFL, including quarterbacks Kyle Orton of the Broncos and Jason Campbell of the Redskins.

"Free agency's always been something for the players, always been a great thing. If you get one crack at free agency as a player, that's what you dream of," Orton said before Denver practiced Wednesday. "How it stands right now ... guys aren't going to be able to have that dream, to be a free agent. That's a shame for the players, I think."

In an uncapped year, a player would need at least six years in the NFL, up from the current minimum of four years in the league, to be an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any team.

The other players announced Tuesday as selections for this season's Pro Bowl who could find themselves missing out on a chance to cash in this offseason are Packers safety Nick Collins, Patriots guard Logan Mankins, Saints guard Jahri Evans and Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver.

In addition to the NFL's sacks leader (Dumervil), and the NFC's leader in yards receiving (Austin), other prominent names on the list include Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, Jets receiver Braylon Edwards, Colts safety Antoine Bethea, Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown and Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

"If you're a guy that's been in the league a long time, and you know you're pretty much set, you probably have a different opinion about it. But if you're a guy that's in my position, it's going to affect us not just short term but long term," Washington's Campbell said.

If they lose out on the chance to become unrestricted free agents this offseason, players might not get as big a payoff as they could have been expecting. They also won't have the luxury of moving freely anywhere in the league.

A restricted free agent's old club gets a chance to offer the player a one-year contract at different levels of pay which determine what level of draft-choice compensation the old club would receive for losing the player. And the old club has the right to match any offer another club makes to a restricted free agent.

"If you're a free agent, of course you've got a lot of options, but if you're a restricted free agent, it's pretty much the team's choice, depending on what they want to do," Campbell said.

Other rules changes would go into effect if there is no salary cap in 2010. There would be no minimum or maximum amounts teams could spend on payroll, and each club would get an extra "transition player" tag. A "transition player" must be offered a minimum of the average of the top 10 salaries of the prior season at the player's position or 120 percent of the player's previous year's salary, whichever is greater.

"All of a sudden, your rules change," said Campbell, one of seven Redskins players on the list. "That's the situation I've been dealt and so have other guys on the team."

[Chewie]

To continue on this WR topic.....IF Marshall and others end up being restricted and their teams end up giving a high enough tender offer, it's going to cost a 1st and a 3rd rd pick to sign them. I just can't imagine us going 3 years in a row without a 1st round pick....

[ChronicKerr]

Bowman's 6th INT of the season!

Did it just say we are starting Vasher and Steltz at CB and Bowman at safety?

[Chewie]

Two crap teams.

Why am I watching this ?

[Chewie]

Greg Olsen - you can't block.

[DanTown8587]

Jay Cutler last seven+ quarters

41-70
537 passing yards
7 touchdowns
1 interception

Offense has 63 points

[SportsWorld]

The legendary Dante Culpepper is leading a comeback.

/espn

[SportsWorld]

Cutler is a TD away from having more TD's than INT's on the season. Who woulda thunk it?

[SportsWorld]

Matt Forte gives me some hope for next year

[SportsWorld]

TD Aroma.