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This is so dumb, that's so much money to waste on Andy freakin Dalton. Pace has thrown away so much capital at getting terrible qbs. This franchise won't improve until he's gone, what a terrible terrible GM hire, once again.

Haha, pump the breaks. I thought it was a done deal once already. Save the HJs for when its final.

You're really bad at this.

Newsflash - Eaton is under contract for 1y/8m, while Heyward is under contract for 3y/72.5m

Yermin?

I'm not of the opinion that Nick Foles and Andy Dalton are comparable. Andy Dalton is a legit top 15-20 NFL starting QB (unless father time has caught him). Nick Foles is an above average back-up and a bottom 5 starting QB. One is not like the other. Dalton is a 9 year NFL starting caliber QB - who had winning records in 5 of those 9 years. Very definition of a middle of the pack starter. Nick Foles has never started more than 11 games. Yes he won a super bowl and got amazingly hot at one time. But in his 9 year career - only twice has he started > 50% of his teams game in any individual season. I don't like Dalton and he doesn't dramatically change the trajectory - but I don't believe he is in the same class at Foles. He isn't and he would have been a Bear a year ago if Pace didn't misjudge last years QB market and panic on Foles.

They've been very close for almost 2 weeks.

This - but in the court of public opinion - this move basically magnifies how bad the Foles move was. Reality is it is why all of the fan base is up in arms (and I don't blame them). But I'm just glad - if this was their panic move - it was a move that doesn't kill future cap space nor cost draft picks. Like I wanted Winston - but lets say Pace got into a bidding war with the Saints and offered Winston like $30M guaranteed and tied up cap space for the next 3-4 years. That would have been a far bigger disaster (on paper) - even if I liked the upside of the player more.

He's 30 now. Time to start going by Bill instead of Billy.

Fine....then give Seattle 7 first round picks and go get Russ. If you need to win now, I can buy that. Andy Dalton is Nick Foles with red hair. You spent draft capital and a bunch of money to sign Foles last year....when Dalton was available. So he wasn't right then, bur this year he's the right fit to go along with Nick Foles? I just don't understand where they think they are going with this move. Where does it take them?

They’re going to have to blow everything up after this coming season. Doesn’t seem to be any hope for the next 3-4 seasons.

I won't jump to conclusion(s) - yet. I don't think this stops them from grabbing another guy and not sure how this deal is structured. It just might mean if they get a wilson or someone else that they will need to move Nick Foles as part of that deal and quite frankly - that shouldn't be an issue. It seems like if anything - they wanted to hedge their bets - because - I get it - you can't just assume you'll get Wilson and/or have access to a top flight 1st round pick. Plus - for all of you who rip on Pace - isn't this what a new GM would have probably done anyway - bring in a bridge QB and start to churn the roster and/or make other decisions - so worse case - Pace doesn't make a big swing at a young QB and or one of the all pro's available - and it is kind of one of those - depending on health/defense/schedule this team will win anywhere from 6 to 10 games.

Unreal. Just an absolute HORSESHIT franchise.

Andy Dalton to the Bears. I hate this franchise.

Pal has insider knowledge. Ray Ray hates people here with inside knowledge. AND his name is Pal? Woof, get ready for Ray Ray to come after you.

Pal for President.

Don't have that answer, but I've been expecting it for about 10 days now. Hopefully this smoke means its final.

Yeah

I wish the Sox would make room for Zack. First rounder, 10th overall pick. Now he's 26. If the scouts think he has it, he should play now. If he doesn't, then do the guy a favor and trade him for some more pitching or something. Don't see how this is debatable. He's a first rounder and he's "ready."

Good depth move. This is the sort of move you can do as a contender, guys like Billy will want to try and give it one last shot on a winner.

You had a lot of hot takes in just one paragraph.. Kudos to you.

Max Scherzer ?

Don't let facts get in the way of a good hot take.

I'm just fine extending Vaughn, Giolito, Crochet, Kopech, Lynn, Marshall, and Heuer fwiw.

Yeah. He can get you out of a game. And then if someone needs a DL trip, you just call up Mendick. What function would Mendick serve on the roster otherwise? Maybe at 3B I guess if Moncada needed a blow. That's probably the only use though.

With the crunch I would just keep Vaughn down a couple weeks and collect the extra service time year. Collins actually has a higher OPS than Vaughn (1063 vs 905) this spring so just give him the DH job, let lucroy back up and use those two or 3 weeks to decide whom to keep and then you bring up Vaughn in late April and get rid of one of lucroy or Collins. And if Collins and lucroy both really suck you bring up Vaughn a little earlier and if they both really do well you wait for super two. Collins raking is the perfect excuse to service time Vaughn and just going by roster crunch and 40 man status this might be the best decision anyway.

You would think it’s one of those two or Lynn. If it was Madrigal, Harold would have sworn.

It all depends on how many teams are hunting that final QB...but I hope you are right. Unrelated - but I read this elsewhere - but apparently the Bears can structurally adjust the Foles contract and essentially trade Foles and take just a $1M cap hit. So if that were to actually play out (even if for a 7th round pick a year from now) - I think I would be 100% okay with Dalton being a better backup and/or bridge starter depending on what the team does over next 3 months. In fact - if you do that - you essentially are in no different of a spot as we started the day - with exception that Dalton is your starter (vs. Foles) if you can't swing big for Wilson/Watson/Trade-Up/Get one of the young QB's on the block. I will tell myself that is exactly what the Bears will do....but reality is that is probably too smart of an outcome and shows too much damn foresight .

I agree, I think they view Dalton as a low risk high reward move. If it doesn’t work out at least they have him as a mentor to whoever they select in the draft. I think Foles is going to get traded.

If I were the Bears, I would try to trade one or two of their top defensive players and maybe Anthony Miller for a top pick so they can draft one of the top QB’s and than find a way to not trade the 20th pick and use it on an offensive lineman. That may be wishful thinking but also quite possible.

I'm convinced of this and any report saying Bears think Dalton is the starter is really just them trying to put some smoke around their actual intentions. It could also be wishful thinking on my part.

I double-down on this. That said - if they don't think they can leap frog and/or they don't like their chances to do so - than I guess at that point - there isn't much better a path than the one they are going down. But if that were the case - I would have played the game of chicken and waited to see if Ryan, D'Arnold, and / or Tua became available vs. inking Dalton now. This has to be Bears messaging to try and give them some leverage in talks with other teams when it comes to moving up, etc? Has to be.

Because Dalton is likely better than Foles. If you’re trying to make the playoffs next year with a rookie QB in the mix, I’d rather have Andy for 5 to 6 games as the starter and then as my depth / insurance policy option than Foles. Personally, I think that’s worth $10M. Some of you guys are acting like we just signed Mike Glennon to a 3/$45M deal here, when in reality this isn’t a lot of money given how fucked we currently are at the QB position. And as for Foles, the trade for him last year was a terrible move by Pace, but we don’t have to accept him as a viable option just because he is under contract and has dead cap hit if moved. He failed last year in this system under this coaching staff and has lost the benefit of doubt going forward. The focus now becomes who we get in the draft and if Pace doesn’t come out of the draft with one of the top five prospects then he clearly has failed and signing Dalton will prove to be a total waste.

I don't think you can put Lopez on this team. You especially can't rationalize dumping an improving Ruiz who actually flashes setup man stuff to take a headcase who doesn't really fit as a 5th starter or MR. Especially when Lopez has an option.

I'll take a shot at the final 16 cuts: First, Jace Fry goes on the IL; Jimmy Cordero is suspended for three games The other 14-: Pitchers- Burr, Guerrero, McRae, Sadzeck, Ruiz Catchers- Mercedes Infielders- Beckham, Hernandez, Remillard, Reynolds, Mendick Outfielders- Hamilton, Williams, Gonzalez I have Vaughn and Collins making it. Maybe Collins goes when Cordero is activated.

Don’t get too excited.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, I rather have Trubisky back.

Not sure why you're calling out Ricky, he couldn't unilaterally bench his boss' $20M major hitting acquisitions 30-40 games into a season. When the games mattered, Parrot and Mazara were on the bench. I would agree with the assessment that Ricky and Rick should have given Collins plenty of at bats in 2019. Hahn being Hahn, he traded for Yonder Alonso ($8M) as the primary DH and was in year two of two Wellington Castillo deal, which sucked up half the catching starts. Had to give Texas valuable International Bonus money to save crumbs for Jerry. Collins catching 40-60 games and playing DH another 40-60 games in 2019 would have answered a lot of questions. Prospects should have been developing and assessed, not setting behind ridiculous veteran acquisitions during year three of tanking.

Because my view is Dalton is likely better than Foles and that Foles will be gone as soon as we draft a QB.

Hysterically funny

The sad thing is the Bears would have rather traded for Foles than sign Dalton last year. But what do you expect? All of Pace’s QB decisions have been massive fails.

Foles can not be a bridge starter on a team that is trying to make the playoffs. Not win a superbowl...but make the playoffs. Dalton can absolutely be a bridge starter on a team that contends for a playoff spot. Nick Foles is a career BACKUP. He's good at that and can have a string of games where he plays at a top 10 level, but over a full season, he is a bottom 10 QB who was a significant downgrade from Trubisky (who is a bottom 10 QB). I should caveat - I have not paid any attention to an Andy Dalton game in 3 years - so it might be Andy Dalton's game has taken steps back due to injuries and/or father time and he actually is a back-up at this point and no different than Foles. I'm assuming that isn't the case and it was rather a year ago - no one was that interested in him because the market for a middle of the road QB just wasn't that high (teams were either invested in their young QB and/or more focused on drafting an alternative).

This - And I'm not in that camp. I get it - I wanted a superstar more than anyone, but this isn't anywhere near as high on the list of awful moves that were out there. There were a whole lot of moves I would have hated. I don't think this move makes you go - oh yeah - we are awesome, but Dalton > Foles and this contract does nothing to impact LT viability. I fully expect them to get a 1st round QB and/or remain active and aggressive with Wilson/Watson...but they also couldn't just sit back and do absolutely nothing. Using Foles as a starter and drafting Kyle Trask is what I would have said is the biggest disaster (if I were Pace). In this case - with Dalton they very well could remain a playoff team and just keep buying time to swing bigger at QB (or have a young QB on the way). It is all made worse because the Foles move was so bad - sucks - cause I said it a year ago. I hated it than and I still hate it now. The big piece I always hated was the fact that we were on the hook in year 2 at the price we are talking about cause it locked in the future. With Dalton - we have none of that downside and my guess is we'll see them upgrade the oline (if they don't draft a QB) and look at foundational builds and a bump-up in the defense as one strategy to buying time (Pace/Nagy). All of those items either have no impact on a future admin and/or just put a better foundation for whomever your new franchise QB eventually is.

It doesn’t and absolutely shouldn’t. That’s the point. You should be doing that already with Nick Foles on the roster. I don’t understand what you aren’t grasping here. It’s like Nick Foles doesn’t exist on the roster for you. If you want an incredibly average, veteran QB to “bridge the gap” you already have that guy on the team. Why are you spending money on Dalton?

Thankfully those were all 70 mph fastballs, so not too bad?

Jason, will all due respect...piss off. In no order: 1. Mahomes 2. Josh Allen 3. Kyler Murray 4. Lamar Jackson 5. DeShaun Watson 6. Dak Prescott 7. Aaron Rodgers 8. Justin Herbert 9. Ryan Tannehill 10. Tom Brady 11. Matthew Stanford 12. Joe Burrow 13. Matt Ryan 14. Kirk Cousins 15. Baker Mayfield 16. Derek Carr 17. Trevor Lawrence 18. Ben Rotheslberger 19. Jared Goff 20. Carson Wentz 21. Sam Darnold 22. Daniel Jones 23. Jimmy G 24. Cam Newton 25. Teddy Bridgewater 26. Ryan Fitzpatrick 27. Jameis Winston 28. I’d take Tua over Dalton at this point. 29. maybe Dalton at this point?

The Bears are 100% drafting a QB in the draft, so for now this remains a TBD from my perspective. Don’t get me wrong, at face value this move is completely underwhelming, but if we end up with Jones or Lance then Dalton is a perfectly fine bridge guy IMO. Also, we need to see what ends up happening with Williams as his addition plus one of those QB prospects would be a passable alternative to trading a ton of assets for Wilson.

Not sure how much Pace had to pay Schefter to write it - but I hope other teams view Miller that way :). He is one of those guys that even if he breaks out - it won't bother me one bit. He was never going to change on the Bears - a change of scenery is his best shot.

anyone in the OF who hasn't played in a few days?