Chisoxfn

Is it really not until May 1st? I’ve been holding out a ton of hope that somehow by end of this month or first few weeks in April. Delusional - yea - but damn it I want my shot.

There is no reason for them not to do these deals. This things are status quo in nfl. They get a few hundred grand to go through exercise and get to play with better players. Literally no downside fo Fuller or Hicks.

I don’t get the sense Seattle is going down that path. They seem pretty open to maybe making the move. Feels like Pete carrol might be okay with rolling with another qb. With Houston - I say yes, but the real pressure is going to be draft day. That is going to be the best price they ever get - after that his value will decline (at least a bit) - because whatever picks you acquire will have less certainty.

By the way - below is the article (no idea if this is accurate) - but Bmags - I think at very least - you'll get goosebumps reading this. Same with Kyle. Bear with the links - long story short - the franchise has a heck of a lot of reasonable levers to pull without totally gutting the team while creating a massive amount of cap space. https://beargoggleson.com/2021/03/10/chicago-bears-salary-2021-cap-situation-fix/

The beauty is - if they wait until June 1 to trade Watson - it works in Bears favor - because at that point - Miami isn't dangling a top 5 pick. Everyone's picks look a heck of a lot more comparable in the packages. With Wilson - I think the same might be there - but if I'm Seattle - I want to make my moves now, not wait a year - so why wait if you are going to move - even if it means taking the cap hit on Wilson - you are at least starting your "swings".

I saw a good article out there that the Bears could get all the way down to $60M under the cap relatively easily (pre Wilson) and than from there you add Wilson and restructure and you could actually have a TON of cap space. They have a lot more flexibility in terms of resttructuring and kicking bonuses out...and before people go...well you'll have to pay for that later...sure you will...but the cap will also jump so if there was ever a year to create capacity this would be a great year - cause there will likely be a much deeper pool of available players to sign (+) and with the smaller pool of teams with cap space - we'll likely see a more favorable buyers market (+). Things are not near as dire as people make-up in terms of Pace's inability to make moves. Like the Bears could legitimately be in a positino where they have Wilson + $30M of cap space (if not $40M).

Its crazy to be at that point - cause I still think the Seahawks have real big reasons for why they wouldn't make a move now and would instead wait.

Yeah - that even more further weights the favor - I was more just trying to think of what in Bears players names would this look like - which I kind of go back to - on paper it sounds awful - but when you think of the players and than weight it with the value of a Wilson - it sounds a lot less awful to me.

Lets be honest - maybe he isn't as good today as he once was or maybe there are better coaches today than before. But for a long time - Coop was amongst the best pitching coaches in the league. I will always stand by that.

One other comment - when it comes to trading 3 1st round picks - I kind of think of things this way. I think in the draft over 3 years - you'll probably have a hit, an okay and a miss up at the top. So if I think of Bears recent picks - you have Roquan (hit), Floyd (meh/ok), and White (bust)....do i really feel bad losing that sort of production for Wilson? There is definitely the cap aspect that i'm not factoring in here - but even if I replaced White with a Kyle Fuller - I'm super content with losing that for a guy like Wilson.

It is funny - for everyone that says you can't build a team without 1st round picks - look at the Rams. And I'm not saying the Rams have been perfect - but they have been trading picks for years and have had no cap space for years. They have somehow figured out a way. Maybe it will blow up in 2 years and yes they have an amazing coach in McVay - but they have consistently contended for years and had a coupler super bowl contending type squads. I didn't love the Stafford trade - but I get tired of the - you can't win with just X. It might be true - but over time - good teams figure out a way and teams with good QB's tend to figure it out sooner vs. later. Now if it takes like 3 1st round picks, 3 2nd round picks, plus Jaylon Johnson and Roquan Smith - yeah - I'm walking away from that sort of a deal.

You are probably right - I legit don’t know which qb I would want more. Wilson is older - but he sure has been good his entire career and still should have a number of good years left. Watson on the other hand could solve the position for ten years - making the price you pay for him so worth it. Id rather see if bears can built a team around a top qb with less picks than see bears continue to have a mediocre to bad qb and wonder if they can somehow strike gold and be the rare team to win a super bowl with a Dilfer/Flacco like qb.

I think they get Watson - either way - I think they are going to get one of the two big names. In other news - I believe the Bears announced they will be cutting Massie.

Honestly - it is starting to get pretty awesome - america starting to really be great again and truly being a leader in how quickly we are ramping up (in a good way this time). Think about that - that is a 90 million per month average - we could get - I’d love to get to 100M plus per month.

The pick I'll always remember (and this goes back to a different regime) - is I always expected Aaron Donald to be the Bears pick. I remember when it flipped to the Rams - I mentally thought - yes - we are set - they can not possibly draft another 1st round dlinemen (at the time I think they had like 4 recent 1st round picks all on the dline and had to look at offense) - but sure enough Fisher pulled the trigger and went with the "undersized" Donald. I have no idea what the Bears would have looked like with Donald - but that was one of those times where I really was like CRAP - the team in front of us got our guy. On White - I think you are right - that said - White before his injury was never viewed as a reach - but to your point - was he really needed given the LT plan (vs. trade down and built up of line or something else).

Very well said.

It feels like if you are Pace - you want to see if you can do this - you are kind of playing 3D chess consistently - what is value of Watson - what is cost of Wilson - who do I prefer - what is cost of trade-up - how do I grade those QB's - how do I disconnect for the unknown. It is tough - but this is one of those times I kind of like knowing Pace is in that chair - because he is going to swing big. He might have a big miss - but I'd rather swing and miss trying to hit a homerun (which is what I always think when it comes to QB). I get everyone says Mitch is his biggest mistake - I would rank it really low on my list - in fact, I'd go as far as to say they recognized pretty quickly once the wheels fell off that they wanted to go in a different direction - but made a mistake in how they pivoted (with Foles - but last years marketplace was a lot different - so I can't really say there was a better option for Pace a year ago - all of the FA guys ended up sucking / not making an impact - and I don't know that he had enough urgency to go move up and pay an aggressive price for a top QB (or maybe they didn't love the grades on any of them - cause you had to move pretty darn high to get Herbert). I think Pace's biggest misses were: giving as much up for Mack as they did (it was an all-in move - but I always thought it was a year too early and that move hindered Pace's ability to be more aggressive in other areas - kind of put your chips in too soon vs. waiting for more of the hand to play out so you could be more strategic with how to play those chips. Again - not a knock on Mack and the trade - cause I think the value was fair - just not the best use of the franchise resources (and that is coming from someone who thinks a pass rushing end is the next most important position in football behind QB (or maybe 3rd most behind the LT that protects the blind side). Trading up in the draft and not building as much draft capital as you did for the lower impact positions - Floyd is probably the most reasonable - because a move up for an impact rusher (or who you thought would be that) can at least be partially justified - but the constant one-sided move on the asset side doesn't hold up. The Miller trade in particular and just the constant mortgaging of chips vs. the more strategic balancing (its good to be aggressive - but you can't be aggressive on all things all the time - said another way - you can't always live off credit - at some point you have to build your bank accounts Too much cap space on older / one dimensional players - Tight Ends (Simms) / Quinn & Graham (Older and / or too much of a premium because the team didn't have necessary draft) / Danny T vs. Kwit (I get this - focused on leadership - but not good to bet on older players - especially one who play positions where speed matters) On the other side - I've always liked Pace's willingness to admit his mistakes fast - Glennon, Trubisky (relatively speaking - they pulled the cord quicker than most franchises would - probably a full year sooner), Simms, etc. Take it for what you want - because it also means he has made his fair share of mistakes - but every GM does. Just look at Bill B - I've long said he's an excellent coach and a horrible drafter. I've also felt that he does a pretty good finding value in Day 2 / Day 3 and has been very good at being proactive in use of more modern technology and strength & conditioning type stuff. I don't really know the purpose of these rants - but man - I just want to know we have a QB to be excited for (or another person who I can be delusional that might have the promise to one day be special - kind of like I did that 1st preseason game where Trubisky was just throwing dimes everywhere).

Yeah - I think of this as a little preview of what having a better C would do for Lavine. I'd still like to get Lonzo but he is playing himself into a better trade. His 3 point shot is totally coming into its own and while he is has his moments where he looses aggressivenes - I really think he's on the verge of breaking out and taking a pretty big step forward. He's had 2 straight lower quality performances - but he shot 48% from 3 in February and is up to 38% for the year (partly buoyed by that February - but his February was on some serious volume - 3.7 3's made on 8 attempts. Than after I see how Drummond does - than it gives you a better idea to make a huge play at Towns (no way he is staying in Minny LT). I beat a dead horse - but I really like a nucleus of Towns, Lavine, Williams, Ball - plus whomever the heck remains from whatever the franchise gives up to get Towns. Obviously - no Top 5 player on that list - but I think that is the type of team that can grow and maybe one of those guys gets there - but you also have the flexibility to always trade-up and grab future stars - cause that should be a squad people like running with.

I wouldn't think there would be any cost - more like Porter for Drummond swap and Cavs basically have Porter to swap for anything else. Maybe Bulls add a 2nd round pick or something random - but I'm not trading a bunch of LT assets for Drummond. He is probably a big help to the team in the short-term - but I'd also stay far away from him as a FA. He'll get too much money and the cost/benefit of tying up that sort of cap space to a player with the flaws he has is just not worth it.

I'll be honest - if Mac Jones was there at 20 - I'd be exstatic - I just don't see a scenario where he is anywhere close to there at 20 and than you are moving up and probably giving up a 1st - at that point - what is another 1st rounder+ and more cap space between friends to get a Wilson / Watson or whatever. The hardest part of that article is - I just don't see why Seattle would eat that kind of cap space today - unless they are willing to punt a year to start the clock on getting a rookie scale QB in place and/or go another route (maybe take 2 bites - take one QB this year - and swing again next year) but know that you built up maximum ammunition to do one last run before Carrol retires. The good thing is - that front office / HC combo have a ton of swagger and cloud and I think they have a lot of confidence (right or wrong) that they can make anything work - which might increase their willingness to let a franchise QB go.

Greg - my parents, in law, wife have all gotten the vaccine. Other than some fatigue my wife experienced for half a day - no one else had any side effects other than a slightly sore arm. Multiple millions of people have gotten the shot - yes some people have gotten sore or bad some allergic reactions and maybe a day of not feeling too hot - but it isn’t like people are dropping dead from this - very much the opposite. Think of this as the flu shot that gets the world it’s mojo back (in time)!

It feels like there are a lot of legs to this Wilson stuff - whether Wilson expands his list or not - I don't know (does he have a on-trade?). Curious how quickly Seattle will / won't make a move because I think it is far more expensive to make a move now vs. waiting until June 1st (although I suppose you could always make the move but just wait months to complete it - kind of like the Goff/Stafford deal (although that is just waiting for the new league year or something). If anything - has to also put a bit more pressure on the Texans - although I can't see the Texans making a move this far out - feels like they'll make a move, but probably leading into the draft - so I presume the Watson stove heats up a lot in late March/April.

So on the J&J vaccine - I just want to make sure I'm following all the data. Long story short - should I think of it this way - yeah - I'm more likely to get symptomatic COVID with the J&J vaccine vs. the Moderna/Pfizer options - however, I have equal protection against death/hospitalizations between any of the shots. So said another way - all 3 are equally effective at keeping me out of the hospital or worse off dead - but with the J&J one I have a higher probability of having a mild case of COVID? If I am saying that right - why can't the freaking press and dr's just say it that clear. There is no denying which is better - but isn't the reality all 3 are pretty amazing outcomes when you focus on the most important part of why we are in this shutdown to begin with - people dying / getting severe illness that is hospitalizing them.

I keep assuming we will see Vaughn sign an extension and that will kind of element that portion of the conversation - but if that doesn't happen - agree with you 100%.

Bears hired the former Texas Longhorn Head Coach, Tom Herman as an analyst. Not sure what to think of this - I know Herman didn't succeed as HC at Texas but he was always thought of as a good offensive mind.