Chisoxfn

I will state - I wish Justin nothing but the best. He was a class act in Chicago and I hope he does well in Pittsburgh. I also hope Caleb Williams ends up being a total badass kick butt stud qb for the Bears!!!

Clearly I was wrong on Fields value - this still feels like Bears read the market wrong. That or they really did want to give Fields a preferred destination.

Jets, Rams (Stafford replacement and they actually have a lot of mid-round picks - although Jimmy G is there now too), Broncos (not that I think Payton and Field(s) are a fit, but Payton has had other QB's that were very much not like Brees), Dolphins (Tua needs a backup), and Steelers (Wilson is there - but whose to say they don't make it an open competition). Giants probably aren't - cause if they draft JJ like is rumored, I presume Jones is fine as your bridge QB.

Swift was Field(s) teammate at Georgia and my understanding is they were pretty good friend(s) and still are friendly. He reached out to Justin and has heard NOTHING. Either Justin is entirely in on this and this is the greatest single "bluff" in the history of football (to get the haul) or Justin and everyone internally knows and you just have random fan boys still acting like Field(s) is staying. Or it really is - Poles wants to move Justin but has told teams - I need to have the pro-days and cement my decision. So he really is telling teams - give me your offers - but unless someone blows me away and force(s) my hand - I'm not dealing until later on this month.

I'm sure I'm biased and I get there may be less teams interested now - but I fully believe that Field(s) has MORE value than both of them, so I agree as of this point Howell is the absolute floor. I am hoping this is rather Poles is playing a game of chicken with 1 or 2 teams, but already has an offer better than either of these but is being stubborn. Kind of like when Wentz got traded the 2nd time - everyone knew he was going, but they still got way more than I think anyone expected. I mean when Wentz went to Washington from Indy - they moved up in the 2nd round (from where they were), plus got a 3rd rounder and a future 3rd rounder. And that was Wentz moving from 2nd team to 3rd team.

Kenny Pickett to Eagles. Not sure what the draft compensation is.

I could only imagine a world where Joe Alt is sitting there at #9. I put odds at <10% - but oh my.

Vikings are up to something - don't think I've seen a trade like that this soon before. Pick up 1st round pick from Houston for 2nd rounder this year and next year (plus some other picks). Not used to seeing a move like that that isn't done on draft day. So there is clearly a purpose behind this - whether this is to get them closer to asking price on a top 5 pick to get a QB or they have something else up there sleeves? (Jefferson and 2 FRP for Herbert - Chargers than draft JJ?).

Good for him - finished with a solid season and played most of the year. He was an all time great - I still remember how bummed I was when he got drafted right before the Bears (who were clearly going to select him). Guy was awesome and I'm glad he's retiring a bit early so hopefully he can enjoy the rest of his life.

I tend to think Titans take Alt. Originally I thought Chargers would take Alt - and to be honest I think there is still that chance, but seems likely they take the wideout. Titans I could see going wideout but I doubt it. Atlanta is likely going defense (or trade). If 4 QB's go - than you need 1 OT and 1 Defensive player for the Bears to have a chance at the 3rd best wideout. I still think that is the likely outcome. One wildcard is a team moves up to get that top DE or Top OT. If only 3 QB's go - than I think the reality is one of the top 3 wideouts aren't there, but you still are likely getting a shot at one of the top defensive players, but probably would be the #2 defensive player. Unless Brockers really ends up in the top 10 - maybe after his pro day he'll get some helium but it seems like Brockers is cemented outside of the Top 10 (Chargers aren't taking him over the other wideouts, Atlanta already went Pitts so they aren't doing it again, unless Titans shock us and go that way).

Ideally you get a very good dlinemen and wideout and than grab a guard with first 3 picks post Caleb. My new dream is Bears pick up a 2nd rounder and 3rd rounder for their 4th this year and a 4th next year plus Justin. Trying to mimick a slightly better version of Howell trade. If they do that Bears are in business. I could care less about picks past 3rd or 4th in this draft - it’s a top heavy draft given lack of underclassmen.

I am pretty pumped about this. They should do at least a one year extension and restructure - at most 2 years. Keenan is such a good dude and class and whatever wideout they pick - whether in round 1 or 3rd round will benefit from having him in the lockeroom. Bears are also familiar given receiver coach worked with him in SD.

I wonder if they intend to do a short term extension with him to free up some cap space and buy one extra year. That said if you don’t he will sign and you will get a comp pick down road.

This isn’t a bad option if they choose to go that route.

Watch - 3D chess. Alt somehow makes it past Titans and Falcons now and Bears grab him at 9.

It seems like it - I also think Keenan and Moore are good guys to have around a young wideout, whenever they draft one. My optimistic hope is this means they have better offers on table for Fields than any of us think. I do think the Howell trade set the floor for Justin.

Yeah - they have made moves - they are clearly focusing on depth - maybe to sure up fact that they know they don't have a lot of picks. But it does seem they are holding out money - whether that is for someone yet to hit the market, as part of a trade, or a still to be signed FA. Brad Biggs was reporting for a while that he DID not expect the Bears to be big spenders in FA though - so his intel seemed right. With that said - we upgraded RB and FS, brought in 2 centers better than what they had (but not great) and added 2 depth oline pieces plus a backup FS/ST player and a special teams player (and used up some cap space on Sweat & JJ). My general reaction is Poles is continuing to be measured in FA market and principled (whether right or wrong) that this is not an area where you want to go wild. We ripped him last year for a couple of the guys he didn't get - but reality was he wasn't wrong in those choices. I'll admit though - I was expecting a material addition on the line and they clearly have work at wideout, but Poles might just be looking at it and saying - teams are running out of space and there are still 2-3 other wideouts I like as much as Samuel and Mooney and decide I can get them for half the price. Does he go retread and bring in Juju and Renfrow (Not sure what happened with JuJu in New England - I do know JuJu isn't the player he was early in his career with the Steelers - injuries cost him a step). The above 2 don't look that bad if you intend to grab a 1st round wideout.

Not really - cause if you were keeping Fields you would be thinking about your future cap and you would know you are getting a haul for the #1 overall pick so you need to have more flexibility. But if you were keeping Field(s) I do think they would have splurged on a defensive player.

Great pitcher, great teammate, and class act. Wish you the best Dylan!!!

Sam Howell just got traded to Seattle in a pick swap. Basically moved up a round with 2 picks and gave 2 lower round picks back. So basically there 4th and 5th round picks turned into a 3rd and 4th round pick. I would think that is probably the floor for Justin - the downside is - Seattle was probably one of the better places for Justin to go. Denver is really the main starting frontier - and I Don't think Field(s) fits Payton much but in fairness he had Tayson Hill and Winston either who probably weren't guys you would have said fit Payton's style.

There is a different mentality though in starting vs. relieving which I think gets into what Katz said. I know some people will say its "fluff" but its true. If you know you are going to face a pitcher 2 or 3 times, you are thinking about how you set them up now and down the road (I laugh when I type this - cause 10 years ago it would have been 3 or more times not 2 or 3 times). But as a reliever - you know this is all you got - so you are going to give it all you got (whether its 1 inning or 2 innings - you know that is it). I tend to think this also better fits Kopech's personality and mentality too. Add in the injury issues and other things - I wonder just how much Kopech is thinking vs. throwing and being aggressive when he's on the mound as a starter. Note: He very much could still suck - but that means he would have FOR SURE stunk as a starter, so I really see this as a no-brainer move and I'm going to be an optimist here and say as long as Kopech is healthy - this will pay off and we'll see him develop into a high leverage reliever.

I don't know why - no reason they couldn't get a chance post trade deadline to start to get experience. In particular Thorpe. I would think if Thorpe isn't up here at some point this season, something would have went wrong, given he finished the year in AA. I would suspect plan is for him to get 10-15 starts in AA before moving him up to AAA. One thing I will say about this trade - I put it as a C+ return, but I do think Getz is different than Hanh. I don't believe Hanh really trusted his scouts and development teams much on trades. I think he relied more on the perceived value of the trade and thus thought and cared more about how media would perceive a move. I think Getz targets guys he likes (regardless of rankings) and views them more isolated with his scouts. I happen to believe that is a positive - whether Getz and the crew are good at their jobs, that remains to be seen and I understand why any of us would be skeptical given how bad of a job the Sox have done consistently in that manner during the Rick Hanh era. It's hard to remember - there was a time where I actually would have said the Sox aren't half bad at that - but that goes back to when Kenny was flipping tables and super hands on.

If Kopech works out of the pen and is throwing 98+ and mixing in his breaking pitch - he will dominate and teams will pay up for that. How much, I don't know, but its worth a lot more than whatever failed attempt at making him a starter. By the time he finally could start he'd be leaving the Sox for nothing and there is no way he's going to just break-out this season to point you could get real value for him with a year of control (cause there is too much not good with him starting). As a reliever though - I think if he was bringing it and it was dominating - you could get his value up real quick. If he it doesn't work - well than you weren't getting anything for him anyway.

I actually think it makes sense. Kopech doesn't have a ton of control left and I think odds that he makes it as a starter are pretty slim given all the innings limits he has had. So I don't see much any value to the Sox in the long-run with Kopech as a starter. If he figures it out - Sox won't have control with him and he'll walk (and odds he figures it all out this year probably slim). Now - if he goes to the pen - and he can really focus on 2 pitches - I like the chances that he could become an elite reliever (He was damn good in that role way back when). If he can go there and kick butt this season - that might be best way to maximize value for the Sox as you now have a better shot in my opinion of getting real talent for him (whether this year or next year). Or am I wrong and we have more control than just this year and next year?

You know what I would love - if the Sox signed 2 guys and used $20M or so to do it - maybe even $25 or $30M. But did it knowing they would be gone by the deadline and you are basically using them to buy prospects. I know that isn't "cheap" but they would only be on the hook for the prorated part...although there is some risk, pitcher could get hurt or stink and thus no market to trade and thus you eat the full salary.