Official 2010-11 NFL Thread

[Dick Allen]

The McCaskeys cheapness means we keep lubbie and his crew of idiots around for another year instead of eating the money and starting over. You waste another year since the team will still suck ass, then you have your lockout and then you start rebuilding in '12. Spend some money in FA to appease the majority of your fanbase even though your team will still fail.

 

Chicago Bears: The Cubbies of the NFL

So if you were running the Bears, and you thought there would be no football in 2011, you would have fired everyone, paid a new staff to coach players not good enough, just so they learn the system and then sit out a year. Then a pretty big turnover, so they can get everyone on board with their system in 2012 and hopefully ready to compete in 2013? At least now if Lovie is shown the door, they have spent money on players and the team should be far better off with Lovie or another coach.

 

BTW, Lovie is such an awful coach, he guided a team QB'd by Rex Grossman to the Super Bowl.

[jenksycat]

So if you were running the Bears, and you thought there would be no football in 2011, you would have fired everyone, paid a new staff to coach players not good enough, just so they learn the system and then sit out a year. Then a pretty big turnover, so they can get everyone on board with their system in 2012 and hopefully ready to compete in 2013? At least now if Lovie is shown the door, they have spent money on players and the team should be far better off with Lovie or another coach.

 

BTW, Lovie is such an awful coach, he guided a team QB'd by Rex Grossman to the Super Bowl.

 

The Bears D got them to a Superbowl and that D doesn't exist anymore yet lubbie's stubbornness still thinks it does. He refuses to admit to any mistakes until its too late to change anything.

 

Lubbie will not take this team anywhere next year, and yes I would have hired a new staff. You're going to have to start over, and I'd rather start the process asap rather than wasting another year

[lord chas]

Chad Clifton's about the only decent UFA OT out there and he's getting older.

 

http://www.footballsfuture.com/freeagents.html

packers re-signed him

[knightni]

packers re-signed him

So, then there are no UFA OTs out there.

[lostfan]

They should be able to get some fair prospects in this draft. The last couple of years have been pretty good for OL.

[LittleHurt05]

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/abo...-crescendo.html

 

Julius Peppers didn't need to buy drinks for club patrons at Crescendo to win over his new town -- but it didn't hurt.

 

The new Bears defensive end purchased 25 bottles of Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne ($350 per bottle) at the River North club and had them distributed by staff around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday -- complete with sparklers. The crowd was told it was Peppers' way of saying thanks for the warm welcome.

 

Peppers, who signed a six-year, $91.5 million deal with the Bears Friday, celebrated his first night in Chicago as a Bear with two other people in a roped off area and ordered three bottles of Ace of Spades Rose ($3,000 per bottle) for his table.

 

Earlier that night, Peppers had dinner with Bears coach Lovie Smith and fellow Bears free agent signee Chester Taylor at Gibsons Steakhouse in the Gold Coast.

 

The former North Carolina basketball walk-on attended the Bulls-Mavs game at the United Center on Saturday night with Smith, his agent and Bears defensive tackle Israel Idonije. Peppers was given a standing ovation when he was introduced during a timeout in the first quarter.

[knightni]

Welcome to a real city, Julius.

[southsider2k5]

I guess that means they kept Peppers away from Pippen...

[LittleHurt05]

I guess that means they kept Peppers away from Pippen...

 

It doesn't say anywhere whether or not he tipped the servers

[southsider2k5]

It doesn't say anywhere whether or not he tipped the servers

 

The guy just dropped about 10G's on random people in a bar. I think we can assume that is a fairly generous guy.

[Quin]

The guy just dropped about 10G's on random people in a bar. I think we can assume that is a fairly generous guy.

 

Well, when you've got $40M to burn...

 

Just kidding, that is fairly awesome of him.

[Palehosefan]

I guess I'm going to be watching some Bears games now that Julius is aboard.

 

Haven't paid much attention to the Bears D, but is Julius getting his wish as a 3-4 rush OLB? If so, he could have a monster year.

[Balta1701]

I guess I'm going to be watching some Bears games now that Julius is aboard.

 

Haven't paid much attention to the Bears D, but is Julius getting his wish as a 3-4 rush OLB? If so, he could have a monster year.

No, the Bears play a straight-up 4-3 defense, so he'll be going into that system. I never heard much desire from him to serve as an OLB; suppsedly he never liked that the Panthers would have him dropping back on occasion.

[Palehosefan]

No, the Bears play a straight-up 4-3 defense, so he'll be going into that system. I never heard much desire from him to serve as an OLB; suppsedly he never liked that the Panthers would have him dropping back on occasion.

 

Ah, wasn't sure. He was supposedly interested in the Patriots because he could be a 3-4 OLB, but then he signed so quickly with the Bears, so I was wondering.

[DBAHO]

Yeah, the bolded part is why the Bears have been failing, not because of what they do in FA.

 

I just brought up Jones because everybody knows he has a s***-ton of cash, not necessarily that he spends it. At the end of the day everybody has the same salary cap (in the past I mean, not in the uncapped year coming obviously)

Well that means it's a talent evaluation and development issue, which means that's an issue with the coaching staff and the GM.

 

You don't want the Bears to turn into the Redskins every off-season obviously.

[lostfan]

Well that means it's a talent evaluation and development issue, which means that's an issue with the coaching staff and the GM.

 

You don't want the Bears to turn into the Redskins every off-season obviously.

Definitely. Especially the offensive coaches. I don't really know how to explain the failings on the defensive side of the ball (people like to say "Rivera!" but his play-calling and blitz schemes were just as lame without the pass rush, truth be told)

[SoxAce]

Max Jean-Gilles and Rob Sims both got 4th round tenders from their respected teams. Both are 26 years old. (Sims started more than Jean-Gilles, though Gilles is just a truck of a human being) Wouldn't be a bad option to take a flier on a proven OG than a rookie in the draft if the Bears went that route, though I personally mixed on that with a strong OL draft. Fans of the Seahawks and/or the Eagles can maybe shed some light on one (or both) of those players. There is a rumor that the Bears are looking into Atogwe, though they have to wait since Atogwe can't pass a physical from having shoulder surgery (not to mention see if they want to pay him so the Rams can't match).

[Quin]

Max Jean-Gilles and Rob Sims both got 4th round tenders from their respected teams. Both are 26 years old. (Sims started more than Jean-Gilles, though Gilles is just a truck of a human being) Wouldn't be a bad option to take a flier on a proven OG than a rookie in the draft if the Bears went that route, though I personally mixed on that with a strong OL draft. Fans of the Seahawks and/or the Eagles can maybe shed some light on one (or both) of those players. There is a rumor that the Bears are looking into Atogwe, though they have to wait since Atogwe can't pass a physical from having shoulder surgery (not to mention see if they want to pay him so the Rams can't match).

 

Well, it's good that they are looking into Atogwe, since safety is still a big hole.

 

The OL is very tricky. Do you go with veterans or try your luck in the draft with 5 picks?

[GoodAsGould]

Well, it's good that they are looking into Atogwe, since safety is still a big hole.

 

The OL is very tricky. Do you go with veterans or try your luck in the draft with 5 picks?

 

If I was the gm, id sign one of those OG, sign Atogwe, and sign one of TO/Holt. Plan to draft either an OG/RT in the 3rd round that will start and call it a successful off-season. Atogwe completes the defense assuming the Bears retain Pisa and Anderson. If something like that happens, Lovie Smith would have to win or be fired because talent would not be the issue.

[southsider2k5]

Boy going into next season with essentially the same O-line as last year could pretty well negate any gains they spent on free agents.

[Balta1701]

Definitely. Especially the offensive coaches. I don't really know how to explain the failings on the defensive side of the ball (people like to say "Rivera!" but his play-calling and blitz schemes were just as lame without the pass rush, truth be told)

Because Tommy Harris and Mike Brown pre-2006 injuries were just that damn good, and they had a lot of other really good people around them, but those 2 guys were keystone guys at 2 of the 3 levels.

[whitesoxfan101]

Boy going into next season with essentially the same O-line as last year could pretty well negate any gains they spent on free agents.

 

Yeah they are going to still need a good draft, and not only a good draft, but a good draft in which the players contribute as rookies. The Bears deserve a lot of credit for the free agent moves, but the offensive line and secondary are still major issues. I think between having Peppers to get a pash rush and having SOME draft picks that the secondary problems can be addressed, but it's going to be hard to fix this offensive line. Manumaleuna (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) blocking and having Taylor should help the run game, but the Martz offense can't function unless the QB has time, and that still seems like a big problem right now.

Edited March 8, 2010 by whitesoxfan101

[southsider2k5]

Yeah they are going to still need a good draft, and not only a good draft, but a good draft in which the players contribute as rookies. The Bears deserve a lot of credit for the free agent moves, but the offensive line and secondary are still major issues. I think between having Peppers to get a pash rush and having SOME draft picks that the secondary problems can be addressed, but it's going to be hard to fix this offensive line. Manumaleuna (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) blocking and having Taylor should help the run game, but the Martz offense can't function unless the QB has time, and that still seems like a big problem right now.

 

Getting Peppers, plus Urlacher back will help the secondary out a lot. The O-line is just scary right now.

[whitesoxfan101]

Getting Peppers, plus Urlacher back will help the secondary out a lot. The O-line is just scary right now.

 

Yeah the defense has a couple of guys that either could really help or be major albatrosses. I definitely don't trust Tommie Harris right now, and I have a hard time trusting Brian Urlacher. Even if he does stay healthy, he'll be 32 years old next season, which is of course ancient by NFL standards.

Edited March 8, 2010 by whitesoxfan101

[bigruss]

If Im the bears I trade or give up those 4th round picks (or whatever round) to get veteran, solid OL. If they really want to win this year, they need to upgrade that OL pronto. They can make up for those picks later.