Thread: Bears Mailbag: How about Mankins?

Originally Posted by Dagan81

If Mankins keeps applying the pressure on the Patriots, I don't see the Pats doing much to try and retain him. That is one franchise that is frugal with their money.

I hope your right Dags.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

I hope your right Dags.

Me too, shorty. Me too. I would love nothing better than to taste the champagne after winning the Lombardi Trophy next year with revamped offensive and defensive lines. If we can meet our OG need with Mankins this coming year, then I say we will have one of the very best lines in the entire league, or at the very least a very serviceable one. One thing's for sure: we can't have another season like what we had last year where we give up 56 sacks and can't run the ball north and south.

I think serviceable is the best we can hope for at this moment. If we can cut the 56 sacks and 92 qb hits in half and have some semblance of a goalline punch I will consider that a major victory.

Originally Posted by short faced bear

I think serviceable is the best we can hope for at this moment. If we can cut the 56 sacks and 92 qb hits in half and have some semblance of a goalline punch I will consider that a major victory.

Oh, absolutely. I agree wholeheartedly. Even if we only cut our sack total down into the upper 30s, that's still a great improvement over what we saw last year. I think the same strategy that we saw last year with running the football to set up the pass is excellent, and we need to continue moving Cutler around in the pocket this season.

I agree with Dagan, I doubt the Patriots really expect to get 2 1st rounders out of him, and while they may not have his immediate successor, at least to his level, wasn't it Quinn Ojinnaka that stepped in for him while he sat out? Regardless, whoever was his backup, they played well enough and didn't give up many sacks while Mankins was out (should be noted more were given up when he came back, but also that they stayed scoring at least 30 consistently too). With all that said, They can afford to get rid of him, and their backup (if i got the right guy) is only 27. If he sucks, they will have several 1st's anyway, so they could use one on a guard.