Chester Taylor's future with the Bears

Chester Taylor's future with the Bears


by kevin Seifert
In his latest Scouts Eye analysis http://assets.espn.go.com/icons/in.gif, Matt Williamson ranked NFC North running backs. You'll need an Insider subscription to read the entire post, but his decision to rank the Chicago Bears third among our four teams points to a secondary issue that we haven't bantered around much during the offseason.

Namely: How certain are we that Chester Taylor will return as the primary backup to Matt Forte?

Williamson's ranking was based largely on the players behind Forte on the depth chart. Taylor, as we've pointed out, was the NFL's first post-merger running back to average less than 2.4 yards per carry on at least 100 carries in 2010. Williamson termed the acquisition "a colossal flop."

I think Taylor provided the Bears some nuanced help in 2010, especially in short-yardage. But let's face it: When a 31-year-old running back rushes for 267 yards on 112 carries, as Taylor did last season, it's at least worth questioning his future with the team. The Bears have two other running backs on their roster, Kahlil Bell and Harvey Unga, who might provide younger (and cheaper) alternatives.

To be clear, if the Bears had already decided to move on, they would have released Taylor before the lockout as they did with defensive tackle Tommie Harris. But they really had no incentive to part ways with Taylor in February. Taylor received more than half of his $12.5 million deal in 2010 compensation. He's due a relatively affordable $1.275 million in 2011, a decent price for a veteran backup that the Bears could still avoid paying if they released him after training camp.

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz seemed incredulous when asked about Taylor's future in March, telling Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune: "Why would he get cut? Why would that happen? It wouldn't make any sense, would it? We're pleased with him. We're very pleased with him. He really played well, especially in the last few games."

It makes sense to bring Taylor to training camp. Should he make the team? I'm not sure that's an easy answer.

Why would you cut him? Why would that make sense? Well maybe because he was largely ineffective last season and quite possibly the worst back up RB in the entire NFL. Also because maybe you have two younger RB's who may be able to run circles around him if given the chance. Mike, if you're pleased with him you're settling for way too little. You didn't want to accept the Bears contract extension with out a raise even though you had the 31st ranked offense last year but you're willing to accept Chester Taylor as your #2 RB? Yeah, right!

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Originally Posted by soulman

Why would you cut him? Why would that make sense? Well maybe because he was largely ineffective last season and quite possibly the worst back up RB in the entire NFL. Also because maybe you have two younger RB's who may be able to run circles around him if given the chance. Mike, if you're pleased with him you're settling for way too little. You didn't want to accept the Bears contract extension with out a raise even though you had the 31st ranked offense last year but you're willing to accept Chester Taylor as your #2 RB? Yeah, right!

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difference is cutting taylor costs more in cap space than keeping him is the point making soul- think for one more year its actually 'cheaper" keeping as depth over cutting him..raises or cuts of coaches salries irrelevant to cap

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Originally Posted by dabears54

difference is cutting taylor costs more in cap space than keeping him is the point making soul- think for one more year its actually 'cheaper" keeping as depth over cutting him..raises or cuts of coaches salries irrelevant to cap

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That much I understand and he can't come right out and say that we can't afford to cut him capwise but to have Martz express confidence in the guy is a little too much for me. You know I think that he and Manu were wasted acquisitions in the final analysis. Everything we thought that Taylor would be he wasn't and, unlike scotch, I don't see him improving with age. This year we'd be better off with him on the IR than Unga.

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Originally Posted by soulman

That much I understand and he can't come right out and say that we can't afford to cut him capwise but to have Martz express confidence in the guy is a little too much for me. You know I think that he and Manu were wasted acquisitions in the final analysis. Everything we thought that Taylor would be he wasn't and, unlike scotch, I don't see him improving with age. This year we'd be better off with him on the IR than Unga.

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once on team( becuase of cap or any other reason and not cutting), we both know "coachspeak" will ensue and guess you read more into that than i do.. don't put any stock in it either way.. just know its coming

I'm not anti-Chester . As long as he's performing well and outplays someone else got no prob with him. Don't care who plays as long as they perform , whether it's him or Unga or Bell . Just git er done. I KNOW he's a better back than what we saw last year ( remember him doing alot of damage against us ) so if he stays I hope he has a bounce back year.

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Originally Posted by Blue Horse-shoe

I'm not anti-Chester . As long as he's performing well and outplays someone else got no prob with him. Don't care who plays as long as they perform , whether it's him or Unga or Bell . Just git er done. I KNOW he's a better back than what we saw last year ( remember him doing alot of damage against us ) so if he stays I hope he has a bounce back year.

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Yes, he is a better back than that and yes again he killed us more than once when he played for the Vikes but it seems to me that when these aging RB's get that last big payday they just flat out refuse to beat themselves up anymore. Personally I thought Taylor gave us a shitty effort last year. I know the line wasn't very good but it was the exact same set of blockers Forte ran behind far more successfully than Taylor. Any other back without that cap hit who averaged only 2.4 ypc wouldn't have even made it this far. They'd have been cut way back in March.

There's no doubt about who's the #1 back but I hope both Bell and Unga get a real opportunity to unseat him this year and he's not just handed the job again. Frankly I think Bell could have outperformed him last year.

Keep him through training camp, i guess. If Bell and/or Unga show more promise, send his *** packing. Salary cap shouldn't be the end all be all in deciding whether to keep a player. But, if it came down to getting rid of him or Manu, well, i don't think i need to finish this sentence...