Thread: Bears Free Agent Focus

Originally Posted by motownbear

Saying we need 4 new olinemen is different then saying we should get them all in year one. Sometimes I dont clarify my thoughts thoroughly. I think we can come up with two new oline men to add to the drafting of Carimi which will leave us next offseason looking to fill two more olinemen. That is the direction I want to go in. At the same time Im not going to overrate a position coach. I like Tice and like the role he has with the team but I dont think he will whip up some magic with anyone. Bad is bad.

You bring up something interesting though with the udfa. There are some potentially good C in the bunch. If we can pick up a couple of them by next year they can be a back up to Kreutz and the year after maybe replace him. As of right now we have shit for a succession plan to Kreutz and he has us by our balls with his new contract

Sorry, I gotcha now. Yeah we need to get away from ignoring the Oline as much as has been done in the past. Many teams can get good OC's and OG's in the middle to late rounds and in come cases there are better undrafted propects than the drafted ones. Olin was a third round pick and Hilgy was an UDFA and those are our two all-pro OC's from the past 30 years and both had long careers. If we did a better job of scouting talent at that level we'd have better success.

I think you have to draft your starting OT's, especially those who project at LT. Nobody lets an even halfway decent LT hit FA unless the guy has issues or injury concerns. That was the problem with signing OMG in FA. If he really had the skills to play LT why would he have been allowed to hit FA just as he was coming into his prime experience wise? He didn't have the skills or he didn't know how to use them that's why. So we paid a LT price for a guy who can't play LT or LG well at all. There you're right. Bad is bad.

I think a lot of that comes down to the Oline coach and his ability to spot teachable talent. Dick Stanfil was the Bears Oline coach when they built that Oline in the 80's and he got great play out of his OG's none of whom were high picks. Thayer was a 3rd, Bortz a 6th, and Becker a 5th if I remember correctly. I think that's where Tice can help a lot because sure as shit JA has no luck when he drafts them. Webb may well be the first of Tice mid or late round prodigies and I still think he can make something decent out of CWill. We'll see.

Originally Posted by soulman

If that's the case the Bears may be interested but they may also feel that one of the other FA's is a better value. Personally I don't see why Mankins wouldn't want to remain franchised if the NFL is willing give him $10 mil to drop out of the lawsuit. Add that to the $10.7 mil he gets from NE as his salary and the guy makes almost $21 mil this year guaranteed. Then he still has the option of becoming an UFA next year when there won't be as many guys available at his position or at least we think there won't. When it comes right down to it he's in a nearly ideal situation if he stays.

It sounds like from what you just said that he's got it dicked either way. He could stay in New England and get his money, or he could go to a place like Chicago, with a young offensive line, and mentor the other linemen to where their levels of play are raised. Of course, I know that's unrealistic, but even I have the right to dream every once in a while!

Truthfully, I could see the Bears holding off on Mankins and going after him next year. Imagine having a line with Webb, Kruetz, possibly Kruetz if he doesn't choose to retire, Dahl if we get him this year, and Mankins if we opt to go after him next season. That would be a complete 180 degree turn from the offensive line that we had in 2010.

Originally Posted by soulman

Sorry, I gotcha now. Yeah we need to get away from ignoring the Oline as much as has been done in the past. Many teams can get good OC's and OG's in the middle to late rounds and in come cases there are better undrafted propects than the drafted ones. Olin was a third round pick and Hilgy was an UDFA and those are our two all-pro OC's from the past 30 years and both had long careers. If we did a better job of scouting talent at that level we'd have better success.

I think you have to draft your starting OT's, especially those who project at LT. Nobody lets an even halfway decent LT hit FA unless the guy has issues or injury concerns. That was the problem with signing OMG in FA. If he really had the skills to play LT why would he have been allowed to hit FA just as he was coming into his prime experience wise? He didn't have the skills or he didn't know how to use them that's why. So we paid a LT price for a guy who can't play LT or LG well at all. There you're right. Bad is bad.

I think a lot of that comes down to the Oline coach and his ability to spot teachable talent. Dick Stanfil was the Bears Oline coach when they built that Oline in the 80's and he got great play out of his OG's none of whom were high picks. Thayer was a 3rd, Bortz a 6th, and Becker a 5th if I remember correctly. I think that's where Tice can help a lot because sure as shit JA has no luck when he drafts them. Webb may well be the first of Tice mid or late round prodigies and I still think he can make something decent out of CWill. We'll see.

Now the issue is going to be whether we can keep Mike Tice on the Bears' coaching staff in the current position he finds himself right now. If everyone will remember, the Titans wanted to interview Tice for the offensive coordinating position, but were blocked by the Bears. I think Tice is very valuable to this team and if we have to dump off that waste of space Mike Martz and promote Tice to offensive coordinator, then we do it. We need to keep this guy because he saved the offense last year when it looked like all was about lost on that side of the ball.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Now the issue is going to be whether we can keep Mike Tice on the Bears' coaching staff in the current position he finds himself right now. If everyone will remember, the Titans wanted to interview Tice for the offensive coordinating position, but were blocked by the Bears. I think Tice is very valuable to this team and if we have to dump off that waste of space Mike Martz and promote Tice to offensive coordinator, then we do it. We need to keep this guy because he saved the offense last year when it looked like all was about lost on that side of the ball.

Tice is under contract through 2012 and I believe they also made him an assistant HC. There's nothing to worry about now.

Originally Posted by soulman

Tice is under contract through 2012 and I believe they also made him an assistant HC. There's nothing to worry about now.

That would be funny if the Bears did that but totally snubbed Martz.