Bears Mock Offseason Feb 1

Free Agents

DE Cliff Avril [Detroit] 5 years 55 million/25 guaranteed

I know that most people think that he is going to be franchise tagged, but the Lions apparently have serious cap problems and may be unable to franchise tag Avril. The Bears can add an impact pass rusher across from Peppers and a guy who is only 26 years old.
http://media.mlive.com/highlightreel...145f_large.jpg

WR Mario Manningham [NY Giants] 4 years 20 million/10 guaranteed

The Bears need #1 and #2 WRs to go along with Earl Bennett at the #3 position. Manningham provides good speed, solid hands and elite routes to work on the outside and give Cutler a solid target that may never light it up but can contribute as a PROFESSIONAL WR.
http://www.robmancini.com/wp-content...manningham.jpg

OT Khalif Barnes [Oakland] 2 years 5 million/2 guaranteed

The Bears need a swing tackle that can back up at RT if Carimi is still injured and can step in at LT if Webb struggles. Barnes has played on both sides and has started at both positions while in the NFL and is a huge upgrade over Frank Omiyale.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lif_Barnes.JPG

LB Tavares Gooden [San Francisco] 2 years 3 million/1 guaranteed

A stand out special teamer and a LB that has been miscast in various 3-4 defenses. Gooden can contribute on special teams and provide depth and speed at the LB position.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/images/20...-111206-a4.jpg

CB Jarrett Bush [Green Bay] 2 years 3 million/1 guaranteed

A solid, but unspectacular player for the Green Bay Packers who has played on the outside and inside.
http://images.wikia.com/packers/imag...rrett_Bush.jpg
Re-signings

RB Matt Forte [4 years 34 million/18 guaranteed]

A must resign and the most dynamic playmaker that the Bears have.

QB Josh McCown [2 years 2 million]

Where was he at the beginning of the season.

TE Kellen Davis [1 year 2 million/1 guaranteed]

Give him another year to show that he has some value, but the Bears need to get more dynamic.

DE Israel Idoinje [2 years 6 million/ 2 guaranteed]

Idonije might not be the pass rusher that the Bears need across from Peppers he is a great run stuffer and a perfect rotational player.

CB D.J Moore [4 years 10 million/5 guaranteed]

Perfect for the defense and a true take away machine he should be resigned for the top level of what a nickel CB gets.

CB Corey Graham [3 years 6 million/3 guaranteed]

A valuable special teamer and has flashed a knack for the ball in limited defensive reps. The Bears should keep the special teams captain.

S Craig Steltz [2 years 2.5 million/1 guaranteed]

Steltz has been a consistent contributor and can hold up as a sport starter and a leader on special teams.

RB Khalil Bell [2 years 3 million/1 guaranteed]

Bell in my opinion has earned the right to be the primary back up, he runs hard and catches the ball well out of the backfield.

Draft

1[19] WR Mohamed Sanu [Rutgers] 6'2" 220lbs.

The Bears need to add a #1 WR this offseason, but he also needs to be a bigger body. I believe that Floyd will be gone by the time the Bears pick and they will be looking at Alshon Jeffery and Mohamed Sanu. Jeffery may have a higher ceiling, but he has red flags and may be to risky of a pick for the Bears. Sanu is a big physical target that has very good hands. He can work the middle of the field and physically beat up on CBs on the outside. Sanu is a bigger version of Anquan Boldin who turns into a RB when he gets the ball. Sanu will continue to climb if he runs well and can show speed to go with this guys increible physical ability.
http://www.thejetsblog.com/wordpress...VlLnJ2E0wl.jpg

Mohamed Sanu Highlight Reel (BEAST) - YouTube

2[51] TE Orson Charles [Georgia] 6'3" 245lbs.

The Bears TE position has been decimated by Mike Martz and now the Bears need to get caught up with the rest of the league. The Bears need to keep adding weapons in the passing game. Charles is similar to JerMichael Finlay as his speed proves to be a huge mismatch for defenses. Kellen Davis is a solid player, but he is not dynamic in the passing game.
http://redandblack.com/media/2011/08...on.charles.jpg

Orson Charles - YouTube

3[72] CB Donnie Fletcher [Boston College] 6'1" 195lbs.

The Bears need starting depth at the CB position. The Bears will allow Jennings to walk and instead of Fletcher who has the physical upside to be a Cover 2 starter against Cory Graham who has shown he is more than a special teams player.
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/cnishared/...4690_tech1.jpg

3[83] LB Nigel Bradham [Florida St] 6'2" 235lbs.

The Bears need to start searching for a replacement to Briggs because of age and his contract problem. Bradham is a physical freak that can flat out run and his strength is coverage.
http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/...gelBradham.jpg

4. OT Mitchell Schwartz [California] 6'5" 316lbs.

More competition at the OT position as Schwartz has the look of a RT or a RG and a solid technician.
http://calbearsonline.com/cal_bears_...-1113_1338.jpg

5. S Blake Gideon [Texas] 6'1" 210lbs.

The Bears continue to add depth to the safety positon with the solid, but unspectacular Gideon. Gideon can back up and potentially develop as a starter if Wright continues to be injured, or ineffective.
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/cnishared/...iesta_45-1.jpg

6. WR. B.J Cunningham [Michigan St] 6'2" 215lbs.

The Bears continue to add size to the WR core with Cunningham who can be a developmental possession WR and a special teams player
http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c191...Cunningham.jpg

7. LB Chris Marve [Vanderbilt] 6' 242lbs.

Marve has his limitations, but he has a nose for the ball makes a ton of plays and is a team leader.
http://images.athlonsports.com/d/16457-1/ChrisMarve.jpg

Depth Chart

QB: Cutler, McCown, Enderle
RB: Forte, Bell, Allen, Clutts
WR: Sanu, Manningham, Bennett, Knox, Cunningham, Hester
TE: Charles/Davis, Spaeth
LT: Webb, Barnes
LG: Louis/C. Williams
C: Garza, E. Williams
RG: Spencer
RT: Carimi, Schwartz
RE: Peppers, Wootton
DT: Melton, Paea
NT: Toenia, Adams
LE: Avril, Idonije
SLB: Roach, Gooden
MLB: Urlacher, Marve, Dicico
WLB: Briggs, Bradham
CB: Tillman, Graham/Fletcher, Moore, Bush
FS: Conte, Walters
SS: Wright/Steltz, Gideon

Why are we signing Mario Manningham when we could go after four guys who are better than him in free agency (Colston, Jackson, Bowe, and Johnson)? Also, have you taken into consideration that we need someone to start at LT, not simply just to compete for the LT job with Webb?

One thing I do like, though, is the potential to sign Cliff Avril. He is a real stud, and I think he could go a long way toward giving the Bears a solid DL.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Why are we signing Mario Manningham when we could go after four guys who are better than him in free agency (Colston, Jackson, Bowe, and Johnson)? Also, have you taken into consideration that we need someone to start at LT, not simply just to compete for the LT job with Webb?

One thing I do like, though, is the potential to sign Cliff Avril. He is a real stud, and I think he could go a long way toward giving the Bears a solid DL.

---

Manningham is cheaper than them and if we come and say he is OUR #1 guy, he sees our interest. I'd take Manningham at 1st out of all Free Agents. He may not be the best FA WR, but he would improve us for less money.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Why are we signing Mario Manningham when we could go after four guys who are better than him in free agency (Colston, Jackson, Bowe, and Johnson)? Also, have you taken into consideration that we need someone to start at LT, not simply just to compete for the LT job with Webb?

One thing I do like, though, is the potential to sign Cliff Avril. He is a real stud, and I think he could go a long way toward giving the Bears a solid DL.

---

We cannot afford both Avril and a big time free agent WR.

Also if we draft a WR in the 1st round then we can sign a #2 WR.

We need to acquire three wr's; 2 in fa, one in the draft. Manningham would be great, as he will be cheaper, and if we could sign an older player with a little gas left in the tank, and draft Floyd, we would be set for a while with 3 good, and one developing wr's..

Windy, I know you hate me for this but before you start tossing out dollar amount for contracts you should do a little math. Cliff Stein would have to get creative as far as pushing some of that guaranteed money and salaries into later years in order for this to work.

Conservatively you have roughly $36 mil in cap costs involved with just these guys and this is before you create an allotment for the rookies and a reserve for replacing injured players. You also haven't included another vet QB to backup Cutler which is almost a certainty. I doubt McCown will get that gig. So you'll need at least another $2 mil for that. That will push that cap up to around $38 mil and you can add another $3-$4 mil for rookies and about $2-$3 mil for reserve.

That's anywhere from $43 to $45 mil of cap for these guys so in order for that to work you'd have to cut a lot or players to free up cap space because right now the estimate is that we'll have a little less than $30 mil going into FA. There's no way to bring in all those guys and still retain our own core FA's. I appreciate your thoughts but you have to make the numbers work. If those guarantees were all structured as SB's that alone would come to $21 mil and change and if you pushed some of it back into RB's then it's not really guaranteed and you might created cap hell down the road. That's why the Bears don't like doing back ended deals.

Just sayin'. :drinking61:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WindyCity

We cannot afford both Avril and a big time free agent WR.

Also if we draft a WR in the 1st round then we can sign a #2 WR.

---

How much do you think Cliff Avril is worth? He's not exactly putting up enough statistics for a Lifetime Achievement Oscar. He's not going to get Peppers money, and I think he'll only get about what Robert Mathis makes to be perfectly honest with you. I will be pissed if we draft a WR in the first round. I want one who will make a difference for me immediately, not someone who we will have to rely on Daryl Drake to develop into a zombie.

Better to draft a #2 receiver than to draft a #1, unless that #1 is Justin Blackmon and all the sudden he drops off the map in terms of draft status. Just saying.

There is another Detroit Lion, though, who I would be interested in signing, and that is Shaun Hill. He would be the perfect compliment to Jay Cutler as a backup, as he's won some games and has put up some good statistics over the years.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dagan81

How much do you think Cliff Avril is worth? He's not exactly putting up enough statistics for a Lifetime Achievement Oscar. He's not going to get Peppers money, and I think he'll only get about what Robert Mathis makes to be perfectly honest with you. I will be pissed if we draft a WR in the first round. I want one who will make a difference for me immediately, not someone who we will have to rely on Daryl Drake to develop into a zombie. (He'll get a lot more than Robert Mathis will. He's bigger, he's 5 years younger and his sack totals are just as good. This guy is just reaching his peak whereas Mathis is gonna be heading South soon)

Better to draft a #2 receiver than to draft a #1, unless that #1 is Justin Blackmon and all the sudden he drops off the map in terms of draft status. Just saying. (And that won't happen)

There is another Detroit Lion, though, who I would be interested in signing, and that is Shaun Hill. He would be the perfect compliment to Jay Cutler as a backup, as he's won some games and has put up some good statistics over the years.

---

This one has some merit to it. Shaun Hill would be an improvement over McCown in my mind.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by soulman

This one has some merit to it. Shaun Hill would be an improvement over McCown in my mind.

---

Having three strings that include Jay Cutler, Shaun Hill, and Josh McCown as our quarterbacks would be pretty sweet. That would make us one of the deeper teams for a quarterback as any other team in the league in my estimation.

I agree w/Halpy on 2 wr in FA and one drafted to develop (Drake be damned). Avril is my pipe dream but if we can't land him perhaps another DE FA and a SS. I think it's going to be one of those FA periods where what they do there determines most of the picks in the direction of the draft-at least rounds 1-3.