Thread: Bears Offseason Plan [Meachem/Trade Up]

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Merriweather and Williams signed 1 year deals and will provide no cap relief this season.

Spaeth saves us about 1.7 million is we cut him.

I think Lance might be worth a 3rd round pick but I doubt he and a 2nd get us anywhere near a 1st round pick his age and salary are trade killers.

Spot on as far as Worthless #1 and Worthless #2 are concerned. We have no 2012 cap dollars committed to RWill or Meriweather. All we can say is it's $5 mil we don't have to spend on them and never should have to begin with.

Lance Briggs is worth far more than a 3rd round pick to us and I'd never let him go for that. If Emery even gives him a green light to go shopping for a new team I'd put no less than a high second or low first price tag on it. We'd need that to replace him and even then chances of getting a player of the same caliber is unlikely. To me it makes more sense to add another year to his deal and hand him a couple of mil in bonus money now just to keep the peace.

Spaeth should be on the bubble in camp. If Andre Smith can beat him out we'll save about $1.3 mil and I would do that in a NY minute just to get some breathing space for potential injury replacement dollars. Spaeth is a good blocker but $1.7 mil is too much for a one dimensional TE who isn't of all that much use in Tice's offense.

Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

Replacing Briggs' immediate impact would take Zach Brown, IMHO, and that's a first round pick. He may not hold high value league-wide, but he is hugely important to us.

Agree with every single word here. Spaeth is a nice player, but we have a guy in Davis who proved much more dynamic in his limited use. I would have no problem cutting him outright tomorrow if we re-sign Kellen because I'm that sure of Andre's abilities.

That's the key sox. To other teams Briggs may seem like a "system play" and he may well be but in "our system" he's the perfect guy at the perfect position. So far he shows no signs of slowing down and I think he'll continue to play at his current level for at least another two years and maybe three. If we toss him a $3 mil SB and extend his deal a year it only costs us $1 mil per year against that cap. In the bigger picture that's chump change.

We don't have to do it but it may be one of those "good faith" or appreciation things that you get more mileage out of than it costs to do it. This way he'll average about $6.5 mil over the next three years. IMO that's fair.

I've been thinking about the whole Lance Briggs thing and I believe Emery should approach it this way. "Lance, if you think your perenial Pro-Bowl play deserves additional money to the contract that YOU agreed to, the bulk of which you have ALREADY been paid, then you should be worth at least a second round pick, right? So here's the deal, you and your "Show me the money" agent go find a team that is willing to renegotiate your deal, and if they are willing to pony up a late first or early 2nd round pick, then we will trade you and you can get your additional pay day from them; if they only offer a late second, then we will consider giving you a bump on a single year extension; however, if you can only come up with a third, then shut up and play because the market value for your services are not what YOU think they are."

If someone else is willing, then his market value is proven to us, but I don't think we should sign Forte for a substantial sum and then cave to Lance too. At that point, Emery is also setting a dangerous and potentially costly president for every other guy wanting a raise in mid contract. Frankly, we fans sometimes undervalue and over value certain players when it comes to trades, but Briggs is a seldom injured Pro-Bowl LB with outstaqnding experience, but plays in a system designed to inflate his productivity. He is very good for our system, and he has been handsomely rewarded for his efforts, but if someone is willing to pay a second for him, then I would probably do it, but nothing lower. There ARE teams that given the right circumstance, could be willing to surrender a late 1st for the guy, but they are few and far between.

Lance Briggs would be more valuable to the Bears packaged in a deal for some draft picks in my estimation than he would be as an actual player on the team. He needs to go because he's getting too old and too greedy to play for us. I know that there are going to be some naysayers that come out of the wood works and tell me that I'm crazy (I am bipolar, after all), but that's the business of football. His play declined last year, yet he wants more money. I cannot justify that logically.