Thread: Is the Bears OL a priority?

Carimi, Cwill, or even Louis could match ol' Levi's stats and then some.

I'm just waiting to get our modern day Jimbo Covert.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Levi Brown is not out of his contract, but chances are he will be on the open market. And chances are he will have a number of interested suitors. In fact, Brown could be the best offensive tackle on the market. The fifth pick of the 2007 draft had been a disappointment earlier in his career, but he played pretty well for the Cardinals in 2011 and is drawing interest from other teams who are anticipating Brown shaking free. The Cardinals owe Brown a $6 million bonus next month, and his salary for 2012, the last year of his rookie deal, is $14.5 million. So far, the Cardinals have not attempted to restructure or extend Brown’s contract


I am all for a guy like Levi Brown at the right price.

For 2-3 years at 3-4 million a year I would absolutely take the risk on him and have him compete with Webb.

But for 4-5 years and 4-6 million, which may happen if a number of teams get involved, that is to big a financial risk for a player who has been inconsistent.

Nah, after sox posted his stats I can see why the Cards don't want to keep him around. He's probably the 2nd worst LT in the league right behind Webb. I looked for his stats before I posted but couldn't find them. We need to do better than him. Even though there isn't much in the way of FA OT's we can't forget that there are always gonna be cap casualties like Brown who will be released.

From what Tice has said and now reinforced by Cutler I think we can forget about any Olineman in the first round before we get some new and better bodies at WR. Since Tice has backed the line including Webb and Cutler has nothing negative to offer I think it's very unlikely any Olineman is high enough on the list of needs to use a #1 pick on one.

I think we'd all like to see improvements but that probably comes more under the heading of wants as opposed to needs. Tice seems to think these guys will get much better with more experience playing together and it's hard to argue with that logic. Even after Carimi and CWill went down guys stepped in and did a fair job of holding up even in Martz's scheme. Another year together playing in an offense that asks less of them in pass protection and we may see a huge difference in these guys.

As bad as it my seem at times we still made the NFC Championship Game in 2010 and may well have made it again in 2011 if Cutler hadn't been hurt. As far as I'm concerned starting caliber Olineman still rank behind WR and DE on the list of needs.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

By all accounts this is not a strong DE draft class.

WR
OG/C
CB
DT

Are the positions that are stacked in this draft.

Windy you just proved my point about drafting a good pass rusher in the 1st round if there's someone like Ingram still on the board. There is far less talent available after the first round than at other positions. There are a lot of WR's who don't rank far behind the top 5 guys and there are CB's (another need) who could start all the way down into the third round, same with OG's.

The positions that should be filled early because there is little depth are DE and LB.

Originally Posted by soulman

Windy you just proved my point about drafting a good pass rusher in the 1st round if there's someone like Ingram still on the board. There is far less talent available after the first round than at other positions. There are a lot of WR's who don't rank far behind the top 5 guys and there are CB's (another need) who could start all the way down into the third round, same with OG's.

The positions that should be filled early because there is little depth are DE and LB.

If we do go DE in the first, I would have to say that I believe Mercilus would be our best choice. Yea, I am an Illini fan, but I am a far bigger Bear fan, and I will not pick a guy from Illinois, just because he's from Illinois. In fact, I may steer clear of him JUST BECAUSE he's from Illinois. However, I think Mercilus is the real deal and the best option as a 4-3 DE. DE still isn't my first choice, but if that's the direction they go then he's my guy.