Thread: Your Free Agent Wish List [Top 10]

Originally Posted by lklrlolnlilklsox

Tyvon Branch and Dashon Goldson got franchise tagged at safety, which changes my list drastically as they were basically 2a and 2b on my wish list.

1. VJax
2. Meachem
3. Decoud
4. Brandon Carr
5. Steve Johnson
6. Garcon
7. Richard Marshall
8. Mathis
9. Hawthorne
10. Abraham
HM=Landry-Achilles should put him on a short-term incentive deal.
HM=Eddie Royal

Colts working hard on Mathis to return. It may come down to a choice between him and Garcon if they decide to tag somebody.

Why no Mario Williams. I could see Mathis as a fall back signing but I think Abraham has shot his load. He's not the player he used to be. I guess my point with MWill as that we solve a problem now and it stays solved for a long time.

For me it looks like this;

Eddie Royal: Should be an easy and low cost move and he says yes or no pretty quickly.

Mario Williams: Maybe a tough and expensive signing but worth it in the long run. The Giants proved the value of a dominant pass rush. MWill helps to insure that.

Robert Mathis: A fall back if MWill can't be signed if he's not tagged.

Robert Meachem: Should be enough of an upgrade to make Cutler happy and improve the WR core. Far less costly than VJax and younger as well.

I haven't given it much thought beyond that since that's about the limit of what we have space to sign and still keep our own. This Forte franchise tag doesn't help this situation.

Originally Posted by soulman

Colts working hard on Mathis to return. It may come down to a choice between him and Garcon if they decide to tag somebody.

Why no Mario Williams. I could see Mathis as a fall back signing but I think Abraham has shot his load. He's not the player he used to be. I guess my point with MWill as that we solve a problem now and it stays solved for a long time.

Because dedicating ~$30Mil to your DE position is not a prudent move and not at all a sustainable practice. I see our chances of signing him or Avril at somewhere between .0000000000001% and .0000000000002%, because of the fact that they will push us to that figure and I'm not deluding myself into believing otherwise.

Abraham had 9.5 sacks, is a season away from 13.5 and will cost a hell of a lot less than anyone else who stands to make even close to that kind of impact.

I did forget Wimbley, though, who I would love to add to our line at the right price.

I for one don't want to get my hopes up. I like where we are headed but all this over-speculation and uber conjecture is just setting us up to be disappointed. We don't even have an inkling of where things are heading so to have hearts set on one specific guy might screw up another type of plan.

I would be just as happy if they spread out the wealth over several good FA whomever they may be. Then after FA would be a much clearer read of how the draft could possibly unfold.

The question I don't see asked is: is this a "all in" year? Are the Bears more likely to go guns getting FA to reach the SB or is it more of a long term plan? I believe knowing this is a key barometer of where things are going.

I would love for us to get the Mario's and Vjax's of the market but I don't want to rest too much hope in getting them and seemingly defeated if we don't.

Expect the worst and hope for the best.

Originally Posted by WindyCity

Meachem and Garcon are climbing in my regards because they will allow us the flexibility to go after other free agents.

Mario, V Jax probably end the real heavy spending.

And both remain big ifs right now. San Diego and Houston may not give up without a fight so they may try to resign them. That's why I think we have to be prepared to hit fast and hard with an offer that would tough to match.

I guess I see MWill as having a bigger impact than VJax but that's all a matter of opinion. Which openings we attempt to fill in FA are gonna be dictated by who we feel we can draft as well. If Emery feels we can get a good pass rusher in the draft then maybe his slant is toward a WR like VJax. I can't say that would be bad just that I prefer going the other way around. It's doubtful we'd get anyone as good as MWill in the draft.

No matter which way we go they are an expensive twosome but you don't win championships by sitting on your hands when there's top tier talent to be had. I don't understand where sox is coming up with that $30 mil number though. Maybe he can explain that. I don't see the problem of sinking big money into both MWill and Pep for the benefit we get. We're underspending on our DT's because of the youth and where they were drafted so overall expenses for the Dline won't be that out of whack.

If we structure it right Pep is getting ready to hang it up as MWill's deal starts maxing out so we won't be carrying that heavy expense for the entire term of the contract. Just my way of goin' about it.