Thread: Mario Williams should be the Bears top priority

This echoes much of what we've already discussed but perhaps hopefully the idea is gaining traction.

Lester is writer much in the same sense that we are and I think he's been over here reading my posts, LOL. But I think he's 100% correct in his position. (of course I do right?)

MWill is by far the best value play we could possibly make. As Lester points out there will be no great deals on WR's this year either despite the fact that the supply is better than this year. Johnson signs a $35.6/5 deal, Garcon has already turned down a similar offer and these guys are more #2 or #1 1/2 guys right now. VJax is looking for $50 mil or better and I'm guessing Colston, gimpy knees and all, will be looking at a number close to that too.

Lloyd we have no interest in, and shouldn't, and while Mike Wallace is enticing paying him a kings ransom AND giving up a #1 pick would be foolish IMHO. It's also likely that Meachem will attract offers of only slightly less than Johnson and Garcon. Now doesn't the idea of signing Eddie Royal and reuniting him with Cutler sound like a bargain. He would most likely come in on a two years deal for realistic money and look to regenerate his flagging career teamed with Cutler again and then get a better contract.

Is Mario Williams worth $90 mil or so? Well, hasn't Pep earned every cent of the $84 mil we're paying him? Hasn't he been a tireless performer and a major difference maker in our defense. Anybody who answers NO to that will be forced to write 100 times, just like I did, "Julius Peppers was a very good deal". So now close your eyes and imagine his clone playing opposite him. No more double and triple teaming Pep. Now add to that Melton, Okoye, and Paea rushing from DT and for the other guys it's gonna be choose your poison time.

I know we badly need a bigger taller WR and if we were able to land MWill and just Royal it leaves the door open to draft a bigger taller WR in the first round if the guy we like is still on the board because MWill takes care of the need to draft a pass rusher. There are a couple of FA WR's I like but spending upwards of $7 or $8 mil on one in a year when there are a ton of very draftable ones seems like a poorer use of cap dollars than signing a player who we couldn't even get near drafting.

We never finish low enough in the standings to get a shot at guys like Pep or MWill when they're drafted but here's a chance to man our line with one former #1 overall pick and former #2 overall pick. How often does that opportunity come around? I don't deny that that's an expensive pair of bookends but what makes it possible is that we have only $2.1 mil in cap space taken up but 3 DT, Melton, Toe, and Paea. Even if Okoye costs us $3 mil in cap this year that's only $5.1 mil, or about 4% of the cap, on all four DT's. Even with MWill and Pep the entire starting Dline should have a cap cost no more than 20% of the total cap. I've pointed this out before.

Sign MWill if possible and Eddie Royal as a sure thing and if we have additional cap space then sign one of the other #2 or #1 1/2 guys or spend that 1st round pick and Floyd or Hill or whichever big body WR seems best. That 1st round WR will cost a fraction of what any of the FA's cost and allows us more cap space to meet other needs.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Mario would cost more than Peppers and would cripple the Bears ability to address other needs. Nice dream though.

How about if I told you we could get Mario Williams for as small a 2012 cap hit as $7.5 to $10 mil and there would still be plenty of room to add other talent and bring back our own? Would it be less than a dream?

Originally Posted by soulman

How about if I told you we could get Mario Williams for as small a 2012 cap hit as $7.5 to $10 mil and there would still be plenty of room to add other talent and bring back our own? Would it be less than a dream?

As a football player having him on this team would be a no-brainer. But you have to consider that he has had some injuries, they'd have to 'overspend" to get him, and you run the risk of pissing off alot of players who have been here for a long time .... cuz seeing The New Kid on the Block getting what would probably amount to the biggest contract in Bears history would have alotta guys thinking " F this place". Plus they could probably get 3 players for his price.

Love to see it . But the ft office needs to think long and hard about it. There's alot of factors to consider here.

Originally Posted by soulman

How about if I told you we could get Mario Williams for as small a 2012 cap hit as $7.5 to $10 mil and there would still be plenty of room to add other talent and bring back our own? Would it be less than a dream?

You're not going to add Mario without sacrificing elsewhere. IMHO, Mario is not as good as Peppers and would not be a wise investment based on the money he'll be seeking. The Bears should be doing a full court press to land VJackson and finding other pieces in FA. The Bears are going to have some guys next year that will be pending FAs. You can't get crazy and cripple yourself by overspending for Mario. Personally, I don't like dumping $10 million + into a defensive player coming off a torn peck. Its lunacy to have nearly $20 million invested in two DEs.