Taking Stock of Free Agency; Day Two............

From the top of the mountain with yesterdays articles that had the Bears on the inside track to Mario Williams to the depths of realizing that money is the only factor he's considering. If he'd rather play in relative obscurity in Buffalo than in the NFL's second biggest market for a team with the defensive legacy of the Bears then I call "bullshit" on his "it's not only the money". He may be looking for other suitors but methinks the price tag has gotten so steep that few if any other teams could even come close to what the Bills are offering. I don't think Buffalo was his first choice but at his asking price they may well be his only choice. He's well beyond us now.

So what have we accomplished? Less than I would have hoped for so far and on top of that is the false alarms about MWill and Forte and the Bears coming to terms. I'm not sure who to pin that on but somebody needs to get realistic soon or I'd offer him up for a 1st and a 3rd in the draft. No RB is irreplaceable not even Matt Forte.

Two ST stars and two of our own, Jennings and Davis, is not where I hoped we'd be right now but it appears Emery has been trying. He has Mincey committed until a last minute boost in their offer kept him in Jacksonville. Maybe that's for the best anyway. Jason Campbell was probably a good move. That assures that we have an NFL starting caliber QB in reserve and a decent clip board carrier and scout team QB backing him although McCown may not make it out of camp if we find a good young prospect.

If we are truly out of the MWill sweepstakes then I'm somewhat disappointed in Emery's lack of progress in making an offer to David Hawthorne and learning why Kelvin Hayden hasn't been signed yet since we wanted him last year before he re-signed with Indy. If we're not on the attack for others FA then why haven't we locked up Okoye or do we intend to let him go? He was the only one of JA's first round rescue attempts to pay off and we need two 3t DT's for the rotation so if MWill is off the menu why the delay in locking up a productive member of our own defense.

For all the hoopla about how active we'd be in FA I'm not seeing any block buster deals or solutions to our needs for a pass rusher and a CB outside of Jennings. Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon but it seems to me that if we're swearing off MWill that we could have done better than we have. I guess I'm not completely unhappy but I'm not thrilled either. I'd sure like to see some other decisions reached before the week is out.

The only thing I can figure on the DE front is Emery is holding out for Wimbley to be released or will be happy with whatever DE he gets in the draft. Or both because we need a couple added at this point.

I'm equally baffled by the Forte deal. Who's being stubborn: the Bears or Forte? No matter who it is, something has to happen soon so we can figure out more precise numbers for the cap and, in general, keep this from dragging out even longer than it has. Whether that's the signing of a longterm contract or trading him.

As far as Hayden, the Bears were interested in him before, but that was with Angelo. Plus, with the injury issues I understand the delay. I still wouldn't mind seeing him signed, though.

Weren't you pretty critical/antsy last year too? If i recall, you kept bringing up how well philly was doing, and complaining about all of our "second chancers".

Relax soul, we were top contenders last year prior to injury. A few key changes have been made such as getting rid of Martz and signing a true #1 WR. We don't need to make any "big splashes" in free agency.

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Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

Weren't you pretty critical/antsy last year too? If i recall, you kept bringing up how well philly was doing, and complaining about all of our "second chancers".

Relax soul, we were top contenders last year prior to injury. A few key changes have been made such as getting rid of Martz and signing a true #1 WR. We don't need to make any "big splashes" in free agency.

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If I was, the only thing I may have been "antsy" about as you put it was Angelo's lack of success landing a LT and I don't think I was alone in that regard. I had no problem with most of the other moves with the exception of RWill. I thought it was useless to bring him in no matter what Martz thought. If failing to sign a LT was being "antsy" then I wasn't alone in that regard.

The big splash is gone. MWill has priced himself out of our budget but there are smaller splashes to be made. I've read where we're negotiating with Hayden and Okoye so maybe by the weekend we corral one or both of them. If it happens that's progress. I'd like to see him go after David Hawthorne now that MWill is off the table. We're desperately thin at LB and he's a guy who's a perfect fit as a SLB.

I'm not totally unhappy with what he's done and maybe the press set expectations too high by saying how active we'd be. Some gaps have been filled others haven't. I think my critique is in line with the moves that have been made. I'm not tearing the guy apart but I am saying is that all there is, two ST guys and a backup QB? I admit that I was expecting more but that's just me. I don't expect everyone to feel as I do.

I'll congratulate him for the Marshall trade if Marshall manages to stay productive and out of trouble. In his case those can be very big if's. I've been a whole lot closer to watching his problems living in Denver than many others. It was a ballsy move and the price was right. We got a guy who's even more productive than the jewel of FA for less money. Good move and I hope it works out from everyone. I have my concerns though and they're pretty well founded.

It's like the joke about the curse of the famous Klopman Diamond. When Mrs. Klopman was asked what that curse was she replied, Mr. Klopman. Marshall's curse is his BPD and it's not going away and because of it neither will his problems. He's bringing that with him just as surely as the clothes he's got packed in his suitcase. Let's just hope we can keep them at a manageable level.

This was just an opinion on how we did out of the gate. Things I thought worth mentioning. I'm not gonna judge Emery in total until after the draft. That's where he should really shine.

I agree that emery should shine in the draft. And I am on pins and needles about okoye being re-signed.

I would be completely comfortable if they re sign izzy and okoye and didn't make anymore FA moves because I'm sure the draft will fill in some of the necessary holes.

I'm not as happy with our DT productivity, but not sure we have too many options at this point.

And once again, that leads to a DE discussion, where another top DE (or even effective) would have a halo effect on the DT's

The DE is a real need, and I have a feeling Emery has not written the final chapter in that book yet.

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Originally Posted by blinddeafmute

I agree that emery should shine in the draft. And I am on pins and needles about okoye being re-signed.

I would be completely comfortable if they re sign izzy and okoye and didn't make anymore FA moves because I'm sure the draft will fill in some of the necessary holes.

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Missing out on MWill makes the signings of Okoye and Izzy a bit more of an imperative. If we get MWill (and I think that probability is over) then we don't sign either and maybe we draft a guy like Fletcher Cox as a DT and save millions over what Okoye and Izzy will cost. Hopefully plan B is to at least get those two signed and shift gears for the draft and get the DE there. I'm not sure any of the DE's remaining are worth the jingle it will take to get them. Izzy gets 6-8 sacks a year and maybe costs us $2.5-$3 mil. Is it worth it to pay a guy two to three times that much to get 10 sacks when you can draft a rookie and in four years he'll get what the FA gets in one?

I'm pissed that st is more of a focus thn the oline. I just don't get that nonsense

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Originally Posted by motownbear

I'm pissed that st is more of a focus thn the oline. I just don't get that nonsense

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Honestly, I'd be surprised if it was more of a priority. I think it has more to do with those guys are cheaper and more plentiful. You don't have to manage the cap around them and so since they are easy to sign and you need them, why not? The other guys we need are a lot harder to find and much harder to work into the cap. They take more planning and they may be gone (like now) while you wait for other things to come together.

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Originally Posted by motownbear

I'm pissed that st is more of a focus thn the oline. I just don't get that nonsense

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I don't know if there are any FA's worth the money mo. If there was a super LT maybe but all the better talent this year seems to be OG's and they're far more expensive in FA than it would be to just draft one. Nicks got $47.5 mil for 5 years from the Bucs. That's crazy spending that much on an OG. He's getting LT money.

There is a pretty good supply of OG's in the draft and guys like DeCastro and Glenn who rate as first round picks will sign for little more if any for 4 years than Nick's is getting for one. The second round guys will be even less expensive. With the price of top Olineman what it is you virtually have to build that part of your team through the draft. Let's hope Emery is a far better judge of Oline "horseflesh" than Angelo was.

Maybe it's just me but I can't see where an OG is gonna have more impact than a top WR or DE and Nicks is getting what those guys are. I guess if you've got the scratch like the Bucs you might as well spend it but we're not as flush as the are.