Thread: Okoye likely finished w/ Bears

Originally Posted by Jimmors

Dumb...thought he had great potential and could be the type of DT that Tommie Harris never could become. From the looks of it, it sounds like the Bears lowballed him, which is a crappy thing to do.

Oh well...sad to see you go Amobi, but im sure you will get the money you are looking for with another team.

I duuno bruh. From what we've heard, I don't think the Bears have the money to play with at this point. I think they probably offered him what they could afford, based on the plans they have in place, but given our position against the cap, I'm not sure I could classify it as "crappy", maybe just realistic. As said above, I'm not sure we can complete against the Bucs as they still have plenty of space under the cap.

Oh hell, they could have found a way to keep him. Getting rid of Spaeth or reworking a contract would be an idea. Stein could have managed something but it isn't his call. So now we not only need DE but need to find more DT depth. Sorry Emery I'm docking you one for that.

And before I hear the "Paea is going to tear it up" remember that he's also going to play NT unless one is drafted. I think Paea is going to have a fine year but this move cuts flexibility and production from a key spot that makes the D go. I'll have to agree that if Mario could be courted then this should have been a much easier deal.

Well, the Mario Williams ship sailed a long time ago and the Bears spent the money elsewhere. Instead of cutting Spaeth (who is a star by no means, but is a better asset than I think many give him credit for), getting a more manageable deal done with our headline holdout (Matt Forte) could go a long way toward loosening the purse strings a bit also and giving us more cap space to work with.

Don't get me wrong, I would still like to get Okoye signed and have him remain a Bear. However, I think some might be over-valuing him a bit. As I said in a different thread, Okoye is a very good pass rusher as a DT, which is great to have, but he is not the best run defender and gets caught in the wash a bit more than he should. He does not control his gap as well as he should in THIS Defense, and that is likely the reason they (Bears) didn't want to over pay. I really think that if Lovie and Marinelli thought as much of him as many on here seem to, he would have never made it to FA, but if you trust in Lovie and Rod, then all will be well.

If we are successful in adding a DE with a high selection, then the DT's we have will likely look much better. I think letting Okoye walk says as much about the coaches opinion on the development of Paea than anything else. With Melton becoming a force, if Paea becomes as good as I think he will be, then we should be good with the rotation of those two, with Toe and perhaps another rotation guy either in the draft or later during some cuts.