Thread: Which FA TE would you like to see us bring to Chicago?

Originally Posted by JustAnotherBearsFan99

One "unknown" in the TE equation, is that we don't know (yet) how the existing TE's will grade out with the new coaching staff.

I'm sure hoping that we have something there worth developing, and that the new staff CAN develop them. My gut feeling is that with decent coaching, somebody there, has to be good as a receiving TE. Maybe we'll even have more than one.

Some of those TE free agents on the list, won't be that expensive to sign (although some will probably be too expensive for us). Even top TE's like Owen Daniels, Tony Gonzalez & Jason Witten, made 3+ million dollars in 2012. For a position that is critically important to a team's success, I'd think we could afford one decent FA who can catch a football.

The draft makes sense for a longer term solution, but it sure would be nice to have one rock solid receiving TE for 2013. Surely we can afford that.

One nice thing is that after the Safety position TEs are next up as far as being one of the least expensive positions to acquire in FA so getting a more productive TE to replace Davis can be done without much more expense than we're have already tied up in him. If Wootton was our best investment on a dollar for dollar basis then Davis had to be our worst.

Unless Trestman feels that guys like Adams and ERod can fill that spot we shouldn't have too much trouble cutting Davis and trading off his salary for a guy with better catching skills. I don't have a favorite in mind but there seems to be enough inventory to choose from that we should be able to find a guy either in FA or go the less expensive route and draft one in the mid rounds.

Edit: I would not spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a TE. I don't think there's a single one in this draft that's so exceptional that we couldn't find one just as good or nearly as good later in the draft. A lot of these top guys are Greg Olsen types who leave a lot to be desired as far as being all around players.

Originally Posted by soulman

One nice thing is that after the Safety position TEs are next up as far as being one of the least expensive positions to acquire in FA so getting a more productive TE to replace Davis can be done without much more expense than we're have already tied up in him. If Wootton was our best investment on a dollar for dollar basis then Davis had to be our worst.

Unless Trestman feels that guys like Adams and ERod can fill that spot we shouldn't have too much trouble cutting Davis and trading off his salary for a guy with better catching skills. I don't have a favorite in mind but there seems to be enough inventory to choose from that we should be able to find a guy either in FA or go the less expensive route and draft one in the mid rounds.

Edit: I would not spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a TE. I don't think there's a single one in this draft that's so exceptional that we couldn't find one just as good or nearly as good later in the draft. A lot of these top guys are Greg Olsen types who leave a lot to be desired as far as being all around players.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Pitta is a RFA

I like Fasano a bit, he will be the cheapest out of those ;) but not the best.

There are productive TE to be had. The lions share of these guys who are top receivers were not #1 draft picks. There are a lot of mid round guys playing and in the current FA crop.

Two of the best TE we've ever had are Emery Moorehead and Des Clark. We got them both as UFAs and neither was a high pick of the team who originally drafted them. In fact both were WRs in college.

Hell if he had proper coaching and worked harder at his game even Davis could be productive. He played well with limited opportunities in 2011 then signed a new deal and couldn't handle the position playing a majority of the snaps this past year. He got lazy and stopped progressing.

I think ya' gotta let him go because Jay has no faith in him any longer so keeping him around does us no good. You can play him but he's not gonna get the ball as much as he should. We'll find a guy to take his place on way or another.

Originally Posted by soulman

Edit: I would not spend a 1st or 2nd round pick on a TE. I don't think there's a single one in this draft that's so exceptional that we couldn't find one just as good or nearly as good later in the draft. A lot of these top guys are Greg Olsen types who leave a lot to be desired as far as being all around players.

I agree. Gronkowski, Graham and Hernandez were selected in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th round and no TE of this year's class seems to be as good as any of them. Sign a LT and TE in FA and draft C and MLB.

Originally Posted by soulman

There are productive TE to be had. The lions share of these guys who are top receivers were not #1 draft picks. There are a lot of mid round guys playing and in the current FA crop.

Two of the best TE we've ever had are Emery Moorehead and Des Clark. We got them both as UFAs and neither was a high pick of the team who originally drafted them. In fact both were WRs in college.

Hell if he had proper coaching and worked harder at his game even Davis could be productive. He played well with limited opportunities in 2011 then signed a new deal and couldn't handle the position playing a majority of the snaps this past year. He got lazy and stopped progressing.

I think ya' gotta let him go because Jay has no faith in him any longer so keeping him around does us no good. You can play him but he's not gonna get the ball as much as he should. We'll find a guy to take his place on way or another.

A lot of good points there. Wouldn't it great to have a young version of Des Clark this year? He was such a solid player in ALL aspects of the game. A total "class act" too, IMHO.

I also agree that Cutler lost faith in K.Davis this season. I don't know if that is something that can be repaired under Trestman and the new coaches, or not. I'm just taking a "wait and see" attitude regarding the players on the team - especially on offense - until I see what the new coaches think after evaluating them. Our players on offense have been "Turnerized" and "Martzed" and "Ticed" -- all while a disinterested Lovie watched the debacle.

I figure we MAY have some pleasant surprises on offense, and who knows, maybe even K.Davis can be salvaged. I realize that's probably a pipe dream. But I'm not going to completely lose hope, until this new staff has an opportunity to cull through the players on the roster and evaluate them. If for some reason they think any of these players are salvageable, then I'll bet they could convince Cutler to give them one last chance, under the new offense they're building for 2013.

We may even see guys like Hester or Campbell kept in place, or even some of the offensive linemen who we've thought of as poor players, end up doing better with the new coaches help. Or not. Maybe they'll not find anyone worth anything. I'm just trying to keep calm, and to wait and see, how it all unfolds.

Yeah, offensively I'm in kind of that "whatever" mode. I have no real solid idea of exactly how Trestman is gonna structure things and neither does anyone else. He seems to have a rep for adapting his approach to the talent on hand and that may be a real advantage against opponents this year. They don't have any tendencies to go by.

I'm more concerned about keeping the defensive core intact until Emery can turn his attention back to rebuilding the youth there on the fly. It seems to me that's not a luxury he has at the moment. That defense is good enough to get us to and win a SB if the offense can do more than just be along for the ride like they were back in 2006.

For the time being I'm gonna go along with whatever moves they make on offense. I think the guy knows what he wants to do or at least he will soon and he'll know what kind of players he needs to do it. This year we have the flexibility to concentrate the acquisitions one the offense and all we have to do is re-sign guys we have and need on defense. The needs there are far less immediate.