How Bout Dem Bears?

alaimacerc

SameOleJay wrote: »

Green Bay was the only game we showed any innovation on D. The personnel were brutal but Tucker did nothing to aid them as a unit.

Yeah, that's what we want to see, some old-fashioned Chicago defensive brutality!

... oh, wait, you're meaning more Dooblin brootality.

bobby wade

AJ, Tim Jennings & Kyle Long have all been added to the Probowl roster to join Marhall & Forte

Realt Dearg Sec

bobby wade wrote: »

AJ, Tim Jennings & Kyle Long have all been added to the Probowl roster to join Marhall & Forte

Jennings our only defensive player at it, no wonder they moved to sew his contract up good and early.

Great for Jeffery too, and long: as a first rounder that nobody expected and nobody really rated, is it time to admit Emery made a good call on his first rounder here? EDIT: I say this as someone who raised a serious eyebrow about the pick

Guffy

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

EDIT: I say this as someone who raised a serious eyebrow about the pick

Is that the left or right one? Is the other one your jovial eyebrow?

Realt Dearg Sec

gufc21 wrote: »

Is that the left or right one? Is the other one your jovial eyebrow?

Actually when I try to raise an eyebrow they both go up. That's how seriously doubtful I was of the pick. Two eyebrows.

But he came in and did a great job in fairness, for a guy with only a few games at college level. He seems pretty crazy as well, which is no harm.

SameOleJay

I couldn’t believe the pick. Kiper, if memory serves, absolutely hated it. Long could become dominant if he continues the trend.

If it weren’t for Shea (Leaving Chandler Jones on the board) I’d have total faith in Emery. Mind, had he picked Alshon first round and Shea second I might even have forgotten it.

Realt Dearg Sec

SameOleJay wrote: »

I couldn’t believe the pick. Kiper, if memory serves, absolutely hated it. Long could become dominant if he continues the trend.

If it weren’t for Shea (Leaving Chandler Jones on the board) I’d have total faith in Emery. Mind, had he picked Alshon first round and Shea second I might even have forgotten it.

There's a few teams that regret leaving alshon on the board in the first round, snagging him makes up for Shea (and who knows, he might come good at LB next year, though I doubt it)

kennyb3

Quiet in here lately.

Salary cap expected to make nearly $10M jump in 2014

I know some of that will feed into what players ask for, but given our high number of needs it should help to a degree.

Really enjoy the lead up to free agency and the draft. Enjoying reading and researching players. With us having so many needs and so many roster free agents it's hard to assess the draft until free agency closes.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Melton, as if he goes we'll need a 3 tech such as Donald.

Not mad on the DE class so hoping we'll do something in free agency.

Innish_Rebel

I know - it is interesting to see what Emery & co will do.

A lot of mock drafts are giving us Timmy Jernighan from Florida State or Louis Nix from Notre Dame, both are nose tackles and both were the 1st two defensive line players taken (excluding Clowney). But then again last year no one saw Long in 1st round and Mills was a home run @ Round 5...

I loved his answer to the question at the combine. He was asked about Peppers this past season, answered clear and concise, then asked about cutting/renegotiating deal for next year and came back with something along the lines of, "that sounds like a question regarding contracts - we do not discuss these with media". End of discussion, great way of doing business. I have to say I'm still not sure about the Cutler move but it has moved the Bears out of that bright media spotlight which is always a good thing...

Ha moves again prior to free agency Garza & Rosario (TE) - All 11 starters from last year on offense are now re-signed...

SameOleJay

It’s peculiar having nigh on no needs at one end. A whole draft and FA focussed on D is exciting.

I hope to god Jay’s contract will be painted in a better light after free agency. If Byrd, Bennett, Johnson et al remain in situ or leave on huge bucks I’ll be fairly happy. I’m not sure even one of them will be attainable with our cap situation.

Oat23

For anyone who still thinks we are f*cked for cap room, look at what the Cowboys did with Romo today.
Emery can do that anytime he wants with Cutler (or Jennings, Slauson and Gould apparently).

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/10548712/dallas-cowboys-restructuring-contracts-tony-romo-sean-lee-salary-cap

The next few months will be fun.

SameOleJay

Take as much pain as you can with Jay this year I think. If a decent DE is for the taking in FA just backload the deal like we did with the Bennett signing.

I really, really, don’t wanna be going down the Lions’ route on the salary cap. Their numbers at the top end for this year are just hideous.

Draken360

A Sad Day for Bears Nation, Devin Hester wont be resigned , another tough decision to stomach but probably the right one ,such a shame he so close to that return record ,wont be the same if he achieves it with another team but best of luck to him Bears Legend!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1982911-devin-hester-reportedly-wont-be-re-signed-by-chicago-bears

padraig_f

Draken360 wrote: »

A Sad Day for Bears Nation, Devin Hester wont be resigned , another tough decision to stomach but probably the right one ,such a shame he so close to that return record ,wont be the same if he achieves it with another team but best of luck to him Bears Legend!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1982911-devin-hester-reportedly-wont-be-re-signed-by-chicago-bears

Yeah, writing was probably on the wall a bit when he became a return-only guy, hard to justify a roster spot for that when you're not developing the guy for something else.

Raftliff signed up, $4m/2 years, which looks a great deal. Melton and Tillman still not signed, see what happens there. Free agency starts next Tuesday.

SameOleJay

Just flicking through the Bleacher Report Top 1000 there and our O-line grades with the best in the league according to them. Slauson, Garza and Long rate very highly. And, outside Bushrod, it’s coming pretty cheap too.

If Emery can come up trumps twice with a defensive line revamp it’d be off the charts.

That Ratcliff deal is very decent. Only 600k guaranteed.

padraig_f

I saw Martellus Bennett's tweet a few weeks ago, but didn't think the Bears would be in for one of the high-priced free agents with the lack of cap room (think just $6m before any cuts), so a bit surprised to see this:

Report: Bears expect to sign Michael Bennett

I guess would mean Peppers being cut to make room. Not confirmed yet, but seem to be a few reports suggesting it's likely.

Realt Dearg Sec

padraig_f wrote: »

I saw Martellus Bennett's tweet a few weeks ago, but didn't think the Bears would be in for one of the high-priced free agents with the lack of cap room (think just $6m before any cuts), so a bit surprised to see this:

Report: Bears expect to sign Michael Bennett

I guess would mean Peppers being cut to make room. Not confirmed yet, but seem to be a few reports suggesting it's likely.

Good news. I thought Martellus was just joking earlier last year

SameOleJay

Happy enough to see Melton go but anyone else miffed Wootton is being let hit FA?

I know there’s fitness concerns but I assumed he’d be high priority.

SameOleJay

And Bennett signs on for Seattle.

Apparently we had more on the table too. Shame.

Oat23

Darren Sproles impending release from NO is interesting. I've always been a fan and he could be a great pickup for the offense (and ST). Forte, Sproles and Ford would be good depth at RB. He hasn't been released yet though.

Schefter saying Bears trying to trade Peppers, not gonna happen for obvious reasons.
Michael Bush and Dante Rosario have been cut.

SameOleJay

I've liked everyone of the off-season moves thus far.

Bush was farcically bad last year.

padraig_f

SameOleJay wrote: »

And Bennett signs on for Seattle.

Apparently we had more on the table too. Shame.

Damn, don't like talking about rumours, but thought from the language they were using, it was virtually done. Apparently DE free-agent market is pretty thin now, so I guess keep Peppers, and draft a DE in 1st two rounds.

Oat23 wrote: »

Darren Sproles impending release from NO is interesting. I've always been a fan and he could be a great pickup for the offense (and ST). Forte, Sproles and Ford would be good depth at RB. He hasn't been released yet though.

Yeah, surprised they let him go. Probably couldn't afford to spend much on him, but would be useful alright. I like the way the Saints use their RBs, the way they catch a lot of passes, would be interesting with Sproles and Kromer there, you could implement some similar things.

Spongey1975

So we get Lamarr Houston on a 5 year $35million deal. Surely Peppers is cut later today and that will leave enough space for a similar splash on someone else

SameOleJay

Seen very little of him but I read he's capable along the line and effective against the run. Music to my ears.

Bushrod, Bennett, Brandon. There's Emery's big off-season record. I have total faith.

Oat23

Peanut and McCown visiting Tampa. Pretty sure Lovie won't let Peanut leave without a deal.

padraig_f

Don't know much about Lamarr Houston, but looks like a good signing on the face of it. Aged 26 and ranked 11th last year by PFF out of 52 4-3 DEs. Should be just hitting his peak now.

Seems like he has more strength as a run-defender, but that's a need after the awful run defense last year.

5. Lamarr Houston

2013 Grade: +11.4
2013 Snaps: 1,049

Lamarr Houston, a 2010 second-round draft pick, was one of the bright spots on a weak Raiders defense. He was especially helpful in defending the run, earning the sixth-best grade in this area among 4-3 DEs and the best Run Stop Percentage among that group (with a minimum of 230 run defense snaps qualifying).

His production in terms of harassing signal-callers was not as impressive, though. In the first seven games he did contribute four sacks (including a rare strip-sack of Peyton Manning on Monday Night Football), nine QB knockdowns and 25 hurries. In the last nine games, however, he was much less of a factor, mustering seven QB hits but only a pair of sacks and 16 hurries. It is fair to wonder if opposing QBs would’ve been more uncomfortable against him if his team was still in playoff contention late in the year.

Ranking the 2014 Free Agents: Edge Rushers

Oat23 wrote: »

Peanut and McCown visiting Tampa. Pretty sure Lovie won't let Peanut leave without a deal.

You can also see why it might be a good idea from Tillman's point of view, playing for a defensive head-coach who he's already had success with, could add a couple of years to his career.

Innish_Rebel

Oat23 wrote: »

Peanut and McCown visiting Tampa. Pretty sure Lovie won't let Peanut leave without a deal.

And talk Melton is there too... Chicago Bay Buccaneers??? All they need now is Peppers as well!!!

Pity I really was looking forward to him last year - a huge loss with injury.

Wouldn't it be great if they could find a way to resign Melton - giving with Houston a young but high quality base for the DL, would sure up that area for the foreseeable future... Would allow the draft to focus on other defensive needs maybe???

SameOleJay

What’s interesting about the Houston deal and even more so if Wootton/Melton re-signs is that it opens up the 14 pick entirely. The DT Donald looked nailed on per most mocks but I suspect this could bring DE, LB, Safety and even corner (if Peanut goes ) on the table.

Best defensive player available I suspect because, really, our needs are everywhere.

Spongey1975

According to spotrac here we are currently $13million under the cap. It doesn't include the salaries for Jay Ratliff, Ryan Mundy, Jordan Palmer & Nate Collins.

Allowing $3million for those 4 and $5million for our rookies we still have the guts of $5million to use in free agency. That is of course assuming no more cuts or contract amendments which I cant see happening

padraig_f

Interesting article using statistics to evaluate the Cowboys' decision to cut DeMarcus Ware:
Why the Dallas Cowboys Had No Choice in Cutting DE DeMarcus Ware

Was reading it considering the Houston deal, and he says fair value for a DE works out approx $1m per sack recorded. Houston had 6 sacks last year and the Bears are paying him $7m, so close to fair value.

But he also says that sacks have a large random element (small sample size etc.), and a better indicator of future sacks are QB-pressures. Also historically that pass-rushers record 1 sack for every 4 QB-pressures. So if you want to better predict their sack rate, take their QB-pressures and divide the number by 4.

I checked out Houston's QB-pressures last year, 41! So his season last year, where his official sack number was 6, was more like a 10-sack season, which means fair value should be closer to $10m/year. Nice numbers for a guy more known for his run-defense.