Roster Moves

[G08]

Yeah most of the time from what I saw, he kept square to the defender really well. The technique doesn't look bad to my untrained eyes. As pointed out, he just can't anchor.

I would think squats and some core work, etc would help him with that functional strength... but I guess not?

[thunderspirit]

So Grasu part II.

The biggest problem with Grasu, and this kid is that they lack the size to play. I don't care how technically sound you are. The the NT on the other side of you, outweighs you by 50 lbs, that's a problem. I said that about Grasu when we drafted him. He looks like a leader and a good college C, but he's too small for the NFL. His frame was about maxed out. This guy doesn't look any different. You saw Grasu against the Packers. He looked like he was going backwards on rollerskates.

I admit I was pretty psyched when the Bears drafted Grasu. I could see he needed to get stronger, but the skills were all there.

He hasn't been able to build up his strength, though. Whether that's due to his spate of injuries or just that he can't build it up any further, I don't know.

[ramentaschen]

Whole lot of suck rolling into Philadelphia this week

No Hicks, Trevathan, and Floyd who are probably are our three best starters on defense

but wait, there's hope...

we have a new kicker
LB Howard Jones elevated from the practice squad to 53-man roster
Bears also announce WR Demarcus Ayers signed to practice squad

[malk]

So end of season cuts for:

Glennon
McPhee
Wheaton
Cooper
Demps
Freeman
Kush
Young.

Which leaves Hicks, Sitton, Trevathan, Sims, Massie of note from Pace's free agent signings.

Woof.

[wab]

Eh. I think the only one of those guys that is a sure cut is Glennon.

[malk]

In which case, cap space in 2018:

McPhee $8m
Wheaton $5.75m
Cooper $5.5m
Demps $4.33m
Freeman $4m
Kush $1.4m
Young $5.4m.

Woof.

[Rusty Trombagent]

Why would Kush get cut? Quality interior depth at that price is a bargain

[malk]

Why would Kush get cut? Quality interior depth at that price is a bargain

Fair point but I feel the general point still stands.

[46Blitz]

So end of season cuts for:

Glennon
McPhee
Wheaton
Cooper
Demps
Freeman
Kush
Young.

Which leaves Hicks, Sitton, Trevathan, Sims, Massie of note from Pace's free agent signings.

Woof.

To be fair, most of those guys were meant to just be plugs anyway. McPhee was suppose to be an anchor but he just was always injured. I could see Kush sticking around depending on what happens. The rest would be fine to move away from. Easily.

[BR0D1E86]

So end of season cuts for:

Glennon
McPhee
Wheaton
Cooper
Demps
Freeman
Kush
Young.

Which leaves Hicks, Sitton, Trevathan, Sims, Massie of note from Pace's free agent signings.

Woof.

Eh, most of Pace’s free agent signings were meant to be 1-2 year hole plugs. This isn’t especially surprising.

[Mikefive]

Why would Kush get cut? Quality interior depth at that price is a bargain

That's what I thought when I saw the list too.

[BR0D1E86]

My ideal offseason at this point is cutting Glennon, Wheaton, Demps, Freeman and Young. I’d approach McPhee about restructuring his deal to pay him like a 15-20 play a game guy. If he won’t, I’d probably cut him.

Throw big money at Malcolm Butler and resign Prince if he’s reasonable. Throw big money at one of the best wide receivers.

Round 1 best pass rusher available. Round 2, either the best receiver or OL on the board.

And a competent head coach. All that, I think the Bears are not in bad shape.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bearsfaninaz]

I'd keep Young over McPhee personally.
Cut the rest on list.
Sign Fuller and Prince imo
Tender Meredith
Sign Inman
Try for Adams from Packers

Trade back in draft if any takers. Draft best olb cb rt and ilb available. Possibly a speedster wr in later rounds.

With new coaching staff (hopefully) coming in can assess the situation better.

[malk]

I find it fairly incredible that people aren't more concerned that we have $15.5m of 2018 cap space currently tied up in three players (Wheaton, Cooper, Demps) that are backups this year. Then there's $16m allocated to Glennon.

To cut those players will cost $7m of 2018 cap making dead money the 4th highest hit to our cap after Hicks, Long and Sitton.

In 2017 those players accounted for $28.5m of cap space. Throw in the $7m wasted on Amukamara's one year deal in a year we are winning nothing in and it's $35.5m.

Now no one knows what we offered AJ Bouye and Jeffery but I find it hard to believe that we couldn't have signed both of them with that amount of cap space. Maybe Jeffery wanted no part of staying but after going to the Jags I'm utterly confident that Bouye comes for 5 years $75m and probably less.

This is probably getting boring but Pace is pretty awful at free agency. Hicks, Sitton and Trevathan are the successes. McPhee was a worthwhile shot at risk/reward that hasn't quite panned out and Freeman was a great contract before the PED issues. The rest are mostly terrible bar for, Unrein?

Frittering away cap space on mid priced players on short term deals is a terrible improvement strategy. It has worked once for Pace with Hicks but even then he's now just on a market deal rather than a market beating one.

This isn't just about looking back and picking out the mistakes, it's about the poor strategy that makes the odds of success so small. It's by far and away my biggest worry about the bears right now.

[mmmc_35]

Good post Malk. Pace has not looked particularly adept in the Free agent market. This is painful because the Bears have been in great cap position those 3 years also.

My biggest fear, is he may not be good at drafting either. Obviously both these are to early to truly gauge but a case could be made that he is a bad GM. (I have not drawn that conclusion).

However if I where I would start with something like this.

First Draft
1.5 starters ( Goldman Amos)
2 likely to be out of the league, can't stay healthy, have not played well when they are,
2 already out of the league

Second Draft

3 starters 1 who regressed, 2 whom I fear injuries may keep their careers to 5 years

5 back ups, 2 who don't fit the system, 1 who has injury concerns, 3 of the group likely won't be on the team next year.

Third Draft

1 QB of the future completing 52% and is looking worse.
1 midget whom is being used wrong
1 Ogre who needs to develop
1 legit talent who will be broken in 4 years
1 Guard won will never be on the 53.

[Mikefive]

I find it fairly incredible that people aren't more concerned that we have $15.5m of 2018 cap space currently tied up in three players (Wheaton, Cooper, Demps) that are backups this year. Then there's $16m allocated to Glennon.

To cut those players will cost $7m of 2018 cap making dead money the 4th highest hit to our cap after Hicks, Long and Sitton.

In 2017 those players accounted for $28.5m of cap space. Throw in the $7m wasted on Amukamara's one year deal in a year we are winning nothing in and it's $35.5m.

Now no one knows what we offered AJ Bouye and Jeffery but I find it hard to believe that we couldn't have signed both of them with that amount of cap space. Maybe Jeffery wanted no part of staying but after going to the Jags I'm utterly confident that Bouye comes for 5 years $75m and probably less.

This is probably getting boring but Pace is pretty awful at free agency. Hicks, Sitton and Trevathan are the successes. McPhee was a worthwhile shot at risk/reward that hasn't quite panned out and Freeman was a great contract before the PED issues. The rest are mostly terrible bar for, Unrein?

Frittering away cap space on mid priced players on short term deals is a terrible improvement strategy. It has worked once for Pace with Hicks but even then he's now just on a market deal rather than a market beating one.

This isn't just about looking back and picking out the mistakes, it's about the poor strategy that makes the odds of success so small. It's by far and away my biggest worry about the bears right now.

You make some good points here, but you ignore others.

We were told by Pace that he offered the 2 top CBs more $$$ than they got signing with other teams. Are you saying he's lying? Is it inconceivable that another player would look at the 3-13 Bears and say "I'm not playing for them even if I have to take less $$$"?

What is your expectation on hitting on FAs as a percentage? And who else achieves that?

[Mikefive]

Good post Malk. Pace has not looked particularly adept in the Free agent market. This is painful because the Bears have been in great cap position those 3 years also.

My biggest fear, is he may not be good at drafting either. Obviously both these are to early to truly gauge but a case could be made that he is a bad GM. (I have not drawn that conclusion).

However if I where I would start with something like this.

First Draft
1.5 starters ( Goldman Amos)
2 likely to be out of the league, can't stay healthy, have not played well when they are,
2 already out of the league

Second Draft

3 starters 1 who regressed, 2 whom I fear injuries may keep their careers to 5 years

5 back ups, 2 who don't fit the system, 1 who has injury concerns, 3 of the group likely won't be on the team next year.

Third Draft

1 QB of the future completing 52% and is looking worse.
1 midget whom is being used wrong
1 Ogre who needs to develop
1 legit talent who will be broken in 4 years
1 Guard won will never be on the 53.

Don't you think you could offer a more balanced view than that? A R5 pick did make the Pro Bowl and was 2nd in the league in rushing after all and still in the top 20% this year. But which is the word for him? Regressed? C'mon man.

[Gaytoe]

Good post Malk. Pace has not looked particularly adept in the Free agent market. This is painful because the Bears have been in great cap position those 3 years also.

My biggest fear, is he may not be good at drafting either. Obviously both these are to early to truly gauge but a case could be made that he is a bad GM. (I have not drawn that conclusion).

However if I where I would start with something like this.

First Draft
1.5 starters ( Goldman Amos)
2 likely to be out of the league, can't stay healthy, have not played well when they are,
2 already out of the league

Second Draft

3 starters 1 who regressed, 2 whom I fear injuries may keep their careers to 5 years

5 back ups, 2 who don't fit the system, 1 who has injury concerns, 3 of the group likely won't be on the team next year.

Third Draft

1 QB of the future completing 52% and is looking worse.
1 midget whom is being used wrong
1 Ogre who needs to develop
1 legit talent who will be broken in 4 years
1 Guard won will never be on the 53.

Don't you think you could offer a more balanced view than that? A R5 pick did make the Pro Bowl and was 2nd in the league in rushing after all and still in the top 20% this year. But which is the word for him? Regressed? C'mon man.

I think he was saying that Whitehair has regressed, that Howard's style of play will shorten his prime and that there are some serious concerns about Floyd staying healthy.

I'd even argue that Floyd alone will probably not become "the guy." I think getting an edge rusher is going to be our top need going into the draft. Tied with WR (depending what we do in FA) and as always o-line.

[Hematite]

Good post Malk. Pace has not looked particularly adept in the Free agent market. This is painful because the Bears have been in great cap position those 3 years also.

My biggest fear, is he may not be good at drafting either. Obviously both these are to early to truly gauge but a case could be made that he is a bad GM. (I have not drawn that conclusion).

However if I where I would start with something like this.

First Draft
1.5 starters ( Goldman Amos)
2 likely to be out of the league, can't stay healthy, have not played well when they are,
2 already out of the league

Second Draft

3 starters 1 who regressed, 2 whom I fear injuries may keep their careers to 5 years

5 back ups, 2 who don't fit the system, 1 who has injury concerns, 3 of the group likely won't be on the team next year.

Third Draft

1 QB of the future completing 52% and is looking worse.
1 midget whom is being used wrong
1 Ogre who needs to develop
1 legit talent who will be broken in 4 years
1 Guard won will never be on the 53.

I'd argue that most of what you claim as Pace's failures actually fall on coaching. Words like regress, used wrong, and develop, fall on coaching long before a GM.

[Moriarty]

Good post Malk. Pace has not looked particularly adept in the Free agent market. This is painful because the Bears have been in great cap position those 3 years also.

My biggest fear, is he may not be good at drafting either. Obviously both these are to early to truly gauge but a case could be made that he is a bad GM. (I have not drawn that conclusion).

However if I where I would start with something like this.

First Draft
1.5 starters ( Goldman Amos)
2 likely to be out of the league, can't stay healthy, have not played well when they are,
2 already out of the league

Second Draft

3 starters 1 who regressed, 2 whom I fear injuries may keep their careers to 5 years

5 back ups, 2 who don't fit the system, 1 who has injury concerns, 3 of the group likely won't be on the team next year.

Third Draft

1 QB of the future completing 52% and is looking worse.
1 midget whom is being used wrong
1 Ogre who needs to develop
1 legit talent who will be broken in 4 years
1 Guard won will never be on the 53.

I'd argue that most of what you claim as Pace's failures actually fall on coaching. Words like regress, used wrong, and develop, fall on coaching long before a GM.

Correct.
Also, injuries to guys who had average to good medicals and injury history shouldn't count against the GM, either, unless they clearly had a small/frail body type for their position.

[mmmc_35]

Not going to quote you all but I did say that it wasn't my opinion, but a claim could be made.

So I through out a quick claim without much effort. Now if needed I could make a much better well thought out response, but it's pretty early.

I will say on the injury post. A lot of those guys did have questions. White had injury history. Grasu was small. Floyd is and was a bean pole. Howard's style can shorten careers. Jackson another bean pole with history.

To think about it Pace dues draft a lot of thin hipped guys.

[Moriarty]

Not going to quote you all but I did say that it wasn't my opinion, but a claim could be made.

So I through out a quick claim without much effort. Now if needed I could make a much better well thought out response, but it's pretty early.

I will say on the injury post. A lot of those guys did have questions. White had injury history. Grasu was small. Floyd is and was a bean pole. Howard's style can shorten careers. Jackson another bean pole with history.

To think about it Pace dues draft a lot of thin hipped guys.

From how low you're setting the bar, I'd guess at least 150/256 draftees per year would be considered 'injury risks'.

I don't recall the 6'3 215 Kevin White having above average concerns before the draft
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/ ... id=2552422" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.si.com/nfl/2015/04/21/nfl-d ... t-virginia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://walterfootball.com/scoutingrepor ... hiteWR.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And Howard is an injury risk because he's too powerful?

[mmmc_35]

No but he gets hit hard a lot. He probably isn't a great example of my non opinion. White had injury history in Juco and high school if I remember correctly.

[DaSuperfan]

Speaking of White, does anyone know if he has a chance to play again in 2017? I heard he was with the team in Philly, I know that's not a guarantee that he's coming back this season but was wondering if anyone has heard anything?

[bearsfaninaz]

Speaking of White, does anyone know if he has a chance to play again in 2017? I heard he was with the team in Philly, I know that's not a guarantee that he's coming back this season but was wondering if anyone has heard anything?

The last I heard he was in a sling yet, but I'd like to see him get some kind of reps with Trubisky

[thunderspirit]

White had no significant injury flags coming out of West Virginia.
Grasu was small for a lineman, true. The thought was he could get bigger and stronger. Obviously he hasn't.

Like Mori says, many of these kids come out of college with some dings. It's a rough sport.

[crueltyabc]

With the FA signings being such an issue, I wonder if Pace will be willing or able to replace that part of his scouting team. Is Anthony Kelly to blame for the lack of hits in FA? Is this another situation where Pace looks too much like a lame duck for a good pro personnel guy to come over?

[Hematite]

Tre McBride released.

[Boris13c]

Tre McBride released.

nice to see the Bears embrace the concept of addition by subtraction

[Otis Day]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... e-mcbride/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Bears waive Tre McBride

Posted by Charean Williams on November 28, 2017, 4:14 PM EST



Mitchell Trubisky targeted Tre McBride six times in Sunday’s loss to the Eagles — Yes, the obvious question is: Why? — and McBride caught only two passes for 20 yards.

The Bears waived McBride on Tuesday.


Why he asked? Who the fuck else is he going to throw to you jagbag?