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IotaNet wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 12:58 pm This feels like Glennon 2.0 to me.

Come on...Glennon has 6 wins in his entire career. When did Glennon EVER go 5-1 over the course of his last 3 games of the regular season on through the playoffs and Super Bowl to become the Super Bowl MVP after throwing 373 and 3 TD’s?

I’m not saying Foles is bringing Chicago a title this season...but he’s sure as hell not Glennon OR Daniel for that matter!

This really pisses me off. This contract is huge for a shitty player who ran hot for 7 games in a row. I can't see any F'ing upside to this. I hate Foles! I feel like a complete ass for defending Pace and Nagy up to this point. The Quinn signing is OK, but Jimmy Graham and then Foles?!?!?!?! WTF is going on here!!!

Foles got lucky for 1/2 year, otherwise he is trash. I cannot understand this at all.

Heavy sigh of relief--thank fucking GOD!

This means absolutely NO JaRapist Winston. I don't have to disown the Bears. Whoopee! It also beats what I was really expecting--Tyler Bray.

Considering that there will be basically no offseason this year. No OTAs. Foles makes a lot of sense--he knows the system. Still don't know where we got the money for him though. I do have to say also that anybody who doesn't expect Mitchell Trubisky to be starting Opening Day is deluded. I think Foles was brought in as a mentor and as competition only if Trubisky fails.

Mitchell will be given the shot opening the season, but it will be a short leash. Pace and Nagy are in this for their jobs right now. Pace is showing that with all his moves so far in free agency. Foles is his insurance policy in case Mitchell doesn't improve. And what do you bet that Nagy plays Mitchell this preseason.

One thing I don't understand is Foles' contract. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bea ... oles-9898/ This lists his signing bonus as 25 million but his signing bonus in the tables is only listed as 6.25 mill in his first year. If that 25 mill was really a signing bonus, it should have been prorated over the life of the contract. What the hell is up with that?

I guess they're restructuring though to free up 10 mill in cap space. My guess is they're making the 15 mill due as base salary this year a signing bonus over the remaining three years of the contract. That's what I believe at least.

I see people lamenting Pace not making moves that they felt needed to happen. They still might during the draft, or later. So that isn't over.

But let me ask this.. . do we think the new Offensive coaches -the almost completely staff of coordinators and key assistants - are pretty good? Or no? Do we think they'v looked at all the tape, and reviewed the play calls & results with Nagy to fully understand what they're dealing with? Do we believe they influenced what Pace did so far in FA (and didn't) with their assessments?

Because it sure looks to me like they said:
- OK the Oline isn't top notch but I can work with them
- TE IS important and we need to make sure there is an experienced receiving TE on the field at all times.
- Matt, no offense but you really didn't put them all in a position to succeed last season
- Oh, man -the field general... I'm not sure I can work with that guy. We need a hedge.

Supposedly jags take almost a 19 million dead cap hit trading him.

Also supposedly Foles has restructured with Chicago and has outs in the first two seasons. He had 21 million guaranteed remaining over the next 3 years plus base.

Will be interesting to see the details and structure.

Although I wanted Dalton, I think this is a pretty good deal. Fourth rounder is about right since Jacksonville could've just said, "Hey, we'll keep him since he's not costing us much money. He's a solid backup."

Despite what others are saying, he didn't suck everywhere else outside of Philly. He was good in KC as well. Chicago has that same offensive system as both Philly and KC.

He's not breaking the bank. He's a great bridge for when we draft a QB in 2021.

He will start over Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky was the worst QB in the league last year outside of the backups for Pittsburgh and the 3rd stringer for Carolina.

I think Nagy will be able to run the offense he wants to run with Foles. He's familiar with Foles. He likes Foles. Nagy has been doing all kinds of stupid shit with the offense because he is so frustrated with Mitch's incompetence at the QB position. You would see it with his body language, him reaming MItch's ass on the sidelines, the eventual benching of Mitch with a phantom hip injury, and now the aggressive pursuit of a replacement in the offseason with Foles.

With that said, would have preferred Bridgewater or Dalton, but Foles will do in a pinch.

I'm happy with this.

Yogi da Bear wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:45 pm Considering that there will be basically no offseason this year. No OTAs. Foles makes a lot of sense--he knows the system.

This is a pretty good point.

Yogi da Bear wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:45 pmI do have to say also that anybody who doesn't expect Mitchell Trubisky to be starting Opening Day is deluded. I think Foles was brought in as a mentor and as competition only if Trubisky fails.

The money suggests otherwise, unfortunately.

Basically Foles is the starter unless Trubisky balls out and shows he's the uncontested glorious #2 pick he was supposed to become. If he doesn't, which by all accounts he won't, Foles takes over and you rebuild the position again like always. If Trubisky becomes a man, Foles is a stopgap solid backup that will keep him on his toes for a season before we probably tell Foles to go away.

I was getting all excited for Cam Newton. D'oh.

Some good points. Including contract details.
https://sportsmockery.com/2020/03/okay- ... the-bears/

Reason #3 – Manageable contract
One of the things people are screaming about the most is the contract. Jacksonville handed Foles a massive $88 million deal in 2019 to be their starter. Now they’ve traded that to the Bears who are already a cash-strapped team. The truth is most of the guaranteed money in that deal is staying in Jacksonville. Chicago is only on the hook for just over $15 million over the final three years.

UOK wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 3:10 pm Basically Foles is the starter unless Trubisky balls out and shows he's the uncontested glorious #2 pick he was supposed to become. If he doesn't, which by all accounts he won't, Foles takes over and you rebuild the position again like always. If Trubisky becomes a man, Foles is a stopgap solid backup that will keep him on his toes for a season before we probably tell Foles to go away.

I take a similar stance but with exact opposite starting points. Trubisky is the starter and will remain the starter so long as he wins. Foles is the stop gap to come in in case Mitchell fails.

My guess is that we'll try to restructure Foles with this year's guaranteed salary becoming a signing bonus (thus saving us about 10 mill on the cap this year). I think they'll also try to structure the new deal so that if Foles wins out, he gets paid in incentives in the 15-20 mill range. But if Trubisky remains the starter, Foles has a decent backup pay schedule of say around 8 mill. I think Foles will do it because I believe he wants to be here. He wants to play for Nagy and company.

Just my thoughts.

Seems to me when it comes to QB, Pace plays it safe and that may be the death of him. He took the safe pick in Trubisky when he had Mahomes and Watson right there for the taking. WRON MOVE! Now he grabs Foles with Cam sitting right there. WRONG MOVE (tbd). Cam when healthy and in good mind is heads and shoulders better than Foles but Pace again took the safe route. My prediction is Cam goes somewhere and tears it up while Foles gets beat out by the biscuit and we fall short of the playoffs again. Hope not but you cant play it safe or stay vanilla at QB

Throw all the regular season comparative career stats out there you want, but no one can diminish the fact that Foles has been a poised, money player in the playoffs.

Now let's see if Pace/Nagy are smart enough to get the Bears a better running game. A better running game is necessary for whomever plays QB--because neither QB is good enough to carry the O through the air with an unbalanced O. A much better running game also improves red zone efficiency especially if immobile Foles is the starter (as I expect)

Trubisky has been a very slow learner. Now he doesn't have that "luxury" with competition.

Foles is smart, I would assume the outs are player options similar to what he did in philly where if he becomes the unquestioned starter he has an out for a new deal.

dave99 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 3:16 pm Some good points. Including contract details.
https://sportsmockery.com/2020/03/okay- ... the-bears/

Reason #3 – Manageable contract
One of the things people are screaming about the most is the contract. Jacksonville handed Foles a massive $88 million deal in 2019 to be their starter. Now they’ve traded that to the Bears who are already a cash-strapped team. The truth is most of the guaranteed money in that deal is staying in Jacksonville. Chicago is only on the hook for just over $15 million over the final three years.

Great article. That does make it so that only Graham is the true headscratcher

Ok now that I've had my rant rage, and calmed down some, I'm looking for the upsides. New details emerge that the Bears are only on the hook for 15 million of the guaranteed $ over the next 3 years, the Jags eat the rest. That makes things a little better. Foles does know the system and can come in and play right away if needed. If Mitch doesn't improve and we cut him after this year, Foles can be the bridge QB for whomever we end up drafting.

Until Mitch fails? He's failed. Repeatedly.

Not only has he failed, he's getting worse, for god's sake.

Foles is more familiar with this system than most of the guys on this roster. He's familiar with Nagy and DeFilippo.

Mitch is done.

Ive been reading all over the place and it sounds like the Bears were in on Dalton, Cam, and Foles. Bengals wouldn't come off a 3rd for Dalton so the Bears passed. Bears offered a low round pick, assuming a 6th, for Cam but Carolina wanted more. My guess is Pace wanted to lower the pick for Cam due to health questions. The Bears offered a 4th for Foles and Jax bit. Kinda the rundown I'm reading on line. I think we offer a 5th next year Jax still bites. Just my opinion.

Hoog wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 3:42 pm Seems to me when it comes to QB, Pace plays it safe and that may be the death of him. He took the safe pick in Trubisky when he had Mahomes and Watson right there for the taking. WRON MOVE! Now he grabs Foles with Cam sitting right there. WRONG MOVE (tbd). Cam when healthy and in good mind is heads and shoulders better than Foles but Pace again took the safe route. My prediction is Cam goes somewhere and tears it up while Foles gets beat out by the biscuit and we fall short of the playoffs again. Hope not but you cant play it safe or stay vanilla at QB

Watson beat Alabama for the National Championship while Trubisky was the least experienced QB ever to be drafted in the first round since the NFL/AFL merger. He was anything but the safe pick.

Foles is a better QB in the RPO. Not with other teams and other systems but with the one that the Bears use. He's won playoff games including a SB in the offense. This move makes the Bears offense better.

Hoog wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:07 pm Ive been reading all over the place and it sounds like the Bears were in on Dalton, Cam, and Foles. Bengals wouldn't come off a 3rd for Dalton so the Bears passed. Bears offered a low round pick, assuming a 6th, for Cam but Carolina wanted more. My guess is Pace wanted to lower the pick for Cam due to health questions. The Bears offered a 4th for Foles and Jax bit. Kinda the rundown I'm reading on line. I think we offer a 5th next year Jax still bites. Just my opinion.

Supposedly the Colts offered the Jags a 5th and they refused.

Grizzled wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:25 pm Foles is a better QB in the RPO. Not with other teams and other systems but with the one that the Bears use. He's won playoff games including a SB in the offense. This move makes the Bears offense better.

That's the thing. Foles has always been very up and down over the course of his career in various systems, which is why he's available. He's a system QB and in the right one, he can be reasonably good. We have that system.

Someone else commented that whoever plays QB, we need to fix the OL and the run game by extension if we want either of our QBs to succeed. That's a key point that deserves emphasis, IMO. I don't think it matters much who the coach or OC or QB coach or QB is... if you can't block consistently, your offense is going to fail.

wab wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:09 pm

Drone7 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 1:56 pm Some are against a (very late) 4 being traded for a fairly competent quarterback that was good enough to win playoff games and a SB against elite competition?!?

and competing against a guy that has put up numerous stinkers in his 3 year career...scuttling what should have been a playoff contending team last year??

gimme a fucking break...wise up...people have jobs at stake

I am opposed to Pace remaining as GM, but I fully endorse this move....and I say this knowing that Foles is only a bridge QB not a long term answer. But at least he can manage a game against good teams.

Well I think I speak for all of us that we are relieved that you finally fully endorse a move that the Bears have made.

Couple surprises here....I AGREE WITH GIB/Drone!(Change the name Gib, we know it’s you)I like this move. Pace is not putting his eggs in one basket when we have this great defense and I appreciate that.

G08 hit the nail on the head like he usually does ...Foles is insurance if Mitch struggles and stop gap for whoever we draft next year.

Foles, doesn’t suck. He was tossed into a shitty situation last year..but man, every time we played him he scared me. Everyone saying he sucks now are probably the same people who wanted him here last year to backup Mitch. They are probably the same people who crowned Pace last year and want him gone this year.

Pace knows what he has with this defense, he’s not letting Mitch or Trey Burton ruin that without a fight.

Now he’s gotta add a new RG, oline depth, a speed WR, and some cheap defensive depth and we’re all set.

Relax guys, we will be in the playoffs next year. We just don’t know who our QB will be!

Foles will be working with the 1s until Mitch is ready heath wise. At that point a very rusty Mitch with a still sore left shoulder will have to beat out Foles. I see Foles as the clear #1 unless Mitch lights a couple pre season games in fire and shows marked improvement and command of the offense.

Regarding signing bonuses, anything pro rated stays with Jax. Only bonuses written into individual years transfer and we don’t know yet what Jax was willing to eat in order to trade Foles away.

Tomorrow when I am not drinking I will go back and finish reading the rest of this thread.

From what ive seen this deal wont be a horrible financial burden for us.

Can Foles get hot and carry a team? Yes we have seen it

Can Trubisky? Havent seen it yet


I think at the end of the day we are better now than we were yesterday.

Pace and Nagy KNOW their jobs are on the line. They arent making decision all willy nilly. Can they be wrong of course they can.

I do guarantee you that they have put more time , effort and thought into this than we have.


Fuck it..I always roll with the Bears at the end of the day...so therefor I am all in hoping for the Best......cus what else do i have??

Yogi da Bear wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:45 pm
One thing I don't understand is Foles' contract. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bea ... oles-9898/ This lists his signing bonus as 25 million but his signing bonus in the tables is only listed as 6.25 mill in his first year. If that 25 mill was really a signing bonus, it should have been prorated over the life of the contract. What the hell is up with that?

Spotrac isn't very clear at showing it but Jax has to eat the other 3/4 of the 25M bonus at the time of the trade. Chicago doesn't take that hit at all.

The Cooler King wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:29 pm

Yogi da Bear wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 2:45 pm
One thing I don't understand is Foles' contract. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/chicago-bea ... oles-9898/ This lists his signing bonus as 25 million but his signing bonus in the tables is only listed as 6.25 mill in his first year. If that 25 mill was really a signing bonus, it should have been prorated over the life of the contract. What the hell is up with that?

Spotrac isn't very clear at showing it but Jax has to eat the other 3/4 of the 25M bonus at the time of the trade. Chicago doesn't take that hit at all.

Yeah I think that's the difference between what I've seen as $21 guaranteed vs $15 guaranteed over 3 years come out recently.

BearsFanInMN wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:37 pm

The Cooler King wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 5:29 pm
Spotrac isn't very clear at showing it but Jax has to eat the other 3/4 of the 25M bonus at the time of the trade. Chicago doesn't take that hit at all.

Yeah I think that's the difference between what I've seen as $21 guaranteed vs $15 guaranteed over 3 years come out recently.

His 2020 salary is guaranteed which is the bulk of the 21M remaining. Roster bonuses (notably $5M in 2021 which becomes guaranteed on Friday) make up the rest. It's possible Jax could have taken on some of the additional bonuses though.

G08 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 4:19 pm

Hoog wrote: ↑Wed Mar 18, 2020 3:42 pm Seems to me when it comes to QB, Pace plays it safe and that may be the death of him. He took the safe pick in Trubisky when he had Mahomes and Watson right there for the taking. WRON MOVE! Now he grabs Foles with Cam sitting right there. WRONG MOVE (tbd). Cam when healthy and in good mind is heads and shoulders better than Foles but Pace again took the safe route. My prediction is Cam goes somewhere and tears it up while Foles gets beat out by the biscuit and we fall short of the playoffs again. Hope not but you cant play it safe or stay vanilla at QB

Watson beat Alabama for the National Championship while Trubisky was the least experienced QB ever to be drafted in the first round since the NFL/AFL merger. He was anything but the safe pick.

This.

Trubisky was a swing for the fences that missed.