2023 Free Agency News / Rumors / Transactions

[IE]

The new regime said last year that they expect to be in nickel 85% of the time, IIRC. But that may have been less about their scheme preferences and more about the reality of their players.

I'm guessing that will decrease this season dramatically with new LBs who can cover. Sanborn grades fine in coverage (hus strongest measure). I think they'll play 3 LB more if Samborn continues progressing. I expect far more T2 with Edmunds and TJ. And maybe Kyler plays more outside as well, bumping Vildor. IF that happens we should see even better EJax this season!

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Panthers agree to terms with former Eagles RB Miles Sanders

https://www.nfl.com/news/panthers-agree ... es-sanders

No contract details yet, but per Adam Schefter on Twitter it's a 4-year deal.

[karhu]

Poles is playing a long game, it appears.

Somebody needs to make a Fuck Them FAs t-shirt.

[crueltyabc]

Jamaal Williams to the Saints

[dplank]

He’s saying they put him on an island and gave him no help, and that he’s respected for that.

4 straight pro bowls and folks are convinced Braxton Jones is better lol

For the money, Jones is.

Who cares? If the Super Bowl is won by having the lowest cap spend in the league then we might have a dynasty on our hands. But as long as players actually play the games, pro bowl LTs tend to help. 16M is a bargain for a 4 time pro bowler who just dominated in the playoffs and helped his team win another SB.

[wiNDycityfan]

For the money, Jones is.

Who cares? If the Super Bowl is won by having the lowest cap spend in the league then we might have a dynasty on our hands. But as long as players actually play the games, pro bowl LTs tend to help. 16M is a bargain for a 4 time pro bowler who just dominated in the playoffs and helped his team win another SB.

Agree. The only explanation I’d be comfortable with is if he just chose to go to the Bengals instead of Chicago.

[wiNDycityfan]

My exact thoughts in a tweet.

If this is how things are really projecting, no bueno. At all.

[The Marshall Plan]

Derek Jeter is on our defensive line?

[BigDaddy]

Resume being a top 10 defense??? I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion but this defense at it's best was probably ranked around 27 or 28. And that was only because they may have had a stretch against teams that had terrible offenses. One game against a shitty Patriots team is no way to measure where the Bears are as an organization. We couldn't stop the run we barely stopped the pass and gave up more points than anyone. That is NOT a top 10 defense.

[wab]

It's such a fools errand to piece together a depth chart one day into free agency. So so so stupid.

[The Cooler King]

I like this signing, but I'm just gonna keep pleading for some fatties on both sides of the ball

He's got like 6 higher picks for fatties. I do kind of like idea/strategy of building the trenches through the draft & saving the dollars for the skill positions.

There are some extensions coming up that could eat most of Poles' remaining budget this year, if he front-loads them like he should. So Kmet needs to be paid, JJ probably as well. And then shouldn't he carry a good amount into the season so he can front load whoever of Mooney or Pool he wants to extend in-season?

@IE didn't wanna derail the PJ thread.

My problem with this line of thinking is it seems to be boxing yourself in too much. I think Poles is actually a fairly BPA driven guy from what we know. He's not gonna dedicate all or most of his early picks to one thing.

And I think that's the right approach. If you want to be a draft and develop built team you have to be pretty far into the BPA approach and leave needs behind more. It's the right approach, but it does mean whatever you don't solve in FA you're only gonna get a bit of a replacement level/lotto ticket approach to.

Well see if Poles has 2-3 more decent signings up his sleeve yet. There are still verifiably real upgrades out there in FA, but each day another 3-4 go off the board.

[The Cooler King]

It's such a fools errand to piece together a depth chart one day into free agency. So so so stupid.

You don't think Poles has a constant running depth chart somewhere?

It's a current snap shot only of course, but it's informative.

And then we compare that to what's actually left in FA and it's more informative.

[dplank]

It's such a fools errand to piece together a depth chart one day into free agency. So so so stupid.

You don't think Poles has a constant running depth chart somewhere?

It's a current snap shot only of course, but it's informative.

And then we compare that to what's actually left in FA and it's more informative.

This is EXACTLY what happened last offseason re: OL. I kept calling out that we weren't doing enough to protect Fields, and people kept telling me that the offseason isn't over until July and to chill out. Meanwhile, player after player would get signed and then folks would tell me that we still had the draft and OF COURSE he was going to draft OL high. Then the draft happened and he only signed late round picks, and folks still clung to the notion that we hadn't missed our window of opportunity to have a decent OL.

It's remarkable to me how many folks don't seem to understand how the NFL player acquisition model works, you have windows of opportunity and you need to strike in those windows or your available talent pool just shrinks and shrinks to the point that they players you end up with are no better than the ones you are trying to replace. See: Bears, Chicago. i.e. we waited forever then snagged cast off scrubs like Dozier, Schofield, Reiff, even Patrick was a low end scrub signing essentially. One injury and we end up right back with Sam friggin Mustipher starting the entire season again. That shouldn't have happened. Imagine how bad it would have been had Poles not nailed that 5th round Jones pick! You can't have a plan where you NEED a 5th round rookie to play good ball, he got lucky as hell or it would have been even worse.

[Hoog]

Still some decent roster fillers at DL that will only help our depth once we draft some players:

Frank Clark, DE
A'Shawn Robinson, DL
Poona Ford, DL
Dawauane Smoot, DE
Dante Fowler, DE
Greg Gaines, DL
Andrew Billings, DT
Kentavius Street, DT
Chris Wormley, DL
Rasheem Green, DL

Still would like Donovan Smith on a one year to cover the left and right side, just in case. Evan Brown has been my choice at center for a while now, and I think Greg Little, George Fant, and Matt Feiler could help. Also, at TE, I would look at Foster Moreau, Zach Gentry, and Irv Smith.

Other than those listed, not really seeing anything. Saving money for more cuts coming could be prudent.

[crueltyabc]

You don't think Poles has a constant running depth chart somewhere?

It's a current snap shot only of course, but it's informative.

And then we compare that to what's actually left in FA and it's more informative.

This is EXACTLY what happened last offseason re: OL. I kept calling out that we weren't doing enough to protect Fields, and people kept telling me that the offseason isn't over until July and to chill out. Meanwhile, player after player would get signed and then folks would tell me that we still had the draft and OF COURSE he was going to draft OL high. Then the draft happened and he only signed late round picks, and folks still clung to the notion that we hadn't missed our window of opportunity to have a decent OL.

It's remarkable to me how many folks don't seem to understand how the NFL player acquisition model works, you have windows of opportunity and you need to strike in those windows or your available talent pool just shrinks and shrinks to the point that they players you end up with are no better than the ones you are trying to replace. See: Bears, Chicago. i.e. we waited forever then snagged cast off scrubs like Dozier, Schofield, Reiff, even Patrick was a low end scrub signing essentially. One injury and we end up right back with Sam friggin Mustipher starting the entire season again. That shouldn't have happened. Imagine how bad it would have been had Poles not nailed that 5th round Jones pick! You can't have a plan where you NEED a 5th round rookie to play good ball, he got lucky as hell or it would have been even worse.

There is still a handful of guys at each position of need that exist between the tier you wanted and the Dakota Dozier tier. The thing is there is only a handful. I think it's a dangerous game Poles is playing by waiting to see if someone beats his offer of $3m instead of just offering $4m and getting the deals done. This is a great year IMO to "overpay" a little on the margins to get adequate starters so you can really use the draft to look for stars of the future. As it stands right now, the needs are so glaring that other teams will be able to anticipate who they'll likely pick in the draft and that's a bit dangerous.

[Grizzled]

Charles Omenihu, 6'5", 280 lb. DE, has signed a 2 year $20M contract with the Chiefs. 4.5 sacks in '22, 11.5 in a 4 year career so he's not a sacking machine. Arden Key has reached a 3 year deal with the Titans for about $3M less than what the Bears are paying Walker although Key will fill the recently released Bud Dupree's OLB spot.

[The Cooler King]

Yea having 4-5 guys at a spot is all well and good, but every other team (or most) are gonna be doing their fine tuning shopping as well. Sometimes bidding wars start up again after value bottoms out in wave 2.

Sounds like Poles admitted as much today there's gonna be holes they can't fill. A very honest answer and we can cut the BS about waiting til end of FA or waiting til draft. The math aint gonna math by Sept.

[Moriarty]

Sounds like Poles admitted as much today there's gonna be holes they can't fill. A very honest answer and we can cut the BS about waiting til end of FA or waiting til draft. The math aint gonna math by Sept.

Was he saying "won't get filled before the draft"? Or "won't get filled this year"?

[The Cooler King]

Sounds like Poles admitted as much today there's gonna be holes they can't fill. A very honest answer and we can cut the BS about waiting til end of FA or waiting til draft. The math aint gonna math by Sept.

Was he saying "won't get filled before the draft"? Or "won't get filled this year"?

I didn't listen directly but my understanding from other is not filled this year.

[RichH55]

You don't think Poles has a constant running depth chart somewhere?

It's a current snap shot only of course, but it's informative.

And then we compare that to what's actually left in FA and it's more informative.

This is EXACTLY what happened last offseason re: OL. I kept calling out that we weren't doing enough to protect Fields, and people kept telling me that the offseason isn't over until July and to chill out. Meanwhile, player after player would get signed and then folks would tell me that we still had the draft and OF COURSE he was going to draft OL high. Then the draft happened and he only signed late round picks, and folks still clung to the notion that we hadn't missed our window of opportunity to have a decent OL.

It's remarkable to me how many folks don't seem to understand how the NFL player acquisition model works, you have windows of opportunity and you need to strike in those windows or your available talent pool just shrinks and shrinks to the point that they players you end up with are no better than the ones you are trying to replace. See: Bears, Chicago. i.e. we waited forever then snagged cast off scrubs like Dozier, Schofield, Reiff, even Patrick was a low end scrub signing essentially. One injury and we end up right back with Sam friggin Mustipher starting the entire season again. That shouldn't have happened. Imagine how bad it would have been had Poles not nailed that 5th round Jones pick! You can't have a plan where you NEED a 5th round rookie to play good ball, he got lucky as hell or it would have been even worse.

Did we ummmm have the 9th pick overall last year? And Riley Reiff was kind of league average anyway (I.E. Not really a scrub)

And he nailed the Jones pick (or as you usually say - another Larry Borom?)

And they ummmm Don't need a 5th Round pick to play good ball this year (at least from the 2023 Draft)

What are we yelling about here anyway?

[dplank]

You know, when more than half of your posts are dedicated to mocking anything and everything I write - it’s EXTREMELY personal.

I rando checked your last few posts and sure enough it’s basically all you do. That behavior is 100% personal. And weird AF. You read pages of text just to pull out my one post and talk shit…nothing else to say, just that. 100% personal.

Stalk elsewhere son. I’m just not that into you, you’ll find another crush sooner or later.

[UOK]

[wab]

Sanborn was 57…

[Middleguard]

Sanborn was 57…

And still is apparently. And Billings is 97 and PJ Walker is 11.

[dplank]

Is there any formal word yet on if they see Walker as a DE or DT in our scheme?

[wab]

Is there any formal word yet on if they see Walker as a DE or DT in our scheme?

They said both in the press conference. So IDK.

Probably depends on how the draft falls.

[RichH55]

Sanborn was 57…

Nice to see MarshallPlan got promoted and is now seeking his terrible vengence!

[RichH55]

Is there any formal word yet on if they see Walker as a DE or DT in our scheme?

They said both in the press conference. So IDK.

Probably depends on how the draft falls.

Feels like they will mix and match him - and they - in theory - want to rotate a bunch of DL anyway (*)

(*) They need to add a bunch more - with a good chunk coming in the draft is my guess - Clearly remains biggest hole on the team

[RichH55]

You know, when more than half of your posts are dedicated to mocking anything and everything I write - it’s EXTREMELY personal.

I rando checked your last few posts and sure enough it’s basically all you do. That behavior is 100% personal. And weird AF. You read pages of text just to pull out my one post and talk shit…nothing else to say, just that. 100% personal.

Stalk elsewhere son. I’m just not that into you, you’ll find another crush sooner or later.

So is that a "No we didn't have a top ten pick last year?" Cool. High picks can be spent on positions of need/value like Tackle or Dline ! Pro Tip!

I can't imagine that its half my posts.

Telling people that Pressers don't matter and that we HAD Cap Room Last year had to eat up way more than you are thinking

[Middleguard]

Perhaps because of Sanborn's 57 duplicated, Bears' website has backtracked on all FA number assignments.