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The Bears have released Siemian.
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Grizzled wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:57 am The Bears have released Siemian.
THAT is a description that I really don't need. Probably not be able to get it out of my head now--Bear Siemian. :sick:
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Jermaine Eluemunor is rumored to be going back to the Raiders so the fringe-starter-with-upside OT cupboard is now officially bare :-/
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Topic I've talked about a lot. Made a short thread update for it today. Bears figure to still be about 36m short if the minimum cash. That's counting rookie spending and some in season space factored in.

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The Cooler King wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:39 pm Topic I've talked about a lot. Made a short thread update for it today. Bears figure to still be about 36m short if the minimum cash. That's counting rookie spending and some in season space factored in.

I just want to say I've learned a lot from your posts on this topic.

I've always known there was a stipulation like that, but I've just never gone down the rabbit hole.
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 10:01 am
Grizzled wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 4:57 am The Bears have released Siemian.
THAT is a description that I really don't need. Probably not be able to get it out of my head now--Bear Siemian. :sick:
Was the Bear-Siemian released prematurely?
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Why not just go out and sign Ngakoue? It fixes a DE spot. He's still out there.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:04 pm Why not just go out and sign Ngakoue? It fixes a DE spot. He's still out there.
You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:39 pm
The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:04 pm Why not just go out and sign Ngakoue? It fixes a DE spot. He's still out there.
You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
Poles is worrying me Plank.

Is it the McCaskey's with the money? Are we back to the days of penny pinching? Did Georgie see the $100M in cap space and say oh no you don't?

The answers to this DL problem were out there and obvious. We needed one of Hargrave or Jones and then a serviceable DE like Ngakoue or yeah like you said Quinn back and he'd probably be cheap. That would've been two guys. The other two are easily fixable in the draft.

We went into FA needing 4 guys for the DL. I'd argue we got 0 because the guy from the Raiders was a nobody. No doubt Edmunds got paid. But the big money guys were all DL.

It's either negligence with Poles or Georgie is holding the piggy bank.

Poles has to know he can't get four starters for the DL in the draft. That just defies all rules of logic.

Maybe this is analytics or Moneyball thing and based on the results God help us if it is. You've got to build the defense from the ball outwards. Edmunds and Edwards are going to look like shit when those OL get to the second level and take them out of every running play.
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I’m not worried by Poles’ plan. He’s sticking to the plan - good for him.
Remember when we had one of the worst cap situations and one of the leanest draft capital?
Yeah, that was 12 months ago, when Poles took over. Loaded with vets who were past their peak but still on big contracts. Multiple years of trade ups had left us without a #1pick.

The bears were in terrible shape, I remember the graphic with the bears an outlier for terrible cap space and poor draft picks.

Poles has literally flipped that on its head, we’re now the outlier for draft capital and we had THE number one pick. Which he has traded down for multiple more picks and a stud WR1 who is yet to peak.

His methods have produced this 180. He’s not going to splurge all the cap space and potentially go back to square one. The bears are now financially fiscal.

Ngakoue is a great player. I would love to have him. But there’s a risk he’s peaked.

If we have to spend then I’d love to get a guy like him, but Poles is definitely sticking to the plan.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:09 pm
dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:39 pm

You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
Poles is worrying me Plank.

Is it the McCaskey's with the money? Are we back to the days of penny pinching? Did Georgie see the $100M in cap space and say oh no you don't?

The answers to this DL problem were out there and obvious. We needed one of Hargrave or Jones and then a serviceable DE like Ngakoue or yeah like you said Quinn back and he'd probably be cheap. That would've been two guys. The other two are easily fixable in the draft.

We went into FA needing 4 guys for the DL. I'd argue we got 0 because the guy from the Raiders was a nobody. No doubt Edmunds got paid. But the big money guys were all DL.

It's either negligence with Poles or Georgie is holding the piggy bank.

Poles has to know he can't get four starters for the DL in the draft. That just defies all rules of logic.

Maybe this is analytics or Moneyball thing and based on the results God help us if it is. You've got to build the defense from the ball outwards. Edmunds and Edwards are going to look like shit when those OL get to the second level and take them out of every running play.
We didn’t get zero guys for the d line, we got a guy with good production that could be a breakout type player and we got a certified run stuffer, both are serious upgrades to what was trotted out there last season.

There’s going to be another signing or two, short term, but it’s fairly obvious the lines are what poles is going to target in the draft early. He doesn’t need 4 starters, he needs 2 and 2 rotational guys. Add that to another short term starter signing, and a possible oline signing and they are fine. Free agency and planning last more than a day.

Sure there are guys out there, but what do they want $ and yearwise? Should they just blow the advantage they are going to have the next few years with the cap to just sign guys so we feel better or is poles setting this thing up to have a young talent pool for when fields cost $60M a season in the not too distant future, or should they just dump money so they have to have a blood letting every 3 seasons.
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Ditka’s dictaphone wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:24 pm I’m not worried by Poles’ plan. He’s sticking to the plan - good for him.
Remember when we had one of the worst cap situations and one of the leanest draft capital?
Yeah, that was 12 months ago, when Poles took over. Loaded with vets who were past their peak but still on big contracts. Multiple years of trade ups had left us without a #1pick.

The bears were in terrible shape, I remember the graphic with the bears an outlier for terrible cap space and poor draft picks.

Poles has literally flipped that on its head, we’re now the outlier for draft capital and we had THE number one pick. Which he has traded down for multiple more picks and a stud WR1 who is yet to peak.

His methods have produced this 180. He’s not going to splurge all the cap space and potentially go back to square one. The bears are now financially fiscal.

Ngakoue is a great player. I would love to have him. But there’s a risk he’s peaked.

If we have to spend then I’d love to get a guy like him, but Poles is definitely sticking to the plan.
The reason Ngakoue hasn’t been signed and the reason he keeps moving to new teams is because he’s a terrible run defender. The Bears run defense was also atrocious.

And he’s probably not willing to take a cheaper deal to be a pass rush specialist.

I don’t have a problem with Poles’ plan either though. Signing players over 30 doesn’t make sense for the Bears timeline. And Walker was actually more productive than Dre’Mont Jones last year, so I don’t see the sense in paying him 23 million next year.

Just because you have the money to do something doesn’t mean you should, and signing guys to contracts you know are bad are not how good teams are built.
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We can't pretend the draft isn't happening, or that the Bears don't have EIGHT picks in the first 5 rounds - within the first 150 picks. I mean, we can act like that isn't real... but it is. Poles has a wealth of draft picks in a deep draft that is loaded with DL and good OL prospects where the Bears will be picking. And he's created a nice situation for himself that he doesn't have to worry about picking up a TE or RB or LB or WR in those first several rounds. He can focus on the trenches - and he will!

The Bears are going to go from having only a couple of bodies on the DL to having good depth and a bunch of young, athletic, hungry guys all battling for playing time. And they'll get an OT and a C as well.

It may seem like Poles had an unlimited FA dollar bank but that just isn't the case. I fhe splurged on a couple of those overpriced linemen then maybe he wouldn't have been able to plug in a couple of sure-thing LBs to shore up the front 7 AND he might have to make a tough decision on a guy like Mooney, Kmet or JJ that we don't like. This way, he can address all the needs.

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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:39 pm
The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:04 pm Why not just go out and sign Ngakoue? It fixes a DE spot. He's still out there.
You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
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The Cooler King wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:39 pm Topic I've talked about a lot. Made a short thread update for it today. Bears figure to still be about 36m short if the minimum cash. That's counting rookie spending and some in season space factored in.

That $36MM won't go very far if he wants to extend Kmet, JJ & one of either Mooney or Pool in-season... will it? My take is Kmet will happen sooner rather than later. And maybe JJ (although I personally am not a huge fan of that).

My point is... isn't a lot if not all of that $36MM potentially gone if he extends 2-3 guys and wisely front loads them?
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IE wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 5:20 pm
The Cooler King wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:39 pm Topic I've talked about a lot. Made a short thread update for it today. Bears figure to still be about 36m short if the minimum cash. That's counting rookie spending and some in season space factored in.

That $36MM won't go very far if he wants to extend Kmet, JJ & one of either Mooney or Pool in-season... will it? My take is Kmet will happen sooner rather than later. And maybe JJ (although I personally am not a huge fan of that).

My point is... isn't a lot if not all of that $36MM potentially gone if he extends 2-3 guys and wisely front loads them?
Really depends. Early year extensions often don't front much, if any money. Two recent Bears examples, Eddie Jackson only got 11m bonus on a 14/y deal and Whitehair only 5.9m on a 10.25/y deal. This isn't a unique Bears/Pace thing either. You definitely see it a lot.

Each of the extension candidates also already has a relatively decent base salary from the proven performance escalators.

That said Poles has shown a clear willingness to frontload cash on his FA spending this year. So I think it's safe to assume he'd be willing to do it on extensions. So there's exceptions of early extensions getting lots of new money up front - a good example is George Kittle.

I'm just not confident in Mooney anymore. I think with Moore in hand only one of Mooney or Claypool is paid and Poles let's it go the whole season to see who earns it. That said, even if he waits to January, it still counts. But what if neither earn a extension? Plus Mooney is coming off injury.

Kmet I feel like has a really good chance and the Kittle contract is a good template if they wanna front load cash - maybe up to $20m.

JJ I just don't know. I feel like he's less likely than the hometown Kmet to be agreeable to a deal that will meet Poles obviously stringent valuation measures. Is Poles gonna pay 16-19 if JJ says he wants to be paid like a top 10 CB?
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Kmet and JJ should both be extended IMO. I agree with having a Hunger Games competition with Claypool and Mooney as well
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I’m moving into a “fuck it just sign Billy Turner” phase. He can play whatever spot is leftover after the draft.
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Bears Weekly | Podcast

Interview with Ryan Poles on Free Agency adds plus interviews with DJ Moore and Tremaine Edmunds.

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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 6:24 pm
Many of these guys can be functional pieces on a team, but you don't over spend on a functional piece when its possible to draft as good or better in the draft. More than 1/2 these guys won't get signed until after the draft and rightly so.
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:46 pm
dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:39 pm

You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
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Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:46 pm
dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:39 pm

You and I see this the same way. There’s no reason not to! Even if he isn’t a perfect fit. Even if his price is a little bit higher than Poles wants. Even if he wants to “build through the draft “. All of those things are great, but if you have far more cap room than anyone else, and you have a glaring need, and a guy is there that will help you even if not perfect, you do it! We aren’t tanking anymore, pivot the approach.

Hell, bring Quinn back instead of you want. He still has a lot of friends there and knows the system. We clearly missed him when he left. I’d love to have him back.
I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
We have signed like 10 guys
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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm
Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:46 pm

I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
He's signed like 10 guys including a couple of DL

The sky isn't falling
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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm
Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:46 pm

I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.


So......proven vet (NON- Star) equals trying to compete?

That wouldn't be true if we actually signed one - Just pointing out the logical fallacy here
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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
I completely disagree that he's in no rush to start winning because he hasn't spent money like many of us wanted him to on players he doesn't think are worth what they were paid.

You're entitled to your opinion, to be sure. I just don't see it the same way you do. Paying top dollar to average players is the principal trap of free agency.

I mean, I was interested in Jamaal Taylor but not at $20M per. I was interested in Mike McGlinchey but not at $17M per. You do not succeed by paying decent/average players top money. You pay decent/average players like the Bears paid Nate Davis and TJ Edwards and DeMarcus Walker.

Poles' one big bet is on Tremaine Edmunds. The bet is clearly that last season was him on the rise. If he isn't, if Edmunds plays like a decent player, his contract was a mistake.
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dplank wrote:I agree with Rich here
RichH55 wrote: Dplank is correct
:shocked:
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southdakbearfan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:35 pm
The Marshall Plan wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 3:09 pm

Poles is worrying me Plank.

Is it the McCaskey's with the money? Are we back to the days of penny pinching? Did Georgie see the $100M in cap space and say oh no you don't?

The answers to this DL problem were out there and obvious. We needed one of Hargrave or Jones and then a serviceable DE like Ngakoue or yeah like you said Quinn back and he'd probably be cheap. That would've been two guys. The other two are easily fixable in the draft.

We went into FA needing 4 guys for the DL. I'd argue we got 0 because the guy from the Raiders was a nobody. No doubt Edmunds got paid. But the big money guys were all DL.

It's either negligence with Poles or Georgie is holding the piggy bank.

Poles has to know he can't get four starters for the DL in the draft. That just defies all rules of logic.

Maybe this is analytics or Moneyball thing and based on the results God help us if it is. You've got to build the defense from the ball outwards. Edmunds and Edwards are going to look like shit when those OL get to the second level and take them out of every running play.
We didn’t get zero guys for the d line, we got a guy with good production that could be a breakout type player and we got a certified run stuffer, both are serious upgrades to what was trotted out there last season.

There’s going to be another signing or two, short term, but it’s fairly obvious the lines are what poles is going to target in the draft early. He doesn’t need 4 starters, he needs 2 and 2 rotational guys. Add that to another short term starter signing, and a possible oline signing and they are fine. Free agency and planning last more than a day.

Sure there are guys out there, but what do they want $ and yearwise? Should they just blow the advantage they are going to have the next few years with the cap to just sign guys so we feel better or is poles setting this thing up to have a young talent pool for when fields cost $60M a season in the not too distant future, or should they just dump money so they have to have a blood letting every 3 seasons.
We got Room Temperature Dollar Store Private Label Diet Cola level players to "upgrade" the worst defensive line in football despite having $85M in cap space after acquiring DJ Moore.

Expecting Poles to draft 2 to 4 starting level guys / rotational DLs, THAT CONTRIBUTE, in one draft is an insane "ask" of any GM I don't care how many draft picks.

Here are our draft picks:

R1 : 9
R2: 54
R3: 61
R3: 64

Then it drops to 103rd overall, 133, 137, 149, and 219.

You can tell from the huge spread within these picks that Poles' hand is forced into ANOTHER trade down. He's got to fill the gap between 9 and 54 and then honestly see if he can dump off some of those really low picks because they're just camp fodder.

We still have something like $40M in cap space. We can sign a guy like Ngakoue and consider a DE position filled. So what if he struggles against the run? We're not in the driver's seat here anymore. That chance left when we spent a billion dollars on LBs.
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dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm
Yogi da Bear wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 4:46 pm

I have a feeling he's willing to wait for Ngakoue's price to come down. He seems to have a price on players, and he's simply not going to go above that. He will walk away. It irks me to no end, but it's not necessarily a bad trait. Certainly better than giving a player whatever he wants. Sometimes though, I feel like he can be penny wise but pound foolish.
I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
Cosigned.

Poles is squandering JF1's rookie deal.

What's the excuse in 2 or 3 years when JF1 comes knocking for his $50M? The time to build a winner is now.

That's also why you make the Jalen Ramsey trade for a third.

Then we have a secondary of:

CB1: Ramsey: Lockdown #1 CB
CB2: JJ who I think is best suited for this.
Slot: Gordon
Safeties: EJax and Brisker.

That's a fucking secondary.

In FA you sign Jones and Ngakoue. You then draft BPA DL at 9 or after a second tradedown. Get a guy like Murphy or Bresee. If you stay at 9 and Carter falls, hot damn how interesting would that be to have Jones and Carter in the middle?

You then have a dominant DL, a dominant secondary, and the LBs are serviceable, but they look better than what they are because the OL doesn't knock them out of every play by getting to the second level of blocking.

You can pressure the QB with consistency. When he passes the ball there's a great chance you can make a play.

But instead Poles sat on his hands and spent money on LBs.
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dplank
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thunderspirit wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 11:42 pm
dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
I completely disagree that he's in no rush to start winning because he hasn't spent money like many of us wanted him to on players he doesn't think are worth what they were paid.

You're entitled to your opinion, to be sure. I just don't see it the same way you do. Paying top dollar to average players is the principal trap of free agency.

I mean, I was interested in Jamaal Taylor but not at $20M per. I was interested in Mike McGlinchey but not at $17M per. You do not succeed by paying decent/average players top money. You pay decent/average players like the Bears paid Nate Davis and TJ Edwards and DeMarcus Walker.

Poles' one big bet is on Tremaine Edmunds. The bet is clearly that last season was him on the rise. If he isn't, if Edmunds plays like a decent player, his contract was a mistake.
You are shifting the goal posts here. We’ve covered the high end of the market already, what I’m unhappy with is he isn’t scooping up more decent players at Edwards/wWalker prices at positions that will help us win games. You keep pointing to the high end examples and staking a position I’m not arguing against.

Sign Ngakoue. Sign McGary (past ex). Sign Quinn. Arden Key (another ex). Several more examples. He seems too content to roll into the draft with the worst DL in football, that’s bad strategy and forces either a) you to abandon BPA approach or b) admit you aren’t trying to win in 2023. Because our DL is not competitive no matter how good our second level is. It is a well accepted strategy that you fill your holes before the draft so that you can draft BPA. Poles has left major holes at DE, DT, and RT. That is bad GM work IMO. He has more than enough resources to not have this situation, he just needs to be less complacent.

That is a nuanced, smart discussion we can have and we may still disagree on it. But let’s have a real discussion and not stake out other’s positions for them.
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The Marshall Plan wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 5:00 am
dplank wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 9:49 pm

I just think he’s in no rush to start winning. He needs to realize that you can play the long game AND try to compete at the same time. Signing a proven vet to bridge your draft picks doesn’t destroy your long term vision. He’s not trying to compete with this DL.
Cosigned.

Poles is squandering JF1's rookie deal.

What's the excuse in 2 or 3 years when JF1 comes knocking for his $50M? The time to build a winner is now.

That's also why you make the Jalen Ramsey trade for a third.

Then we have a secondary of:

CB1: Ramsey: Lockdown #1 CB
CB2: JJ who I think is best suited for this.
Slot: Gordon
Safeties: EJax and Brisker.

That's a fucking secondary.

In FA you sign Jones and Ngakoue. You then draft BPA DL at 9 or after a second tradedown. Get a guy like Murphy or Bresee. If you stay at 9 and Carter falls, hot damn how interesting would that be to have Jones and Carter in the middle?

You then have a dominant DL, a dominant secondary, and the LBs are serviceable, but they look better than what they are because the OL doesn't knock them out of every play by getting to the second level of blocking.

You can pressure the QB with consistency. When he passes the ball there's a great chance you can make a play.

But instead Poles sat on his hands and spent money on LBs.
Do you really build a winner in the draft or by signing some overpriced free agents?

This team won 3, 3 games last season. Do you think they are going to jump to 12+ wins. Is fields going to take a Herculean leap or small steps forward? Do you want to extend guys like Mooney, claypool, Kmet or JJt all or just let them go when their contract is up.

We hated Pace and Angelo, with their sign a few guys, plug holes, play cap game extensions, trade draft picks away to “win now” methodology of gming and now that we have a guy doing the opposite it’s a freak out.

This roster is immensely better than last year, and it will get better before the season starts.
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