Bears to sign LB Tremaine Edmunds to 4yr, $72m deal

[dplank]

This one confuses me - and I wanted Edmunds from Day 1 that I started pondering free agency. This guy is a great athlete who is really coming on after a bit of a slow start to his career. I think his best ball is in front of him.

What I don't get is spending 18M on this and not addressing more core needs. We don't have a DL at all, like absolutely nothing, and these LB's are just going to get crushed by OL who cut through the DL like butter on their way to the 2nd level. Based on this 18M spend here, I have to think we are now out on Jones at DT? Maybe not, or am I just being hopeful at this point? Seems like Poles shot his wad on 2 LB's and a G, when our needs were DL and RT. Questionable. Edwards I got, inexpensive and didn't preclude other signings. This one is a head scratcher. And again, I like the player a lot.

Now I'm thinking hard about trading up from 9 to secure Carter or Tyree Wilson at 6 or 7 assuming one of them falls.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

spotrac had Edmunds projected at:
4 years for $44,035,532
$11,008,883 average per year

Over the Cap had him at $9,548,000.

Just shows you how off these projections are.

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

I’m thinking Poles is going for a double tank

[Grizzled]

I'm with Plank, this one is confusing. Highly talented guy but .... There are still DEs and some DTs out there, not many have signed yet.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

I’m thinking Poles is going for a double tank

Why so worried DD? We've got our full back and long snapper signed and now a couple of LBs and an OG. Those are the premium positions!

[UOK]

I'm with Plank, this one is confusing. Highly talented guy but .... There are still DEs and some DTs out there, not many have signed yet.

Free Agency's been semi-open for 5 hours or something. The Bears are going to sign linemen on both sides of the ball, but they likely aren't going to be huge sexy names.

[The Cooler King]

OK this is good.

Okereke must not be happening then.

Not unless clocks got turned back to 1998 Sunday night.

[dplank]

I'm with Plank, this one is confusing. Highly talented guy but .... There are still DEs and some DTs out there, not many have signed yet.

Free Agency's been semi-open for 5 hours or something. The Bears are going to sign linemen on both sides of the ball, but they likely aren't going to be huge sexy names.

That's kinda the point though isn't it? Where you choose to spend big matters. We chose WLB and G over 3T and RT. Seems very questionable. I'd rather have spend big on 3T and RT, then spent on the less sexy names at WLB and G.

[malk]

[wab]

Free Agency's been semi-open for 5 hours or something. The Bears are going to sign linemen on both sides of the ball, but they likely aren't going to be huge sexy names.

That's kinda the point though isn't it? Where you choose to spend big matters. We chose WLB and G over 3T and RT. Seems very questionable. I'd rather have spend big on 3T and RT, then spent on the less sexy names at WLB and G.

Hopefully the staff is correct in their projection that one of these guys can play on the weak side, otherwise the Bears have the strong inside linebacker depth chart in the NFL.

[bearsoldier]

I am stoked!! He was my #1 FA and I am just totally shocked Poles pulled the trigger! BEAR DOWN!!

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

I’m thinking Poles is going for a double tank

Why so worried DD? We've got our full back and long snapper signed and now a couple of LBs and an OG. Those are the premium positions!

There are loads of good LB prospects in the draft who will go late.
There are few prospects at OT , DT and DE who will go late in the draft.

Plan : sign LBs in FA and forget the line?

It’s now become so weird/dumb that I find it funny rather than annoying.

[Heinz D.]

Based on this 18M spend here, I have to think we are now out on Jones at DT? Maybe not, or am I just being hopeful at this point? Seems like Poles shot his wad on 2 LB's and a G, when our needs were DL and RT. Questionable.

There's more than enough money to get Jones (remember, Whitehair is probably gone)...but the question now becomes--will Poles pull the trigger?

Losing out on McGlinchy, to a worse team with bigger cap issues and no clear plan to speak of makes me wonder just what the hell Poles is thinking. Sure, there are some other names out there that would be comparable, and maybe they've decided to try Jenkins at RT...but we KNOW they were after McGlinchy and failed to get him. That's incredibly disturbing. If he's actually planning on filling all these remaining holes through the draft, he's botched FA big time. It's not over yet, and I do still have faith...but jeez. I thought he'd get Hargrove for sure (as he's most likely cheaper).

I do love the Edmunds signing (in a vacuum), though. That's some top notch stuff, there.

[wab]

Based on this 18M spend here, I have to think we are now out on Jones at DT? Maybe not, or am I just being hopeful at this point? Seems like Poles shot his wad on 2 LB's and a G, when our needs were DL and RT. Questionable.

There's more than enough money to get Jones (remember, Whitehair is probably gone)...but the question now becomes--will Poles pull the trigger?

Losing out on McGlinchy, to a worse team with bigger cap issues and no clear plan to speak of makes me wonder just what the hell Poles is thinking. Sure, there are some other names out there that would be comparable, and maybe they've decided to try Jenkins at RT...but we KNOW they were after McGlinchy and failed to get him. That's incredibly disturbing. If he's actually planning on filling all these remaining holes through the draft, he's botched FA big time. It's not over yet, and I do still have faith...but jeez. I thought he'd get Hargrove for sure (as he's most likely cheaper).

I do love the Edmunds signing (in a vacuum), though. That's some top notch stuff, there.

What makes you so certain that Whitehair is gone?

[UOK]

There's more than enough money to get Jones (remember, Whitehair is probably gone)...but the question now becomes--will Poles pull the trigger?

Losing out on McGlinchy, to a worse team with bigger cap issues and no clear plan to speak of makes me wonder just what the hell Poles is thinking. Sure, there are some other names out there that would be comparable, and maybe they've decided to try Jenkins at RT...but we KNOW they were after McGlinchy and failed to get him. That's incredibly disturbing. If he's actually planning on filling all these remaining holes through the draft, he's botched FA big time. It's not over yet, and I do still have faith...but jeez. I thought he'd get Hargrove for sure (as he's most likely cheaper).

I do love the Edmunds signing (in a vacuum), though. That's some top notch stuff, there.

What makes you so certain that Whitehair is gone?

This is important. At this point I'd be surprised if Whitehair was cut. Davis isn't playing left guard (I have no idea why pundits are already penciling him in as the starting LG), and if they sign Isaac Seumalo he's got a really bad history of injuries and is basically another Whitehair.

The Bears may as well have Whitehair/Patrick/Davis going into the season with a rookie guard and center in the wings. Could be worse.

[Heinz D.]

What makes you so certain that Whitehair is gone?

There aren't any rumors, hints, or tells, or anything.

It's just a hunch. I think they'll end up valuing that $11 mil more than Whitehair. We'll see.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

What makes you so certain that Whitehair is gone?

I suspect it has something to do with him having a $14m cap hit, the fact that they've just signed a new OG at $10m a year and that they made a failed attempt to land McGlinchey to play RT.

It begs the question how they're going to fit Whitehair, Davis and their best O-lineman from last year, Teven Jenkins, into 2 spots.

I wonder if after failing to land McGlinchey they pivoted to Jenkins going back to RT because they saw better value in signing a guard than going after another RT.

[Heinz D.]

The Bears may as well have Whitehair/Patrick/Davis going into the season with a rookie guard and center in the wings. Could be worse.

They also still have Dozier. They still have Carter. They can draft a guy in the fourth, too. Whitehair wasn't having a great season before the injury, either.

But, as I said, we'll see. I could be wrong.

[IE]

This signing really surprised me. I thought Poles was clear he didn't value weak side LB enough to pay a premium. But the devil is in the details he may have indeed meant they didn't want to overpay Ro Smith (PFF #26) at WILL when they could replace him with Edwards (PFF 6th rated LB) on the cheap. That is different than them valuing T2 Mike enough to pay a guy like Edmunds (who is terrific in coverage) to be the next Urlacher roaming the middle.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Or maybe Poles just subscribes to the belief that three 'eds are better than one?

[bearsoldier]

[G08]

Then why did Poles offer Roquan a contract in the first place?

Because he liked him until he realized Roquan was a biittttttch

Eberflus likes big/long/fast athletes in his defense, Edmunds is that dude.

[thunderspirit]

[Bears Whiskey Nut]

Edmunds is 6'5"? Holy crap! That's a tall LB in today's league.

[wab]

Edmunds is 6'5"? Holy crap! That's a tall LB in today's league.

For perspective, he’s the same exact size as Dominique Robinson.

[The Cooler King]

That contract structure gives me some pause. Doesn't seem cash frontloaded or cap backloaded enough give the cash and cap minimum /constraints.

At the end of the day, it's the entire picture that matters on a cap basis, not one contract. So I'll wait for final judgment.

But I worry that Poles/Stein might be placing too much emphasis on dead cap avoidance and that is

1) ultimately a limiting way to build a high end team
2) deeply flawed logically in most cases.

[TheWorldBreaker]

This one confuses me - and I wanted Edmunds from Day 1 that I started pondering free agency. This guy is a great athlete who is really coming on after a bit of a slow start to his career. I think his best ball is in front of him.

What I don't get is spending 18M on this and not addressing more core needs. We don't have a DL at all, like absolutely nothing, and these LB's are just going to get crushed by OL who cut through the DL like butter on their way to the 2nd level. Based on this 18M spend here, I have to think we are now out on Jones at DT? Maybe not, or am I just being hopeful at this point? Seems like Poles shot his wad on 2 LB's and a G, when our needs were DL and RT. Questionable. Edwards I got, inexpensive and didn't preclude other signings. This one is a head scratcher. And again, I like the player a lot.

Now I'm thinking hard about trading up from 9 to secure Carter or Tyree Wilson at 6 or 7 assuming one of them falls.

First of all, it’s been like 5-6 hours of free agency and there are still big names available.

Secondly, Poles said that he believes in building through the draft and that most of the value comes through the draft, and that you have to be disciplined about the value you assigned to players.

Thus far, he’s done that.

When you’re building a team it makes more sense to spend money on players you know will be good instead of throwing money at positions of need and hoping for the best.

Ryan Pace did the latter and it rarely worked.

Poles’ approach has been refreshing and encouraging thus far.

And don’t forget the Bears are first in the waiver wire, so they’ll be able to potentially pickup some quality prospects when they’re cut possibly as soon as this week-when there are cap casualties, and then again after the draft, and then during camp.

The Bears have gone from having Jack Sanborn a rookie that wasn’t even drafted being their best linebacker to him being the Sam and backup. That’s a heck of a turnaround for a few hours into free agency.

[G08]

Edmunds is 6'5"? Holy crap! That's a tall LB in today's league.

Shade under 6'5", 253 lbs, runs a 4.54 40 yard dash and has 34.5" arms.

You want to talk about shutting down any open zones in the middle of the field, THIS is your guy.

[bearsoldier]

That contract structure gives me some pause. Doesn't seem cash frontloaded or cap backloaded enough give the cash and cap minimum /constraints.

At the end of the day, it's the entire picture that matters on a cap basis, not one contract. So I'll wait for final judgment.

But I worry that Poles/Stein might be placing too much emphasis on dead cap avoidance and that is

1) ultimately a limiting way to build a high end team
2) deeply flawed logically in most cases.

[media]https://ontapsportsnet.com/bears/chicag ... ree-agency[/media]
"As indicated by Schefter, this deal is the largest four-year deal for an inside linebacker in the NFL. In addition, the deal is reported to be heavily frontloaded, indicating the Bears are protecting themselves in the later part of the contract. "

Does Schefter make a good point on Poles here or is the contract possibly front loaded because Edmunds camp wanted the money up front and asked for $50M now rather than later.

[IotaNet]

Edmunds is 6'5"? Holy crap! That's a tall LB in today's league.

Shade under 6'5", 253 lbs, runs a 4.54 40 yard dash and has 34.5" arms.

You want to talk about shutting down any open zones in the middle of the field, THIS is your guy.

it’s easy to forget that Edmunds was in the same draft as Roquan. He was highly touted but the concern was that he was so young that he wasn’t even fully developed body wise. We are catching him at the exact right time. Dude is going to be a stud for us.