Update: Bears and Sweat reach extension agreement

[UOK]

[Arkansasbear]

HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If this means we trade JJ, I'm okay with it but would rather keep him.

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

Hmmm wonder if the rumours of Fields going the other way are true.

Still, good pick up for a second

[dplank]

Well, I love this move IF AND ONLY IF it comes with a contract extension. They have to go hand in hand or it's a horrible move and Poles learned nothing from the Claypool debacle. I expect a contract deal announced soon, he must have pre-negotiated one or he wouldn't have sent a 2nd rounder.

Very happy they got this guy instead of Young.

[Arkansasbear]

So now I"m less concerned about winning games. Lord that seems like an odd thing to say. Giving up the 48th pick for him make him more of a steal vs giving up the 33 pick for him.

I'd love to see us go on run and start "learning" how to win and build that culture.

[Arkansasbear]

Well, I love this move IF AND ONLY IF it comes with a contract extension. They have to go hand in hand or it's a horrible move and Poles learned nothing from the Claypool debacle. I expect a contract deal announced soon, he must have pre-negotiated one or he wouldn't have sent a 2nd rounder.

Very happy they got this guy instead of Young.

I wonder what, if any, talks they were able to have prior to making the trade. I don't know if the team has to announce a player can work out a deal with another team the way we saw with JJ.

[Rusty Trombagent]

So now I"m less concerned about winning games. Lord that seems like an odd thing to say. Giving up the 48th pick for him make him more of a steal vs giving up the 33 pick for him.

I'd love to see us go on run and start "learning" how to win and build that culture.

We should really assume it's the 33rd pick just so we can avoid so much drama come next years draft.

[The Cooler King]

2nd is a pretty steep price. That's on track to be another very high pick and Sweat ain't changing that trajectory himself.

2nd straight year Poles panic buys at the deadline after being extremely conservative in FA the prior summer.

You often have to give up draft capital to get guality guys who won't otherwise actually hit FA. So I get it and don't wanna say never buy. But the whole process for Poles feels off when you look at summer lack of aggressiveness and then trade deadline dealing.

[The Marshall Plan]

A FUCKING SECOND!!!!!

Apparently we learned nothing from Chase Claypool.

Nothing.

We could’ve drafted a fucking DE with that pick and not have spent the money.

Sweat isn’t even elite. This isn’t like we got Burns or Jones at DT and it’s like OK even though I don’t like it at least we got an elite player.

[dplank]

2nd is a pretty steep price. That's on track to be another very high pick and Sweat ain't changing that trajectory himself.

2nd straight year Poles panic buys at the deadline after being extremely conservative in FA the prior summer.

You often have to give up draft capital to get guality guys who won't otherwise actually hit FA. So I get it and don't wanna say never buy. But the whole process for Poles feels off when you look at summer lack of aggressiveness and then trade deadline dealing.

Yes absolutely. He has given up two very high picks now vs just spending in FA and keeping those picks. It’s baffling.

[Rusty Trombagent]

2nd is a pretty steep price. That's on track to be another very high pick and Sweat ain't changing that trajectory himself.

2nd straight year Poles panic buys at the deadline after being extremely conservative in FA the prior summer.

You often have to give up draft capital to get guality guys who won't otherwise actually hit FA. So I get it and don't wanna say never buy. But the whole process for Poles feels off when you look at summer lack of aggressiveness and then trade deadline dealing.

This is fair

[spudbear]

Glad to see this IF there is a contract extension in place before he gets here. A DE rotation of Sweat, Ogakue and Walker ... for now. They still could use a mid-round pick on a pass rusher as well.

Didn't Poles say this was going to be a QUIET time?? More smokescreening.

[artbest01]

The Bears likely did this to control his rights. If he hits free agency, there's no guarantee he chooses to sign with the Bears. Not saying I agree or disagree, but that's likely the logic. And this feels different from the Claypool trade - Sweat is an established front line player...he's not Khalil Mack, but he's FAR less expensive.

[dplank]

The Bears likely did this to control his rights. If he hits free agency, there's no guarantee he chooses to sign with the Bears. Not saying I agree or disagree, but that's likely the logic. And this feels different from the Claypool trade - Sweat is an established front line player...he's not Khalil Mack, but he's FAR less expensive.

What does "control his rights" actually mean here Art? If they haven't already gotten commitment on a deal in some form or another, then I don't see how this helps us at all. We just went through this with Claypool, the same argument was presented about "controlling his rights", and it was a complete disaster.

If Sweat doesn't want to play here, this is an unequivocal disaster by Poles - again. IMO they must have had some deal framework established for him to send what looks like, just like last year, a VERY high second round pick. Claypool at least had another year to go - Sweat is a UFA in like 3 months. You can't make that move without some form of assurance that he will be here beyond 3 months - otherwise Poles is a blatant moron.

[spudbear]

So you're Ryan Poles, sitting on a big pot of gold, not willing to give much to Jaylon Johnson yet you have a pass rusher in your sights. What do you offer as a contract extension before making the trade of a 2nd round pick?

I'm guessing 3 yr $80M with $50M guaranteed.

[G08]

So that's what we did... trade a high pick for the right to shell out a ton of $$$.

This team is so weird.

35.5 sacks in 67 games isn't bad, though...

[dplank]

I keep forgetting about the franchise tag. I suppose we could always use that in a pinch if we don't get a deal done.

[wab]

I think he was like the 4th best player on that DL, so we'll see how it goes. I don't know what kind of message this sends to JJ and the other young dudes on the team though.

Yeah, we won't spend money to keep guys in the last year of their contracts, but we'll spend draft capital AND money to get guys from other teams who are in the last year of their deals.

Would have preferred Young I think, but obviously the injury history was a concern.

Also...it's an absolutely awful year for edge rushers in the draft. So this makes sense from that standpoint.

[UOK]

Interesting point just made on the Score by frequent guest Stonecutter.

From an economics standpoint, trading a 2nd for a 27yo Sweat and potentially trading a 24yo Johnson for a 2nd, means the team has gotten older and lost draft value in the process.

If Kevin Warren were considering firing Poles, allowing him to make this trade would be inexcusable. This indicates that Poles is safe through 2024. But if you're letting Poles stay, and Eberflus is going to be fired, don't you have to extend Poles?

Presumably Poles has only 2 or 3 years left on his deal and any new coach is going to want a 4 year deal. So why would any new head coach worth hiring want to sign into a situation where that coach isn't in contract alignment with the GM? This indicates that one of the following is true:

1. Kevin Warren allowed a lame duck GM to give up major draft capital, in which case Warren is an imbecile

2. They're extending Ryan Poles, because they have to if he's going to presumably hire the next head coach

3. They're going to give Eberflus a third season, knowing they're going to draft a rookie QB in the 2024 draft, thus fucking up the alignment of GM/Head Coach/QB once again when they inevitably will fire Eberflus after 2024.

[G08]

What does this mean for Poles and friends?

If Poles is spending 2nd round picks to trade for players who likely will need to be paid handsomely, does it mean his job is safe in 2024? Same with Eberflus?

Fucking team is so weird.

[WagonForce]

My first reaction is, I hate it, and I like Sweat as a player.

Poles looks like someone who can't decide if he's tearing this team down or pushing his chips in. What does a good outcome even look like here for the Bears? Sweat helping the team get something going and build into a successful second half of the season? Possible, but a pretty tall order given the state of the team overall.

I would much rather over pay in Free Agency than ship draft capital (a premium pick no less) for the right to pay a bunch of money.

I say this as someone who was thinking about how hard it is to evaluate any player on your team when the defense is as busted as the Bears unit has been this year. We're talking about sending what is likely a top 40 pick (or even better). There are good (great?) defensive linemen prospects to be had at that point in the draft. I cannot believe the Bears are 'buyers' at the deadline, this team is 2-6 and circling the drain. Was there pressure from above do something to elevate the team from utterly rancid to just molding?

[wab]

3. They're going to give Eberflus a third season, knowing they're going to draft a rookie QB in the 2024 draft, thus fucking up the alignment of GM/Head Coach/QB once again when they inevitably will fire Eberflus after 2024.

I mean I don't need a magic 8 ball to see what's going to happen here.

[Burl]

Add me to the list of haters.

[wab]

My first reaction is, I hate it, and I like Sweat as a player.

Poles looks like someone who can't decide if he's tearing this team down or pushing his chips in. What does a good outcome even look like here for the Bears? Sweat helping the team get something going and build into a successful second half of the season? Possible, but a pretty tall order given the state of the team overall.

I would much rather over pay in Free Agency than ship draft capital (a premium pick no less) for the right to pay a bunch of money.

I say this as someone who was thinking about how hard it is to evaluate any player on your team when the defense is as busted as the Bears unit has been this year. We're talking about sending what is likely a top 40 pick (or even better). There are good (great?) defensive linemen prospects to be had at that point in the draft. I cannot believe the Bears are 'buyers' at the deadline, this team is 2-6 and circling the drain. Was there pressure from above do something to elevate the team from utterly rancid to just molding?

It's a really bad draft for edge rushers. FA is where the pass rushing talent was going to have to come from, and if Sweat was going to be a FA target...there was no way to get him if he was going to be traded. If they can nab someone like Brian Burns or Josh Allen to pair with Sweat, then that changes the whole DL.

Sweat also has the traits to play edge in a 3-4, so there's that...

[Rusty Trombagent]

I think he was like the 4th best player on that DL, so we'll see how it goes.

That DL is so weird though. So much talent, but they've never really been the sum of it's parts.

[thunderspirit]

3. They're going to give Eberflus a third season, knowing they're going to draft a rookie QB in the 2024 draft, thus fucking up the alignment of GM/Head Coach/QB once again when they inevitably will fire Eberflus after 2024.

I mean I don't need a magic 8 ball to see what's going to happen here.

It certainly means Poles isn't going anywhere.

It probably means Eberflus isn't either.

[Moriarty]

Also...it's an absolutely awful year for edge rushers in the draft. So this makes sense from that standpoint.

It is.
However, that's roughly the same explanation a lot of people gave for liking the Claypool deal.
I don't expect this one to trainwreck anything like that (practically speaking, it's almost impossible to match that in badness).
But it is a Double Pay (very high R2 plus market rate top dollar) for a team that, even with 2 R1s and a lot of cap room, has a LOT of holes to fill.

[karhu]

It's a really bad draft for edge rushers. FA is where the pass rushing talent was going to have to come from, and if Sweat was going to be a FA target...there was no way to get him if he was going to be traded. If they can nab someone like Brian Burns or Josh Allen to pair with Sweat, then that changes the whole DL.

Yep. Even worse, we were always going to overdraft a Chop Robinson or gamble on Laiatu Latu's neck: we were always going to draft at least one DE in the top 35-40, and probably in the top 10. Now we've lost the lowest possible pick that we would've spent on the position, in exchange for a proven vet. The math works out...for the next few months.

[Moriarty]

Interesting point just made on the Score by frequent guest Stonecutter.

From an economics standpoint, trading a 2nd for a 27yo Sweat and potentially trading a 24yo Johnson for a 2nd, means the team has gotten older and lost draft value in the process.

If Kevin Warren were considering firing Poles, allowing him to make this trade would be inexcusable. This indicates that Poles is safe through 2024. But if you're letting Poles stay, and Eberflus is going to be fired, don't you have to extend Poles?

Presumably Poles has only 2 or 3 years left on his deal and any new coach is going to want a 4 year deal. So why would any new head coach worth hiring want to sign into a situation where that coach isn't in contract alignment with the GM? This indicates that one of the following is true:

1. Kevin Warren allowed a lame duck GM to give up major draft capital, in which case Warren is an imbecile

2. They're extending Ryan Poles, because they have to if he's going to presumably hire the next head coach

3. They're going to give Eberflus a third season, knowing they're going to draft a rookie QB in the 2024 draft, thus fucking up the alignment of GM/Head Coach/QB once again when they inevitably will fire Eberflus after 2024.

Yeah, they all kinda produce nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.


I feel like 2 is the least disturbing of the bunch, but I'm feeling 3 coming on.

[wab]

Giving the worst coach in Bears history (that's over a hundred years) another season is... very Bears-y