Nothing depresses me more than the idea of sitting in front of my computer all day, waiting for the Bears to do something so I can cobble together some barely-developed thoughts in column form. That’s what the draft is for. Instead I will be commenting on the whole of NFL free agency at DaBearsBlog’s Twitter feed. As always you can see that feed on the right rail of this page or follow me on Twitter by CLICKING HERE.
Aaron Leming, who is apparently dating Ryan Pace’s sister or something, reported this morning the Bears are finalizing a deal with Ravens edge rusher Pernell McPhee for 5 years and just south of $40 million. Four thoughts from the DBB Twitter feed:
(1) Wary of buying players successful organizations are willing to walk out the door. Ravens never seem to miss these guys when they leave.
(2) Haven’t watched the tape on McPhee but look at his game logs. Lots of zeroes in that sack column and lots of sacks against crap teams.
(3) Bears will be thrilled if 2015 Pernell McPhee – at about a zillion times the cost – produced at the level of 2014 Willie Young.
(4) But Bears have money to spend & need to get as many talented defenders in the building as they possibly can. McPhee is DEFINITELY that.
(5) The deal is reportedly worth only $16 million guaranteed. That makes it a difficult contract to dislike.
(6) Signing McPhee should not alter Bears draft approach an iota. They are not settled at a single position on the defensive side of the ball.
Tuesday free agency officially opens and the Chicago Bears will have the opportunity to purchase some on-field human talent. They have a dangerous combination when it comes to March in the NFL: money to spend & many roster holes. But for new GM Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox, prudence is the name of the game. (It would also be the name of the worst-selling board game in the history of Toys R Us.)
Teams signing free agents over the age of 30 should be one or two players away from making a realistic run for a championship. The Bears are not one or two players away from making a realistic run to the grocery store. Someone mentioned to me on Twitter that he believed the 2015 Bears have a puncher’s chance to win the NFC North. They do, if the punch is landed squarely on the ACL of Aaron Rodgers.
The Bears have struggled to field two competent safeties since the partnership of Mike Brown and Tony Parrish dissolved. 2014 did not feature many standout performances in the secondary but one promising development was Ryan Mundy looking capable. Does this mean Mundy should be a starter in September? Not necessarily. But it might mean the Bears can win with Mundy on the field. And that is something I never thought I’d write.
Devin McCourty (28 when next season starts) is the crown jewel of this class. In a division with Aaron Rodgers having a safety with McCourty’s cover skills is not only an advantage but a necessity. Rahim Moore (25) is still entrenched in my mind for making one of the worst defensive plays in the history of the sport but he’s turned into a versatile safety who may have his best football ahead of him. (And John Fox would know far better than me.) Da’Norris Searcy (26) plays with the aggression of a box safety and is well-equipped to handle physical tight ends and slot receivers.
With the draft light at safety, look for the Bears to be focused on the position. And none of these men mentioned above would hit the 30 mark until (at earliest) the third year of their four-year contract.
This move has nothing to do with football or money. The new Bears leadership doesn’t want Brandon Marshall in their locker room in 2015. This is a personality purge – the type Emery and Trestman should have executed on the defensive Lovie Loyalists a few years back. Does it mean anything for Jay Cutler’s future? Who knows? Does it make the Bears a better team? Who knows? The Bears lost one hell of a productive wide receiver, sure. But where did that production get them exactly? And was his behavior – the details of which we still don’t know – worth the production? Clearly Ryan Pace and John Fox did not believe so.
Matt Falk at Draft Season contacted me (of all people) to partake in a blogger mock draft. And with the 7th pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, DaBearsBlog selected…
Vic Beasley LB, Clemson
Analysis: I have a phrase I use when watching college football: “jump off the screen”. These are the players that just look a step above everyone else around them. Beasely was one of these guys. In 2013. Then he made what I thought was the ludicrous decision to return to Clemson for another season. Doesn’t seem so ludicrous now as I’m taking him with the 7th pick.
Why would the Bears take him here? Why not? They need absolutely everything on the defensive side of the ball and I think when they line up Shane Ray, Randy Gregory and Vic Beasely side-by-side-by-side they will see Beasely best fits what John Fox and Vic Fangio want to do defensively.
To read the entire mock draft, CLICK HERE.
A while back I wrote everything I thought about Jay Cutler into a single column, hoping at that time to never find need to speak on him again. I should have known better. Last week Jon Gruden opened his word hole (to call it a mouth would be an insult to mouths) and leaked out a tidbit that restarted The Great Cutler Debate in newspaper columns and on radio airwaves.
From the Sun-Times:
“I think John Fox is going to look at the body of work,” Gruden said. “They’re going to see that he didn’t get it done really with Lovie Smith or Marc Trestman, and now I’m the next head coach. I think you need to give some other people an opportunity to play. I think some of these quarterbacks get too many chances. There are good enough players out there that deserve a chance to be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears.”
“I know he has talent,” Gruden said. “But I don’t think he warrants that salary for sure. I think Chicago needs to look at getting a different leader under center.”
In all of the articles citing this quotation, it should come as no surprise to you that few if any of the journalists thought it wise to draw the personal connection between Gruden and former Bears head coach Marc Trestman. The two men not only had very obvious overlaps in their professional careers but are also known to be close friends. Did anyone really expect Jon Gruden to answer Cutler questions with, “Trestman was a nightmare. Cutler’s performance in 2014 was no worse than the rest of the organization.”
Also, who are these “good enough players” deserving the chance to be Bears quarterback? Why don’t the Browns and Bills and Titans and Jets have them? Gruden, unsurprisingly, is wrong.
The truth is I don’t care anymore.
As many of you know, this is not the place to come for draft analysis in February. I will write about the draft EXTENSIVELY for the two weeks prior to the draft. There is no more than that required if you’ve watched ALL of college football for four months in the fall.
The takeaway…
On offense, Fox has to determine whether his supremely talented quarterback and receiver fit in with the locker room he’s trying to build. On defense, Fox has to find players. He doesn’t have many now.
…DaBearsBlog salutes the Bill Swerski’s Superfans – the greatest sports sketch in the history of television and the namesake of this website. Saturday Night Live’s connection to Chicago, its deep-rooted ties to Second City, are undeniable. It is just as much Chicago’s show as New York’s. Sunday night the show celebrates its 40th anniversary and DBB celebrates about 22 of the 40 years with rapturous applause.
