That’s part of the reason it was the right year to go in, though it still costs money to actually GET DirecTV. Just not as much as in years past.
Well, the Bears made if official, they agreed to terms with C Chris Spencer, another underachieving 1st round pick from Seattle, Ruskell’s old stomping grounds. They gave him a 2-year deal, no word on the dollar amount yet.
Supposedly Kreutz turned down a 1 year, $4M deal and wanted $4.5M. It’s a tough one to judge, on the field Kreutz would have been pretty heavily overpaid at even $4M. Off the field he’s pretty damn valuable.
Spencer is younger and based on scouts grades he’s essentially a push with Kreutz. I think Kreutz was pretty over valued and those scouts grades are based more on off the field stuff and reputation. Spencer still has some upside and Tice might be able to get him to play closer to that 1st round draft grade. If Kreutz’s off field leadership show itself as being missed we’ll have to wait and see.
I think we’re a bit more talented today than we were yesterday on the line, we might not be better though. We really should be looking to make one large acquisition at the OG spot. Thus far the Bears have made a lot of moves but spent very little money. They’ve got a nice chunk of change left to spend , but unfortunately all the best OG prospects are already resigned. I wanted the Bears to target Marshall Yanda or Justin Blalock. Carl Nicks is still available and the Bears ought o make him a godfather offer. They’ve essentially addressed every other need with a low cost, high upside reclamation project. Time to get a sure thing at our greatest position of need.
The Bears are currently ~$37M under the cap. They have some work to do to get to the salary floor at this point. There are some teams that are well over the cap and will need to make some hard cuts, the Bears will be in a good position to capitalize on that.
Here’s my shopping list after looking at the moves the Bears made thus far.
OG Carl Nicks
LB Lofa Tatupu
CB Carlos Rodgers
Tatupu might be a sure thing considering the relationship of Ruskell and the Seahawks. That would make me really happy.
Obviously there is a benefit to a defense for only having to prepare for one type of quarterback. I think that benefit to a defense is outweighed by the benefit to an offense for not having to prepare two separate game plans. In very simplistic terms, my guess would be that preparing separate offensive line schemes, separate play sets, etc. would be more of a hindrance to an offense. Just a guess, but I think it can reasonably go either way. I imagine, like a lot of things, it’ll come down to coaching and who can prep players the best.
Is Martz’s vaunted offense difficult for linemen to adjust to? I know it puts a helluva lot of pressure on them, but I imagine Spencer will have a bit of a period of adjustment to a new team, new system, new QB, and having to hold his blocks a lot longer. Getting him so late in the game strikes me as desperation, which is something I like to see from the Bears.
Martz pretty much ignores the O line. Protection schemes aren’t his concern, he calls a pass play and the O line coach dictates a protection scheme to create enough time. Theoretically Martz’s offense isn’t any worse for O lineman than any other scheme, Martz’s scheme is fundamentally a timing scheme in which the QB throws to a prescribed location dictated by coverage. Nothing in that requires the QB to take deeper drops or hold the ball longer inherently. However, Martz can get pass happy in his play calling. Any time the balance is lost then defenses can pin back their ears and that makes it tough for an O lineman. Also, a defense can decide to take away the short and intermediate zones forcing Martz to call deep drop plays in response. Since his plays are generally prescribed before the snap and drop backs aren’t generally adjustable based on situation it puts the QB is a tricky spot, he’s typically not allowed to audible often and hot routes are critical.
Spencer won’t have a particularly tough learning curve. The challenge is simply inherent in the move to a new team with a very abbreviated training camp. That’s the case for every team. Of course that the Bears O line is so fundamentally shaky will be a burden for him, there’s not much help to be given and he’ll have to learn the line calls most likely. Though it might be wise to have Garza make those calls from the Guard spot at the outset assuming he remains a starter.
We really could use Cark Nicks. He’d allow Williams to vacate the LG spot and move to compete at either the LT spot with Webb/Omiyale or the RG spot with Garza/Louis. Carimi could step in at RT if he’s ready. Between Carimi, Webb, Omiyale and Williams we should be able to find a pair of decent starters. I’m simply not sold on the plan of keeping Williams at LG, it’s the position he seems least suited to. Let him compete at LT and if he fails again cut the punk.
Three out of those four were already on one of the worst O lines in the NFL last year. Williams already had his shot, and failed, as a tackle, and Webb and Omiyale were some of the worst tackles in the NFL last year. Cite. Unless Carimi is the second coming of Walter Jones, I can’t see you finding two decent starters. But please, please, please, let them try.
I thought that the salary floor doesn’t kick in for individual teams until like 2013? I know I read that somewhere…it could really help explain why so many teams have so much money left and why some of them aren’t in any big hurry to sign free agents.
From PFT: "Salary floors: Players accepted a relatively low salary cap in exchange for the raising the minimum teams have to spend. This can’t be underestimated. 99% of the salary cap must be spent in cash in aggregate between 2011-2012. The league-wide number falls to 95% after that. Teams must spend at least 89% of the cap from 2013-2016 and 2017-2020.
This helps ensure teams that were way under the cap in recent years like the Bengals and Bucs spend more.
Link: The CBA in a nutshell - NBC Sports
And to borrow how a friend on another website put it: "The 99% is cash. So for example if a player signs for 5 years, $50 million with a $25 million bonus and $5 million salary each season he counts as $10 million against the actual salary cap. But for CBA purposes, he counts for $30 million this year as far as cash spent.
Many teams will spend more in money than their salary cap will show. Also, teams are allowed to go over the actual cap by $7 million this year, so there will be teams over the actual salary cap as well. "
Does this in any way help explain why teams aren’t as concerned about rushing out and signing FA’s?
Agreed on all counts. Williams is a tricky one. He was drafted as a Left Tackle. He’s built like a LT, is naturally left handed and has the temperament of a LT. He’s a dog shit run blocker and he can’t pull. But, the Bears haven’t let the poor bastard play on the left side hardly at all.
This old article sums up Williams need to play LT pretty well.
Williams really ought to be given a shot to play LT and I’m still willing to give him a slight chance to live up to that 1st round billing as an LT. I’m pretty convinced that he’s got no future on the right side. He was miserable there when he played. At the LG spot he’s been adequate in pass protection because he’s essentially playing the same technique as a LT, but he’s been terrible in run blocking and struggles to help to the inside. So, there’s a glimmer of hope that Williams can still be a good LT, a small one but a hope nonetheless.
Omiyale is pretty much shit all around. I’m fine with him as a swing tackle, but nothing more. He was even worse than Williams when they tested him at OG. Webb seems to have the coaches excited about his potential. I haven’t seen it yet, but he’s very young, very big and came from a small school. That he acquitted himself at all last year is a real tribute to him. Can he become a solid starter? I am not optimistic, but I’m willing to have him compete with either Williams or Carimi at one of the Tackle spots. You can do a lot worse for a backup OT.
I want the Bears to sign Nicks because he’d eliminate one spot from the game of musical chairs. Take away the temptation to play any of those guys at guard and you might actually get a unqualified answer on if they can have value to this team. I’m comfortable with a solid LG in Nicks, a new but experienced Center in Spencer and a veteran presence at RG in Garza with Louis threatening to beat him out. That’s a stable interior, if not dynamic. If Carimi develops into an immediate starter at RT like everyone expects that leaves Webb, Williams and Omiyale to compete at LT. That makes for 3 shaky players playing one position versus 3 shaky players playing 3 starting positions.
The Packers are infamous for their “best 5” theory of the O line, where it’s a musical chairs of where guys play. This year’s first rounder, who was projected as the LT for the future, Derrick Sherrod, is currently running with the #1’s at LG (to replace Darren Colledge who is now overpaid by the Cardinals), and #2’s at LT. Even the backups are expected to be able to play almost any position on the line. It can be a bit frustrating, and I imagine difficult for the rookies, but it may work.
I think any catch-all system is foolish. Dogmatically slotting players into spots is ill advised, but so is playing this “Best 5” stratagem. Some players can play multiple positions. Some can’t. Coaches have to be able to distinguish between the two.
Williams looks like a guy that can’t move around, as does Omiyale. Webb might be one who can. Garza certainly can, and Carimi supposedly can.
Sherrod looked like a guy who could to me, but only on the left side, he’s too soft for the right. Bulaga probably can play both right spots but I don’t think he goes backward well enough for the left. Sitton could play anywhere. Clifton can’t play anywhere but LT. The Packers have a good mix with some limited players, the Bears have a poor mix with questionable players.
Would cost them a 1st rounder.
Saints just signed Turk McBride out of Detroit. Anyone have some observations/opinions on him? He looks like he was really solid last year after a poor start to his career where he was asked to do things that weren’t really in his skillset. Profootballfocus compares his performance (statistically) last season to Mathis.
5 sacks in 8 starts last season, and really came on in terms of tackling production in the last 5-6 games. I wouldn’t read too much into the Chiefs years.
I did not check that. Too bad. I’m still willing to consider signing him and giving up the pick, that would be the Bears essentially drafting 2 starting OLs and I suspect we’ll be looking to draft another OL next year otherwise. Either we get a 1st round OL next year or we get Nicks this year. Fair deal, especially if the Bears repeat their playoff success.
Apparently, Carl Nicks signed his tender offer this morning which will bring him back to New Orleans. I’m very surprised there wasn’t more competition for him and that no one forced the Saints to up their offer. It seems to me that a mid to late 1st round pick would have been a reasonable price to pay for a 26 year old Pro Bowl OG who’s one of the best in the league at his position. You aren’t going to draft a better player than him with that pick if you’re a winning team, and Nicks wasn’t going to be a major salary concern.
The Bears don’t seem to have even kicked the tires on him, or any OGs for that matter, which defies all logic. They simply can’t be settled with what they have at the position, Williams was shaky at best at the spot last year and is a natural LT. He might grow into the position, but he got an awful lot of looks there last season and it didn’t look like a long term solution to me. Garza is in essentially the same position as Kreutz. He’s declining physically and his contract is up next year, the Bears really ought to start planning for his succession soon. This pisses me off.
It appears the Bears feel good about what they have in camp now. That’s an indefensible position considering Tice publicly admitted that he doesn’t even know where he wants to start these guys right now. He plans to make a decision on that at the end of the week of practices. If you don’t know who’s starting where how the hell can you feel good about who you have in camp?
Yeah, but nobody spends a first round pick on a guard. Davin Joseph is the last first round guard I can remember.
I like the idea of the Bucs buying Lofa Tatupu, even if it’s just a one-year contract. Guy’s got some experience behind him.
Randy Moss has retired. Dammit. By far, he has been my favorite player in my adult life. When the Vikings gave him away for a bag of lint (aka the draft pick that became Troy Williamson; Napoleon Harris; and a 7th round pick, who, given that it was the Vikings that took him, probably didn’t make it past training camp), my interest in the Vikings dropped a lot. They’re still the only NFL team I’ll cheer for, but I have no problem admitting that if they aren’t winning, I’m not watching. I’m glad the Twins got to the Minnesota public’s purse strings first. If the Vikings end up moving, so be it.
Yeah, but we let Barrett Ruud go because he was soft against the run, and Tatupu’s problem is he’s soft against the run. Ruud has just as much experience and his experience is all in the Bucs system.
I didn’t realize Carlos Rodgers was still a free agent. He’d make an excellent #2 corner to pair with Aqib Talib (and/or fill in at #1 if Talib gets suspended).
Interestingly, the Bucs are still the youngest team in the league.
Huh?
The Packers drafted Sherrod this year and he’ll play OG, though they probably hope he’ll grow into a OT. The Eagles drafted Danny Watkins as a Guard in the first round this year with the 23rd pick. Last year Iupati was drafted as a Guard with the 17th overall pick. The Pouncey brothers were both taken as C/G combo guys with the 15th and 18th picks, Mike Pouncey may start as the Dolphins OG this year if they sign O’Hara to play Center. Two Centers were drafted in the 1st round in 2009. In '07 OG Ben Grubbs was a first rounder. In addition to all those OGs are a VERY common selection in the first 10 picks of the second round.