Next Steps

dennehy

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What is Cohen's role going to be on this team? Seems like mostly a slot receiver. Not sure what his value is moving forward outside punt return.

You basically have to cut or restructure one of Hicks, Graham, Leno, AR to get where you need to be with cap. I would be fine kicking a small portion of Graham or Hicks salary down the line but not extending either.

I think they have to keep Leno in case Jenkins can't play LT. Really no one else to do it. There are very few free agent TEs right now, so I'd wait for cuts and see if maybe you can bargain basement a cut TE who can take Graham's place.

Would love to extend AR but I think this will be his last year in Chicago.
 

Chicago4Life

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Obviously, the outlook of this team has significantly changed. There is something to build for now that we have Fields and we have some hope.

So what comes next.

Here are the current issues that need to be addressed and how would you address them?

-The Bears need to clear 10-12 million in cap space for draft picks and in season moves.

-The cap is going up, but most are predicting the big jump does not happen till 2023.

-The Bears are light on 2022 draft capital and are going to a decent rookie class again next year to weather the cap storm.

-What do we do with some upcoming free agents, Robsinon, Nichols, and Daniels?

i assume there will be a rookie minicamp and hopefully that gives nagy, castillo and company a better idea about jenkins and whether or not he is ready to play or needs some development. cutting leno post june would give them 9 mill in relief which would be enough to sign the draft class and give them 3-4 mill in emergency space.
 

TexasBearfan

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What is Cohen's role going to be on this team? Seems like mostly a slot receiver. Not sure what his value is moving forward outside punt return.

You basically have to cut or restructure one of Hicks, Graham, Leno, AR to get where you need to be with cap. I would be fine kicking a small portion of Graham or Hicks salary down the line but not extending either.

I think they have to keep Leno in case Jenkins can't play LT. Really no one else to do it. There are very few free agent TEs right now, so I'd wait for cuts and see if maybe you can bargain basement a cut TE who can take Graham's place.

Would love to extend AR but I think this will be his last year in Chicago.
you never know if Borom looks good they could possibly trade daniels or whitepube
 

ThatGuyRyan

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I think it unfortunately has to start with cutting Hicks. Sooner rather than later as respect to the man, he's been an awesome bear and no change post/pre June 1. ($10.5M)
 

Decatur Staley

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Since the question is... What would I do.

1 - Drop Jimmy Graham (Save $7M)
2 - Sign Tyler Eifert - He's managed to stay healthy the last two years. (cost $1.5M)
3 - Drop Akiem Hicks (Save $10.5M) - New FA Angelo Blackson, Mario Edwards, and Bilal Nichols will need to fill the void (along with getting Eddie Goldman back from opt out season)
4 - Resign Nichols (2021 Cap hit of $6M; additional $3.5M added to cap)
5 - I'd wait on ARob - $25M per season that he's reportedly asking for seems outlandish... Also we can tag him again next year if needed.

Would leave ~ $12M cap space for rookies and other FA fills (would try to resign Daniels too)
 

Chicagosports89

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Since the question is... What would I do.

1 - Drop Jimmy Graham (Save $7M)
2 - Sign Tyler Eifert - He's managed to stay healthy the last two years. (cost $1.5M)
3 - Drop Akiem Hicks (Save $10.5M) - New FA Angelo Blackson, Mario Edwards, and Bilal Nichols will need to fill the void (along with getting Eddie Goldman back from opt out season)
4 - Resign Nichols (2021 Cap hit of $6M; additional $3.5M added to cap)
5 - I'd wait on ARob - $25M per season that he's reportedly asking for seems outlandish... Also we can tag him again next year if needed.

Would leave ~ $12M cap space for rookies and other FA fills (would try to resign Daniels too)
$25 million? Where have you seen that? That is a ridiculous number. I'd seen $20 million which is bad enough
 

rawdawg

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I think it unfortunately has to start with cutting Hicks. Sooner rather than later as respect to the man, he's been an awesome bear and no change post/pre June 1. ($10.5M)

Cutting Hicks would be interesting. Blackson and Edwards are probably not enough depth, especially with Edwards suspended for a couple weeks to start the year. But there's some interesting veterans still on the market, though they are all older like Hicks. Sheldon Richardson would probably be the most expensive, but I think he would still be a net gain in cap, as he just needs to cost less than 10.5M to give the Bears some space. There's also cheaper vet options like Snacks Harrison, Jurrell Casey and Geno Atkins, who are decrepit, but should be very cheap.
 

TL1961

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Richard Sherman is still really good when he's healthy. Also he's a good teammate. Whether opposing fans like him is another story
You missed him in post season in 2019 then. He is not really good at this point.
 

Chicagosports89

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You missed him in post season in 2019 then. He is not really good at this point.
You mean when they went to the super bowl and he was there cb1 and got beat on a single play in the super bowl?
 

Nelly

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1 - Drop Jimmy Graham (Save $7M)
2 - Sign Tyler Eifert - He's managed to stay healthy the last two years. (cost $1.5M)
I'd be all about that. Kmet should be an every down player (if a TE is required of course) so you'd only need Eifert/Graham as a part-time player anyway.
 

JoJoBoxer

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Robinson signed the Franchise tag pretty quickly when he saw the FA market was pretty tight, I wonder if after the draft if he is more inclined to look at an offer from Chicago now that they have gotten serious about offense?

A lot of good WR were drafted, so there is the possibility that Free agency next year for WR might be similar to this year.

OTC has us at nearly $50M for 2022, which is better than we had this year by a lot, and hopefully the cap will go up, if only marginally more.

Next years Draft we did give up 1st rounder and 4th rounder, but that still leaves us with a 2nd and a 3rd to land possible starters, plus 5,6 and 7 to add depth.
I see the Bears trading down, maybe a lot, with the 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2022.
 

rawdawg

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I see the Bears trading down, maybe a lot, with the 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2022.

No, that's what you hope will happen. History shows that's not how it's going to go. Pace has yet to trade down with his first pick in any draft. He also literally just traded up after trading up the previous round. He's only traded down 1 time in the first 5 rounds of a draft and that was to pick Adam Shaheen.
 

JoJoBoxer

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What is Cohen's role going to be on this team? Seems like mostly a slot receiver. Not sure what his value is moving forward outside punt return.

You basically have to cut or restructure one of Hicks, Graham, Leno, AR to get where you need to be with cap. I would be fine kicking a small portion of Graham or Hicks salary down the line but not extending either.

I think they have to keep Leno in case Jenkins can't play LT. Really no one else to do it. There are very few free agent TEs right now, so I'd wait for cuts and see if maybe you can bargain basement a cut TE who can take Graham's place.

Would love to extend AR but I think this will be his last year in Chicago.
If Cohen is going to be used as a slot receiver, it is best he is cut because it is stupid to lose any advantage how would have by lining him up with a CB.
 

ThatGuyRyan

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I see the Bears trading down, maybe a lot, with the 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2022.
This would make a ton of sense especially if Teven works out at LT
 

JoJoBoxer

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No, that's what you hope will happen. History shows that's not how it's going to go. Pace has yet to trade down with his first pick in any draft. He also literally just traded up after trading up the previous round. He's only traded down 1 time in the first 5 rounds of a draft and that was to pick Adam Shaheen.
And he literally never traded up 9 spots in the first round ... until 2021.

So Pace has shown that he can change.

By the way, that is not what I hope will happen. That is what I predict will happen.
 

Mighty Joe Young

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My favorite teams
  1. Chicago Bears
-The Bears are light on 2022 draft capital and are going to a decent rookie class again next year to weather the cap storm.

-What do we do with some upcoming free agents, Robsinon, Nichols, and Daniels?


Nichols you let walk. Daniels may end up being cut this camp if he can't hold down his starting position, as the Bears are shifting to a nastier line. Robinson will get extended.
 

greg23

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I see the Bears trading down, maybe a lot, with the 2nd and 3rd round picks in 2022.

Have you met our GM?

He loves trading UP in the early rounds.

I fully expect a move up next year on day 2 sacrificing future picks.
 

JoJoBoxer

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Have you met our GM?

He loves trading UP in the early rounds.

I fully expect a move up next year on day 2 sacrificing future picks.
And I predict the opposite.

Time will tell.
 

Pegger

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I was just looking to see what FAs are still available. It's actually a really impressive list:

Here's a quick link: 2021 NFL Free Agents Tracker

A few names that jump out to me:

ILB Kwon Alexander (27)
DT Sheldon Richardson (31)
DE Justin Houston (32)
DE Ryan Kerrigan (32)
S Justin Simmons (28)
G Trai Turner (28)
DT Olivier Vernon (31)
CB Steven Nelson (28)
ILB Avery Wilson (29)
OLB KJ Wright (32)
CB DJ Hayden (31)
T Alejandro Villeneuve (33)
S Kenny Vacarro (30)
S Trey Boston (29)
S Malik Hooker (25)

That's kind of a crazy list of players that can make valuable contributions.
 
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