It was stupid to release Leno then…

WestCoastBearsFan

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I still can't understand how people can think Leno was hot garbage while simultaneously complain that Pace let him go.
because he might be slightly less hot garbage than Wilkinson

that’s the difference you don’t know how bad the depth is behind Jenkins
 

Pegger

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Cutting Leno without an adequate replacement was dumb.

Leno got a ~$2M deal in the market. Between the $9M created in cap space and what he signed there was a middle ground to negotiate something.

I'd add, offering him that original contract was also dumb.

Pace double or triple dumbed this one. His hands were all over that transaction and the only debate is if he failed 2 or 3 times.
 

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It all comes back around to not drafting well consistently, especially at the important positions. Overspend in free agency often and trading away pick after pick. Eventually you end up in cap hell and you lose all flexibility. These things usually happen when your QB gets a major contract or you're stacked at many positions. It's obvious how they got here.

Wasn't a fan of Leno but when they drafted Jenkins i fully expected him to stay at LT.
 

Black Rainbow

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And also...I'm not upset at releasing Leno - he sucked.

Since 2017, there's been a draft pick or two that could have been used on OT depth, so we wouldn't be in panic mode now...but they got traded away.
 

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And Jenkins has back tightness. He wants to play, the team is holding him back. Not a big deal until it's a big deal.
yes but that’s an additional question mark that wasn’t necessary. it’s another unforced error.
 

Nelly

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yes but that’s an additional question mark that wasn’t necessary. it’s another unforced error.
So you cut Graham instead of Leno. All you have is a second year guy in Kmet and a cavalcade of suck behind him, which would unquestionably draw the ire of the meatballs who think Pace ROYALLY fucked up by not addressing the TE position while having ROYALLY fucked up by not getting rid of a terrible Charles Leno when we signed Ifedi for $5 mil and invested a second round pick in Teven Jenkins who can man the starting positions.

There's no pleasing Bears fans.
 

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I still can't understand how people can think Leno was hot garbage while simultaneously complain that Pace let him go.
Leno was what he was. Trying to be objective let's use PFF's ratings. The last 5 years from 2020 to 2016 his score was 74.6, 58.6, 75.5, 78.7 and 70.1. Nothing to write home about, but also not the worst.

IMHO the largest problem with Leno was over those 5 years the Bears never gave him any competition. He was allowed to be 'meh' and never really be in a position of losing his starting spot.

How did they fix that? Cut him, draft his replacement and make the rookie the defacto starter WITHOUT ANY LEGIT COMPETITION!!!

Keeping Leno would have made the rookie earn it. Hell, it might have pushed Leno to play better and actually become a tradable asset.
 

WestCoastBearsFan

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So you cut Graham instead of Leno. Al lyou have is Kmet and a cavalcade of suck behind him, which would unquestionably draw the ire of the meatballs who think Pace ROYALLY fucked up by not addressing the TE position while having royally fucked up by not getting rid of a terrible Charles Leno when we signed Ifedi for $5 mil and invested a second round pick in Teven Jenkins.

There's no pleasing Bears fans.
i would rather have a hole at TE then LT. to suggest otherwise is stupid. LT is far more important than TE.
 

Nelly

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Leno was what he was. Trying to be objective let's use PFF's ratings. The last 5 years from 2020 to 2016 his score was 74.6, 58.6, 75.5, 78.7 and 70.1. Nothing to write home about, but also not the worst.

IMHO the largest problem with Leno was over those 5 years the Bears never gave him any competition. He was allowed to be 'meh' and never really be in a position of losing his starting spot.

How did they fix that? Cut him, draft his replacement and make the rookie the defacto starter WITHOUT ANY LEGIT COMPETITION!!!

Keeping Leno would have made the rookie earn it. Hell, it might have pushed Leno to play better and actually become a tradable asset.
Why would you invest heavily in another LT when you're paying one to be a starter? That's not really how that works. They paid him to be their starter, he was their starter, and his play proved that he should no longer be the starter anymore, so they cut him. I don't see a problem there.

Beyond that, especially being in the Bears' position, you can't have starting caliber players 2 or 3 deep at every position. Every single team has their spots that aren't as solid and you're banking on a rookie stepping right in or a previous bench player stepping into the starting spot. The Bears are no different.
 

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It all comes back around to not drafting well consistently, especially at the important positions. Overspend in free agency often and trading away pick after pick. Eventually you end up in cap hell and you lose all flexibility. These things usually happen when your QB gets a major contract or you're stacked at many positions. It's obvious how they got here.

Wasn't a fan of Leno but when they drafted Jenkins i fully expected him to stay at LT.

All teams miss in the draft and go to free agency. In theory you draft and develop well at all positions to replace your vets, but in all fairness it just never works out that way.

I'm seeing Pace taking his inability to draft a tackle and then doubling down on it. Adding in that there's no real depth at this time he's all in.
 

ThatGuyRyan

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I still can't understand how people can think Leno was hot garbage while simultaneously complain that Pace let him go.
You know what you have. Yeah he’s bad, they could have waited until camp sorted out. Why they didn’t is baffling
 

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