[CBFF] They finally extended Lovie!!!

Thu Mar 1 11:55:18 MST 2007

Jerry,

I think your last statement stands alone as a true statement:

"If the Bears make it back to the Super Bowl next year, it would be
 extremely impressive."

That being said, I take the opposite view from you on the pre-season
view of last year vs. this year.

2006 Concern: Rex is an unknown at QB which is injury prone and not much 
   better than a rookie QB. Likely will have to fall back to the jouneyman
   Griese.
2006 Reality: Rex made it through the whole season and looked impressive at 
   times. There are still unknowns here, but the kinds of errors which he 
   made could easily be due to lack of experience.
2007 Outlook: Rex is still not where we need him to be from a consistency 
   perspective, but overall it is more likely he can be our QB long term than 
   we knew at this point last year (at least this is my take when you strip 
   away the media berating).

2006 Concern: Our line is getting old with very little depth behind them. There
   is a high probability we will lose guys due to injury and our QB will get
   killed.
2006 Reality: Line remained healthy and was one of the better offensive lines
   in the league.
2007 Outlook: (see 2006 Concern...)

2006 Concern: We only have one proven WR in Muhammed and nothing else. Media
   is killing us for not doing something here in FA.
2006 Reality: Berrain was solid and Bradley showed flashes, but still seems
   injury prone and inconsistent. Davies was a solid 3rd in a 3 WR set.
2007 Outlook: We could live without getting someone to bolster this position
   and be ok. Much like the LB position, it is more of a want to upgrade than
   a need to upgrade. Also depends on whether you see Hester as an option
   here...

2006 Concern: We have no tight ends! Media constantly reminds us the sky is
   falling and we better do something in the draft...
2006 Reality: We got decent production out of Desmond Clark and he was a 
   legitimate option in the offense.
2007 Outlook: We could still use a tight end. I don't have any confidence
   in Reid or any of the other guys behind Clark, but I doubt picking someone
   up here will have any real impact other than give us depth.

2006 Concern: Who will take Azumah's nickel CB role?
2006 Reality: Manning (once cleared of legal problems) had more interceptions
   than his predecessor and seems like a good addition to the team.
2007 Outlook: We still need depth here for 4 WR sets and as a backup because
   there is a pretty big fall-off from Manning to Wesley.

Who really thought we would be in the SB at the beginning of the season?
I figured we would be a good team and the defense could carry us like they
did in 2005, but once Mike Brown and Tommie Harris were out, I wouldn't
have given them a chance to make it that far from an objective perspective
(i.e. putting down the Bear's Kool Aid mug). 

Maybe I am overly optimistic as it is incredibly difficult to make it to
the Super Bowl once, but I would say we are in a far better position to
make it this year than last. IF we can keep healthy and IF our young talent
continues to improve. If there was one position that I am really squeamish
about (if it wasn't obvious), it is the offensive line. The line is getting
very old in football terms and I don't have a lot of confidence in our backups.
RB if we lose Jones, it would be a blow, but if Benson stays reasonably 
healthy, I can live with Peterson as a backup (and presumably this will open
up an additional draft choice if Jones is traded, so maybe you pick up
someone else there). Here is what my FA and draft wish list would look like
(in order of importance from my perspective):

FA:
1) OL - I would love to get a backup tackle, but I am not convinced we would
   get anyone better than St. Clair in a reasonable price range on the market,
   so a OC/OG would be fine.

2) SS - We really don't need another young guy at this position, but depending
   on what your expectations are for Mike Brown staying healthy, we could
   consider bringing in a little higher dollar player as a possible starter,
   but you can only do this if you are willing to give up on Brown (or can
   get him to renegotiate his contract with playing time incentvies). If 
   you don't touch Brown's contract or status I don't know that you will be
   able to upgrade from Todd Johnson/Chris Harris in a backup's salary
   slot. You would just have to hope they they mature into the role (as we
   are already doing with Danieal Manning).

3) CB - With the frequency of 3 or 4WR sets we really need 4 decent quality
   CBs and we have 3 (Vasher,Peanut and Manning). Unless you really think
   Hester can step up in this position, we need someone else (preferably 
   with some experience because I don't think there will be any rookies
   where we are picking which will be able to step into this role).

Draft:
1) OT - This is a player which you almost have to draft to not overpay and
        hope they can evolve to a starting quality player.
2) TE - Like I said beyond Clark there isn't much here
3) CB - This would be the easiest of the 3 above positions to put a rookie
        into because all of your other guys are veteran.
4) LB - Depth (although I honestly don't know much about the guys we
        have on the roster since the LB corps have been healthy)
5) OL - Did I mention offensive line? I would do this even if we pick up a FA
        and a tackle early in the draft.
6) WR - Assuming Hester isn't evaluated to be a WR, someone else here 
        wouldn't be bad (time for Gage to go).

Other thoughts/opinions?

Ross

Jerry Madsen (jerrywm at gmail.com) writes:
> In spite of my mixed feelings about Lovie Smith, this is a good thing
> for the Bears.  Getting both Angelo and Lovie inked brings some
> continuity to the Bears for the 2007 season, which I estimate to be a
> difficult road ahead.  I don't think continuity is something we're
> going to see a lot of with this club between now and next season's
> end.
> 
> There have been several coaching staff changes.  Thomas Jones is
> likely gone.  Ruben Brown's contract situation is up in the air.  The
> Lance Briggs situation may result in who-knows-what.  Mike Brown may
> be back but you never know for how long.  We don't know how well
> Tommie Harris will bounce back from a major injury.
> 
> Add in the fact that recent history hasn't been kind to recent Super
> Bowl losers and the tougher schedule, and there is plenty about the
> 2007 season that already looks nothing like the 2006 season.  For that
> reason alone, the continuity of Lovie and Jerry is important.
> 
> If the Bears make it back to the Super Bowl next year, it would be
> extremely impressive.
> 
> Jerry
> 
> On 3/1/07, Jim Ferolie <ferolie at charter.net> wrote:
> > That's still below market value, which is fine as long as Lovie is happy. I
> > think Tom's makes a good point.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Kenny Claxton" <kenny.claxton at gmail.com>
> >
> >
> > > He received a 2 or 3 million (too tired to look it up) dollar bonus for
> > > this
> > > year in addition to his salary.
> > >
> > > On 3/1/07, Tom Shannon <tshanno at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> I guess what I'm saying here is, at minimum, it was a fair deal.  But if
> > >> I
> > >> had to choose one side that "won", I'm inclined to think that the Bears
> > >> are
> > >> getting a top ten coach for what will turn out to be less money than
> > >> that.
> > >>
> >
> >
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