Message Boards

The Packers are a talented young team built primarily through the draft and should be serious contenders for the Super Bowl for the next four years. The Bears decided to go the free agent route and also traded for a talented, erratic QB that is prone to throwing INT's. The Bears won't ever be much of a factor until they build a strong scouting department and commit to the draft like Pittsburgh and Green Bay.

As I see it the problem with free agents are twofold. First you have to pay more for them and second you don't have them as long. The draft is the way to go, but sometimes you need to have a balance and just get whoever is available to fix your shortcomings no matter how you get them.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:51 PM ET  02.14 by Old No. 4

The Packers are a talented young team built primarily through the draft and should be serious contenders for the Super Bowl for the next four years. The Bears decided to go the free agent route and also traded for a talented, erratic QB that is prone to throwing INT's. The Bears won't ever be much of a factor until they build a strong scouting department and commit to the draft like Pittsburgh and Green Bay.

I have to agree with you on this one. Our drafts under Angelo have been horrible at best. Waaaaay to many misses in the draft (Bradley, Gilbert, and Iglesias to name a few). And way to many misses in our own back yard...Romo (Eastern Illinois), B. Jacobs (Southern Illinois), and M. Turner (Northern Illinois).

Until Angelo is fired for his inability to draft and general overall stupidity this team is never going to catch up to Green Bay.

The Bears are FA committed. They went out for the QB in Cutler, and now they have no O-Line. They need the immediate help at that position to solidify post season appearances on a consistent basis. You may get a Gem in the draft for linemen, but overall developing the line into what you see in NE takes time.

With the Bears woeful drafting abilities, (Angelo) they need to hit FA like they did last year. Until the Bears back office and lower echelon of scouts can produce the players on a yearly level, like other top tier organizations, GB, NE, Pitt, then it's pay out top FA until then.

I think it's building through FA that is the downfall of many teams. To sustain a team, a truly great team, one must build through the draft and get young talent that fits your playing style. Angelo needs to go because he is like Al Davis light. Give me all your has-bens and never was and I'll make something. No ... no you won't. You'll get close.. but you won't make anything.

I think they need new ownership.

I'm not a J.A. fan by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot of this throwing all the draft negativity on him solely is unwarranted IMO, blame the scouts, they are the ones who inform J.A. on a players ability and lets not forget all teams have a draft war room usually comprised of the GM "J.A., Coach "Lovie Smith", College scouting director "Greg Gabriel" who was fired and replaced with Tim Ruskell, and the men most never hear about, the college scouts of Chris Ballard, Marty Barrett, Rex Hogan, Ted Monago, Mark Sadowski and Jeff Shiver. The truth of the matter is drafting is a collaboration of all of the above and not one man "J.A." If you simply want to say you don't like J.A. then by all means that's fine, but to say you do not like him based on "his" draft picks well that's kinda like cherry picking one person from a group or collaboration of many to share the blame. If you have a bushel basket full of bad apples how do you pick one and say it's the worst, because it's on top?

IMO it all starts at the top with an incompetent Owner followed closely by the accountant team president and CEO "Ted Phillips" and trickles down through the rest of the front office, they all share the blame but we all **** rolls down hill and depends on your point of view where it stops.

GSH1 says it all about JA and the management so I won't repeat it. I would give JA one more year to see if it was his staff and not him. Like I said earlier the draft is preferable by far but would you not use free agents if they could immensely immediately improve your team? I think that this off season will determine just what is JA's future with the Bears. Changing ownership is a dream of almost all of us even if I doubt the McCaskey's will ever let the Bears go. I'm curious just what would it take to change the field? Does anyone know who's decision makes a difference? Lastly remember this, many offensive linemen have been discovered and trained in just one year. Tice has two with the players we have and one for any we get. So we could theoretically have a very good line in just one year from now. It's been done before so don't doubt that a coach of Tice's abilities is capable of doing it. Hey just look at what he did with what they had this last year 1 win away from the Super Bowl and two from the Rings? Close but not close enough. Go BEARS!!!

It all starts with ownership and having a vision.

The Patriots have already tagged Mankins, I would like to see the Bears acquire a shutdown corner like Nnamdi Asomugha, The NFC North like the rest of the league is relying more on the passing attack and a shutdown corner is becoming a necessity in order to compete, to be able to slow the passing game down and force errant throws by the oppositions Q.B.

It's evident that ownership is going to keep J.A. and Lovie with talks of contract extensions so that's sort of a mute point at this stage. Although I wanted to see Lovie gone, IMO the time to have done that was at the end of the 2009 season in which Virginia McCaskey and Ted Phillips in their infinite wisdom decided to stick with both J.A. and Lovie, now however I feel it important to build on last season and it's important to keep the coaching staff in place and see what another year under Martz can do offensively and priority should be keeping Tice who rumors has it a few teams wanting to interview him for coordinator positions.

I agree the natural grass at Soldier should be replaced with field turf and have heard rumors of discussions from the city of the possibility of doing so, all we can do is cross our fingers, IMO the good outweigh the bad after listening to all the players including some Bears about the fields conditions.

The Bears need a legit #1 W.R. it remains to be seen if they believe this CFL W.R. Fantuz is the answer or not, some possibilities could be Plaxico Burress, Brandon Marshall could be in play with the Dolphins mentioning he was "difficult" at times during this past season, meaning they may be willing to listen to trade offers for him, but the asking price may be a bit much. The Chargers tagged Jackson so that pretty much took him out of play. The Bears would big spenders last year in free agency due to the Cutler trade and lack of draft picks afforded them the money to spend on free agents, this year however is a different story because the first time since the Cutler trade the Bears have a 1st round pick so I wouldn't look for the Bears to be as active in this years free agency.

As mentioned above IMO a shutdown corner is needed along with a legit #1 W.R. and of course help is needed on the O-Line, I would hope the Bears look for a Linemen with their first pick this year but as we all know those in the war room rarely do what most of us think and it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see them do the exact opposite and go on the d-line where it's uncertain what the fate of Tommie Harris is. Expect the unexpected with the Bears drafting brain-trust as we all know and have seen they pick someone then talk about how it was of value [insert Ted Phillips glorified accountant pun here] at that particular pick rather than necessity.

Ah and here's hoping the NFL owners and Players Union can come to an agreement on a CBA so we can continue this madness.

I agree that the surface at Soldier Field could use Field Turf as it has one of the worst playing surfaces in the NFL. Lovie Smith is a fine coach and the Bears have been a tough opponent for the Packers ever since his arrival. The weak point for the Chicago Franchise is ownership and the lack of a strong scouting dept. Angelo has been forced to build through free agency which can be a double edged sword. The Bears have one of the strongest fan bases in the country and it is always enjoyable for me to attend a game at Soldier Field to watch my beloved Packers play the Bears.

QUOTE(#10):

Originally posted 01:44 PM ET  02.15 by GSH1

I'm not a J.A. fan by any stretch of the imagination, but a lot of this throwing all the draft negativity on him solely is unwarranted IMO, blame the scouts, they are the ones who inform J.A. on a players ability and lets not forget all teams have a draft war room usually comprised of the GM "J.A., Coach "Lovie Smith", College scouting director "Greg Gabriel" who was fired and replaced with Tim Ruskell, and the men most never hear about, the college scouts of Chris Ballard, Marty Barrett, Rex Hogan, Ted Monago, Mark Sadowski and Jeff Shiver. The truth of the matter is drafting is a collaboration of all of the above and not one man "J.A." If you simply want to say you don't like J.A. then by all means that's fine, but to say you do not like him based on "his" draft picks well that's kinda like cherry picking one person from a group or collaboration of many to share the blame. If you have a bushel basket full of bad apples how do you pick one and say it's the worst, because it's on top?IMO it all starts at the top with an incompetent Owner followed closely by the accountant team president and CEO "Ted Phillips" and trickles down through the rest of the front office, they all share the blame but we all **** rolls down hill and depends on your point of view where it stops.

He is the man in charge of the department. Who he has under him is his responsibility. Same as a head coach of a team. Players wont get fired, but Coaches will. Extensions may not come for certain players, but ultimately, everyone knows, heads roll from top on down....

If the scouts aren't pull the players in that are worthy, they need to be replaced. Starts with J.A. Thats why I direct my comments and draft woes on him. Same as it would be for a line-coach, head coach, defensive cord. O cord. if any one of their departments were sucking wind.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:51 PM ET  02.14 by Old No. 4

The Packers are a talented young team built primarily through the draft and should be serious contenders for the Super Bowl for the next four years. The Bears decided to go the free agent route and also traded for a talented, erratic QB that is prone to throwing INT's. The Bears won't ever be much of a factor until they build a strong scouting department and commit to the draft like Pittsburgh and Green Bay.

im a bears fan but this is so true i gotta admit the bears were clearly outplayed in tht game for 3 and half quarters

QUOTE(#15):

Originally posted 04:18 PM ET  02.15 by Steveo1622's back

He is the man in charge of the department. Who he has under him is his responsibility. Same as a head coach of a team. Players wont get fired, but Coaches will. Extensions may not come for certain players, but ultimately, everyone knows, heads roll from top on down....If the scouts aren't pull the players in that are worthy, they need to be replaced. Starts with J.A. Thats why I direct my comments and draft woes on him. Same as it would be for a line-coach, head coach, defensive cord. O cord. if any one of their departments were sucking wind.

Actually if you blame J.A. because he is in charge of those scouts, wouldn't you then blame Love if his assistants "line coach" were sucking wind? Same scenario is it not? Lovie is the coach over the assistants therefore using your example of J.A. to blame for his scouts in turn Lovie is to blame for the assistants under him.

I tend to lay blame where it lies, J.A. did fire Gabriel I guess that was his saying he wasn't doing his job, trouble is it takes 1-3 years for most draftees to show their potential so time is key. Also while most in the business try to do their homework when dealing with humans it's a risky business for you not only have to spot talent but character as well.

Why is it old #4 that the only person here that likes Lovie is a Packers fan? lol Do you like him because you think your team can beat him? And you are afraid that we might get someone in who can really make a difference? I will admit this the coaching this year was better than it EVER has been due to the 4 Bears-ca-teers. Our 4 assistant coaches that for once Lovie listened to and changed some of his long term idiotic policies/game plans made us a much better team. So I say if they stay keep Lovie if not elevate Tice to the Head Coaching job YESTERDAY!!! Go BEARS!!!

I want to say I am NOT TRYING to drive you away #4. You are welcome here forever as far as I'm concerned. You act like a civilized human being and that's the only thing I ask for in a fellow blogger. You do not curse and attack people viciously just for meanness etc. You have a point and try to say it civily. So don't take my poking fun (in post #18) at you wrong. Go BEARS!!!

Agent Archer you are so right about ownership and a direction for the team from Management. However you must realize that these things were set in stone by George Halas and his Grand Daughter who now currently owns the team. There is nothing we can do about the ownership. Plus if anything would happen to Virginia, meaning she passes away etc. Her sons would almost definately inherit the Bears and run them. Meaning the Bears are going to stay in this family FOREVER!!! So griping at us isn't going to help one single bit. Sorry to tell you this but we've been frustrated about it for alot longer than you have been. We have seen the same things you see and are just as helpless to be able to do anything about it as you are. And if anyone wants to make the Bears a community franchise like the Packers it's against the NFL's charter rules. No other NFL teams are allowed to go public. It CANNOT be done. Period!!!

QUOTE(#19):

Originally posted 10:06 PM ET  02.15 by bearsfan6522009

I want to say I am NOT TRYING to drive you away #4. You are welcome here forever as far as I'm concerned. You act like a civilized human being and that's the only thing I ask for in a fellow blogger. You do not curse and attack people viciously just for meanness etc. You have a point and try to say it civily. So don't take my poking fun (in post #18) at you wrong. Go BEARS!!!

I enjoy listening to your opinions on how to upgrade your team but remember that Mike Tice was a dismal failure as head coach with the Minnesota Vikings.