FanNation - The Republic of Sport

The main goal of a franchise is to win titles. There are no saints in football and once the winning starts, people forget all about an athlete's off the field troubles. Every athlete has something that they don't want us to know and frankly, who cares. You get the people that can get the job done and even though Plaxico was cut by the giants, they got a ton of production and a super bowl title with him. If athletes were employed solely on morals there wouldn't be any playing. If you want to win, you will have to assume some risks:all franchises do it. I can handle a bad player better than I can constantly losing and not being in contention for a title. If you're in it to win it, then you have to pay to play

I`m surprised that people do not acknowledge Greg Olsen or Devin Hester. Olsen has great
hands and guts to catch the ball in the middle of the field. Hester has the speed and
illusiveness to burn most backfields in the N.F.L. Cutler is the man who was missing to get
them both the ball. Underestimate them if you will! Watch how many teams respect them
both. Davis and Mckie out of the backfield are not bad either!

I guarantee Hester will draw double coverage and both of them will be toasted. AS far as not
bad, the average receiver in the NFL is not bad with the exception of a few. There has not
been a super receiver since Jerry Rice.

big **** - you are a clown - you belly ached about the bears management before the cutler trade for being cheap...then when they go out and dramatically overpay for 1 player, you want them to make the same mistake twice? I hope for the best with Cutler, but I will certainly be realistic with the expectations on him (as his numbers suggest would be reasonable). But you clearly do not have a clue how dynasties are built. I have asked you repeatedly to take your DC area, DanSnyder-conomics to some other franchise - real Bears fans do not care for your gluttony in the free agent market.

We draft well, we build from within, we promote our guys that perform well, and make sure they are rewarded in the long term. It may not generate any headlines or buzz in the offseason, but if our plan is to win the super bowl and build a dynasty, I'll take our chances on the hard work each Bears player is commited to putting in over the offseason to earn their stripes. The second you break the bank to overpay a lazy egomaniac is the second our young guys lose focus, get upset about their pay, and take their first opportunity to get out of town to make sure they get theirs.

We only have to go back to last year for proof of this - do you see Pittsburgh out signing big deals in free agency? On top of that, their defensive player of the year was an undrafted pickup out of college, and their starting RB was also undrafted. The team with not only 1, but 2 top tier receivers couldn't get over the top of the Pittsburgh defense. They are a team that drafts well, values their guys, and encourages and rewards hard work, much like the Bears. I'll take that approach to building a franchise anyday over paying a premium for the free agent flavor of the week each offseason.

Jerry Angelo addressed the Plax-to-Bears possibility

???Because of the uncertainty of the future, how could you really say for sure if you went after him that that is going to manifest itself in the ???09 season???? Angelo said of Burress??? potential jail time. ???I can???t say that. Nobody else can. I can???t really answer right now in terms of how we view him, but I am not looking at him as an option.???
So with that being said here is your choices left in Free Agency.

Bennett, Drew WR Released 6-5 196 8th Season STL TBD
Bodiford, Shaun WR UFA 5-11 186 3rd Season GB TBD
Booker, Marty WR Released 6-0 205 10th Season CHI TBD
Carter, Drew WR UFA 6-3 200 5th Season OAK TBD
Carter, Jason WR UFA 6-0 205 2nd Season CAR TBD
Colbert, Keary WR UFA 6-1 205 5th Season DET TBD
Floyd, Malcom WR RFA 6-5 225 3rd Season SD TBD
Franklin, William WR Released 6-0 209 2nd Season KC TBD
Hackett, D.J. WR Released 6-2 208 5th Season CAR TBD
Hall, Dante WR UFA 5-8 187 9th Season STL TBD
Hilliard, Ike WR Released 5-11 210 12th Season TB TBD
Hurd, Sam WR RFA 6-2 205 3rd Season DAL TBD
Jackson, Darrell WR UFA 5-11 210 9th Season DEN TBD
Jones, Matt WR Released 6-6 218 4th Season JAC TBD
Jurevicius, Joe WR Released 6-5 230 11th Season CLE TBD
Lelie, Ashley WR UFA 6-3 195 7th Season OAK TBD
Lloyd, Brandon WR UFA 6-0 194 6th Season CHI TBD
Looker, Dane WR UFA 6-0 194 8th Season STL TBD
Martin, Ruvell WR RFA 6-4 220 3rd Season GB TBD
Perry, Tab WR UFA 6-3 215 4th Season MIA TBD
Porter, Jerry WR Released 6-2 220 9th Season JAC TBD
Robinson, Koren WR UFA 6-1 205 7th Season SEA TBD
Shepherd, Edell WR UFA 6-1 175 5th Season DEN TBD
Taylor, Travis WR Released 6-1 210 9th Season DET TBD
Toomer, Amani WR UFA 6-3 203 13th Season NYG TBD
Williams, Edward WR RFA 6-4 215 Rookie BAL TBD
Williams, Reggie WR UFA 6-4 212 5th Season JAC TBD

someone obviously didn't watch any bears games last year.. Hester was double teamed almost every play.AND he didn't even know what he was doing.. just wait Hester will get DT'd

again

As bears fans, we are very passionate about our team. Lets look at reality. The bears has paid
the biggest price for this season in Cutler. The rest of the team will have to work with Cutler.
It is up to the coaching staff and Cutler to make the receivers the team have prosperous. The
team does not have Burress, Bolden, Toomer or Hilliard. Work with what you have. Sure the
receivers the bears have are not well known, but they could be after this season.

You are really an idiot - if you think the Bears will go 7-9 without any receiver help, why did you want us to make the Cutler trade in the first place? Sure, I was one of the few Bears fans that admired what Orton was able to accomplish last season, but we have to move forward with our new QB. I just get frustrated with simpletons who think that because Jay Cutler got them some points in fantasy football, that he is the equivalent of getting Peyton Manning or Tom Brady in their prime. You claim that last year we faced 8 guys in the box, but that doesn't make sense when you consider we had a rookie RB and an aging offensive line and what you call a worthless QB, and that rookie RB had over 1700 yards from scrimmage.

Need #1 going into this offseason was a FS and some quality depth at DB that can shakeup our secondary issues to address teams destroying us in the air last year. Adding another WR will not change the defensive approach to us - the league is aware of Forte and will not slack off on him, and we already have guys that can create space in the passing game.

Am I pissed that we traded away our ability to address the secondary? Of course I am! Sure, we used a 4th & 6th rounder to get some guys, but a 5'9'' DB and a 6th rounder who projects at strong safety are not the remedy.

Fans like you take us further away from being successful - you only care about wasting resources and fundamentally destroying a teams philosophy.

We are the fans, we are not the owner, g.m. or coach, although some of us view ourselves as such. We as fans can either agree or disagree with the F.A. signings, draft picks and off season acquisitions. To argue about things we have no control over is a no win situation. We all are Bears fans and in poker terms we play with the hand we are dealt with right or wrong agree or disagree. Teams are built through free agency and the draft and every team has the cap money guidelines to stay under. Every year teams owners, G.M's and Coaches tries to put together a team they think can compete in the NFL. I was ecstatic when we landed Cutler and Pace, I think the Bears management did a great job. I was a little saddened to see management release Mike Brown, but could see why they did. I wanted them to sign Holt, I thought he would have made a good target for Cutler and mentor to our young W.R's, but that didn't happen either. I won't come on here and carry on about it like it's the end of the world because it is a team sport and no one player will determine a winning or losing season. WIN, LOSE OR TIE I AM A BEARS FAN UNTIL I DIE !!!!

Yes I think your right as far as W.R. and Safety being our holes or needs. Facts are all teams has holes and needs every year going into the season. Part of me is satisfied and excited about our W.R. and the possibility Hester and Knox 4.3 40 players being on the field with Bennett, Iglesias and Cutler hitting them in stride and accurately could be. Part of me is worried that Hester and Davis is the only W.R.'s with starting experience. But neither you nor I can change this or predict the outcome of how this plays out. If we could we would be rich. We can speculate and debate all day long but it still won't do any good. It's out of our hands and does no good arguing over it. We can either be negative about it and whine and cry that they didn't get the players we think they should have. Or I choose to Support the team and Be a Fan of the Bears and look at the positives they have done. I don't know about you but I really didn't think we would have won the Cutler derby.