(Picture from http://www.1.bp.blogspot.com/)
Starting with a move that means a lot to the Bears, Mike Martz, and Greg Olsen. The signing of Brandon Manumaleuna means a few things: 1. the Bears just landed one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL. 2. He played with Martz in St. Louis, and will be able to come in right away and know the game style. 3. This could be the end of Olsen or Desmond Clark's tenure in Chicago. The Bears who still don't have a first or second round draft pick should be (and presumably are) shopping around Olsen. One of the suitors could be the New England Patriots who have a hefty supply of second round draft picks. As I've said before, getting rid of Olsen for any second round pick, not only should happen, but it has to happen. The Bears need some young guys on the O-line and in the secondary.
The second move was one that kicked those damn Vikings in the dick (yes I'm still bitter they stole away Berrian). We took the extremely versatile Chester Taylor away from the Minnesota Vikings which not only added a huge strength to our offense but it weakend their backfield. Taylor received a four year deal worth 12.5 million dollar contract and I'm thinking that Taylor is probably the front runner for the Bears opening day starter. Either way, platooning both Taylor and Matt Forte will add a lot of depth to the Bears offense.
And the move that excites even the most skeptical Bears fan and suddenly turns the Bears into the 2010 Washington Redskins. Chicago just landed 5-time Pro Bowler Julius Peppers to a 6-year contract worth about $72 million. Sure that's a ton of money but the Bears were desperate. They needed to amp up the defensive line, and they just got a whole lot better if Peppers, Tommie Harris, Adewale Ogunleye and Alex Brown can all stay healthy. They just might be the Monsters of the Midway once again. And with zero draft picks, they had to go out and spend money.
The Bears may not be done. As I said above, I really think Olsen will be in another uniform by next week.
Also, according to ESPN.com, the Bears have been looking into acquiring Antrel Rolle which would be another GIANT pick up for the Chicago Bear defense. And lord knows they need a safety like Rolle.
But if Rolle isn't an option there is another safety that the Bears might want to look into. Ryan Clark, the veteran Steeler, could also help the Bears defense both on the field and in the locker room.
Either way the Bears are shopping around, and trying to improve their team. After last season everyone in the league could tell that the Bears had more than one hole to fill, and it seems that Angelo and Lovie are trying to fill some of them with the money they do have because free agency is the Bears draft this year.
In an offseason that I was dreading, those two men have whipped me into shape, and I'm back aboard. I did like the Martz pick up for our offense, and now with Peppers, Taylor, and Manumaleuna joining the team, and the possibility to get rid of the under achieving Olsen and nab a veteran safety, I'm already dreaming about next year (typical Chicago fan, I know).
2 comments:
Who do you see in the second that warrants the bears trying to trade Olsen for a pick? Plus with the age at TE(2 TE 30+), are you that confident in Kellen Davis going into the future? ... I think with the depth of the draft in the OL position the Bears should be fine with their 3rd round pick. Not to mention Olsen's salary base salary is only $550,000 for 2010 and $650,000 for 2011. Not to shabby for one of the most exciting players on offense at times last year, in between Cutler's picks of course. Keep the Bears articles coming tho guys... go bears!
The bears did make a good pick up with peppers even though he's not worth the money he's getting paid. Chester is a good pick up just because that dude is fast and he put up some decent numbers being behind the best running back in the NFL. What the Bears need to fix to take it to the next level is of course their offense. I'm sure another year in the system will help cutler, it should at least make him not look like Stanzi the Panzi. But they need more help on offense than Chester Taylor if they want to have a chance of winning their conference. The Packers on Vikings are both pretty good on both sides of the ball and both teams can score points. Also think of other elite teams in the NFC, the Cowboys, Saints, and Cardinals depending on the week. A better defense will help but it doesn't matter if they can hold the opposing teams to 14 points because I don't think the Bears offense can score 14 points. For the record, I love to see the Bears lose because I know more Bear fans than anybody else.
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