the rich get richer. They got another guard, still in on Cody and Patrick, both were expected cuts. Maybe Jenkins gets another shot at tackle. Not really sure it is a good idea if he loses and gets stuck back inside after he finally embraced inside, but I thought the inside depth was decent other than center.
NFL teams had until the 15th to be legally under the cap. I would imagine that some teams are still crunching numbers (restructuring contracts, negotiating trades, or even considering cutting some players) to create more cap space.
I'm surprised he signed so soon after taking into account that the contract is only worth 4/64 (includes a $31m signing bonus). I was thinking he was holding out for much bigger coinage.
I agree with your overall view on this matter. And specifically you nailed those two takes I bolded. Poles does seem frugal, yet at the same time it's as if he doesn't have a care in the world, like he knows big things are coming down the pike. But from where? Not sure whether to interpret this as self confidence or a smokescreen.
He could have signed a number of key players for lesser amounts than what was projected for them. He could have easily outbid the teams that did sign the players for those lesser amounts. Sorry, but the word frugal is still in play here.
No, I didn't say he missed out on a specific player, altho it was reported that he was in early on McGlinchey, but wasn't about to get in a bidding war over him. What I meant and perhaps stated it poorly was that there were a number of key players that many of us discussed as potential Bears who signed for less than what was expected - amounts that easily would have fit into Poles budget. Now whether or not he made any efforts at signing some of these players is a whole nuther story. Maybe he wasn't interested or if he was, not at the price. All I know is there was some fine talent that signed reasonable contracts with teams not called the Bears.
And now I just finished watching Tremaine's presser. And talk about excited to be a Bear and ready to hit the ground running, this guy is 100% all in. Very refreshing to watch, I'd highly recommend.
With the Billings signing, this could possibly tip the scales for Poles to use his 1st pick on the OL. Not that Billings is any kind of game changer, but he played just well enough last year to be penciled in as a starter, or until someone better is signed.
Hey, I like this move. He's only 26 (soon to be 27), and doesn't have a lot of mileage on his legs, in part due to injuries earlier in his career. I trust he's completely healthy now - proof of that is him having his best season as a pro this past year, gaining 914 yards on 203 carries, for a 4.5 avg. Haven't seen him much on game film, but based on his 6' 235lb frame, it appears he's more of a bruiser type back, which would offset nicely with Hebert's cut-n-zip approach. Doesn't seem to be much of a factor in the passing game tho, and I have no idea how he is at blocking.
Me likey!!! And he's a local boy to boot!! Welcome home RT!!
Have to give Poles credit, he's continuing to fill holes and while none of the signings today broke the internet, it definitely appears that the Bears are better now than they were yesterday. In terms of importance, I'd have to rank the D'Onta Foreman signing as tops, followed closely behind with the inking of Robert Tonyan.
