No surprise here, but the Bears are not expected to use the franchise tag on Alshon Jeffery, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The word all offseason long has been that the Bears will part ways with the wide receiver. With days to go before the franchise tag deadline, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to have a change of heart. Furthermore, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears the two sides haven’t had contract talks as of late.
Jeffery is now slated to enter the free agent market as the No. 1 wide receiver available. The Bears star is coming off of a so-so year that included a four-game ban for performance-enhancing drugs, but he’s still a major talent and a proven performer. In 2013, Jeffery flashed his full potential when he caught 89 passes for 1,421 yards and seven touchdowns. In the following season, he had 85 catches for 1,133 yards and ten scores. Injuries slowed him in 2015 and he struggled in the Bears’ sluggish offense last season, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that he can rebound in the right system.
The Bears used the franchise tag on Jeffery last season, meaning that another tender would cost the team roughly $17MM. It’s possible that Chicago will still make an attempt to keep the 27-year-old, but they won’t entertain it at that price.
Go get him Dallas
Most likely out of the Cowboys price range. Would love to see him take a 1 year pillow contract to come to Dallas though
They’ve got too many holes on defense and too many extension candidates in the coming years to worry about picking up another WR. Unless Jeffrey wants to sign a 1 year deal/extremely cheap one.
It’s gonna be another long season in Chicago. Kevin White and Cam Meredith as the top 2 WRs is not going to be pretty.
WR is the least of their concerns at the moment. They’ll be bad for a few more years, but losing is worth the price of getting rid of Cutler.
They don’t have to lose to get rid of Cutler though. I’m with CriminalMethod, very long years to come. White when healthy, which is never, isn’t very good to begin with.
You can’t win in the NFL without an established franchise QB. The Bears won’t have that for at least a few more years. They’ll have a few drafts to get a young talented QB. Cutler never handled pressure situations very well, so I won’t miss watching his pathetic playoff performances. Complete trash football player.
Do you recall the QB carousel the Bears had prior to Cutler? Cutler literally owns every Bear career stat. Great player? No. Complete trash? Definitely not. At least for 8 years we actually knew who our QB was going to be.
The Bears kept Cutler longer than they should have because he has a strong arm. What he lacks, however, is the mental makeup, discipline and leadership skills to win. He’s not a winner, and Denver was smart enough to see that and move on quickly from Cutler.
I stick to my earlier comment; he is a trash football player. We Bears fans haven’t had great QBs historically like other franchises, so we set the bar pretty low. But the Bears can and should do better.
Yeah, the Bears need a franchise QB, but the need to make sure he has weapons, or they might never develop into what they need. They absolutely cannot let the WR core digress back to the Johnny Knox/Rashied Davis days. The offense became too dependent on Forte.
100% agree. Wouldn’t it be best if they got Garapolo or drafted s young QB that they have then a stud WR to throw to? Maybe gain some confidence. Now health is an issue with Alshon, so there is that minor issue.
It wasn’t a concern last year, but it will be this year. They’re going to spend money on shoring up the secondary, and they won’t have anyone to throw to this year. Zach Miller, Kevin White, and Eddie Royal can’t stay on the field, and Cam Meredith is good but will now be covered by the opposing teams best cornerback. I doubt he will look as good as he did last year.
Plus it’s almost a guarantee that the cut Royal.
Why is that? When healthy they will have one of the best front 7s in football, one of the best interior o-line groups, a young stud running back, a couple of free agents in the secondary prolly a good corner and a safety. If Bears get decent play at QB the Bears good win 8-10 games easy.
8-8, or even 10-6 for that matter, probably doesn’t make the playoffs next year. I am by no means saying they should keep Cutler, but they will be absolute garbage next year.
I’m not saying 8-8 is by any means a good team but it’s not trash
I agree that health was a huge issue last year. There were definitely some bright spots, but until the QB situation is sorted out, I don’t see them winning more than 7 games at best. They have some great young players on both sides of the ball, but quarterback is the most important position, and the Bears always seem lost when trying to find their guy. I really hope I’m wrong and they make the playoffs, because I love Fangio as their D-Coordinator.
The Bears don’t even have the talent to get 6 wins next season. You must have been living on the moon last year.
Eddie Royal must still be released next. I hate to see Alshon go though. We can’t replace that kind of talent in free agency, and although drafting Mike Williams from Clemson may offer elite talent that’s to big of a risk for me after the Kevin White debacle. Plus we have bigger needs with our top 3 pick. I would like to see them grab both Kenny Britt, 28 years old, and Robert Woods, 24 years old. They won’t bring the talent level that Alshon brought to the Bears, but they can both be effective recievers, and are both still young enough to only continue improving. I could also see Pace going a different route, and grabbing Pierre Garçon instead to add veteran leadership to the locker room with White and Meredith being the top 2 WRs if Alshon is gone. Garçon is a physical possession reciever who could provide a trustworthy target for our next signal caller under center, whoever that may be, but I don’t like that he will be on the wrong side of 30. Another guy on the wrong side of 30 that Pace could also take a look at is the man who lined up opposite Pierre Garçon last year. Desean Jackson is atleast another big name reciever, but I’ve never been a fan of his up and down play. Although he would possibly make a good compliment to the bigger bodied White and Meredith because he would add that “take the top off the defense” speed reciever to the mix. Yet, with all of the on and off the field issues I’m not sure you would want him being the veteran presence leading your young recievers, and showing them the ropes. We don’t need a locker room full of showboating, dropping footballs to soon, and whiny pre madonnas, but hey… Can’t deny the man is fast!!! Lol
I don’t want anything to do with Desean Jackson. He’s fast, but I don’t even want to think about what happens if a young quarterback struggles to get him the ball. He could ruin a quarterbacks confidence.
Yea the guy can be more of a detriment to a locker room than he is worth having on the team. Not sure that the talent he brings with him out weighs the pre madonna attitude he brings along.
Who’s Kevin white? Dudes been in a wheel chair since the day he put on a bears cap. Pace better draft well or he will be gone.
49ers????
Unless there’s a dramatic improvement on the defense it’s hard to imagine how Fox and Pace deserve to keep their job. Oh wait it’s the Bears ownership they love being mediocre.
What difference will firing Fox make? The roster is bad; they don’t have a franchise QB or a defense. Plus half strange injuries to all the new players. What did you expect Fox or Pace to do with that?
I completely agree. This is still Phil Emery and Marc Trestman’s mess. Giving Cutler that deal and systematically missing on so many draft picks was a franchise back breaker, and they’re finally getting out of the woods. There’s no point in starting over again, especially when last years draft turned out so well.
I think even if we’re stuck playing Hoyer next year we can still reach an 8-8 season if Pace does this offseason correctly. I’d love to see Tyrod Taylor as the bridge QB because we wouldn’t have to give up our number 3 pick to get him like we would for Garrapolo which I don’t think they should do at all. So Taylor would make the most since to me, but if they stay with Hoyer and draft Pat Mahomes in the 2nd to be the QB of the future that could be ok. Grab Robert Woods who is only 24 to take over for Kevin White when he inevitably goes down for the year. Cam Meredith runs the opposite side. They could also grab either Garçon to add veteran presence and a decent physical possession reciever, but I’d even prefer Kenny Britt to that since he isn’t on the wrong side of 30. Desean Jackson could be an option to add the speed threat be he to is over 30. I’d release Royal, and sign both Kenny Britt and Robert Woods. Obviously they don’t bring the same talent level as Alshon does, but they can both productive recievers, and neither would break the bank. Grab either Tony Jefferson or Eric Berry (I highly doubt the Chiefs let him hit the open market), and draft Jamal Adams with our round 1 pick. That would make our safety position a strength with Jefferson and Adams starting and Amos running the swing safety spot. Sign Trumaine Johnson and A.J. Bouye if possible. If you can’t bring both in use the 3rd round of the draft to grab a CB, Cordrea Tankersley or Rasul Douglas could both be available in the 3rd. Pick up Kyle Fuller’s option because it’ll be cheap so if he keeps being hurt and horrible it won’t hurt us any, but if he regains the strong play and potential we saw in his rookie season then Pace looks brilliant for picking up the option. They also have Harold Jones-Quartey to run the slot CB position so if they signed both Johnson and Bouye as the starting corners and had HJQ as the nickel/slot CB that group would be really strong and pair that with the safety additions I spoke of earlier and suddenly their secondary goes from a disaster to one of the brightest spots on the entire roster. Tracy Porter is just too old now, but they still have plenty of young talent to add depth with guys like Deiondre Hall, Deon Bush, Bryce Callahan, Demontre Hurst, Cre’Von Leblanc, Deandre Carson-Houston, and even last years signing who ended up on injury reserve before the season even started, Brandon Boykin. Plenty of young potential there to fill in and add competition behind the new starters. Our defense is then set with a strong secondary, and a very strong front 7, both of which are not only full of talent, but also full of youth which means a lot of potential to only get better. By taking Jamal Adams in round 1 that means we would have to pass on Jonathan Allen, leaving Mitch Unrein as the defensive end on the line with Eddie Goldman and Aikeem Hicks. Unrein is atleast serviceable enough that I don’t find the end spot a severe need especially with Jonathan Bullard behind him. I’m hoping this year Bullard buckles down, and gets to work, and becomes the defensive end we were hoping we got for a steal in the 3rd round of last years draft. Defense is set. I started with QB, and WR, but with the offense we also need a TE, and an offensive tackle. Running back is good to go with Jordan Howard leading the way, and Jeremy Langford and Kadeem Carey backing him up. Although if Joe Mixon is still there in the 5th round it would be extremely difficult to not call his name we are on the clock even if we don’t necessarily need his services. The 4th round of the draft is where we can fix our TE problem. Zach Miller is a good recieving tight end, but he’s only getting older, and he has an insane amount of trouble staying healthy enough to be on the field for us. Pace should draft either Jake Butt or Jeremy Sprinkle here to add youth and talent to the position. Both would be a welcome edition to the team, and both very possibly will be available in the 4th round. As far as our offensive line we have a lot of options. They could continue to run Cody Whitehair at center since he did an incredible job last year, and have Kyle Long and Josh Sitton as the guards with Charles Leno and Bobbie Massie as the tackles just like last year, but I don’t think that is the best option. The Bears might as well put their best guys, and the most talent that they can on the field as our starters. Hranus Grasu should be healthy again this year. He is a center, and that is what he knows how to play so give him the center position back. He did very well his rookie season as well so we know he can handle the job, and would have done so had he not gotten injured last year. Whitehair showed his versatility by showing how he could move to center and not only do the job but he excelled at the job and came out looking like one of the top young centers in the league. The thing is, Cody Whitehair’s natural position is at guard, so imagine the damage he could do when he is playing a position he is even more comfortable with than the one he played last year. Cody Whitehair and Josh Sitton will play the guards next to Grasu at center. Next up, Kyle Long, the man is a beast and we all know it. His natural position is at guard as well, but he can easily move to the right tackle spot, and play it at an extremely high level. He’s done so before, and will have no trouble doing it again if he is asked to do just that. Then if I am Ryan Pace I am using the second 4th round pick the Bears have this year to grab an offensive tackle. If Taylor Moton should happen to be available here that would be fantastic, but I would also be plenty happy to acquire Julie’N Davenport here as well and odds are he will still be around here. Throw him at left tackle and keep Charles Leno to add depth and be able to fill in if Moton or Davenport, whichever was drafted, happens to struggle adjusting to the NFL level of play. Bobby Massie could be kept for depth as well, but seeing as how we know that he is just a below average tackle at best I’m really ok with keeping or releasing him. All of these moves would give the Bears a very strong young defense, and an offense with a strong young offensive line, and a very high level group of young running backs to run behind it. If they grabbed Tyrod that would give us a probowl caliber dual threat QB, but if they decide to stay with just Hoyer for now that’s ok since he will be just a bridge QB for Pat Mahomes to get up to speed since we drafted him in the third round. The recieving core won’t have that elite talent that Alshon brought to it, but they will be young, talented, and proven capable of competing at a high level in the NFL except for Kevin White, who has yet to remain healthy enough to prove what he is capable of doing. Cameron Meredith proved he is capable of being an effective reciever and with the additions of both Keeny Britt and Robert Woods we will be bringing in 2 more solid recieving options, and at age 28 and 24 they both have plenty of good years ahead of them. Jake Butt or Jeremy Sprinkle, whichever we drafted here will make sure that when we lose our recieving threat, Zach Miller, to injury that we won’t miss a beat having another capable TE ready to step in and fill the void. Not only that but either one of them will be able to continue being a strong part of the Bears offense years to come since Zach Miller is getting to the age that he will need to be put out to the pasture sooner rather than later. If Ryan Pace makes these moves or atleast moves similar to these then I could easily see the Bears going atleast 8-8 next season. The injury bug could still bite us as it did last year, but their will be a lot of young talent available to step in at many of the positions, and if our starters can stay healthy for the most part with a roster like I just described then I have no idea how they will not be able to have a productive season. Also with the average age on that roster it seems that they will easily be able to sustain success and begin bringing Chicago back to a city that can be proud of their football team once again. It’s been far too long since the Bears have been the power house we expect them to be every year. Only thing is I can actually start to see the team moving in the correct direction after the past couple of years. I’m ready for a winning season, and if Ryan Pace is aggressive and John Fox makes sure the players Pace brings in work hard and progress then we will see that happen in no time.
Bears going to SUCK no matter what…
Good input.