Bears sign 3rd-round pick S Wright to 4-year deal

Bears sign 3rd-round pick S Wright to 4-year deal

With the latest news about the Bears signing their remaining draft picks, I am reminded that this is a reason that I am glad to be a Bears fan. They make it a point in the last few years to sign their draft picks prior to training camp. Kudos Bears, Kudos...

Chris Harris a BEAR again!

Color Slim Tim happy. This is better news than the if the Bears took the best safety in the draft. This is better news than C. Taylor. This is better news than B. Manumaleuna. (Not quite as good as the other Panther that the Bears obtained this offseason, though)

J. Williams (given to Carolina in the trade) was a fill-in player and he was a very good special teams player. Great trade, excellent news - GO BEARS!

(I am still mad at Bears for Alex Brown)

- Slim Tim

T.O. to the Bears?

T.O. Left In Limbo: Likely Won't Sign Soon - NFL - Yahoo! Sports quote: "His best fit, just one opinion: The Bears. Jay Cutler(notes) can get Owens the ball there, and Mike Martz could use such a veteran dynamo. Lovie Smith would also be there to help T.O. stay grounded."

Scout.com: 2010 NFL Free Agency WR Rankings

Scout.com: 2010 NFL Free Agency WR Rankings: "PosPos
RankRatingNameTypeYrHt/WtCollege2009 TeamSigned Team
WR1Vincent JacksonRFA56-5/238Northern ColoradoSan Diego
WR2Miles AustinRFA46-3/216Monmouth (NJ)Dallas
WR3Brandon MarshallRFA46-4/230UCFDenver
WR4Terrell OwensUFA146-3/218ChattanoogaBuffalo
WR5Braylon EdwardsRFA56-3/215MichiganNY Jets
WR6Malcom FloydRFA46-4.5/215WyomingSan Diego
WR7Antonio BryantUFA76-1/205PittsburghTampa Bay
WR8Kevin WalterUFA76-3/214Eastern MichiganHouston
WR9Derrick MasonUFA135-10/192Michigan StateBaltimore
WR10Steve BreastonRFA36-0/193MichiganArizona
WR11Nate BurlesonUFA76-0/192NevadaSeattle"

2010 WR Free Agents.

Follow this link to see The Scout's list of Free Agent WR class of 2010.

Pos Pos
Rank Rating Name Type Yr Ht/Wt College 2009 Team Signed Team
WR 1 Vincent Jackson RFA 5 6-5/238 Northern Colorado San Diego
WR 2 Miles Austin RFA 4 6-3/216 Monmouth (NJ) Dallas
WR 3 Brandon Marshall RFA 4 6-4/230 UCF Denver
WR 4 Terrell Owens UFA 14 6-3/218 Chattanooga Buffalo
WR 5 Braylon Edwards RFA 5 6-3/215 Michigan NY Jets
WR 6 Malcom Floyd RFA 4 6-4.5/215 Wyoming San Diego
WR 7 Antonio Bryant UFA 7 6-1/205 Pittsburgh Tampa Bay
WR 8 Kevin Walter UFA 7 6-3/214 Eastern Michigan Houston
WR 9 Derrick Mason UFA 13 5-10/192 Michigan State Baltimore
WR 10 Steve Breaston RFA 3 6-0/193 Michigan Arizona
WR 11 Nate Burleson UFA 7 6-0/192 Nevada Seattle
WR 12 Lance Moore RFA 4 5-9/177 Toledo New Orleans
WR 13 Chris Chambers UFA 9 5-11/210 Wisconsin San Diego
WR 14 Jason Avant RFA 4 6-0/213 Michigan Philadelphia
WR 15 Mark Clayton RFA 5 5-10/195 Oklahoma Baltimore
WR 16 Muhsin Muhammad UFA 14 6-2/215 Michigan State Carolina
WR 17 Demetrius Williams RFA 4 6-2/197 Oregon Baltimore
WR 18 Jerheme Urban RFA 6 6-3/212 Trinity (TX) Arizona
WR 19 Brad Smith RFA 4 6-2/210 Missouri NY Jets
WR 20 Domenik Hixon RFA 4 6-2/190 Akron NY Giants
WR 21 Arnaz Battle UFA 7 6-1/213 Notre Dame San Francisco
WR 22 Kassim Osgood UFA 7 6-4/204 San Diego State San Diego
WR 23 Hank Baskett RFA 4 6-3/224 New Mexico Indianapolis
WR 24 Bobby Wade UFA 7 5-10/186 Arizona Minnesota
WR 25 Maurice Stovall RFA 4 6-4/218 Notre Dame Tampa Bay
WR 26 Ruvell Martin RFA 5 6-4/220 Saginaw Valley State St. Louis
WR 27 Troy Williamson RFA 5 6-1/203 South Carolina Jacksonville
WR 28 Sam Hurd RFA 4 6-2/205 Northern Illinois Dallas
WR 29 Mike Furrey UFA 7 6-0/195 Northern Iowa Cleveland
WR NR Josh Reed UFA 8 5-10/210 LSU Buffalo
WR NR Kelley Washington RFA 7 6-3/215 Tennessee Baltimore
WR NR Mark Bradley RFA 5 6-1/201 Oklahoma Kansas City
WR NR Sinorice Moss RFA 4 5-8/185 Miami (FL) NY Giants
WR NR Derek Hagan RFA 4 6-2/215 Arizona State NY Giants
WR NR Marty Booker UFA 11 6-0/205 ULM Atlanta
WR NR Brandon Lloyd UFA 9 6-0/194 Illinois Denver
WR NR Brian Finneran UFA 11 6-5/217 Villanova Atlanta
WR NR Terrance Copper UFA 6 6-0/207 East Carolina Kansas City
WR NR Greg Lewis RFA 7 6-0/180 Illinois Minnesota
WR NR Courtney Roby RFA 4 6-0/190 Indiana New Orleans

Let's sign Brandon Marshall & Kevin Walter, whaddya think?

Tim.

Tice ecstatic about joining Bears staff

Tice ecstatic about joining Bears staff: "Tice ecstatic to return to old division with storied team"

I don't really know why, but I am happy to hear of this news. Seems that he was very well respected when he was with the Vikings. I remember how the media reacted in a positive way when he was hired. One of their own - a player turned coach. Hopefully he will be good for the team.

- Tim.

Bears downed by Packers

Bears thoughts for the week...

I found two bright spots watching the game. I am trying to stay positive. Everyone who watched the preseason knew that Aromashodu was the real deal, you know - not a converted DBack masquerading as a WR (see R. Davis and D. Hester). He got a real shot and he took advantage of it. With any "luck" D. Hester will miss another game because that is the only way that the current coaching staff will make it possible for the three true WR on the Bears to be on the field at the same time (D. Aroma, J. Knox, E. Bennett). Any chance that D. Aromashodu will stay with the Bear? Second bright spot is that the Bear are finding that running off tackle is where positive yardage can come from as opposed to running in the gap between the Center and Right or Left Guard. The Bears spent waaaaaaaaaaay to much time during the first 10 game running Matt Forte between the right cheek of F. Omiyale and the left cheek of R. Garza.

Poor spots now... The tempo of the Bears offense is way too predictable. Play is called in, huddle up, get set, snap the ball. I could time this offense. They really need to run a quick snap or no huddle or something... Here's another thought, how about the Wide Receivers fight for catching the ball instead of fighting for a penalty. Buck up, guys and quick wining. It is really tough to watch Olsen and Hester constantly looking at the refs instead of looking at the ball. And Cutler is the biggest winer of all. He's tougher than that, I just don't understand him constantly wanting flags called. If I was reffing the games, I would not call penalties just for spite.

Last point... Lovie Smith's time management "skills" were on display again on Sunday. Time out followed by a challenge, nice work Coach. Brian Billick was all over him on that one. Here is a question for everyone... Does ANYONE think that Lovie will be coaching the Bears next season?

-Slim Tim

Tommie Harris wants to be a Bengal

Other subjects I was considering:



Wake up, Mr. Shanahan – Bob Virene might be onto something

Troy Aikman – One astute broadcaster

They’re called holes, linebackers – Fill them!

Olin, Olin, Olin – What The ____?

It’s still Bears season.



OK. Here we go. Tommie Harris wants to be a Bengal. He obviously has seen the success of Ced Benson, who did just enough to get kicked off the Bears, but not enough to land in jail. Also, look at Tank Johnson – again just enough to get kicked out of here, but not in jail. Tommie is doing just enough to get kicked off the Bears without winding up in jail… While on the subject, how is it that all of Urlacher’s indiscretions and that swept-under-the-rug Lance Briggs crashing his car while drunk incident has not gotten them kicked off?



Wake up, Mr. Shanahan – Bob Virene might be onto something. For the first time since Lovie has been head coach (and now subsequently taken over as defensive coordinator as well) do I start to see ever so slightly that Lovie might be starting to lose this team. But that’s as far as I am going for today. He still took most of these Bears to the Superbowl.



Troy Aikman – one astute broadcaster. If you haven’t already read about them or heard about them, look up the Aikman Efficiency Ratings. These look at offense statistics the correct way. They do not included points scored by the special teams or points scored on defense. If he was truly the architect of this system, then I’m all in. I was never a large fan of Aikman as a QB. I feel that he was a by-product of having worked behind one of the best offensive lines in recent history. You know them all, Larry Allen, Nate Newton, Mark Tuinei… But I digress. Aikman said it best and I am paraphrasing here, “Either you play with purpose and try to win the game or take Jay Cutler out of the game.” Hats off to Troy, those was a very poignant statement. The Bear were not playing to win the game, they were playing slow, even while still in the game… Nice work, Troy.



They’re called holes, linebackers – Fill them! Not much else to say there.



Olin, Olin, Olin – What The ____? Again, nothing much else to say there. You all know where I stand on Mr. Kreutz.



It’s still Bears season. I did not get one single response from last week’s Bears recap. Not one. I just want to remind everyone that it is still Bears season, even though the Hawks are playing well, Toewser and the new guy will be skating real soon for the Hawk. For those Bulls fans, bummer about Tyrus Thomas – he was starting to play well. Again, the Bears are still playing, right???



Next up - San Francisco coached by Mike Singletary.

No Love for Mark Bradley (former Bear)

Chiefs to add veteran wide receiver - Kansas City Star

Follow this link for a story about former Bear Mark Bradley. For those who have been following my blog, you will know that I am not the biggest fan of Mark Bradley.

- Slim Tim

Bears breakdown - Week 1

OK, here it is: from Flambeau Field.



Bears Pass Offense: Cutler did not make very good decisions throwing the ball. There were times that he threw on the run where he definitely should have stopped, set his feet and thrown. For those Cubs fans, he reminded me of Carlos Zambrano after giving up a home run. He looked like he lost his focus and could not concentrate on the current play, he was so lost in the fact that he threw the interceptions that he couldn’t move forward… Also, Ron Turner did not throw the ball to the tailback at all, those plays tend to be very low risk, high reward plays that were lacking in their gameplan. Devin Hester and Johnnie Knox caught two nice passes, Earl Bennett also caught the ball well. Green Bay made a point of taking Greg Olsen out of the Bears offense and it showed. It was like the Pack had the Bears playbook and knew where they were going with the ball most times.



Bears Run Offense: It looked to me like Matt Forte was handed the ball and was told to run in a certain hole in the offensive line and no matter what was happening around him, he ran through that hole without regard to people actually being in that hole waiting to tackle him or not. There were times were daylight was seen on the left or right of where the play was supposed to go and Matt Forte did not have the vision to look around and see what else was available. For what it is worth, the offensive line did not do him any favors either, it did not seem like there was very much room for Forte to run at all.



Bears Run Defense: Seemed that they were pretty solid, Tommie Harris played all game and was his usual disruptive self. Hopefully Urlacher does not miss much time after dislocating his wrist during the game.



Bears Pass Defense: The DLine actually got to the Quarterback. Adewale O played an excellent game and really had the number of the O Tackle that he was playing against. That being said… Their secondary did not look good at all. Nathan Vasher is a shell of his former self, Charles Tillman will get better. Daniel Manning looked lost out there, many of GB’s pass plays were definitely directly to take advantage of him while he was on the field.



Special Teams: There was an obvious gaffe on the fake punt and there will be much made out of that play in the media this week. Don’t get as good as solid Gould – he was very good including a special teams tackle. Their return game was good and Rashied Davis made some nice special teams plays.



All in all, some good but most bad. They sustained some injuries that are definitely going to hurt them and if they don’t get their running game going, this will be a very looooong season.



Go Bears.

Bears' Wildcat.

Not only have there been reports of Devin Hester lining up in the QB spot, just saw on Comcast Television Matt Forte lining up in the QB spot. The play they ran had Kevin Jones linep up as HB and Cutler lined up as WR. The play had Forte fake a handoff to K. Jones, but it was a QB keeper run off tackle. - More to come.

Burress to the Bears?

Figured I would just add to the growing list of sites on the internet proposing that Plaxico Burress's next stop is here in Chicago. Angelo = GM of the year before the season starts. Take a moment to reflect just how odd that sounds coming from Slim Tim. I was of course a big opponent to Mr. Angelo asking everyone to visit the Fire Jerry Angelo website. I can admit when I am wrong, one Superbowl appearance and more to come with O. Pace, J. Cutler, and now P. Burress!

ST.

Bears signing draft picks...

I just love the fact that the Bears are the quickest to sign their draft picks year in and year out. Small things like this make me even happier to be a Bears fan.

With the 49th-overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft...

The Chicago Bears select Pat White - QB/WR West Virginia. (He's a special guy).

"White is a gifted athlete who can alter a game in many ways on the field. He lacks ideal size, but his vision and playmaking ability make him stand out. He has a strong arm and can read a defense, but he struggles with accuracy and touch. He’s better on the move than in the pocket. He’s a game breaker who’s dynamic in the open field. He’s a tremendous leader; a player others look up to. - Chris Steuber, Scout.com"

Bears waive Mark Bradley...

So, a favorite person on SlimTim's list of persons who deserve to be waived, Mark Bradley, got the axe today - ending a very tumultuous career with the Chicago Bears. This also continues a string of very, very poor decisions in the draft recently.
.
Here is the cut list of some high draft picks - let's take a trip down memory lane:
.
2007 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 62 Dan Bazuin DE Central Michigan
3 94 Michael Okwo LB Stanford
.
2006 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
This was a pretty good draft for the Bear
.
2005 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 4 Cedric Benson RB Texas
2 39 Mark Bradley WR Oklahoma
5 140 Airese Currie WR Clemson
.
2004 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 47 Tank Johnson DT Washington
5 147 Claude Harriott DE Pittsburgh
5 148 Craig Krenzel QB Ohio State
.
2003 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 14 Michael Haynes DE Penn State
4 100 Todd Johnson DB Florida
.
2002 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 29 Marc Colombo T Boston College (never panned out for the Bears)
3 72 Roe Williams CB Tuskegee
.
2001 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 8 David Terrell WR Michigan
.
2000 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
3 69 Dez White WR Georgia Tech
3 87 Dustin Lyman TE Wake Forest
.
1999 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 12 Cade McNown QB UCLA
2 48 Russell Davis DE North Carolina
.
1998 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 5 Curtis Enis RB Penn State
4 94 Alonzo Mayes TE Oklahoma State
.
1997 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 38 John Allred TE USC
3 69 Bob Sapp G Washington
.
1996 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
This was actually a good draft
.
1995 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 21 Rashaan Salaam RB Colorado
.
1994 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 11 John Thierry LB Alcorn State
.
1993 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 35 Carl Simpson DT Florida State
3 61 Chris Gedney TE Syracuse
.
1992 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 22 Alonzo Spellman DE Ohio State
9 246 Mirko Jurkovic G Notre Dame (Related to Jurko???)
.
1991 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 22 Stan Thomas T Texas
.
1990 - Chicago Bears
Rd Sel # Player Position School
3 61 Tim Ryan DE USC (Does anybody like him as an announcer?)
.

Week 3 - Bears lose to TB

What to say, the Bears lose. They had a good game plan, no receiver screens and no receiver end-arounds. Orton let loose on some passes to Brandon Lloyd their clear number one WR. They just didn't want it enough and ran out of gas. Really could have used more pressue on Griese.

Oh, I almost forgot to point out that Olin Kreutz had another typical day for himself, snap infraction at a very critical juncture. :(

T.

Week 2 - Bears should have beaten Panthers

So the Bears lost. It just stings because they should have won this
game. They had this game and gave it away. Don't you just want to get
a hold of the entire Bears offensive playbook and burn all of the pages
that have Wide Receiver Screens on them? There is no reason for a
professional football team to ever run a Wide Receiver Screen play,
especially when the previous two times you ran them they were almost
picked off. An intelligent offensive coordinator would take advantage
of the advancing defensive back and call a "fake" wide receiver screen
play - knowing that the DB would be in the backfield by the time the
throw is off.

What is up with Olin Kreutz - not his best game by far - on the play
where McKie was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, Kreutz was on his
behind completely taken off balance by the DT.

Chris Harris played with a chip on his shoulder - I think that we may
need to have a Chris Harris award - given to the player that the Bears
cut who does well... Chris Harris, Marc Columbo, Bobby Engram, Tony
Parrish, Ted Washington, Walt Harris, etc...

My final point... and this is a big one... Why do you deactivate Adrian
Peterson and activate Mark Bradley??? Mark Bradley had one pass thrown
his way on a poorly ran route and almost had the pass intercepted. With
Adrian Peterson out, kick and punt coverage severely suffered...

Next up, Tampa Bay at home.

Week 1 - Bears upset Colts.

So, football comes down to blocking and tackling - two things that the Bears have not done well in a couple of years. Today, they blocked for Kyle Orton and Matt Forte very well. Matt Forte gained yards where he was not touched until he was 4 yards past the line of scrimmage. Also the defense tackled very, very well. How about Lance Briggs with solid tackling today. The third thing to mention was limiting injuries - we came out of the game today without significant injury - especially no injuries to MIKE BROWN or Dusty Dvorcek.

Slim Tim's Preseason Bears predictions...

BEST CASE: BIg plays on Defense and Special Teams vault the team into contention. The offensive line somehow gels together and forms into a cohesive unit. They still have calls out to a couple of free-agent Tackles in Fred Miller and Willie Anderson both of whom can assist this team. Matt Forte's blocking skills can help the passing game immensely. With this best case scenario coming to fruition, the Bears will easily make the playoffs.

WORST CASE: The Bears get no assistance in the offensive line, Mike Brown gets injured again, the Linebacker core continue to show their age and continue missing blocks. Matt Forte and Kevin Jones do not get it done as professional running backs. Neither M Booker, B Lloyd, D Hester, M Bradley or R Davis prove that they belong in the same uniform worn by T Waddle. In this worst case scenario, the Bears will have a tough time scratching out 4 wins.

LIKELY CASE: The Bears will win some games based solely on Defense and Special Teams. The Bears will likely lose some games on Offense. This team has so much money invested in their first string defense, that there will be hell to pay if they incur serious injuries… My prediction is 8 wins and 8 losses.

Slim Tim

Slim Tim'

BEST CASE: BIg plays on Defense and Special Teams vault the team into contention. The offensive line somehow gels together and forms into a cohesive unit. They still have calls out to a couple of free-agent Tackles in Fred Miller and Willie Anderson both of whom can assist this team. Matt Forte's blocking skills can help the passing game immensely. With this best case scenario coming to fruition, the Bears will easily make the playoffs.



WORST CASE: The Bears get no assistance in the offensive line, Mike Brown gets injured again, the Linebacker core continue to show their age and continue missing blocks. Matt Forte and Kevin Jones do not get it done as professional running backs. Neither M Booker, B Lloyd, D Hester, M Bradley or R Davis prove that they belong in the same uniform worn by T Waddle. In this worst case scenario, the Bears will have a tough time scratching out 4 wins.



LIKELY CASE: The Bears will win some games based solely on Defense and Special Teams. The Bears will likely lose some games on Offense. This team has so much money invested in their first string defense, that there will be hell to pay if they incur serious injuries… My prediction is 8 wins and 8 losses.