The Backup QB
The Bears now find themselves (possibly) in the market for a backup quarterback with Josh McCown receiving $10M and the starting job (already) from Lovie Smith and the Tampa Bay Bucs. I never expected McCown to leave Chicago because I never expected (a) anyone to offer him a starting job off 2013 and (b) anyone to pay him that much cash.
My belief is the Bears are comfortable with Jordan Palmer as a veteran backup to Jay Cutler but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the club explore options with potential like Brandon Weeden and Mark Sanchez. As for the draft, I continue to believe the Bears will kick the tires on QB but not until very late in the proceedings. The first 3-4 picks must be spent on the defensive side of the ball.
SAFETY IN NUMBERS
I tweeted this early yesterday and I believe it:
Don’t read too much into Bears signing MD Jennings or Ryan Mundy. Bears need bodies at the position and more specifically NEW bodies.
If you asked Phil Emery and Marc Trestman and Mel Tucker right this minute who they believe will be their starting safeties in September, I get the sense they don’t have the slightest clue. But what they are hoping is they can bring half a dozen young bodies to Bourbonnais and two will run out ahead of the others and earn the gigs. Phil Emery was very clear in his Lamarr Houston/Ryan Mundy press conference. He is going to add as many players as he can to the mix between now and mid-summer.
JARED “NFL’s Ted Nugent” ALLEN
The likelihood of Jared Allen signing with the Chicago Bears is low, I’d say, even with Phil Emery saying Allen was on the team’s radar. Allen just seems like the type of player who finishes his career rushing the passer for Bill Belichick. But I reiterate my belief that Allen is quite literally the perfect complementary player for newly-signed Lamarr Houston and Emery should offer Allen a splashy one-year deal at a reasonable rate. Make Allen turn the Bears down.
Could I learn to root for this guy? I think so.
LIONS ADD GOLDEN TATE
The Lions have been looking for a receiver to line up opposite Calvin Johnson for quite some time and the belief inside their organization is that neither Sammy Watkins nor Mike Evans would fall to them on draft. They added Golden Tate and paid him quite a few bucks. If you don’t think this was a money grab for Golden Tate, here are some tweets from the great Dave Birkett of the Free-Press:
Tate: “I had a great 4 years in Seattle and I’m going to miss that place to death … But to me it just made more sense to come here.”
Tate said one thing that sold him was joing the division, said: NFC North, that’s what it is, right?
Tate said he’s a big golfer, and that was another selling point for him. Talked about that in his 15-20 minute conversation with Ford Jr.
When I think of the great golfing in this country, I immediately think of…Detroit.
