Biggs on Potential Jeffery Trade
While the Cubs were losing Game One of the World Series, rumors were circulating regarding a potential trade of Alshon Jeffery to the Philadelphia Eagles. My opposition to such a move has been stated many times. Brad Biggs addressed the situation in his mailbag this week:
Forget additional draft picks for the Bears for a minute. What would they do at wide receiver without Jeffery? It’s widely assumed at this point that the franchise is going to go in a different direction at quarterback at the end of the season. I imagine general manager Ryan Pace is going to want some wide receivers that can be real assets for his new quarterback. Take Jeffery out of the equation and the Bears are one of the weakest teams in the NFL at the position because they have no idea what Kevin White will be like in 2017. It’s uncertain at this point if White will return from leg surgery to play in December. Eddie Royal is hurt once again and the guaranteed money in his contract is done after this season. Cameron Meredith has been a pleasant surprise with expanded opportunities in the last two months but he’s probably not ready to be a frontline player. I think there is a much better chance the Bears look at signing Jeffery to a long-term contract averaging $14 million per season.
The bottom line to me is trading Jeffery for a mid-round draft pick doesn’t benefit the Bears.
If Ryan Pace doesn’t value Jeffery, Ryan Pace is wrong.
JAHNS ON CUTLER AND FOX
Adam Jahns and I will spend a lot of time on tomorrow’s podcast discussing Jay Cutler so I won’t sample any of that material here. But I did like the frustration emanating out of his lede here:
Bears coach John Fox can say whatever he wants. He can be honest or flat-out lie. He can tell half-truths. He can play coy, or play dumb. He can use more clichés than you knew existed.
Making sense of what’s real and what isn’t becomes not only toilsome but tiresome. Often, it’s not worth the time and effort.
Take what Fox said Monday at Halas Hall about his quarterback situation, with Jay Cutler now cleared of a sprained right thumb.
“Some things that I say go somewhere that I wasn’t really intending,” Fox said. “At the end of the day, obviously, Jay’s our starter. He was injured, not permitted to play medically. And now that he’s healed, he’s back to being our starter.
The media has a job to do – report information to us. And the Bears media is growing increasingly annoyed by John Fox lying to them. He’s not concealing information to gain a competitive advantage. He’s making shit up. And everybody knows it.
Worth Reading!
- Patrick Finley of the Sun-Times asks if Jeremy Langford returning to the active roster will signal a return to the starting line-up. It shouldn’t but knowing John Fox…it probably will.
- From Yahoo’s Shalise Manza Young: “According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune beat writer Matt Vensel, before sending his then-undefeated team off for its bye, Zimmer massacred some poor stuffed animals. The coach put stuffed cats all over the team’s practice facility, their throats slashed and their little furry bodies splattered with fake blood.” It didn’t work.
- Adam Hoge wrote a fun column on being at Bears/Packers last Thursday night and watching the Cubs on his tablet. It’s a minute-by-minute report and I’m sorry I didn’t share it sooner.
- In honor of the Cubs (or maybe not in honor of anything) People Magazine listed “The 8 Most Bill Murray Things That Have Happened in 2016“.
- The great owner of the Billy Goat Tavern’s death coincided with the Cubs returning the World Series. Coincidence? My ass.
