Every game I watch from DJ Moore’s 2021 season makes the case that the #Bears got Justin Fields a WR1 in their trade-back with the #Panthers.

Tough catches over the middle, YAC ability, deep speed, scramble drill, Moore does a bit of everything for his QB. He wins everywhere. pic.twitter.com/RsbFiBs3qm

— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 18, 2023

The Bears were aggressive over the first week of free agency, as Ryan Poles now begins the process of rebuilding the roster he needed to tear down in 2022. Here are thoughts (with a few insider-type notes) on the signing writ large.

• There was a bidding war for the services of Tremaine Edmunds, with Buffalo South (the Giants) also making an aggressive bid for his services. Here’s what I know about Edmunds. His former DC, Les Frazier, called the Bears to congratulate them on the signing. Two people who formally worked with him, Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll, were all-in for him. The man who invented the phrase Bills Mafia, Del Reid, texted me to say the Bears got a good one. If you’re cynical about this signing, it’s because you just want to be cynical.
• P.J. Walker is one of those signings that gives me confidence in this front office. It does not make sense for the Bears to have a quarterback backing up Fields that cannot run his offense. Walker can. Is he a great player? No. There aren’t enough good STARTING quarterbacks, let alone backups. But Walker is 4-3 as a starter. If Fields misses a few games due to injury, Walker can hold down the position and perhaps sneak a few victories. That’s all you can ask for from a backup QB.
• I was once having a conversation an NFL personnel man and he said something profound: “Most evaluators can never escape their college grades.” When Poles was asked about Travis Homer he said, “That’s a guy I’ve loved since college.” Homer is only 24 years old. It won’t be surprising if Poles envisions a larger role for him in this offense than many of us expect.

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Twitter has been a wild place since Monday morning, and arguably since its inception. But Elon’s “For You” function has become a bit of a guilty pleasure for me because that feed seems to understand my uncontrollable desire to watch cats do ANYTHING while also thinking I care even SLIGHTLY about the World Baseball Classic. It’s an emotional maelstrom, replete with an equal number of “Awww” and “Who the hell is Tim Anderson” outbursts. The stream also highlights the Tweets of many Bears fans I do not follow and do not know and their moment-to-moment responses to this free agency has been…interesting. (Full disclosure: I have started muting and blocking most of them.)

What have I learned?

• Most fans care way more about your ability to break a scoop than your ability to put together a great sentence, which for a writer is more than mildly dejecting. 75% of Tweets from fans are asking writers and media what they hear about potential future transactions. I’ve more than doubled my follower total since I got in the scoop business, and I can’t wait to be out of it.
• There are numerous fans on the platform who can name the 13th best running back in the 2023 NFL Draft but can’t name a single starting offensive lineman in the AFC South. How does this happen? 15-20% of the players drafted in April will be relevant in the league. 100% of those AFC South linemen are relevant in the league.
• The phrase “off-ball linebacker” needs to be retired. Tremaine Edmunds was signed by the Bears to a large contract specifically because of his ability to impact the football. He’s not a downhill, hole plugger like Lance Briggs. He’s a monstrous speedster, great in a coverage, whose range and length impacts throwing lanes as well as any linebacker in the league.
  • And I say this as someone who hasn’t missed a Bills game in several years. I had a business relationship with the head of Bills Mafia. One of my best friends is a die hard, and another close friend works in their building. I know that roster as well as I know the one in Chicago.
• The battle has been waged and PFF has won. So many fans, and now media members, use their absurd grades in arguments now. These grades have zero value in NFL front offices but that doesn’t seem to matter in the public debate. PFF is in the bloodstream.
• Every single starter on the 2022 Eagles offense was acquired via the draft, with AJ Brown being acquired with draft picks. Yet fans still think you can buy your way out of the basement in free agency. Bears fans on Twitter really wanted the Bears to buy a dozen new starters. When has that ever worked in the sport?
• In the “what have you done for me lately” department: it has been amazing how many fans simply moved on from the DJ Moore acquisition, the most important acquisition made by any team this off-season. Moore is a veritable Number One receiver, and the consensus is one of those was not available in FA or the draft.
• Two things that are driving much of the debate re: the Bears, and neither are surprising.
  • Fan obsession with Justin Fields. For many of these social media folks, arguing about Fields on the platforms is a full-time job. Poles not overpaying for a mid-level right tackle is considered a personal insult by many of these folks.
  • Fan belief in the quick turnaround. Can the Bears win the NFC North? Yep. Lions are currently +160, Vikings +275, Bears +330 and Packers +400 to win it. It is a crap shoot. But this will not be a championship-contending roster, even with a remarkable draft class. This is the year where the club/program needs to show significant progress and play meaningful games in the second half of the schedule.

DBB is on spring break this week. And in lieu of spending the week drunk and shirtless in Daytona Beach, I’m hanging out with Sarah and the cats in Queens while doing very little mental labor. So, we’ll start this week with a series of three open threads during the legal tampering period and opening day of free agency, allowing the comments section to be the place to discuss the moves/non-moves. Thursday we will return with some longer reflections. 

DBB is on spring break this week. And in lieu of spending the week drunk and shirtless in Daytona Beach, I’m hanging out with Sarah and the cats in Queens while doing very little mental labor. So, we’ll start this week with a series of three open threads during the legal tampering period and opening day of free agency, allowing the comments section to be the place to discuss the moves/non-moves. Thursday we will return with some longer reflections. 

DBB is on spring break this week. And in lieu of spending the week drunk and shirtless in Daytona Beach, I’m hanging out with Sarah and the cats in Queens while doing very little mental labor. So, we’ll start this week with a series of three open threads during the legal tampering period and opening day of free agency, allowing the comments section to be the place to discuss the moves/non-moves. Thursday we will return with some longer reflections. 

Compensation update, per sources: Bears trading No. 1 overall pick to Carolina for:

pick No. 9
pick No. 61
a first-round pick in 2024
a second-round pick in 2025
WR DJ Moore pic.twitter.com/hHrHn1UIR2

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2023

The Academy Awards are this Sunday, and normally I would be publishing a lengthy piece on my favorite films of the year at the end of the week. (With Maciej publishing the day before.) But this year, quite frankly, I forgot. And I could also make the argument I did not love any films released in 2022, though I’ll mention two below, that I’m excited to revisit.

Having returned to the academic world of Cinema Studies, the discipline in which I received my BA 18 years ago, I found myself in a constant process of cinematic discovery, beginning with my preparations last summer. So today I am sharing my favorite of those discoveries, a film I consider landmark, the Michael Curtiz/John Garfield collaboration, The Breaking Point.

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Team Need Score: 10/10. Is McGlinchey a great tackle? No. But he’s a solid, professional starter and this offensive line could desperately use his reliability and leadership.

2022 Highlights on YouTube: #49ers RT Mike McGlinchey vs Raiders Maxx Crosby (Week 17) – YouTube

PFF Contract Projection: “On its list of the top unrestricted free agents available this offseason, Pro Football Focus ranks McGlinchey as No. 10 with a projected four-year contract worth $62 million.”

Analysis: “Losing McGlinchey, despite his inefficiencies, would be huge for the 49ers if they don’t have an apparent replacement of his caliber, given what he does in the running game and that pass protection has already been an issue at times this season, especially in the playoffs.” Read the entire piece HERE.

Team Need Score: 5/10. Schultz is not a great blocker, so it’s unlikely he’ll have much appeal to this run-first coaching staff. But the Bears need to keep adding weapons in the passing attack and Schultz has shown an ability to find holes in defensive zones. He’s an incredibly productive pass-catching tight end.

2022 Highlights on YouTube: Dalton Schultz 2022-23 Full Season Highlights – YouTube

Draft Network Contract Projection: “The deal will be for four years and worth somewhere in the range of $57.5-58 million for an average annual value between $14.375-14.5 million, making him the second highest-paid tight end in the NFL.”

Analysis: “The question now becomes who among this group becomes the main security blanket for Dak Prescott in 2023? While Schultz has not put up numbers resembling the likes of Travis Kelce or George Kittle, he has become a reliable target in the passing game. Since he arrived in Dallas as a fourth round pick out of Stanford, Schultz has quietly become one of the Cowboys’ biggest weapons on offense.” Read the whole story HERE.