Your Turn: How impactful do you think Keenan Allen will be next year?
All-22uesday Review: What Does Keenan Allen Bring to the Bears?
Your Turn: How impactful do you think Keenan Allen will be next year?
See you later this evening for tonight’s stream.
Dreaming: Double slant with Keenan Allen against single high coverage. LB and NCB squeeze Keenan, Caleb pushes to DJ Moore. Hits him in stride.
Suddenly one of the league’s most dangerous YAC threats is 1 on 1 with the Safety at full speed.
Inject it into my veins.
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 18, 2024
Your Turn: How are you feeling today?
If you’re reading this blog, you know what happened this weekend. The 11th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft was traded from Chicago to Pittsburgh on Saturday for a 4th round conditional pick in next year’s draft.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1769131145688461483
There will be a new QB in Chicago, and by all accounts that will be Caleb Williams. Williams will immediately walk into one of the best supporting casts that a #1 pick has had in recent memory. It’s an exciting time to be a Bears fan, if bittersweet.
All the best to Justin, he’s done nothing but represent Chicago well during his time as a Bear. He deserved a shot elsewhere, and I’m glad he’ll get one in Pittsburgh.
Everyone gets to turn the page. Fans, players, and front office members. Whatever happens from here, it’ll be an off-season to be remembered.
Nick and I recapped the weekend on the latest episode of Bear With Us — check it out and let me know what you think.
Your Turn: What’s your take on the Fields trade?
He doesn’t really care about you, Mr. Meatball.
He doesn’t care about your voracious desire for big-ticket free agent acquisitions.
He doesn’t care about your “we want Fields” chants on a blustery Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field.
You wouldn’t pay a running back? He will.
You wouldn’t pay an off-ball linebacker? He’ll pay two.
You’re obsessed with the nonsense that has come to be called “good process.” He’s concerned with only one process: his.
Ryan Poles has a stubborn vision for how he intends to build the Chicago Bears into a contender and that stubbornness is why it feels like the Bears are finally in the right hands. It is a stubbornness that requires an ability sorely lacking since Jerry Angelo was unfairly chased out of town: self-awareness. When Poles interviewed for this job, he spent most his time with George McCaskey and Ted Phillips explaining all the deficiencies in the roster. He was not kind about his predecessor, and he did not sugarcoat what he believed was required to clean up the mess. In year one, he tore it all down. In year two, he began to reassemble. Many would argue that a general manager’s third year is when pressure to contend surfaces, but Poles knows that is not where the Chicago Bears currently sit in the NFL landscape, especially because they are about to take a quarterback with the first pick in the draft.
Would Christian Wilkins and Danielle Hunter have made the Bears better in 2024? Sure. But neither would make the Bears title contenders, and both would eat up sizable cap space in the future. Poles values flexibility. It’s a word he must have used 300 times in his post-season presser when discussing potential offensive coordinator hires. He’ll use this off-season to improve the roster and expect that improved roster to be playing January football this season. Then he’ll put the finishing touches on his rebuild next off-season, and expectations will rise.
In the meantime, the Bears will continue filling holes with cheaper veterans (Coleman Shelton at center) and hope those cheaper veterans become indispensable, requiring extensions (Andrew Billings). And they’ll wait and see if they can finally get correct the most important position in team sports: quarterback.
UPDATE: On Thursday evening, Ryan Poles executed the trade for Keenan Allen.
Once again, prudence and patience won the day for Ryan Poles.
Having to part with only a mid-round pick, the Bears will now roster their best receiving duo since Marshall and Jeffery. DJ Moore and Keenan Allen will provide the incoming quarterback two of the most reliable outside targets in the sport, and arguably change the expectations level for the coming campaign.
Late last night, the Chicago Bears acquired Chargers all-star WR Keenan Allen for their 4th round pick (#110) in the 2024 NFL Draft. I’ve got some quick thoughts on the move:
My overall grade? I like it. The fun factor is ~10/10. I’ve also already assumed that Matt Eberflus begged Poles to let him draft a 1st round defender anyways, so if this move is Poles’ way of making sure Chicago has weapons for a key 2024 season? I dig it.
This does make me wonder what the Bears’ plan is at WR going forward, but we can cross that bridge later. I’d love to draft a 2nd or 3rd round WR to develop throughout the year (Keon Coleman, Roman Wilson, Ricky Pearsall, etc), but I don’t know that the Bears will prioritize that. Also, is Keenan getting extended past 2024? I could see it, but he’ll be 33 next season. We’ll have to wait and see.
For now… Chicago added a 6-time Pro Bowler that’s a god amongst chain-moving WRs. He pairs perfectly with DJ Moore’s ability to threaten all levels of the field as well — those two should be monsters in 12-personnel.
I’m excited to see how this plays out — what an exciting time to be a Bears fan! What will Poles do from here? We’re just going to have to wait and see,
Below I threw in some of my favorite clips from a light film study last night — check it out and let me know what you think.
DJ Wonnum is also a target of the Bears and is expected to do his free agency visit in Chicago tonight https://t.co/rxUdzFzewF
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) March 14, 2024
Kevin Byard, D’Andre Swift, Gerald Everett, and Jonathan Owens are now Chicago Bears! But how good are they? What do they bring to the team? And who remains unsigned that Ryan Poles may target? Robert & Nick review all this and more on the latest episode of Bear With Us!
Your Turn: Who’s left out there that you’d like to see signed?
The Signing:
Bears, RB D’Andre Swift agree on a three-year, $24 million deal. (via @MikeGarafolo + @rapsheet) pic.twitter.com/pN5fqVTKVo
— NFL (@NFL) March 11, 2024
According to a PFF metric called “True Cap Space” (shown below), your Chicago Bears have the 3rd most cap space to make use of over the next few days.
Does that mean we’ll see splash signings? I really don’t know — Ryan Poles’ cagey approach to the Bears’ Free Agency plans has left me grasping at straws when looking for future moves. But with cap space like this to burn, I’d be surprised if Chicago doesn’t have at least one major signing by the time Monday’s dust has settled — who will it be? Let’s find out together.
The fact that we heard a lot about coaches willing to take over LAC was either
– a sign that those coaches have little idea which teams are well-prepared for the mid-term future
– a sign that ressources don't matter when coaches want to work w/ Justin Herbert.
Probably both. pic.twitter.com/cTQFsbXxF4
— Timo Riske (@PFF_Moo) March 10, 2024
As if he’s anticipating a big week, Ryan Poles got the Bears’ Free Agency party started early with the signing of former Titans and Eagles safety Kevin Byard — my brief thoughts on him are listed below, but we’ll have more on each of the signed Free Agents later throughout the week.
Kevin Byard's tape has Eberflus written all over it. I can see why the #Bears felt they needed to move quickly with him.
Handles deep space well in both half-field & center-field roles, but his eyes stand out to me — he reads the offense with confidence & breaks accordingly.
— Robert Schmitz (@robertkschmitz) March 11, 2024
The “legal tampering” period begins Monday, and a lot is set to change around the NFL. Here are my thoughts on everything.
