Once again, this feature will fill the Wednesday void throughout the 2014 season and sneak in each week until then on random days. 

Around the League Tweets, Dayton Flying Since ’13! 1 of 10. If you change evaluation of a player based on pro day, you lose all credibility.

2 of 10. No two figures mean more to Buffalo Bills fans than the late Ralph Wilson & the seriously ill Jim Kelly. Tough week in Western NY.

3 of 10. Most Bills fans I know believed once Ralph died the hourglass would flip on the team in Buffalo. Would be a sports tragedy.

4 of 10. If you had an emotional reaction to goalpost dunk ban, I question your stability. Unless you’re under 12 this shouldn’t matter.

5 of 10. So you can’t use the N-word or dunk. Goodell would have a heart attack watching the basketball court near my apartment in Queens.

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IS 2014 DL BETTER THAN 2013 ON PAPER?

Moon Mullin opens his CSN column, which dropped late Wednesday night, with a statement:

And now for a cold splash of perspective, one which I strongly suspect Bears general manager Phil Emery understands from painful experience:

Jared Allen or no Jared Allen, the Bears’ projected defensive line going into 2014 is arguably not as good as the one positioned to take the opening opponent’s snap in 2013.

I quite literally can’t disagree with this statement more. Here’s why:

• Everyone needs to stop with the Corey Wootton/Stephen Paea stuff. Without seeing these two players as overwhelming positives there was no way for Moon to make the statement his column makes and neither Wootton nor Paea is an overwhelming anything. They were and are below average defensive linemen who’ve been overly celebrated due to a dearth of talent along the line.
• The Bears now have three defensive ends (Houston, Young, Idonije) better than their second best defensive end a year ago.
• 2014 Jared Allen is an upgrade over 2013 Julius Peppers.

What do the Bears still lack? An interior pass rusher. That is why I stand by my belief that Phil Emery should swallow his mysterious medicine and draft the best defensive player in college football last year, Aaron Donald.

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If you follow DaBearsBlog on Twitter, you know that I’m going to win a billion dollars soon. So…I got that going for me. Which is nice. In the meantime I’ll continue living my life among the not-so-rich.

Three thoughts…

1. Everyone spent a month telling me that Lovie Smith was going to purge the Bears roster of all their talented players. Everyone spent a month telling me the allure of Lovie Smith would be too great for them. Corey Wootton. Minnesota. Henry Melton. Dallas. Julius Peppers. Green Bay. Charles Tillman. Home. Devin Hester. Atlanta. Major Wright. Mutual of Omaha. The only player Lovie pulled off the Bears roster was a man who owes his career renaissance to the man replacing Lovie. Is that ironic? It might be. I’m actually not sure.
2. I don’t understand fan reaction to players leaving their favorite team. There is no reason to root against Josh McCown or Devin Hester or Henry Melton now that they’re no longer a Chicago Bear. If there was no salary cap, all of these men would remain in the navy blue and orange for years to come but running a modern organization is about making difficult decisions without the luxury of sentiment. I hope Devin Hester breaks the record Week One for Atlanta, as long as the Bears don’t open the season there. Because nobody will remember him returning kicks for the Falcons. They’ll remember him returning kicks on the Drive.
3. A majority of the Tweets and emails I receive ask one question, “Who do you see the Bears drafting with the fourteenth pick?” Here is my answer: I don’t know. But one thing I truly believe is that no position on the defensive side of the ball is off the table. Yes there are pressing needs at DT and safety but if Emery identifies a potentially game-changing pass rusher, he’s taking him. If he identifies a potential shutdown corner, he’s taking him. I don’t think any of the moves made in free agency actually influence the draft approach, despite what Emery said in his press conference. As a matter of fact, I think Emery’s press conference statement that free agency will clue the media in to his draft approach is an old fashioned, transparent smokescreen.

Enjoy the weekend, poor people.

Around the League Tweet, Sponsored by Advil Cold & Flu. 1 of 10. Brandon Weeden & Tony Romo is officially my favorite position room in the NFL.

2 of 10. When the Colts released a statement following owner Jim Irsay’s arrest, who was “the Colts”? Wasn’t “the Colts” in a Carmel clink?

3 of 10. Would pay to see March scrimmage between Panthers current WRs and Jets current cornerbacks. Best play: Dee Milliner.#Serious

4 of 10. Hey James Jones. Aaron Rodgers ain’t walking through that door in Oakland. I’m not sure who is but I’m pretty sure he’ll stink.

5 of 10, Two Parts. Pro days are to NFL what agent showcases are to professional theatre actors. You do the monologue well, you get an agent. You get a guy to help find work. You don’t get lead in Goodman Theatre’s Iceman Cometh. Because the showcase isn’t real.

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Around the League Tweets, Free Agency Ya Next Tuesday! 1 of 10. Aren’t the Oakland Raiders lucky the Cleveland Browns exist?

2 of 10. Can’t imagine Darren Sproles would have chosen Philly as an FA. Doubtful he wanted a team with a more dynamic, faster back.

3 of 10. One of my biggest surprises: Andy Reid letting Dexter McCluster leave KC w/out a fight. Struck me as pivotal weapon for Chiefs.

4 of 10. Harbaugh acquiring Blaine Gabbert & Jonathan Martin is him sending message: I can get to NFC title game w/the worst players in NFL.

5 of 10. There’s only player outside a Chicago Bears uniform I pull for to win Super Bowl: Steve Smith. Pound for pound best player in NFL.

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The Around the League Tweets, DaBearsBlog’s claim to very little fame on Twitter, will be a feature on DBB each Wednesday moving forward as a way to tie the week together. You don’t like that? Too bad.

Around the League Tweets: Pre-Free Agency Edition! 1 of 10. The weekly feature returns from now through the NFL Draft! How excited are you?

2 of 10. Anything more transparently agent-driven than @AdamSchefter proposing GB give up two 1s for Jimmy Graham? Trying to create market.

3 of 10. Jim Harbaugh might end up having a little Larry Brown in him. Brilliant sports mind/coach who can’t handle one place for too long.

4 of 10. Say this every year but if every member of NFLPA hates idea of being franchise tagged, why didn’t they collectively bargain em out?

5 of 10. So now NFL will ask their refs to jump into piles of angry, juiced up players & make sure they don’t say bad things to each other?

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I was incredibly disappointed this morning to find out Aaron Donald ran a spectacular .40 time. It means teams will stop ignoring him and he may not be available at #14 – where the Bears should sprint to the podium to take him.

I promised to re-post some of the better comments to the previous approach. I’m doing that today. W

We start, because why not, with gpldan channeling his inner Mamet for a dose of well-timed dramatic comedy in reaction to the recent news that Shea McClellin is moving to linebacker:

Fans: He’d make a good linebacker
Bears: He’s NOT A LINEBACKER
Fans: He’s not a very good DE
Bears: He needs to get better but he will
Fans: Ok, he sucks
Bears: He doesn’t suck
Fans: Alex Brown blames him for all the containment issues
Bears: Football is a team sport
Fans: Ok, but maybe he could take Urlacher’s spot
Bears: He’s NOT A LINEBACKER
Bears: Ok, well maybe we’ll look at things, and he could be a Sam.
Fans: He’d be better at that
Bears: Shut up
Bears: Ok, he’s a Sam
Fans: He’s a bust, that’s what he is.

I’m not ready to jump on the bust bandwagon just yet (Bust Bandwagon, by the way, is my favorite porn western.) But the time is rapidly approaching. Here are some more fan responses.

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CONGRATS TO MICHAEL SAM

Michael Sam coming out as gay prior to the NFL Combine and NFL Draft is a rare moment of human courage that deserves to be celebrated. If you don’t believe Sam’s decision will impact his draft status, you’re living on Mars. A large contingent of individuals inside NFL locker rooms – many of whom are greatly influenced by religious beliefs – deplore homosexuality. Teams will avoid drafting Sam to avoid the “drama” associated with his presence in the locker room. The young man does not have an easy road but heroism is rarely easy.

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JAY CUTLER

Here are the details for the Bears quarterback, via Aaron Wilson at National Football Post:

In 2014, Cutler has a $22.5 million base salary and salary-cap figure with $2.5 million of his base salary deferred until March 30, 2014 in addition to another $2.5 million paid out over the 2015 regular season.

In 2015, Cutler has a $15.5 million base salary guaranteed and salary-cap figure.

In 2016, Cutler has a $16 million base salary and salary-cap figure.

In 2017, Cutler is due a $12.5 million nonguaranteed base salary and a $15 million salary-cap figure.

He has $2.5 million in per-game roster bonus paid out for $156,250 for every game he’s active.

In 2018, he has a $13.5 million nonguaranteed base salary with a $16 million salary-cap figure.

That includes the same $2.5 million per-game roster bonus.

In 2019, he has a $17.5 million nonguaranteed base salary with a $20 million salary-cap figure. It has the same $2.5 million per-game roster bonus.

In 2020, Cutler has a $19.2 million base salary plus $2.5 million per-game roster bonus.

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