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:

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Five thoughts:

• Jay Cutler looked terrific in his limited but not limited enough performance. He was decisive, accurate and did what he has always done: extended plays when there seemed to be nothing to extend. (What did I learn here? Nothing.)
• Alshon Jeffery played like a star. Why? Because he is a star. Do the Bears agree with that assessment? I’m not sure. But I am starting to get the sense that Alshon is going to run up his tab for 16 + games starting in September.
• Several players looked like they were guaranteed roster guys: Moeaki, Mariani, Thompson, Anderson (starting over Jones, Timu). As I always argue, teams know a bulk of their roster decisions well before a preseason game is ever played.
• The Bears don’t have a center on the roster. And they are one player deep at the other four spots. Offensive line is still a year away.
• Jeremy Langford showed what I didn’t need him to show. There won’t be a running back by committee in Chicago. Not if Langford runs like he did tonight.

UPDATE: FRIDAY AM

• Bears announced late last night that Kyle Fuller underwent a knee scope and is out for a while. I’ve heard talk of him playing the opener but the opener is in three weeks. The likelihood is Fuller returns 2-3 weeks into the season and, really, why rush him back before that?
• Of course 2 of the 4 roster guys I mentioned above got hurt. Both Thompson and Moeaki came out of the game dinged up. For Thompson, the injury is a brutal blow. The Bears want him to be their primary kick returner but  that means contributing across the specials landscape and possibly on offense. Missing significant time will be a massive hurdle for him to leap.
• Today’s buzz word will be “depth”. Watch. Last night was not an indictment of the team’s depth. No team has a good second or third unit. And the Besrs played almost a quarter with their 2s against the Pats 1s.
• But the Bears have zero depth at the two areas I’ve been pointing out all spring: secondary and OL. It’s why they are a year away from contending.