Great Idea: The Bears and Calvin Johnson

One of my buddies brought this to my attention, and needless to say it got me excited. There is a chance the Bears could get Calvin Johnson. Everyone knows Detroit wants to trade out of the two hole, presumably to land Gaines Adams, a guy who Rod Marinelli envisions playing the Simeon Rice role in Detroit's new look defense. So here's what the Bears do. First, they make the Briggs trade with the Redskins.

I've said all along that the Bears should just sign Briggs to a long term deal- they have the cap room and weakside linebacker is vital to the cover 2- but Angelo said last week that a long term deal is very unlikely at this point. So the Bears have to make a trade and the deal with the Redskins is a pretty good one. That will put them at #6. If JaMarcus Russell goes number 1, there is going to be a bidding war for Detroit’s number 2 selection that will most likely include the Falcons and Bucs. The Bears should get in on that.

As I detailed in an earlier post, the Bears really don’t need anyone who would be available at six, but they could definitely use Calvin Johnson, the best player in this draft and possibly the best wide receiver prospect ever. The Bears should outbid Tampa Bay and Atlanta, and go hog wild to make a deal with Detroit happen. They might have to give up a lot- a few years ago the Browns gave the Lions their next years first round pick just to move up one spot to grab Kellen Winslow Jr.- but it would be worth it.

Just imagine CJ in a Bears uniform. He’d immediately be the Bears #1 receiver and could dominate a relatively weak pool of NFC North defensive backs right away. The best part of potentially grabbing Johnson? He would make Rex Grossman awesome. No NFL player was more maligned last year then Grossman, but give him Calvin Johnson and there is at least a 50% chance he turns into the best quarterback in the NFC. You couldn’t build a more perfect receiver for Grossman then CJ, a guy who’s basically a cross between T.O. and Randy Moss without the character issues. Rex could take his seven step drops- out of the shotgun this year!- and chuck it down field all game long. Johnson has the speed (4.35) and size (239 lbs) that he would come down with those jump balls all the time. How unreal would a Bears offense be that pounded the rock with Cedric Benson on first and second down and then chucked it downfield to CJ whenever they needed a big play. You could not tell me that wouldn’t work.

Of course, the deal would be contingent on the Raiders taking Russell number 1, something that is looking less likely as we inch towards the draft. But if Johnson is available at 2, Jerry Angelo would strongly have to consider trading up in the draft for the first time in his tenure.

Bears Schedule Announced

People are going to be talking about how hard this Bears schedule is, but it isn't that bad. The first three games, at San Diego, and at home against KC and Dallas, are going to tough, but the Bears still have six games against the NFC North which isn't very good.

Yeah, Green Bay showed improvement last year by finishing 8-8 with the youngest team in the league, but the Packers roster isn't exactly loaded with talent. Minnesota is going to be a joke unless they can get a quarterback (otherwise let the Tavarus Jackson Era begin!), and Detroit should be better but their defense is still a couple years away from letting them compete (even if they do draft Gaines Adams).

A road test at Phili in the middle of the year should be a decent barometer to find out how good this Bears team is really going to be, and weeks 11-13 could be tough as Seattle always plays pretty well at home and facing Denver is never easy. At least the last half of the Bears schedule should allow them to build up some momentum for the postseason. They have New Orleans the last game of the season, but things should be pretty much wrapped up by then (no one else in North should finish better than 7-9), and I'd be surprised if the Saints even made the playoffs this year. Just taking a quick look at the schedule I'm going to say the Bears should win at least 11 or 12 games easy, with or without Lance Briggs.

week 1: @ San Diego
week 2: vs. Kansas City
week 3: vs. Dallas
week 4: @ Detroit
week 5: @ Green Bay
week 6: vs. Minnesota

week 7: @ Philadelphia

week 8:vs. Detroit
week 9: Bye
week 10:@ Oakland
week 11: @ Seattle
week 12: vs. Broncos
week 13: vs. Giants
week 14: @ Washington (Thursday Night)
week 15: @ Minnesota (Monday Night)
week 16: vs. Packers
week 17: vs. Saints

Great Idea: The Bears and Lance Briggs

One of the reasons the Bears are hesitant to move Lance Briggs is because they don't know what they would do with the Redskins draft pick, #6 overall. There will be some great players available at a lot of different positions, but the Bears already have very few holes as it is.

Why would the Bears take Gaines Adams when they already have Ogunleye, Brown, and Anderson? Why would they take a defensive tackle like Amobi Okoye or Alan Branch (who wouldn't fit into their system anyway) when they just signed Anthony Adams to a four year contract, are getting back a totally healthy Tommie Harris (who'll be in for a big pay day soon), still have Tank Johnson, and get last year's third round pick, Dusty Dvoracek, back from injury? The Bears are one of the few NFL teams that don't need a cornerback (Vasher, Tillman, and Manning Jr. are all good), and they addressed their safety issues by acquiring Adam Archuleta. Also, none of the linebackers in this year's class are good enough to warrant the sixth pick.

Basically the Bears would be creating a hole and filling it with depth at other positions. That doesn't make any sense. With the amount of money you have to pay the sixth overall pick, is the trade really worth it?

Well Jerry Angelo, here's what you should do, bro. First off, offer Briggs one last long term contract. We know you don't want to tie up so salary cap space in linebackers, but Briggs is worth it. He's either your second or third best player, and his weakside linebacker position is so vital to the cover 2. If he turns it down give him the middle finger and trade him to the Skins' for the pick.

With that pick, #6 overall, take LaRon Landry, a guy who is one of the safest prospects in the draft. He'd start right away and he'll be one of the leagues top safeties in about a year. He's that good.

But then who'll fill Briggs' outside linebacker position, you ask? Adam Archuleta. Before you call this crazy, think about what Archuleta has done his entire career and why he struggled in Washington. He played linebacker in college, so you know he has some instincts already, and he has always been a guy who has excelled playing in the box (just look at his girlfriend). In the cover 2, linebackers play in deep zones anyway, so his experience at safety will only help. He got benched in Washington last year because they tried to make him into a cover oriented safety, which he couldn't handle. He'd be a perfect linebacker in the cover 2 and he's big enough (6'0, 223) where you would only have to bulk him up about 10 pounds.

No one wants to lose Briggs but the way he's acting and with the agent he has, you might have to. If you're going to trade him, the sixth pick is pretty good compensation for a guy that bitched his way out town. Landry is stud and will be better then Chris Harris and Daniel Manning combined from day one, and Arch gets to restart his career with a new team and new position. God, I'm a genius.

Briggs to the Redskins for #6?

As SportsNite on Comcast Sports Net went off the air, they mentioned an intresting trade rumor regarding the Bears and Lance Briggs. The Redskins are reportedly offering the sixth pick in the upcoming draft to the Bears for Briggs and the Bears first round pick, #31. Obviously, getting the #37 pick from the Jets in exchange for Thomas Jones makes the trade a possibility. I love Briggs, but he's being a complete thug right now. If he's gonna keep up his whole "I'm never playing another down for the Bears again" thing, then this would be a great trade. Ideally, I'd rather the Bears just sign Briggs to a long extension (they had $17 million in cap room before the Anthony Adams signing) then trade him, but I'm shocked that the Bears could still get this much value for Briggs after he basically demanded a trade. Usually that kills someone's trade value, like it did for the Toronto Raptors when they traded Vince Carter to the Nets for the center formerly known as Alonzo Mourning. I say if the Bears don't want to give Briggs a long term deal, and if he isn't going to play with a franchise tag, then make this trade. Apparently, Briggs is meeting tommarow with Jerry Angelo to see if they can work something out. With that sixth pick the Bears could have their choice of guys like Amobi Okoye, Alan Branch, LaRon Landry, Patrick Willis, or Gaines Adams.

Mock Draft coming soon...5 picks at a time.

Bears Steal Archuleta

A frustrating offseason finally yeilded some good news Wednesday when the Bears acquired Adam Archuleta from the Washington Redskins for a sixth round draft pick. Playing much of the year and throughout the playoffs with rookie Daniel Manning and second year pro Chris Harris at the two safety spots, a veteren safety was argueably the Bears biggest need.

Though he was considered a free agent bust for the Redskins- after recieving a 6 year 30 million dollar contract in the offseason, he didn't even get on the field in the second half- Archuleta should fit the Bears cover 2 defense perfectly. He started at safety for the Rams as a rookie in 2001 Super Bowl, a defense lead by Lovie Smith, and was a near pro bowl performer for St. Louis until he signed with Washington.

The move gives the Bears a of couple options. Archuleta would seem like a natural fit at strong safety, so veteren Mike Brown can move back to free safety, a position he played early in his career. If Brown continues to have injury problems, and he may not even be back for training camp after he tore his Lisfranc ligament in his right foot last season, then Manning, the teams first selection in last years draft, can play free safety.

If Brown and Archuleta are able to both be on the field at the same time, it would only bolster a Bears defense that showed signs of slowing down in the second half of 2006. That would also allow the Bears to experiment with moving Manning to cornerback. While it may not seem like a pressing issue right now, Charles Tillman and Nathan Vasher are slated to become free agents after 2007. The Bears figure to sign one of them, most likely Tillman, but it's unlikely both would be resigned because the Bears don't like locking up alot of their salary cap space in one position.