Bleacher Bums Forum

Bears sign some futures to contracts:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-bears-sign-eight-to-futures-contracts-20170103-story.html#nt=oft01a-6li2

Figures the one position coach who had someone break out as a star:

The idea there could be changes to the Bears coaching staff isn’t a revolutionary one, since they went 3-13 this season.

But the first one might not be the one we expected.

According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, Bears running backs coach Stan Drayton is leaving for a college job, reportedly at the University of Texas.

Drayton’s work this year was impressive, as fifth-round rookie Jordan Howard ran for 1,313 yards, which was second in the league.

Of course, there has been plenty of speculation about other changes there, specifically with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.

Head coach John Fox and General Manager Ryan Pace are meeting with the media this morning, and those jobs will certainly be a topic of conversation.

Bears presser over. Bears still excited but know they have work to do

It feels like another playoff irrelevant season upcoming, unfortunately.....

Was hoping to see a much better team at the end of the season than at the beginning, but it just does not feel that way.......

Baby steps have been taken, but another sub .500 season (or a season that is over before week 6 like it was this year) will put this disappointing franchise into free- fall mode (if it is not already)......

It kind of feels like the mid-70s again (without Walter although Howard is a find). You just know the team will show up but just do something stupid that they cannot ever seem to recover from to win the game (At least that was my perception back when I was a kid and started watching this team).....

Here's hoping that light at the end of the tunnel leads this team out of the darkness, and not a train coming down the tracks......

Am I missing something with the Jeffrey situation?  I've read numerous articles that the Bears just can't afford to tag him the second time.  Why not just sign the guy to a contract - is that not an option?

He had two nice seasons in 2013 and 2014 and had some injuries in 2015.  In 2016 he made a mistake with the banned substance.  So did Josh Freeman and he was the best defender on the team and I don't hear anyone bad mouthing him.

You all know Jeffery is a very talented receiver, easily the best on the Bears and I don't hear hardly any support for him.  We have plenty of cap space and wouldn't have to address WR in the first 3 or 4 rounds if we signed him for next year.

I know he ONLY had 800 yards last season but his presence on the field opened it up for guys like Meridith and Deonte Thompson.  And he's only 26.

I guess there must a bunch of free agent wide receivers or top receivers in the draft that we can go after rather than addressing other positions of need.  Or are we counting on Meridith and Thompson next year hoping that White, Wilson and Royal rebound from their recent injury woes?  Oh yeah, i forgot we also had Jay Bellamy.

Come up with a contract that adds performance bonuses and move on.

From Pace's comments, without saying it, Cutler is gone.  I think he just put a for sale sign on him by saying he is way ahead of schedule so teams with a need and optimism will come and kick the tires.

I believe Jeffrey is more likely to be resigned than not.  I was thinking, what are the other tags out there we could use?  Isn't there a transition tag - something that does not set the compensation as high as the franchise tag.  If we were offered a 1st for Jeffrey, you would have to think about it, but I agree that we should not release one of the few known plus players we have.

Even if you lose Jeffry for a first round pick chances are good as not you end up drafting a Lequan Treadwell.

Other than Amari Cooper there hasn't been a receiver better or equal to Jeffrey drafted the last two years.