LOWER THE BOOM – FREE AGENCY EDITION
I’ve been off for a couple of weeks and am a little backed up, so it’s time to let loose and LOWER THE BOOM on Chicago Bears GM Jerry Angelo. Hey, somebody wake Jerry up so he can show off his “geniusness.” The NFL’s free agency period began nearly a week ago and all the Bears have to show for their efforts is the signing of career backup offensive lineman Frank Omiyale. While real NFL teams go out and acquire real NFL players like Albert Haynseworth, TJ Houshmandzadah and Matt Cassel, Jerry is content to hang back and wait. For what, I have no idea.
The Kansas City Chiefs acquired hot QB prospect Matt Cassel and veteran linebacker Mike Vrabel from the New England Patriots for a high 2nd round pick. Um, Jerry, we have the #18 pick in the first round and chances are there will not be a QB of Cassel’s caliber available at that spot in the draft.
A side story coming out of the Cassel trade is that the Denver Broncos tried to trade for Cassel and would have subsequently moved Pro Bowler Jay Cutler to make room for a QB better suited to new Bronco head coach Josh McDaniels‘ system. Rumor has it that Cutler was close to being moved to the Tampa Bay Bucs for the #19 pick. Um, Jerry, we have the #18 pick and I am quite certain that there will not be a quarterback with a Pro Bowl on his resume available in the first round. And to be quite honest, even if there were, you couldn’t find him.
Among the other top free agents to get away was former Bengal WR TJ Houshmandzadeh, who signed with Seattle. Here’s Jerry Angelo on Housh from Vaughn McClure’s Huddle Up blog on chicagotribune.com:
"Houshmandzadeh is a fine receiver. Would we have entertained him? Yes, but we wanted to see what his marketplace was. In this case, we felt like [what he received from the Seahawks] was an exorbitant amount of money. Remember, he was a No. 2 in Cincinnati. That’s not to say that what Seattle did wasn’t right for them; their situation is different in my mind than ours. They had an inordinate amount of injuries with receivers and they felt like they needed to get somebody that was established and healthy.A lot of teams would have liked to have had Houshmandzadeh. But he’s going to be 32 in ’09 and the price that you’re paying for that receiver we felt was very high. You have to look at economics when you look at players. Who doesn’t want Houshmandzadeh? But you have to look at the economics: What are the implications to the cap going forward and what does that prevent us from doing in other areas within our team and/or in free agency?"
Hey Jerry, how about the Bears set the market for once? You talk about how Seattle needing to get someone established and healthy. Um Jerry, which receiver on the Bears is “established,” Rashied Davis? Up until last season, Devin Hester needed someone to tell him where to go.
I hope my rant didn’t wake you from your nap. Would someone please wake up Jerry before the draft?