Archive for April, 2010

It wouldn’t be an offseason in the NFC North without trying to figure out what Brett Farve will do in the upcoming season.  Favre-watch took an interesting turn today when #4 in Purple exchanged e-mails with ESPN’s Ed Werder, where he shared that he would need surgery in order to continue his career: “We have spoken,” Favre said in an e-mail. “To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 — much like Green [...]

Could the Bears exceed everyone’s expectations and be one of the “surprise teams” in 2010?  ESPN’s John Clayton seems to think so.  The Bears round out his Top 5 surprise teams for the upcoming season.  Here’s his view: 5. Chicago Bears: Don’t underestimate the influence of new coordinator Mike Martz on offense. Jay Cutler’s first year was a disappointment, but Martz has been able to add three to six points to offenses with quarterbacks less talented than Cutler. The Bears averaged 19.4 points a game last year. If Martz can add about four or five points a game through Cutler’s [...]

After crossing a big need off their wish list with the acquisition (or re-acquisition) of safety Chris Harris, there is still a major offseason need that has yet to be addressed – the offensive line. There was a brief window when we were left to dream about adding former Pro Bowler Alan Faneca, but that has come and gone, so naturally we have to ask who is left to turn our attention to fill the void at left guard in particular.  Some interesting names have bubbled to the surface: According to league sources, the Bears have had discussions with former [...]

Well that was quick.  If Chris Harris and Kevin Payne see each other, it will probably only be in passing at O’Hare.  The Bears traded Payne to the St Louis Rams for an undisclosed 2011 draft pick. Payne was part of a bevy of safeties and have been piling out of Jerry Angelo’s clown car in recent years.  He had a strong 2008 season, but took a step backwards last season.  He should have a better chance of playing meaningful snaps for the Rams.  Meanwhile, see what Michael Wright has to say about the current state of the Bears safety [...]

Chester Taylor continued the tradition of celebrities and new players in town singing the 7th inning stretch at the Cubs game.    It started off with him asking Bears fans if they were ready to win a Super Bowl and went downhill from there.  How bad was it?  See for yourself: That was Ditka-esque bad.  What you didn’t see in the video was Taylor chatting it up with Cubs announcers during the next half inning.  He asked if Northwestern was a good college football team here in “ILLINOIZ.”  Someone please correct this.  He’s new in town, so I’ll give him [...]

You probably won’t like the answer to The Alan Faneca Question.  The answer?  Not Chicago.  New York Jets’ castoff Faneca is reportedly re-uniting with former offensive line coach Russ Grimm in Arizona.  Faneca played under Grimm back in Pittsburgh at the height of his career. I’ve already presented some numbers showing why he may or may not be a good fit.  In my unscientific poll, BGO readers overwhelmingly wanted to bring him to town, with nearly half of all readers suggesting that we get him only if he comes cheap.  The deal is said to be a 1-year pact worth [...]

This just in from Carolina Panther Chris Harris’ Twitter page: Early word out of Halas Hall has veteran linebacker Jamar Williams headed to Carolina in exchange for Harris. This from Brad Biggs’ conversation with Harris:

As soon as news broke on Saturday that the Jets were going to release Alan Faneca, Bears fans started drooling.  Even if Jerry Angelo wasn’t going to address offensive line in the draft, this could be the answer to their prayers.  Let’s take a closer look to see if this move really makes sense. Bears fans have seen both sides of this type of situation.  Of course, Orlando Pace is fresh in our minds for how signing a veteran offensive lineman is NOT supposed to work.  Pace quickly demonstrated that his best days were behind him. On the other hand, [...]