Friends of the Bears TE say he was not happy about the hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Martz and quietly sent his agent Drew Rosenhaus into “trade request” mode. Now it appears the Bears may have some takers in the Arizona Cardinals or New England Patriots.

The question is can the Bears trade Olsen man for man before some players like Antrel Rolle hit the free agent market? Or is Olsen even enough for a 2nd round pick come April?

As soon as anyone mentions the Cardinals, you can’t help but think of disgruntled wide receiver Anquan Boldin.  The Bears supposedly offered the Cardinals a second round pick last year but the Cardinals wanted more.  Now the Cards are supposedly even more motivated to move Boldin, who’s entering the last year of his contract.  It will be interesting to see if Olsen will be enough to pry the talented wideout from Arizona and get Jay Cutler and Mike Martz and new toy.

In my informal poll, more than half of respondents think that Mad Scientist Martz needs to adapt his offense around the personnel on the team while about 25% think Olsen should get going if the Bears could get a second round pick for him.

Dirty Uniform Test

Frankly, I’m getting tired of the writing the same keys to the game every week – run better this, defend better that, yada, yada, yada.  Here’s my prediction – the quarterback whose jersey is the dirtiest will be going home a loser.

Kurt Warner is coming off a 5 interception game in a home loss to the Carolina Panthers.  He is prone to make mistakes if under pressure.  Rod Marinelli’s “Rush Men” had better step up their game.  It’s iffy if one of Warner’s top targets, wide receiver Anquan Boldin, will play so the secondary can focus more attention on Larry Fitzgerald.   Maybe they can hold the Cards down to 4-5 TD’s.

One the other sideline, the Bears need to do all they can to keep Jay Cutler upright.  He got the crap beaten out of him last week against the lowly Cleveland Browns and won’t make it through the season at this rate.  Cutler has been pretty good at home and has actually taken decent care of the ball.

We are who they thought we were

Last time the Bears faced the Cardinals, we got this infamous tirade video from then-Cardinals coach Denny Green:  (more…)

Guys I Like this Week

1. Aaron Rodgers @ Tampa Bay – What’s a good cure for sore feet for a QB?  How about facing a Tampa D that has allowed 9 plays of more than 40 yds or more through the air, 16 passing TDs and has only mustered 11 sacks.  Yeah, they are that bad and should be changing back to the old creamsicle uniforms for good.
2. Chad Ochocinco vs Baltimore – Ocho has been RED HOT and you gotta ride him.  The Balt D comes in ranked 19th against the pass and while I think they can contain Ced much better than the Bears did, I think they will manage about as well against Ocho as the Bears did or maybe worse.  Tweet, Tweet!!!
3. Julius Jones vs Detroit – The Edge is gone and Forsett isn’t ready to steal many carries and likely won’t be a factor at the goalline.  Seattle needs to keep Hasselbeck upright for the rest of the season, so expect a lot of Juice Jones to keep the Lions off balance.  Plus, we are talking about the Lions D, right?  Go with Juice!
4. Matt Schaub/Andre Johnson @ Indy - The Colts may be starting at least 1 and likely 2 rookies at their CB positions this week…that’s right…rookies…Schaub and AJ must be licking their chops.  Even if the starters play, they will be limited by injuries and, ”Houston, we could have takeoff!!!”  (more…)

She may have dropped a couple, but she looked a heck of a lot better doing it than Rashied Davis.  She seemed to have a good rapport with Tillman.  Do you think she could play Free Safety?  Nice job Sarah!

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Let me preface my LOWER THE BOOM by saying that I understand that the Jay Cutler trade was a HUGE component of the Chicago Bears draft day.  I get it.  I appreciate what went into making that trade happen and will stand by the trade regardless of how everything with Cutler ultimately turns out.  I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again; Jerry Angelo identified a glaring hole on the Bears and made a bold move to address it.  Thank you Jerry!

Thank being said, WTF is going on up at Halas Hall?  The Bears entered the draft Saturday with only one selection, #49, midway through the 2nd round.   As fans watched NFC North opponents make pick after pick to bolster their teams, we sat idly by, rubbing our new Jay Cutler statues with eager anticipation that when pick #49 rolled around, the Bears would select a much-needed wide receiver or a safety to quarterback the defense.

As the picks went along in the 2nd round, I kept checking my draft board.  Delmas and Chung off the board right off the bat.  WR Brian Robiske selected by the Browns.  Damn.   Other positions falling off the board, but still a couple of players on the board.  The Raiders select a safety, but it’s a guy that Mel Kiper considered a 7th rounder!  What is Al Davis doing?  Thanks Raiders.  William Moore, the safety from Mizzou and Mohammed Massaquoi are still on the board as the Bears go on the clock.  Sweet!  We will get one of our guys.

Wait a second.  Instead, the Bears traded away their lone Day 1 selection to trade down for 3rd and 4th round picks from Seattle.   Why?  I think the Bears are taking the “throw enough crap at the wall and some of it is bound to stick” approach to the draft.

They head into Sunday with nine selections: two 3′s, two 4′s, two 5′s, a 6 and two 7′s.  Great.  We have a ton of Day 2 picks and there are certainly tons of holes to fill.  Let’s face it, though, Day 1 players are difference makers, Day 2 players are more hit or miss.  For every Lance Briggs you get a Michael Okwo or three.

The cherry on top of Day 1 is that Jerry Angelo claims to have been in negotiations with the Arizona Cardinals for disgruntled wide receiver Anquan Boldin.   This from Brad Biggs’ blog:

Bears fans, let’s play a little game called Would You Rather?  A lot has been made recently about the alleged availability of disgruntled Denver QB Jay Cutler.  I have been among many that have called for the Bears and Jerry Angelo to put together a “whatever it takes” package to go get a 26-year old Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback entering the prime of his career. Sure, he’s acting like a diva with the way new Head Coach Josh McDaniels handled the Matt Cassel situation, but I seem to recall a certain “Punky QB” that roamed the sidelines in the 80′s that had a bit of an attitude too. (more…)

• Word over the weekend that starting right tackle John Tait is thinking retirement. This leaves ‘rookie’ Chris Williams and undrafted free agent Cody Balogh as the only tackles signed to the roster. Methinks free agent tackle John St. Clair’s price tag just went up.

• The Bears cut ties with wide receiver Marty Booker and veteran safety Mike Brown. Book was largely ineffective in his return to the Bears last season, but did make this highlight reel catch against the hapless Lions earlier this season:

• Meanwhile the oft-injured Mike Brown spent more time in recent years on the sideline than on the gridiron. I’ll never forget the back-to-back INT returns for scores in overtime games back in 2001. I was at the Cleveland game and had all but given up. Check out this Best of Brown list here. Thanks for the memories Brownie!!

These departures  highlight a few of the areas where the Bears need to add depth during this offseason. Hopefully GM Jerry Angelo can make better adjustments to his draft plan than his coaching staff can make to their game plans. If not, it could be a rough 2009 season.

• Meanwhile, over on the Free Agent QB carrousel, add former Buc Jeff Garcia to the mix.  I’ve never been a fan of Garcia from back in his days in San Francisco and the journeyman signal caller certainly is not the long term answer, but if he’s looking for a place where he could start right away…
• Over at the Tribune, David Haugh suggests including face-of-the-franchise middle linebacker Brian Urlacher in a trade to get  Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin here.  A few years ago, I probably would have gotten in my car and driven down to Tribune Tower to slap David silly.  It’s not such a crazy idea now, but I guess my only thought is that the Bears might be selling low.  ‘Lach for Boldin straight up – take it and don’t look back.  Urlacher and their first round pick for Boldin and I might be more hesitant.

I’ll be “out of the office” for a couple of days as Mrs. Boomer will be delivering the newest Bears fan within the next day or two, so most likely the next time I check in, it’ll be as “Papa Bear” Boomer.  Wish us luck!

In case you’ve been sleeping under a rock, let me see if I can summarize.  The surprising Arizona Cardinals were playing the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game.  The Cardinals blew an 18 point first half advantage as the Eagles took a 4thquarter lead.  With the Cardinals trailing, OC Todd Haley took Anquan Boldin out of the game.  It is important to note that ‘Quan had pulled a hamstring two weeks before and was not operating at full strength.

As the Cardinal offense was on the move, Boldin decided it was a good time to blow up at his coordinator who was calling the plays on this crucial drive.  The Cardinals scored the winning touchdown and held on to secure their first-ever trip to the Super Bowl.  While his teammates celebrated on the field with the fans, Boldin bolted early to avoid the media.   Did I miss anything?

This quote from Boldin taken from a National Post article:

“I was mad because they took me out of the game, and I think any competitor would have had the same reaction.  A game of that magnitude, how close the game was, us potentially driving to score a touchdown, I want to be there. That’s just the type of guy I am.”

This from azcentral.com:

“For me, it’s hilarious.  I mean, I don’t want to sit here and dwell on it because it’s in the past, but that’s something that goes on every week in the NFL, whether people know it or not.”

Glad you think it’s so funny Anquan.  It may go on every week, but last Sunday was not every week; it was the NFC Championship Game.  And your team won.  That’s right, somehow they pulled it off with you on the sidelines.  In fact, they pulled it off while you were yelling at offensive coordinator Todd Haley while he was calling plays for the game-winning drive.

I guess the wide receiver fraternity (ΑΣΣ) was holding their initiation last weekend and you couldn’t pass on the opportunity to join the ranks of TO, Plaxico Burress, Chad Ocho-Cinco and the rest of the Prima Donna’s in making a complete ASS of yourself.

You’ve been clear about your feelings for the Cardinals since training camp.  But as your teammates celebrated the unlikely victory, you pouted and hustled out of the stadium.   Every kid that ever slapped on the pads from Pop Warner on up dreams of making it to the Super Bowl yet somehow, you thought it was more important for you to get your catches than for your team to win the game.  Somehow you thought it was about you and not the team.  Selfish much?  Your behavior was comparable to a Pop Warner 8 year old who got sent to bed without dessert. 

I had taken the position that the Bears work to get Boldin in the offseason, but perhaps I was mistaken.  Ex-Chicago Bear great Doug Buffone, frequent contributor and personality on The Score 670AM  , talks about the neanderthal gene being what made linebackers like himself and Dick Butkus great.  Is there a jackass gene that all talented wide receiver have?  Anquan, this wasn’t about you, it was about your team.  Hopefully you figure that out on the way to the Super Bowl.

BOOM!!!