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Strider
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Dec 26 2004, 07:49 PM
Post #1
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Legend
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DETROIT -- Today, Marc Colombo returns to the position Bears general manager Jerry Angelo envisioned him manning for years.
The first-round draft pick in 2002 will make his first start in more than 25 months at left tackle against the Detroit Lions, a move that gives the Bears two games to evaluate his progress in a comeback from a serious injury to his left knee. If the spot duty he already has received is an indication, it's not a position the Bears figure him to be in too long. And after what amounts to an entire season at left tackle, Qasim Mitchell has proved his future is as a swing tackle or guard. After all, he came over from the Cleveland Browns as a guard.
Angelo named left tackle his No. 1 priority last offseason, and the best he could do was find a top-tier right tackle in John Tait, not a bad move but also not a solution. Tait always could switch in the offseason, but he has made it clear he prefers the right side. There are a few developmental options on the roster, but none who figure to amount to anything spectacular.
The man Angelo has been looking for might be available sooner than you would imagine and come without the uncertainty that comes with draft picks, even top-10 selections. Walter Jones, the rock of a left tackle the Seattle Seahawks have placed the franchise tag on the last three seasons, is likely headed to free agency.
The Bears have a well-earned reputation for being frugal, but their financial wherewithal doesn't even approach that of Seahawks owner Paul Allen, one of the richest men in the world. That's why it's amazing the Seahawks have 16 players set for unrestricted free agency, seven of them starters, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and running back Shaun Alexander. Only one player can wear the franchise tag, and Jones just might get his freedom and the signing bonus he has held out for the last three summers.
How important is a left tackle? Consider that of the 11 teams with the most sacks allowed entering Week 16, only the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings have winning records. The Bears lead the league with 55, a franchise record certain to grow. Jones isn't just a solution, he's a fortress. The five-time Pro Bowl pick entered this month without allowing a sack, and while he will be 31 next month, he has missed only six games in his career. The Bears' biggest issue for the last decade has been at quarterback, and Jones is the best insurance policy you can find for Rex Grossman's health.
If Jones enters the free-agent market in March, the Bears will be in a long line of teams pursuing his services. While they have said the $33.4 million contract given to defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, including the $10 million signing bonus, would somewhat curtail their spending in 2005, Angelo can't wait. The club has made the playoffs once in the last 10 seasons, and he knows that winning, not saving money, is the key to his future. After all, it was this coming week last year that he said the next autopsy would be his after firing coach Dick Jauron.
There's no way Jones comes cheap, or easily, but the Bears have a strong relationship with his representatives, power brokers Eugene Parker and Roosevelt Barnes. You would think the bidding would be in the range of what the Baltimore Ravens gave left tackle Jonathan Ogden, $53 million for seven seasons with a $15 million signing bonus.
The Bears' salary cap isn't wide open, but there's room for such a deal. If Angelo could add Jones, he would have 17 Pro Bowl trips on the offensive line alone, counting guard Ruben Brown and center Olin Kreutz. Figuring out who the second guard is -- perhaps Terrence Metcalf -- would be the only dilemma facing the unit, and that would allow Angelo to seek playmakers in the draft.
And there will the domino effect. Ryan Diem will want something in that range (little less) and then Kareem McKenzie will want something around that range. And those ranges will all be out of our range. Looks like it'll be more DEPTH for us.
We're the little boy who walks into the candy store with $0.06 cents and asks what he can get for that. Grandpa Wellington still thinks that its 1938 and a nickel can buy the groceries. Actually, as I'm tying, I found a better comparison. We're the kid that got $100 dollars for his birthday and blew it all on a shitty toy in Toys 'R Us (Shuan Williams and Luke Pettitgout) then days later, he realizes that he could have gotten the same thing for half the price at Kay Bee. While there, he sees something that he'd have loved much more than the one he bought and wishes he hadn't wasted his money. <- That's us. :yes:
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YankeeGiantAQPHB
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Dec 27 2004, 08:53 AM
Post #2
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Dude, you're so banned
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Like you said before, we got the real life C. Montomery Burns owning this team. Every year we have needs and they don't get addressed. And if we do spend money, it's spent on retaining the services of players we could have done better going after a FA with that money.
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