this is the first I've heard this. What idiotic team was willing to give a fourth for Fields?

this is the first I've heard this. What idiotic team was willing to give a fourth for Fields?

Ben Johnson saw what anyone that knows anything about football saw last season, the interior of the oline was terrible and contributed significantly to the lack of offensive production.

Realize that many on the board do not think offensive line play matters, but interior pressure kills an offense, how many times did you see the Bears center or guards look totally confused or get blown up on a play last year. You also had your rookie QB making wrong line calls, you saw how he would take an extra second to try to figure out protections, Ryan Poles might be one of the dumbest guys in the NFL, you do not put all that on your rookie QB's plate, he might be able to figure it out a few years into his career, but not right away, he basically pissed away a year on his rookie QB window.

However, this all gets back to brutal Ryan Poles drafts which have severe consequences the following seasons as you have to trade away draft picks and blow cap space to paper over idiotic draft picks like Velus Jones.

One has to hope that Johnson is telling Poles to make these moves, if these moves work out it will make you wonder why they are keeping Ryan Poles around, if your HC has to tell your GM exactly what to do, do you really need a GM.

Hate to tell ya this "Amigo", but that is sort of the essence of how life works.

Playing well and still being in ones prime are not mutually exclusive. Especially in a game like football where performance can and often does drop off a cliff at a certain point.


This is still in line with Poles doing his same old shit. There’s a good chance Thuney gets released if a trade couldn’t be worked out for him. Poles continues to get pantsed in deals like this because he’s afraid to compete for FA’s and he’s afraid of the draft.


And this is why he should have been launched at seasons end and the coach and GM should have been lined up. Poles has changed nothing and learned nothing, he’s the same idiot that drafted Velus Jones and kept him too long, same idiot that traded away a 2nd round pick that wound up becoming a 1st round pick for a nobody WR that was about to get launched, and the same guy that obsessed over a perpetually injured back up O-lineman for years on end in Bates who was also about to touch grass before Poles traded for him.


Obviously I hope for the best, but I’m still going to call it for what it is -it’s a waste of resources and a reflection of can kicking incompetence on his end. Plain and simple.


Poles is who I thought he was.

I’d still like to see both lines prioritized throughout the early rounds.

There’s a good amount of RB depth in the draft if they really feel compelled to go there after the 3rd round.

My opinion is that Jeanty is a once in a decade game changing offensive player and the Bear's must get him in the first round even if they have to move up to get him.

Many of us here know offensive line play matters -how you go about getting there is where the disagreement comes in.


I don’t like the idea of giving up picks for players that are most likely going to get cut anyway -and then paying them which limits you in both FA and the draft simultaneously. I especially don’t like doing this with players that are often hurt or are in their 30’s. That’s not how you build for the future, it’s a bandage at best.

Caleb Williams isn't really a "true" rookie because he turned 23 late into his 1st season in the NFL!"

I agree with this take. The Poles era should have been done with Eberflus. These latest moves are just band-aids over a gushing fountain of blood, spraying the walls of Halas Hall.

Leaving Poles in charge of this mess is like having Jason Vorhees in charge of the company picnic.

I think Poles has mostly done a bad job in his tenure but the underlined part is just plainly not true. You don't understand how good Thuney still is.

It has nothing to do with how good he’s been up until this point -it’s a numbers game and KC has to cut cost somewhere and I’m betting he’d have been the odd man out if they couldn’t work out a trade.

I think Poles has mostly done a bad job in his tenure but the underlined part is just plainly not true. You don't understand how good Thuney still is.

Someone would have traded for him if the Bears didn't. Maybe they get a 5th instead of a 4th. Teams don't cut 1st team All Pro guys. I can't remember it ever happening.

Someone would have traded for him if the Bears didn't. Maybe they get a 5th instead of a 4th. Teams don't cut 1st team All Pro guys. I can't remember it ever happening.

He did not finish strong. That could be because they moved him to left tackle, that could be because he’s declining, it could be both. I’m a little wary that nobody beat this deal from the Bears, but I can explain that by reading between the lines I’m sure he wanted new money and was willing to hold out to get it.

It’ll be hard for this to go down as a bad trade. But it will be just as hard for the inevitable contract to not be a bad one too.

John Sullivan from the Vikings got cut after making first team All-Pro.

they just lost a superbowl because their line couldnt block 4. why did they trade an all pro off a line that wasnt good enough to begin with? they must think he's going to decline and it was time to sell high

Someone would have traded for him if the Bears didn't. Maybe they get a 5th instead of a 4th. Teams don't cut 1st team All Pro guys. I can't remember it ever happening.

Many of us here know offensive line play matters -how you go about getting there is where the disagreement comes in.


I don’t like the idea of giving up picks for players that are most likely going to get cut anyway -and then paying them which limits you in both FA and the draft simultaneously. I especially don’t like doing this with players that are often hurt or are in their 30’s. That’s not how you build for the future, it’s a bandage at best.

I think it's pretty obvious it's because he was playing LT out of position. He even held up fairly well in that spot except against Texans and Eagles, two of the best DLs in the league.


Fair point but Sullivan was hurt when he got cut, Thuney is not. Regardless, reports are already out there that other teams were interested in trading for him, so I think we can confidently put to bed the "would have gotten released" thing.

They are paying their center and other guard top of the market money already. They have a backup guard they supposedly like to step in. They very badly need a LT, seemingly are trying to redirect resources to that. It makes sense to me why the Chiefs felt they couldn't afford him and why the Bears can.

With these moves, their priority for the first two rounds should be DL/LT or DL/DL.

See this as more of a move to bring in vets who are smart enough to pick up blitzes and line stunts, expect teams to blitz Caleb early and often to see if he has learned how to read and react, having a few vets, especially one that knows Johnson's system is a smart move to aid the progression of your potential QB1. You will get a much better evaluation on Caleb with guys you know are competent on the interior and it will help your running game as well.

Another factor is the lack of quality offensive lineman available in free agency, you would have to overpay for these guys on the open market, they will still have to overpay for a center, but you then have upgrades at all three positions on the interior of your line, a competent RT, and still a huge hole at LT.

Wondering if they take a LT at #10, and go D line with the two second round picks, but would not be surprised if they take a RB with one of the second round picks.

They could have accomplished this by waiting for FA and grabbing a guy like Dalman (or Brooks and the handful of other quality vets hitting the market). Biggest difference there would be theyd still have thier picks and they’d have a dude entering his prime at 25 rather than age 32, or a guy coming off multiple seasons of being unhealthy. That’s a better approach to this imo.


The issue with this current approach is Thuney isn’t going to play for another 5 years and certainly won’t play at an All Pro level for that long if he does stick around. Jackson hasn’t been healthy the last couple of seasons and I’m not banking on that changing. This is the same pattern of patch work in the O-line that Poles has been guilty of since he got here. His process and decision making are bad.


Obviously I hope this works, and of course there’s a chance it does. But even so, it’s not the best way to do this imo

Caleb Williams isn't really a "true" rookie because he turned 23 late into his 1st season in the NFL!"

They still need top talent at both DT and DE. They have to have guys who can play well immediately, not just depth.

They could have accomplished this by waiting for FA and grabbing a guy like Dalman (or Brooks and the handful of other quality vets hitting the market). Biggest difference there would be theyd still have thier picks and they’d have a dude entering his prime at 25 rather than age 32, or a guy coming off multiple seasons of being unhealthy. That’s a better approach to this imo.


The issue with this current approach is Thuney isn’t going to play for another 5 years and certainly won’t play at an All Pro level for that long if he does stick around. Jackson hasn’t been healthy the last couple of seasons and I’m not banking on that changing. This is the same pattern of patch work in the O-line that Poles has been guilty of since he got here. His process and decision making are bad.


Obviously I hope this works, and of course there’s a chance it does. But even so, it’s not the best way to do this imo

But on the other hand you gotta stabilize the patient. If they gave up a second for him I’d be up in arms, but they gave up a 2026 fourth. Think of it like giving up a pick in the compensatory formula.

If they don't get Dalman then these moves look even worse. Moving Jackson to C or drafting a rookie C, I hope is not the plan. Sign Dalman, draft a couple OL in the draft and then I am on board.