This was a very slick move by Angelo. He took advantage of the situation and made the Bear defense a lot stronger and deeper. Now Dusty D can ease his way into the rotation. Good deal.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Where's the money, Lebowski?

Somebody is getting cut...

If Thomas Jones is a 2nd round pick, the Alex Brown is a 2nd day pick

The Giants may be desperate at DE with Strahan holding out. They may remember the times Alex has completely destroyed their team. Alex might be all pro if he could just play in the meadowlands 8 times a year.

No way. Thomas Jones was a second-tier running back, a very fungible position, and rather advanced in football years. Alex Brown is a second-tier player at a position where sometimes such players can be hard to find, and is still young. Besides, there's a huge amount of difference between a trade before the draft and a trade in training camp at a position of need. Anything lower than a third is unwarranted at this point- get back to me after the season, however, especially after the Harris signing and possible Rex signing.

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Fire Phil Emery

By the way, Thomas Jones was essentially traded for a 3rd round pick. We did not receive a 2nd rounder for him. We swapped our late 2nd round pick for the Jets’ high 2nd round pick.

Don't underestimate the media...Thomas Jones plays for the Jets now. If he has #s similar to his #s with the Bears, he'll get serious pro-bowl consideration and all his TDs will lead off Sportscenter....
I like Alex Brown and probably wouldn't trade him even for a 3rd round pick (maybe I would), but I don't really think anyone would be willing to give anything higher than a 4th round pick for a DE that has consistently been inconsistent.

[quote="WestmontMike If he has #s similar to his #s with the Bears, he'll get serious pro-bowl consideration and all his TDs will lead off Sportscenter....
.[/quote]

La Danian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Rudi Johnson and a few others might not agree with that. I always liked Jones but when I thought about it for a while, he is a middle of the pack RB. It is kind of the same thing I have with AJ Pierzinski.

La Danian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Rudi Johnson and a few others might not agree with that. I always liked Jones but when I thought about it for a while, he is a middle of the pack RB. It is kind of the same thing I have with AJ Pierzinski.[/quote]

La Danian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, and Rudi Johnson don't run ESPN....My point on Jones is that he's in New York and they'll over hype him and overrate him like do with every other above average player they have.... I'm sure some jackass in NY media will bring up Thomas Jones and the Hall of Fame in the same sentence if he has another season like he's had with the Bears.
....let me make this clear. I don't think Thomas Jones is a top tier running back in the NFL, but the New York media will put him there if his performance matches that of his past couple of years.

Also, Rudi Johnson doesn't deserve to be mentioned with Tomlinson and Johnson

Hence all the Leon Washington love from last year. I believe in East Coast bias as much as the next guy, but let's cool our jets on this one.

Thomas Jones will never sniff the pro bowl. His being in NY will not enhance his chances of going next year, or any year for that matter. He's a good player, and will be for one or two more years, barring injury, but no more than that. The NFL has three or four premiere backs, and then about 20 or so who are all around the middle of the pack. That's where Jones is.

Bucket is right that with the pick swap, Jones was worth about a high third rounder according to the chart. That seems high to me, but NYJ was in a position of need for RB more than any other team in the league, so it wasn't a huge investment (immediate guaranteed production from a high third rounder is usually worth it.) It's not unthinkable that a team with pressing needs at DE (say, the Giants if Strahan retires, or even a team like Denver) use a third rounder for, once again, immediate guaranteed production, this time at a position where there are a lot more awful players in the league.

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Fire Phil Emery

huh?

Say what you will about Thomas Jones being a second-tier running back, but the bottom line of that trade is that the Bears are one knee sprain away from Adrian Peterson as their starting running back. It takes TWO good backs to make it through an NFL season. More than one-half of the starting running backs in the NFL are injured every year. (Some years, it's 3/4). The Bears traded away that very necessary insurance policy...for what...a third round pick? That may be fair "market value", but the opportunity cost of losing Jones is huge. Look ahead to December and ask yourself if you want to go into the playoffs with AP as your starting running back. That's a gamble I would have never taken unless I had another proven, durable back in whom I was confident in giving the ball 200 times a season. I wouldn't put AP in that class.

Tell me which part you're having trouble understanding, and I'll use smaller words. Or, how does this work:

Thomas Jones is OK. Other backs in NFL also OK, some good, some bad. They are easy to find, compared to other positions. Teams do not trade for them often, and their value is low.

The Bears traded their second-round pick to the Jets along with Jones for the Jets' second round pick. The value of the swapped picks equals a third-round pick, not a second-round pick, since the Bears had to give up their pick as well.

Alex Brown, a good but not great DE, is as valuable as an aging, OK running back, especially for any team that needs a DE at this point in the season.

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Fire Phil Emery

Thomas Jones would have held out this year. He was prepared to do so last year but Angelo made him a gentleman's agreement to find him a new home if he came into camp and played nice.

Irish Boy = Not Funny

I agree that RB is thin, and the position worries me, but an extended contract for Jones would simply mean too much money under the cap at the RB position. Like it or not, Benson is making 4th-pick money, and at some point you need to use that player, especially if you feel he has a much higher ceiling than your starter. Couple that with the fact that Jones has no interest in playing second fiddle, and he simply had to go.

No, I don't relish the thought of starting Adrian Peterson, but as a third-down back he'll be fine. For most teams, even RB by committee teams, losing a starting RB is devastating, because the second guy is unable to carry the full workload successfully. But it's all about managed risk- under any cap situation, a team needs to decide where it is going to allocate that risk. Jerry Angelo has decided that the probability of the running attack losing steam, or Benson going down injured, is better than the alternative of starting a 29-year old Thomas Jones while not starting your high draft pick for another year, along with not being able to resign key defensive players and/or Rex Grossman (should he have a good year.) I think that's the best possible decision. In an NFL without cap considerations, and where both players are happy to give up rushes to the other, you don't make that trade. But that wasn't the situation, and a third-rounder is about what you can expect for a Thomas Jones.

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Fire Phil Emery

If the Bears knew all along they were getting rid of Jones, and if such backs are so "easy to find", then it's all the more reason they should have found another back. Look at all the teams in the league who spent their offseason ensuring they have two quality backs. If backs like Jones -- who can run 850 times in three seasons for over 4 ypc -- are so "easy to find" then why haven't the Bears found one? Not having a suitable replacement at RB might be even more disastrous than 2005 when they didn't have a quality backup QB. Nas, I hope you're right about AP. I don't share your confidence.

That is true. Sometimes, third-round value on the board does not equal an actual third round pick, and Angelo proved that this draft by absolutely raping San Diego for that pick by picking up four others. The trade did allow for tremendous flexibility during the draft, and the law of averages coupled with Angelo's success in later rounds would seem to indicate that one of those four picks will be a good one.

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Fire Phil Emery

That's why they tried to sign Chris Brown, Coast. Brown thought he had a better chance to play back in Tennessee.

I agree Nas, Adrian Peterson is vastly underrated as a number two back in this league. I've been following his career since his college days at Georgia Southern where he became the all-time leading rusher in any level of college football.

And does anyone else remember that Peterson pretty much served as the number two back to Thomas Jones during Benson's rookie season in '05? He played way more than Benson did that year and he always did an awesome job. Not to mention that he took over for Benson when he hurt his knee against San Francisco and ran for over 100 yards in that game.

Will the Bears miss Thomas Jones? Yes. But not as much as you might think. Both Benson and Peterson are straight ahead runners and I like that. I can't tell you how many times I threw shit at my television when I had to watch Thomas Jones try to dance his way out of a tackle instead of just lowering his head and driving forward.

The Bears aren't as deep as far as talent goes in the backfield like they were last year. But there are a lot of teams in the league who would like to be as talented as we are now.

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-Larry D.

Host of Chicago Bears Review
http://chicagobearsreview.mypodcast.com

Luckily Adrian Peterson has paved the way for other ungifted speakers like Devin Hester so that they will not have to experience the same bias against those who do not posses a facility with the tounge. Bless you Adrian.

\

Can you name another back up RB with a national ad campaign?

I would have been more likely to agree with you if you said it was because of his race.

Imagine how good Bo Jackson would've been if he didn't have that speech impediment!!

Opportunities? How about Bo played football & baseball and was in several commercials....he's not in commercials now because he doesn't play.

What the fuck happened to humor around here?

I come here for business. This isn't supposed to be fun.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!