I am simply saying do you expect the bears to always have an expensive big name running back to back up CB forever? I jsut answered your question with a question.....I mean either CB is your guy of the future or he isnt. The only thing you can expect teams to do is have solid backups that can take the place of the starter for a game or two. You keep saying Benson is injury prone so would you rather they got rid of him than TJ?

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

Joe, I'm not asking for a big name, I'm asking for another guy who I know can carry the load. A guy in the draft can get this done. But I'll wait to see if Angelo actually does this.

Look at the teams that went far last year..
Colts
Bears
Saints
Patriots

All four teams had two capable running backs. I don't think this is coincidence.

Each year there is a new "formula" for success. I think this is just a coincidence. I bet if you asked the GMs/Coaches of those 4 teams, the would LOVE to have a guy like LT or LJ with a competent back up, rather than just two guys that are pretty good.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

WR, well in a round about way I think we agree with each other. Benson needs a decent backup up to take the load off. I don't think it needs to be TJ. I also don't think they will have too much trouble finding one. If getting rid of TJ helps them re-up with Vasher and Tilman and possibly Briggs then Im all for it.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

Joe, I do think we agree. I'm just saying right now I would not be comfortable with this situation until we see if Angelo addresses it. I just have this feeling from the Bears history that it won't be addressed properly.

Guess what? CB isn't LT or LJ. They will need another "pretty good" back. That is what I'm saying. It doesn't have to be Jones, but I'm not for sure where its going to come from.

I think he can be a top 5 back in the league. I think the Bears think that too, otherwise they wouldn't have taken him 4th over all and gotten rid of a two time 1200 yard rusher. I'm not saying he WILL be a top 5 guy, but I think his ceiling is right there with LJ. LT is in a league of his own.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Hmm...that's a pretty strong statement. Might actually agree with it. This is probably the best arguement I've read on here. Again, I'm a little concerned with Benson's inability to pick up the rush. Seems to be a pretty important thing when Rex is the QB. Jones was good at it, but certainly not great. And from what I've seen of Benson (i watch the bears every week) he was pretty bad at picking it up and it seemed like the Bears didn't really trust him to do it. There your team so you guys probably know more about it...actually you do know more about it than me.

IMO, last year when Benson started running well so did Thomas Jones. I think Benson can wear down a defense. He brings the punch. This opens it up for a more slasher style running back to come in periodically and pickup some yards from an exhausted defense.

Back to Rosie. He's an idiot who makes blanket statements without any qualifiers.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

I like Steve Rosenbloom as a person - but man alive is he NEGATIVE about sports in Chicago.

He's so flippin predictable.

The Bears have both starting CBs that are free agents after 07, Berrian and Grossman as well.

Tommie Harris follows in '08.

You can't be signing Thomas Jones to an extension - especially when you've got so much flippin money tied up in Benson. Take away Benson's 'injury' in the Super Bowl, and I think he really came on the 2nd half of the season.


I don't think the Mr. Skin thing went as expected either. Maybe when they set it up, Salisbury would have been there. He's the biggest 'men are pigs' castmember at ESPN1000.

Exactly. It would be stupid to extend an aging RB when you already have a RB eating all kinds of cap space as it is. The RB position is important, to be sure, but you can't just sacrifice the rest of the team to get an ideal RB situation (nevermind that the dynamic was less than ideal and resulted in considerable amounts of bitching). Rosey always looks at one part of the argument without bothering to consider the big picture; the irritating part is his partner (even Rico sometimes) generally points out the other half, but he will just refuse to consider it and answer something like "well, I still think this thing is a disaster." He's like a pitcher with one pitch; he sure can criticize the living hell out of every move made by every Chicago sports team, but that's about the extent of his game. I'm really beginning to think he's a big part of why Salisbury sucks so bad (indeed, there's been evidence to confirm this suspicion).

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You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Urban Legend if you ask me.

I don't know HOW many times I saw Thomas Jones whiff on blitz pickups last year.

Can someone enlighten me on the Bears cap space? If I remember correctly Angelo decided to not use about 16 million of it last year. If, and if, that's the case going into this year then I guess I ask why not spend the money on Jones then? Why change the team when you're this close to a superbowl. Now if they are a lot closer then I understand, but the team has as much cap space as anyone in the league if memory serves me correct. I understand a lot of arguements on here againt keeping jones, but if anyone is going to say because of cap space I laugh considering their recent history of not spending close to the full cap amount.

They went into this off-season with about $16-$17 million in cap space (according to John Clayton), but I believe that is not counting Lance Briggs 1 year deal for $7.2 million because he hasn't actually signed the contract yet. I could be wrong on when Briggs' contract actually counts, so please correct me if I am wrong.

Regardless of the cap room they may have, when you have so much money locked into Benson, can you give another $12 million to Jones ? Not only would you be giving almost $30 million in signing bonuses to the RB position, but you would also not be able to get the retrun on the huge investment made on Benson.

He's really the key to this whole deal - either he plays like a great player or he doesn't. Moving up in the draft is great and all (though I'd love to move down from #31, and pick up a mid 2nd and mid 3rd), but Benson is the key.

By the way, according to the NFL trade chart used by most NFL teams, the Bears trade for Thomas Jones (basically moving from the bottom of round 2 to the top of round 2, is the equivalent to picking up a high 3rd round pick.

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/featur ... chart.html

And here's the math:

According to the chart, a high 2nd round pick is worth about 520 points. A low 2nd round pick is worth about 276 points. The difference is 244 points. The Bears gained 244 points in this trade. The draft pick equivalence to picking up 244 points is the 5th pick in the 3rd round of the draft. That is how NFL front office executives look at this deal.

If you don't think Thomas Jones was worth a high 3rd round pick in this market, and felt we should've kept him for another year with Benson on the bench and get no compensation for him next year, that's another story. But I think most of us agreed that the Bears needed to go into this looking to acquire a mid 3rd rounder for the guy and according to the draft chart, the actually did better than that.

BD, if you look at my past posts you'll know I think the trade on its own was a very good one. I guess I am just not sold on Benson being the guy for 14 games or so in a season. I likve what I've seen, but something about him just rubs me the wrong way. He seems like he isn't going to lay himself out for the team.

The other reason the Bears need cap space (besides being cheap) is that they have a lot of young players and their contracts, like tilman and vasher's, will only go up. So if you plan on resigning these players you have to leave yourself some room.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

I think they are going to add another RB to the mix. I'd be surprised if they added a proven back like D.Rhodes because I don't believe they want to do anything that will prevent Benson from breaking out so I think the most realistic option is a draft pick in the 4th round or so who won't be a threat to take carries away from Benson, but is also someone who the team would have some faith in if Benson were to miss some games. I think Peterson will be strictly a 3rd back, and although he could fill in for a game or two, I don't see him being a week in, week out #1 RB if Benson is injured.

Really? You're excited about this? I'm terrified. AP is a very good special teams player and that's about it. He's ok filling in in spots, but nothing more than that.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Someone mentioned that Pope guy from last year's preseason; did any NFL team pick him up? I don't think they need a proven NFL backup, but I do think they need a backup other than AP. I think a guy like Pope would more than suffice.

_________________
You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

I think he spent the year on the practice squad. He's NOT the answer.

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"Tubby? Oh yes, Tubby."

Is this your great hope of the next Samkon Gado? Actually I did like what I saw of Pope when I went to camp last year for a couple days. Again, this team is too close to winning a superbowl to not have someone a tad bit more proven in this league.

Just a thought and not the answer to Backup running back issue, but what about Devin Hester as a third down back? Give him draw plays and swing passes.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

They have Wilbon on right now and he's just talking out of his ass about the Bears. He just said that the Bears look like morons and cheap because they signed Lovie to a big contract and then went cheap to save money by moving Jones. Does he not understand that these are completely independent of each other and the Bears can spend whatever they want on Lovie but are still constrained by something called a salary cap? I expect Rosie and Waddle to call him out on stupid statements like these.

Newspaper guys...that's why I dont read the paper.....or read at all

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

I don't think Rosenbloom has any idea of the cap.

Sort of, yes. Much like Gado, I'm going into the season not expecting him to be the guy, but think he could fill in fine if necessary.


Yeah, me too. He looked good in the preseason. He probably would have made the team, had it not been for the fact that the Bears were exceptionally deep at the RB position.


But they do: Cedric Benson. I'm just looking for a guy who can fill in if Benson goes down. You can't sit there and expect to have two #1s on your team; that's a luxury that teams can rarely afford.

_________________
You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

Yup. I'm really disappointed, too, because I generally very much enjoy the "Wednesdays with Wilbon" segment; he's definitely talking out of his ass here, though.

_________________
You can't see me because of internet.

The landowner effectively owns part shares in millions of part-time slaves called, "taxpayers." -Roy L
A Personal Relationship with Jesus?

was that caller Paul anyone here?

_________________
May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”