am I the only one who hopes the bears get outbid for bennett's services? 9 sacks 2012, 8.5 sacks 2013....? So he played for seattle last year and was a part of their success.... what am i missing here? looks like a nice player but to get paid top end DE $$?? i dont get it.

Your starting 2 safeties graded dead last and 5th from last in 2013... why aren;t they in the bidding for bryd or another safety??

Bennett could end up being a bigger bust than adewale ogunleye was (not that he was a true bust but he definitely did not perform to his contract)

Bad. Bad. Bad.

yeah. I don't see it either.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Rumor today is Byrd wants $9m a year. Yikes. I like him a lot, but that's a ton of money for a safety.

This is why Bennett is so good:

The Bears have a lot of needs, and they have to throw money somewhere. Maybe they figured its easier to draft a safety than a DE. Either way, lots of help is needed so as long as they fix one of those positions in free agency its a good thing.

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A good line can mask poor safety play, but poor line play can't be covered by elite safety play, IMO. Line is more important to me right now, despite both being gaping holes.

i just hope bennett is a true fix if he comes here, i would guess signing benett would lead most to guess they draft a safety at 14.... i suppose I'd be happy if these two things happened

I'm going to guess Emery is the type of GM that doesn't pay a premium to the best player on the market. He's probably more of a "value" GM.

Also, considering how much they owe Cutler this season, they probably can't afford to blow too much on one other player.

First, Cutler's contract can be moved around if need be. It may not have to be. The cap is bigger than anyone expected. And, signing a bigger player actually allows them to spread the money away from this year's cap.

Bennett played on a line with Cliff Avril, Chris Clemons, Red Bryant, along with the best secondary in the league. Shouldn't that raise warning flags?

No. He was actually the driving force. Triple-teamed on every play!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

When McCown gets signed by someone else for more money, how high do the Bears draft a QB?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/03/09/report-bears-expect-to-sign-michael-bennett/?ocid=Yahoo&partner=ya5nbcs

Bears reportedly expect to sign Bennett as soon as free agency opens.

Exactly. Sign Bennett and draft the DT out of Pitt and the line is in WAY better shape and thus the DBs are in way better shape. They def need to look at safety options but you have to address the DL first and I am glad to see that is their thinking as well.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 2m
Seahawks have emerged as the favorite to land free-agent DT Michael Bennett, and keep him in Seattle, per sources.

Who are you going to believe? Schefter of Brad Biggs?

Schefter is being used as a negotiation tool. Rosenhaus is milking the Bears.

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet
On Michael Bennett: He spent time in the Seahawks facility yesterday. Wants to return. SEA pushing hard. Bears turning attention elsewhere

Brad Biggs ‏@BradBiggs
One source says #Bears offering $8.5 million per year for Michael Bennett and #Seahawks at $8 million annually. That is word around league.

I'm slightly concerned that they are doing this because he has a brother on the team. I wonder if Bennett was still in New York if the Bears would be doing the same thing?

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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!

what is the motivation to do that?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Well, the Bennett signing did work out well, and I'm sure he was involved in many talks about playing together even beforehand.

A lot of moves happen because of personal connections between players so I guess it's probably not that different. I'm just not sure the Bears would be outbidding Seattle if there wasn't this connection. Maybe they would be.

What seems obvious is the Bears aren't getting a discount because he wants to play with his brother. I'm not saying they should either.

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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!

shefter reporting seattle is the favorite to sign bennett.... he usually doesnt report bad info

Im more worried about him coming off a great defense. I mean, who knows if he was a product of or a reason for the dominance?

Maybe they can get 2 players for the bennett pricetag.

That is a bigger concern for me as well.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Impossible to tell how much that matters, if at all. Probably just a part of the recruiting process. I don't think they are doing this to appease Marty.



Whitner on the radar, as expected:

The Bears, Browns and Jets are all prospective suitors for 49ers strong safety Donte Whitner, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

Bears are reportedly close with DJ Williams. Like it if he can stay healthy. Big if.


Briggs, Williams, Bostic/Shea. Not horrible.

Do you actively choose to misunderstand what I say?

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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!

Very often, you're horrible at explaining things. So instead of asking a ton of follow up questions that you choose to run off in an entirely different tangent, I just guess at what you mean. This is your fault I'm this way.