What The Chicago Bears Need To Do In Free Agency

The Bears head into the 2020 offseason coming off a very disappointing year that saw them fall from playoff team to non-contender, and the guy they hoped would be their franchise quarterback took a massive step backwards and basically took a massive dump on the field as Mitch Trubisky was just terrible. I still love Mitch, and I have made that very clear on this website, so my free agent plans do not include a quarterback, not that the Bears have enough money to get one anyway.

In fact, the Bears have such little money that we first need to focus on finding more cap space. The easy one is Kyle Long retired, so his money is no longer tied up. After that, I feel like Trey Burton is a pretty obvious cut. I think the only obvious other cut would be Buster Skrine. According to Over The Cap, that puts them at just under $13 million which still ain’t much, but it’s something. They also released Prince Amukamara and Taylor Gabriel which definitely adds to the breathing room but also leaves two more holes on the roster. I think they have to go with somebody in free agency for the former but probably address the latter in the draft.

The good news for the Bears is they don’t have many holes to fill. They obviously need a guard, tight end, and slot corner, but outside of that, they are only losing Clinton-Dix at safety and Trevathan at middle linebacker where they can probably depend on Nick Kwitakoski to take that spot over.

With that limited cap space, they probably are going to have to look to the draft to fill some of those holes, but I do think they have enough wiggle room to strengthen the team in the free agent market. Here are the guys I would target for the Chicago Bears.

First off, they should bring Greg Olsen home. He was originally drafted by the Bears but then traded for nothing because he didn’t fit into Mike Martz’s scheme. That is probably more of an indictment of the scheme than of the player as Greg Olsen has been and still is awesome. (Note: I wrote this weeks ago but didn't find the right time to publish it, so not great by me)

Uh, I heard Jordan Reed might be available. If he's healthy, that could be just what the Bears need. Tyler Eifert would be in the same boat. Neither guy has much of a chance of being healthy the whole year, but IF they do manage to stay healthy, it could be a hell of a deal for the Bears.

The next guy to target is Austin Blythe, because unfortunately, Brandon Scherff ain’t gonna happen with this limited cap space, and the Bears still need as many Iowa boys as possible along the line. Put a Whitehair in the middle of two Hawkeyes and you’ve got yourself a nice little interior line.

For that corner hole that they have, the choice is obvious. I have an obsession with brothers, especially when they play with each other. If the Bears united Kyle and Kendall Fuller as their starting corners, they probably won't give up a passing touchdown all season long. It will be fantastic.

And that’s it. They can make some late moves with guys that fall through the cracks, but they just don’t have the resources to be aggressive in in free agency. The Bears have to draft well. They may not have a first rounder, but luckily for them, the positions they are looking to fill are not premium positions. The biggest necessity is help in the secondary. Geno Stone in the fifth round sounds mighty enticing to me. Their tackles are still below average, but all the Bears can do is pray somebody falls to them. Hopefully Tristan Wirfs gets caught with a gas mask bong before the draft?

Pro Wrestling and the Fascinating World of Free Agency

There has never been a better time to be a pro wrestling fan. Yeah, WWE main roster has some major issues, but NXT is fantastic, AEW is providing an interesting challenger, NJPW is still putting on ridiculous matches on their bigger cards, and NWA seems to get better every week. That doesn’t even include ROH, Impact, and MLW who have all been getting positive reviews. People may long for the good ol’ days, but there are just so many great options to watch right now that my only complaint is that I don’t have time to catch up on all of it.

There has also never been a better time to be a pro wrestler. There is a fit for every talented guy out there. If you’re looking to get the most exposure and have the highest potential for earnings, WWE is still the place to be. If you are looking for an international experience where you can work on a different style, the door to New Japan is open. If you are looking for the easiest schedule while having some flexibility in your bookings, both AEW and NWA have openings. Or you could do a sampler platter which appears to be the plan of Marty Scurll.

Everyone assumed that Marty Scurll would join his Elite friends and sign with AEW, yet he shocked the wrestling world and resigned with Ring of Honor instead. Now, with him signing the ROH deal, he was given freedom to work for the NWA and New Japan, and maybe others as well? At first, I questioned the decision, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

In AEW, Marty Scurll was stuck. He was so tied to The Elite that it could have put a ceiling on his potential. Cody and Kenny are your top guys, the Bucks are the tag team greats, and Page is the future star. Marty was the other guy. He was loved, but he also wasn’t seen as a top star since he did most of his work in six-man tags and the junior/lightweight division. He showed his potential in an amazing match against Kazuchika Okada, but it was going to be tough for him to leap over guys that everyone naturally saw him aligned with.

So he surprised everybody and chose not to go with the big wrestling companies on cable and resigned with ROH where he managed to have a very successful year without his Elite compadres. He’s not only making good money by all accounts, but he has the freedom to work with New Japan where he is challenging a former heavyweight champion and NWA where he is already in the title picture. Oh yeah, and he’s got a good amount of creative control in his home promotion of Ring of Honor.

Right now, you would have to say that Scurll is projected to have the most interesting 2020, and he did it by straying away from everything that people thought he would do. Before this, I think most assumed that top free agents would have two choices between WWE and AEW, but Scurll is showing that there are many doors to choose from, and for some top wrestlers, the best path may be the one less traveled.

Why I Love the Al Jefferson Signing for the Indiana Pacers

It has been announced that Al Jefferson will sign a free agent contract with the Indiana Pacers that will earn him $30 million for three years. A lot of people have been skeptical of this deal, as Larry Bird fired Head Coach, Frank Vogel, partially because they wanted to play at a faster pace, and Jefferson would not seem to help them in this pursuit. I was surprised with the backlash, as I absolutely love the deal for the Pacers.

Al Jefferson may not be the same guy he was a few years ago, but he has a super important skill, and that is that he can score. Even last year when he was battling injuries and his playing time was limited, he still did about the same thing he's done for the last ten years on a per minute basis. In basketball, it is good to score points, so Jefferson being able to do that should help the Pacers win games. I know that is an incredibly simplistic view of things, but there really is no need to make things more complicated than they need to be.

Sure, his defense is basically non-existant, but it doesn't need to be great, because he's going to be coming off the bench to provide a reliable post option where he should be able to eat up most bench big men. And on defense, those guys aren't going to be able to exploit him all that well either. If a team goes super small, yes, they'll be able to take advantage on offense, but they also aren't going to have anyone who can stop him in the post.

Is $10 million a lot for a player like this? Two years ago, yes, it definitely would have been, but now, as crazy as this may seem, a three-year, $30 million deal is practically nothing in the NBA. I mean, Timofey Mozgov, who is a very large human being, and not very notable outside of that, got four years and $64 million. Mozgov is a guy who takes up space as a traditional center, which is getting phased more and more out of NBA lineups. Before even really looking at numbers, I feel like I'd rather have Jefferson than Mozgov. Then you throw in the fact that Mozgov got $6 million more per season and an extra season, or another way to put it, Mozgov got Jefferson's deal with a fourth year for $34 million, and it's clearly a no brainer.

The Pacers are becoming an interesting team. With Paul George already on board, upgrading from George Hill to Jeff Teague, and then pairing up Thaddeus Young with an emerging Myles Turner will at least make them fun to watch. They're still a few pieces away from a contender, but they could surprise some people this season, especially with Big Al providing scoring off the bench. 

The 3 Best Signings of the 2014 NBA Offseason

This NBA offseason has been a lot of fun, and that's not only because I am actually happy with what the Bulls were able to do. Just about every team has something to be excited about. I mean, just look at the Heat; they may have lost the finals, but they were able to outbid the Hornets for Josh McRoberts. Still, that move doesn't quite make my list of the best signings. Other signings that will not count are guys that took discounts to stay with their teams, so although Dirk may be the best value in the league, everybody understands that this was a great deal for the Mavs, so there is not much I can add on that one. Let's go to three moves that I really liked this offseason that deserve special praise.

Lance Stephenson
Lance got downgraded by the media, because he was supposed to get overpaid, but then he didn't actually get overpaid. He is barely making half of the annual salary that Gordon Hayward is, and Hayward got an extra year on top of that. Is Hayward twice the player that Stephenson is? No, definitely not. Is he even a better player than Stephenson? That seems like a debate to me, and I would probably side with Stephenson.

If you are worried about him being a head case, let's compare him to another player that had a career year after causing problems many different times, Kyle Lowry. Lowry got $12 million a year and an extra year on his deal. He's about five years older than Stephenson as well. Can you really say that he will outproduce Lance Stephenson? I can't, and that's why I really like the Stephenson deal.

There is definitely risk with Stephenson, but he may just be a goofball who works his ass off when it comes to basketball. Dennis Rodman was far worse than Stephenson on and especially off the court, but when his team needed him, he came through in the clutch and put together a Hall of Fame NBA career. Not bad for a head case.

Pau Gasol
Everybody thinks he was terrible last year, but he actually put up good numbers on a bad team. The versatility that the Bulls gained by putting him in the frontcourt makes them incredibly dangerous this year. Also, he got about the same annual salary as Boris Diaw, and Diaw even got an extra year on his contract. If you can find a person who believes that Boris Diaw is better than Pau Gasol, please introduce them to me, so I can slap some sense into them.

Isaiah Thomas
A little weird since this was a sign and trade, but the trade assets were minimal, and the deal is well worth it. Thomas can tear around the court and create shots. He has questionable defense, but he'll be able to keep up with the Suns style of play. Yes, the Suns already have Goran Dragic and (likely) Eric Bledsoe coming back, but since those guys start together, they can easily find 25 minutes for Thomas to mix and match lineups depending on who they are going up against. Also, Bledsoe hasn't signed a contract yet as a restricted free agent, and Dragic only has one more year left on his contract. Four years and $27 million is great value, especially considering that he is only 25 years old.

LeBron and the Leverage of Superstars

Breaking News: LeBron James signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This is the news that got all of the attention, but his actual contract deserves almost as much attention. LeBron signed a one-year deal with a player option for the second year. The reasoning behind only signing a two-year contract is that the TV deal will run out after that season, and the NBA is due to make A LOT more money. With the players having a 50/50 share of that revenue, the salary cap could be taking a big bump up which would mean that the max salary will get a significant bump. This makes total sense for LeBron, as it gives him the best chance to maximize his earnings.

But that player option for the second year is what fascinates me most. LeBron basically has ensured that he will hold the Cavaliers hostage over the next two years, because it makes sense for them to do everything in their power to bend to LeBron's demands.

LeBron wants Kevin Love, so the Cavaliers are likely to trade Wiggins, Bennett, and whatever else it takes in order to get Kevin Love. But it could extend far beyond that. If he doesn't want to play with Dion Waiters or Tristan Thompson, there is really nothing stopping the Cavs from trading them away in pursuit of someone like Thaddeus Young.

And are we sure that Kyrie Irving is safe? As much as I would love to have a scorching hot take, I'll put it at a medium burn, because he most likely is sticking around. But maybe Chris Paul gets unhappy in LA and wants out. Would it be ridiculous for LeBron to request having Chris Paul as his point guard? He's a better facilitator, and a far better defender. Yes, Kyrie is much better for the future, but LeBron's best years are right now, so I certainly wouldn't blame him for trying to bring in the best current talent to play alongside him.

LeBron is changing what it means to be an elite free agent. He not only gets to pick his destination, but by signing a short contract with a player option, he can choose his teammates to an extent as well. The owners wield most of the power in the NBA, but if elite players insist on player options, they can lock up security, while also being able to leave when it best suits them. You can say that LeBron is a once-in-a-generation talent, and that's true, but this option is probably available for at least the top 10 guys in the league. No team is going to tell Durant, Love, Westbrook, Davis, etc. that they don't want them if they insist on some player options in their max level deal. They will do what is necessary to get them on the team, and at that point, they will do what it takes to keep them happy and opting into the team's plan.

Everybody knows that LeBron is something special on the court, but it's off the court where LeBron's impact is truly changing the game.