The 2025 Free Agency Thread

Once Jonathan Allen is off the books that's $16M additional dollars to worth with.
 
bowhunter said:
I just looked to see what Chicago has left after spending on Thuney and Jackson, sadly it is still a ton of space
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Yeah an Dennis Allen has a long connection to Hendrickson and apparently they are hot for him. Will see.

I just read the Cincy Athletic beat guys take on this and he doesn't expect a first rounder to be part of this deal.
 
skinsinparadise said:
Digesting rumors about Hendrickson a bit more. My takeaway is Bears might be the main competiton for him. Cost would likely be a 2nd day pick and maybe change or maybe no change. Getting paid about 35 million or so. So feels like the hit would be more of a cap hit.
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nfl live said he was looking for 30 mill a year. that,s a respectable neighborhood.i think we have a 16mill dead cap hit from allen,don,t we? another guy i bet peters is looking at is khalil mack.
 
The Bears spent money like drunk sailors last offseason too and were slated by many to be a playoff team.

They know now what we know from the Dan Snyder days - trying to win the offseason with a flurry of top end moves and overpaying guys is not necessarily a recipe for success.

The best teams don't swing for the fences that often. They use the draft and mid-tier free agency to stock the roster and then once they are near the top they make those ONE OR TWO acquisitions to put them over the top.

McVay and the Rams were the perfect example. After losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl with Goff, they went out and traded for Matthew Stafford and Jalen Ramsey to add skill on both sides of the ball and they came back and won two years later in 2021.
 
skinsinparadise said:
Yeah an Dennis Allen has a long connection to Hendrickson and apparently they are hot for him. Will see.

I just read the Cincy Athletic beat guys take on this and he doesn't expect a first rounder to be part of this deal.
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Understanding that picks and money may override everything else, wonder how much say Hendricks will have in this?
 
Bulldog said:
The Bears spent money like drunk sailors last offseason too and were slated by many to be a playoff team.

They know now what we know from the Dan Snyder days - trying to win the offseason with a flurry of top end moves and overpaying guys is not necessarily a recipe for success.

The best teams don't swing for the fences that often. They use the draft and mid-tier free agency to stock the roster and then once they are near the top they make those ONE OR TWO acquisitions to put them over the top.

McVay and the Rams were the perfect example. After losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl with Goff, they went out and traded for Matthew Stafford and Jalen Ramsey to add skill on both sides of the ball and they came back and won two years later in 2021.
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they at least have a decent coach this season.he has so far made a good effort at getting cw better blocking.
 
burgold said:
I suspect it's a damaged goods issue. After so many years of not being coached correctly and not be pushed, I think they developed bad habits that were so engrained that they couldn't get them out of their system.
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Sorry sounds like more excuses. He just hasn't been that good, he kind of sucked the past 2 seasons and people continue to defend him. I'm just glad that he is gone so we don't have to talk about him anymore.
 
skinsinparadise said:
Digesting rumors about Hendrickson a bit more. My takeaway is Bears might be the main competiton for him. Cost would likely be a 2nd day pick and maybe change or maybe no change. Getting paid about 35 million or so. So feels like the hit would be more of a cap hit.
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How do you feel about Hendrickson’s age? I’m not as worried about this year, but assuming what may effectively be a contract we can get out of after 3 years, I’m a little worried about giving up a 2nd and 33 million dollars for a guy that will be turning 33 during that last season.

I know Garrett likely isn’t available right now, but I’m also curious how everyone perceives the value of Garrett for two 1sts and a 3rd vs Hendrickson for a 2nd and change. I just find that interesting from a team building standpoint.

Also, from a resource scarcity standpoint, I agree that we should sign Stanley. And I don’t think that should dissuade us from drafting a tackle high.
 
I have admittedly been 'out of the loop' for a couple days but I've seen some references to them not re-signing Ertz - where is that coming from because I can't find any news of him going somewhere else?
 
Darrell Green Fan said:
Sorry sounds like more excuses. He just hasn't been that good, he kind of sucked the past 2 seasons and people continue to defend him. I'm just glad that he is gone so we don't have to talk about him anymore.
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He has played hurt a lot, like half-seasons hurt. I think it's just a combination of not having consistentluy great coaching, not having a lot of support from other units (like the DBs) that can elevate the play of the line and edge guys, and a lot of nagging injuries. I don't think work ethic or attitude has ever been an issue for him.
 
Ref Ertz...Boone "out of loop"

Don't think there was anything particularly credible...just sspeculation. Fascinating how so many things are currently intertwined with hiw certain dominoes fall. Im sure there are frameworks in place for all our FAs but the dominoes have to start falling with the trades before the team closes deals with our own.
 
I think a lot of what will or won't happen is predicated on how confident the braintrust is on 'the window' truly being open right now. Do they see 2024 as catching lightning in a bottle with an incredible rookie QB and just having a lot of things 'go right' (such as the 'boink' that instead of a wildcard loss, ultimately sent us to the NFC Championship).

In other words, if you think we are a few pieces away, you re-sign all of the key players (even the aging ones) who 'almost got us there' and do everything you can to get better at your weak spots. If you view 2024 as more of a 'all the stars lined up for us' situation, then you shed the older players, and look to upgrade the roster all over.
 
we might wait to get Ertz until after the dust settles. He wants to come back and won’t have a huge market, but he might want to see what another team is willing to pay.

I think he’ll be back. But it might be after FA starts.
 
Darrell Green Fan said:
Sorry sounds like more excuses. He just hasn't been that good, he kind of sucked the past 2 seasons and people co,ntinue to defend him. I'm just glad that he is gone so we don't have to talk about him anymore.
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I think it's the right move to cut him based on both performance and price tag. To be honest, I think what I posted is an "excuse," too, but I think it also may be true.

Losing can wear a player down. They may not even realize it, but after experiencing so much failure a person may just stop fighting as hard. That was among the reasons I think last year's house cleaning was important. Curtis Samuel is more talented than both OZ and Noah Brown, but sometimes you have to fair the house out to get rid of the stink. It's not inconceivable that we were a better team last year while being a less talented one. After all, a bunch of us thought that OZ and others overproduced last year just as in Rivera's last year so many players vastly underproduced.

To be frank though, it's on Allen and not on the team to redeem the player who's lost "it." A coach can teach techniques, can rally the troops, and even sometimes relight the pilot light, but it's up to the player to keep it burning. Even so, I can sympathize with a guy who's endured as many bad times as Allen did with this team and acknowledge he put up the good fight for a long time before his body and skills or will started to decline.
 
Chris 44 said:
Ref Ertz...Boone "out of loop"

Don't think there was anything particularly credible...just sspeculation. Fascinating how so many things are currently intertwined with hiw certain dominoes fall. Im sure there are frameworks in place for all our FAs but the dominoes have to start falling with the trades before the team closes deals with our own.
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Yeah, I've been seeing FB posts about him going back to the Eagles, along with them possibly moving on from Goddert, but it's all speculation.
 
Boone said:
He has played hurt a lot, like half-seasons hurt. I think it's just a combination of not having consistentluy great coaching, not having a lot of support from other units (like the DBs) that can elevate the play of the line and edge guys, and a lot of nagging injuries. I don't think work ethic or attitude has ever been an issue for him.
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I don't want to keep dogging Jon Allen. He has been a good guy and at times a productive player. But I just push back at all of his defenders who tend to keep having to give reasons (excuses?) for his poor play. 2 years ago it was apparently the coaches. What about last year? He came into the season fully healthy yet remained ineffective. I just see this move as a no-brainer decision.
 
Boone said:
I think a lot of what will or won't happen is predicated on how confident the braintrust is on 'the window' truly being open right now
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I've been thinking a lot about this question. Last year, my refrain was "This year is about next year" until it wasn't. Once we won our way into the playoffs, 2024 became about 2024 which was why redshirting Sinnott and McCaffrey made sense. That leads us to 2025.

Is 2025 about this year? Is it time to push all our chips in and play to win it all? If it is, then you do trade for Miles Garrett or Hendrickson. If, however, you still think 2025 is more about building the foundation and making this team a perennial good team, then tapping the brakes on the homerun free agent and trade swings probably makes sense.

I'm not sure where we are. I can make a case that we should think of ourselves as a playoff contender and make a case that we played so far above our playing weight last year that we need to focus on the basics this year. I mean we are a talent poor team with a few really good players and a can do attitude and will to win. We need to address the trenches on both sides. We lack playmakers who can take it to the house on any given play. Our run defense couldn't be worse if you plugged me in at Nose Tackle. Come to think of it, we should try that because I could use that green, green IR money I'd collect after one game. Our pass defense is still uneven at best.

So, is this year about this year or is this year a building year? The answer is probably "yes."
 
I think Ertz is back in the fold. He’s not leaving Daniels of Kingsbury at this point. I bet we see him resigned today or tomorrow.

Still wouldn’t mind adding Engram though.
 
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