The 2024-25 NFL league year

[JohnnyCakes]

He definitely has some Rod Graves in him. The lack of urgency from Monti is what drives me crazy. Completely banking on a poverty franchise fanbase to justify his inactivity and slow burning plan. Backing himself in a corner where he almost has to spend a significant amount of money in bad FA market to get over the cap min formula.

I am very interested to see how this all plays out. I have an idea of what is going to happen but I will give MO the benefit of doubt for now.

free agency hasnt started yet

 

[Chopper0080]

Left Guard is the least important position on the OL and the Bears just traded for two of them. An aging vet with maybe a year or two left and an often injured one who hasn't done much in the last 3 seasons. Oh and now the Bears have two of the highest paid LGs in the league on their roster.

They have 51 mil still in cap space, and have two starting OGs. They also don't have to waste draft picks on OG lottery picks if they don't want to. The goal is to win football games. Jackson and Thuney will impact winning more than Jon Gaines and Kei'trel Clark ever will.

 

[Chopper0080]

free agency hasnt started yet

Is this his 1st year as GM?

 

[MadCardDisease]

They have 51 mil still in cap space, and have two starting OGs. They also don't have to waste draft picks on OG lottery picks if they don't want to. The goal is to win football games. Jackson and Thuney will impact winning more than Jon Gaines and Kei'trel Clark ever will.

Jackson wasn't even a starting guard on the dreadful Rams OL last year. They tried moving him to Center and then benched him for Limmer a 6th round pick.

 

[kerouac9]

The Bears literally had nothing at the 3 IOL positions so they had to do something. These seem like risky short term moves that cost draft capital when they could have got similar or better help at guard via FA.

The Chiefs again are doing things right. They franchised their young stud at OG and moved off of an expensive aging vet. Not only did the move off of an expensive aging vet they were able to use Ben Johnson's familiarity with Thuney to squeeze out more than they probably could have got from any other team in a trade. The Chiefs are playing Chess and the Bears are playing Checkers.

Could be a win-win for both teams. Chicago giving their QB time to learn while sacrificing the next KeiTrel Clark.

 

[Chopper0080]

Jackson wasn't even a starting guard on the dreadful Rams OL last year. They tried moving him to Center and then benched him for Limmer a 6th round pick.

He was injured for most of the year. They gave him 3yrs 51 mil for his play in Detroit. It is more likely that when healthy, he is closer to the player they gave him the contract as vs the player who couldn't get healthy in 2024. Also, going back to the scheme where he was most successful helps.

Jordan Phillips was signed as a FA by AZ. He played 550 snaps for the Cardinals with 5 sacks and 14 pressures. He went back to Buffalo, and over the next two seasons he played 738 snaps with 4 sacks and 16 pressures. Cardinals signed Phillips for his play in Buffalo that never translated to AZ. But when he went back to Buffalo, he played more snaps and was equally impactful. Ala, he looked like the player he was before he went to AZ.

 

[Card'em]

I get the 4th rounder for Thuney. He's still good, but at 33 years old there is some risk that his play will fall off, and you can't expect more than a year or two from him.

I can't say the same for the acquisition of Jonah Jackson. He was really bad last year and considered a bust of a free agent acquisition for LA. Once upon a time, he was good, but banking on is resurgence seems a bit pollyannaish.

 

[Ronin]

Adam Schefter

@AdamSchefter


Breaking: Eagles are re-signing All-Pro LB Zack Baun to a three-year, $51 million contract, including $34 million guaranteed at signing and additional $1.5 million in incentives and escalators, per sources. The contract instantly makes Baun one of the highest-paid LBs in the NFL.

 

[Card'em]

Not surprised at all that Philly signed Baun. The guy was fantastic last year. Now, I hope the Jets don't resign Sherwood. If Baun got $17M per year, what is it going to take to sign Sherwood?

 

[JohnnyCakes]

Is this his 1st year as GM?

This will be his third year as GM.

 

[Ronin]

Ian Rapoport

@RapSheet
·
1h


The #Raiders are jumping into free agency early, signing former #Bengals OL Alex Cappa, source says. Some OL depth.

 

[Ronin]

Todd Archer

@toddarcher
·
53m
The Cowboys have restructured Dak Prescott's contract, opening up $36.6 million in cap space, per source. That's $56.6 million created in the last two days with the CeeDee Lamb move, too.

 

[Ronin]

Tom Pelissero

@TomPelissero
·
4h
The #Texans are re-signing third-down back and special teams phenom Dare Ogunbowale to a one-year, $2 million deal, per The Insiders. Back for a fourth season in Houston

 

[MadCardDisease]

They have 51 mil still in cap space, and have two starting OGs. They also don't have to waste draft picks on OG lottery picks if they don't want to. The goal is to win football games. Jackson and Thuney will impact winning more than Jon Gaines and Kei'trel Clark ever will.

Well Thuney and Jackson are now two of the highest paid offensive players on the Bears Offense and by far the highest paid players on their OL.

That is the offensive equivalent to Keim making safeties Baker and Thompson the two highest paid players on his defense. But at least Keim was keeping his own guys.

 

[kerouac9]

Well Thuney and Jackson are now two of the highest paid offensive players on the Bears Offense and by far the highest paid players on their OL.

That is the offensive equivalent to Keim making safeties Baker and Thompson the two highest paid players on his defense.

Many teams are placing a premium on IOL at a time when the market for safeties has never been leaner.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Many teams are placing a premium on IOL at a time when the market for safeties has never been leaner.

Obviously the Bears place a premium on IOL. They now have two of the highest paid LGs in the league:

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[daves]

Thuney is 33 years old this season and plays LG. Yes he filled in at LT, but he literally sucked there. The Chiefs had no other options at LT since their 2nd round pick Suamataia looks like a bust at Tackle so far. So kudos to Thuney for being a team player but he was way out of his league at LT. No way I'm overpaying for a LG who is in the twilight of his career and is most likely the oldest LG in the league.

I don't have a lot of insight into OL play, but is this supposed to be sarcasm?

Thuney is 32, hardly "in the twilight of his career" for an OL! True, his play has really been falling off with age... except, IT HASN'T: he's coming off of three consecutive All-Pro and Pro-Bowl seasons - he's a four-time All-Pro overall and is CURRENTLY a two-time consecutive FIRST TEAM ALL PRO. He must've REALLY sucked!

Just a few starting OL older than Thuney:
Trent Williams, T - 36, missed time in 2024 but with 3 consecutive first-team All-Pro seasons prior to that.
Kelvin Beachum, T - 35, played adequately in 16 games with 12 starts.
Lane Johnson, T - 34, with four consecutive All-Pro selections and 6 Pro Bowls, 5 All-Pros in the last 8 seasons.
Tyron Smith, T - 34, missed time in 2024 but was a 2nd team All-Pro in 2023.
Greg Van Roten, G - 34, started every game in 2024.
Kevin Zeilter, G - 34, started 16 games in 2024, Pro Bowl in 2023.
Zack Martin, G - 34, missed time in 2024, Pro Bowl and All-Pro in nine of 10 seasons before that.
Terron Armstead, T - 33, started 15 games in 2024, Pro Bowl in five of six season before that.
Joel Bitonio, G - 33, just selected to his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl, was an All-Pro in five of the last seven seasons.
Brandon Scherff, G - 33, started 17 games in 2024.
Laken Tomlinson, G - 33, started 17 games in 2024.
... and plenty more guys older than Thuney who were merely average or replacement-level players.

Yeah... "no way" the Cardinals should've "overpaid" with a fourth-round pick in next year's draft for a washed-up guy like Thuney, on a one-year, $16M contract. And having a the leadership and experience of a guy who earned FOUR Super Bowl rings wouldn't help at all.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I don't have a lot of insight into OL play, but is this supposed to be sarcasm?

Thuney is 32, hardly "in the twilight of his career" for an OL! True, his play has really been falling off with age... except, IT HASN'T: he's coming off of three consecutive All-Pro and Pro-Bowl seasons - he's a four-time All-Pro overall and is CURRENTLY a two-time consecutive FIRST TEAM ALL PRO. He must've REALLY sucked!

Just a few starting OL older than Thuney:
Trent Williams, T - 36, missed time in 2024 but with 3 consecutive first-team All-Pro seasons prior to that.
Kelvin Beachum, T - 35, played adequately in 16 games with 12 starts.
Lane Johnson, T - 34, with four consecutive All-Pro selections and 6 Pro Bowls, 5 All-Pros in the last 8 seasons.
Tyron Smith, T - 34, missed time in 2024 but was a 2nd team All-Pro in 2023.
Greg Van Roten, G - 34, started every game in 2024.
Kevin Zeilter, G - 34, started 16 games in 2024, Pro Bowl in 2023.
Zack Martin, G - 34, missed time in 2024, Pro Bowl and All-Pro in nine of 10 seasons before that.
Terron Armstead, T - 33, started 15 games in 2024, Pro Bowl in five of six season before that.
Joel Bitonio, G - 33, just selected to his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl, was an All-Pro in five of the last seven seasons.
Brandon Scherff, G - 33, started 17 games in 2024.
Laken Tomlinson, G - 33, started 17 games in 2024.
... and plenty more guys older than Thuney who were merely average or replacement-level players.

Yeah... "no way" the Cardinals should've "overpaid" with a fourth-round pick in next year's draft for a washed-up guy like Thuney, on a one-year, $16M contract. And having a the leadership and experience of a guy who earned FOUR Super Bowl rings wouldn't help at all.

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Bitonio is most likely going to retire this year. That puts Thuney up there at the top of the list age wise as he will be 33 this season. As I mention the Bears are getting at least one year out of him. Maybe he signs for another year with them if all goes well?

However there is a reason that these guys don't hang around much past 33-34 years of age. These guys take a beating on every single play. Especially true for a guy like Thuney who has played pretty much every offensive snap in his 9 year career (9884 snaps total).

 

[Stout]

The Bears literally had nothing at the 3 IOL positions so they had to do something. These seem like risky short term moves that cost draft capital when they could have got similar or better help at guard via FA.

The Chiefs again are doing things right. They franchised their young stud at OG and moved off of an expensive aging vet. Not only did the move off of an expensive aging vet they were able to use Ben Johnson's familiarity with Thuney to squeeze out more than they probably could have got from any other team in a trade. The Chiefs are playing Chess and the Bears are playing Checkers.

And what do WE have at IOL right now?

 

[Stout]

Again, disagree. Chiefs made a move to get under the cap and keep their younger OG. Bears got a 2024 Pro Bowl starting OG. Thuney will make significantly more of an impact than a future 4th round pick on a team that has to support it's young QB.

I wish this board could make up it's mind when a 4th or 5th or 6th or 7th round pick matters and when it doesn't.

It's a good thing Monti didn't give up the ability to select Jon Gaines in the 4th round of the 2023 draft for a Pro Bowl lever player. We would have been so much worse off.

Draft picks are more important than anything, dontcha know?

 

[MadCardDisease]

And what do WE have at IOL right now?

Froholdt and Adams. Plus FA hasn't even started yet. Zero need to panic with who our RG will be at this point or who will compete with Adams for LG.

If we are heading into the Draft with no FA signing at the G position then we can start to panic.

 

[kerouac9]

Draft picks are more important than anything, dontcha know?

Cap space is all that matters, bruh. How many wins do you get for having the most dry powder on June 1?

 

[PDXChris]

Would have loved to get Thuney for a 4th and ride with Adams on the other side. That would leave just a question mark with Williams injury and RT.

 

[Chopper0080]

Froholdt and Adams. Plus FA hasn't even started yet. Zero need to panic with who our RG will be at this point or who will compete with Adams for LG.

If we are heading into the Draft with no FA signing at the G position then we can start to panic.

This was never a conversation about panic...it was a conversation about the difference in style and the attitude of winning games now.

I have no panic about Monti. I haven't believed the garbage he has been shilling for two years. I said at the beginning his plan to "build through the draft" had a very narrow window for success. This is his big off-season. We will see what he does with it.

 

[Chopper0080]

You must be registered for see images attach

Bitonio is most likely going to retire this year. That puts Thuney up there at the top of the list age wise as he will be 33 this season. As I mention the Bears are getting at least one year out of him. Maybe he signs for another year with them if all goes well?

However there is a reason that these guys don't hang around much past 33-34 years of age. These guys take a beating on every single play. Especially true for a guy like Thuney who has played pretty much every offensive snap in his 9 year career (9884 snaps total).

After these two trades the Bears are 15th in the NFL in offensive line spending. They have a rookie QB on a rookie contract. This is what maximizing your window looks like. It's not about penny pinching and being worried Jonah Jackson is being overpaid in 2025 and 2026 when you have 50 mil still available in 2025 and 126 mil available in 2026.