DMN: The Bears are the new Redskins

This was the fear I had for some teams (my own Bills being one) going into this uncapped year. That some teams wouldn't even provide their fans the illusion of being competitive this year.

I really hope this doesn't result in teams doing what happens in baseball (Indians for example) where they'll try to make a run "every few years", or even worse, what the Pirates do, and just keep league minimum guys so you can field a team.

Curious to see how far below last year's base they will end up.

Son...of...a...bitch. As a Packer fan, I was really hoping someone besides Chicago would sign Peppers. Having to deal with Jared Allen and Julius Peppers four times a year has gotta be one of the toughest assignments for any o-line in the league. I seriously hope Ted considers trading up for one of the top o-linemen in the draft cuz our tackles aint gonna get it done without help.

The Bears are the new Skins? If you mean spend tons of money and not make the playoffs you are probably right

Professor - The Bears are losing Ogunlye as well. Is Peppers going to do it all? Tommy Harris has fallen off and Urlacher is a year older and plays as well as the guys infront of him. I like Peppers and he will be tough to defend but the Bears still have a ton of holes on defense.

If the Packers had paid Clifton guaranteed money,he couldn't handle Allen or Peppers anyway so why pay him top dollar?

I have a good feeling about the Bears next year! We signed a blocked TE which will help with the pass rush, we have Martz, and I am almost 100% sure we will get a #1 WR. On the Defensive side with Peppers and hopefully a healthy D. We could be a contender!

Godspeed Cutller and the Bears!!

Take off a few plays and see how long Da Fans like you there....
Delhomme's deal offsets the Peppers contract, OUCH!
So much money was tied into Peppers contract though, they could have got someone like Clemons for the left side and paid that other money into other starters on defense and had a balanced front seven.

Fortunately this is a deep draft for line help on the inside.

"Why would the Panthers cut Delhomme if they owed him over $12 million?"

An even better question would be, why did the Panthers sign Delhomme to that ridiculous contract in the first place? Speaks volumes as to the foolishness in upper management in Carolina as well as to the savvy of Jake's agent.

You do realize Lombardi that the Bears haven't signed Peppers yet, don't you? Not all free agent visits end with signings.

Ha. as a packer fan, i can smell the desperation coming from Halas Hall all the way in Milwaukee. They are way overpaying for Peppers, a guy who most in Carolina admits takes many plays off. So in essence, the Packers will only have to deal with Peppers for one game, since he'll take the other game off.
That's going to be your leader on the D-line? a guy who won't be there half the games? And that was when he was in a contract year. i can imagine he'll take even more plays off now that he's paid. i feel pity for the Bears fans. i really do. Cutler and now this. This team will be screwed for a decade.

Ha. as a packer fan, i can smell the desperation coming from Halas Hall all the way in Milwaukee. They are way overpaying for Peppers, a guy who most in Carolina admits takes many plays off. So in essence, the Packers will only have to deal with Peppers for one game, since he'll take the other game off.
That's going to be your leader on the D-line? a guy who won't be there half the games? And that was when he was in a contract year. i can imagine he'll take even more plays off now that he's paid. i feel pity for the Bears fans. i really do. Cutler and now this. This team will be screwed for a decade.

The Bears are entering a downward spiral of addiction to high risk desperate moves. This path does not lead to success. It leads to a painful rebuilding process.

I dont think Peppers has signed yet. this appears to be a little early... remember we are talking about the Bears and they always fade in the 4th Quarter.

I'm a little suprised at your superficial analysis of the Delhomme situation. The contract they gave him was howlingly bad, one of the worst, most short-sighted deals in NFL history.

What are they supposed to do now, keep him on the roster? Or worse, keep him and actually LET HIM PLAY?!?!?

Their coach is not under contract to be paid during the lockout year. Can't say that sounds like such a terrible strategy to me. They declined to enter the "see who will overpay Peppers the most" sweepstakes. Can't say that sounds like such a terrible strategy to me.

Making mistakes is bad. Fixing mistakes is good. Looks like the Panthers have made a couple of good decisions here. How does that make them the Redskins?

And, oh, by the way, Peppers hasn't signed with anybody yet.

The Bears front office is totally desperate. They will sign anyone who they think could save their jobs without considering the cost. This is a very dangerous position for us Bear fans as long term damage could be done, handicapping any future regime with salary cap issues as well as aggravating our potentially penurious owners. I am scared; very scared.

Lombardi,

Did Peppers sign aleady sign with the Bears and I missed it? The tone of the article really sounds as though he has inked a deal. Do you know something we don't? Could the Eagles sneak back into the hunt or is Peppers in Chicago a foregone conclusion?

Well, it sucks for Panthers fans but Lombardi's take suggests that there will be football in 2011 so that sounds good. Thanks again Lombardi and we'll see what my Broncos do! How about those Lions being aggressive. Fortune favors the bold, I always say!

@Mack: I'm not suggesting Peppers will do it all. Of course he won't. I agree there are plenty of ways Chicago's defense can be attacked. But the Packers do not have a tackle that can effectively block Peppers. Unless the tackle gets a chip from the runningback or guard, Rodgers is gonna have Peppers in his face once every series....assuming Julius is using 100% effort.

I never suggested we pay Clifton top dollar. In fact, with the amount of money we would have had to pay Chad I would have let him go too. T.J. Lang is supposed to be his replacement. If T.J. plays the way he did down the stretch last year, I think he'll fill in nicely. He still has a lot of work to do on polishing his footwork but I think he could develope into a player of Clifton's caliber.

Carolina cut Delhomme so they could take the potential cap hit in an uncapped year. It was a terrible contract, but he signed it after he led them to the playoffs, although his 27 interception game in the playoffs was an omen of things to come.

The fact that there has been no Peppers signing tells me they are still arguing about money. Maybe the Bears realized they are the only team bidding on these older players. Them and Detroit.

We hear all the time that owners should "stay out of it" and "let the football guys run things". The situation with the Bears is a perfect example of why that is not a sound approach. The owners should not micromanage, but they have to be astute enough to veto the sort of desperation moves the team is making.

Question for those who have seen Julius Peppers on a consistent basis. Is he perhaps more of a front runner who plays well when the team plays well, or is his "here and there effort" more random? Does he seem to play better against certain teams? Certain Tackles?

What's the take from Panther fans? All the analysts say he's a risk, and I've no reason to doubt them, so what's the take from those who see him a lot?

I like what the Bears are doing, but Angelo has been such a huge draft guy that it's a bit strange to see him acting this way.

VandyCutler, u r drinking the Martz Kool-Aid, "We signed a blocked TE which will help with the pass rush, we have Martz, & I am almost 100% sure we will get a #1 WR." I would be sure of the WR too. Probably small & fast. Maybe they get Ted Ginn from The Fish. Too bad Olsen is shuffled out in a Martz system. At least DaBears improved at RB. I think even the Lions can surpass them next season...

Bravo to the Bears , Peppers, Taylor and the Blocking TE from SD (can't recall his name ) will all make major contributions to their team and lets face it they needed to add some good players to this team . Bears fans should pay no attention to the naysayers .

I've watched Julius plenty the last 10 years, 8 of which were in the nfl. Is he a consistent player? That's a tough question, what's consistence? If its getting a sack every game then he's not your man and really I don't know anyone who is because no one is averaging a sack a game. The problem with julius is expectations, you see some of the athletic plays he makes, the int he snatched out of the air against vick with 1 hand, taking a fumble 80 yards etc, getting a 3 sack game and people think well that should be happening constantly but people seem to forget that these plays or 3 sack games are outliers and not averages. Wilt chamberlain was great, he had a 100 point game, he didn't average a 100 points. Julius and players of his type, those hyped by their freakish gifts always have a healthy level of detractors because expectations are that they do it every second and if they aren't then they're not putting in the effort. Does julius take plays off? I would say yes, but if he takes off 2nd down cuz he's tired so he has a little extra oomph on 3rd then I don't blame him. People consider jared allen to be mr consistency and high motor, he finished with more sacks than julius, I think 4 more but he had 7.5 in 2 games against the packers. I believe pep had a sack in just as many games while playing 3 of them with a broken hand. Perception has really hurt peppers rep and it seems unfairly.

As a Packer fan I'd be concerned about Peppers if I thought there was any reason to believe he'd get less rather than more lazy after signing the giant contract. Back in the real world I'm more worried about what Chester Taylor will do to us in that Martz offense. Yeah Peppers has 25 1/2 sacks the last 2 years but a year before that he only had 2 1/2. His production was down last year and he showed that even a contract year isn't enough to motivate him.

I'd have preferred he sign somewhere else but I'm hardly shaking in my boots. Plus it largely precludes them from signing Kampman, which would've been a real kick in the crotch.

I find the whole Peppers only plays hard in contract years thing ridiculous, im not sure how someone gets stuck with that label but it seems impossible to shake once you get it. The guy has an 8 year career with one poor season, last i checked he wasnt a free agent every year. yet somehow a guy who had 1 poor season out of 8 is not consistent instead of someone having 7 good seasons out of 8. as for peppers performance last year, he had 10.5 sacks but played 3 games with a broken hand in which he played only 3rd downs or less because of it.

Yes the Bears sort of have a pass rush, now they have one athlete on defense who can get to the quarterback consistently. Expect protection to be shifted towards Peppers and the secondary, well it still can be had. Remember Vikings and Packers have multiple receiving options that drive defenses mad. Bears also have their own offensive line problems, so when they get those last two problems fixed then I think people will take note.

Thanks Jonathan. I was kind of thinking the same thing. It doesn't make sense that the guy has this reputation as a bit of a dog, but on the other hand multiples of the leagues best talent evaluators are chasing him.

I don't believe that it was just the fact that "pass rushers are hard to find."

IMO Peppers has gotten a bit of a bad rap and the most likely culprit is your suggestion that his highlight real is his worst enemy.

It will be fun to watch him this year and I'm betting he brings it heavy.