Maybe Public Negotiations Are a Good Thing and Other Bears Bits

The shine of a fantasy victory wears off quickly when you’re out-bid on your top two waiver targets by $7. Grumble.

•   Wednesday is usually a day in which we turn the page from the previous opponent and focus on the next one. But this week is unlike any other. And not because the Bears won in incredibly thrilling fashion. Allen Robinson’s desire for a contract extension has hijacked the narrative. In case you missed it, Robinson removed Bears-related images and mentions from his social media pages which led to people talking about trading him. Later in the day, a report surfaced that Robinson hadn’t yet requested a trade despite being frustrated by how extension talks were going. OPE! It was later reported that Robinson had asked the Bears about a trade. And while that report was later rebuffed, things still weren’t looking good. Yesterday was a rollercoaster … on Tuesday … of the second week of the NFL season. Oy!

•   Yep, I can see why this guy wants to get paid:

•   After not negotiating through the media, I can’t help but wonder if this is actually a good thing. Deadlines get deals done. But Bears GM Ryan Pace said there was no artificially set deadline for this deal. So the obvious next alternative is public pressure. This isn’t a tactic the Bears like using, which is fine. In a world where an overshare is a keystroke away, not everything has to be go through the public filter. I can respect that both sides decided not to negotiate through the media previously. But at some point, something has to give … right?

•   In addition to living in a world where over-shares are normal, we also exist in a place where players control more of the narrative regarding their contract demands. So in that vein, I can appreciate the negotiation tactics from Robinson’s side. Instead of chatting up a columnist or dialing up a radio hit as it was done back in the day, Robinson did what modern players do when they want to express displeasure for their situation. We’ve seen these negotiations work for Alvin Kamara and Dalvin Cook, who recently received hefty paydays. On the other end of the line, we saw Stefon Diggs ultimately talk his way out of Minnesota. Hey, the system works!

•   The additional beauty here is that there is no harm in what Robinson did. Sure, there are going to be some small annoyances along the way. For instance, I can’t imagine Matt Nagy will be thrilled to answer questions about something his general manager mucked up by not getting a deal done months ago. But that’s collateral damage in a situation like this. Ultimately, if all this gets the ball rolling toward a deal that keeps Robinson with the Bears for the foreseeable future, then it was worth it.

•   And if a deal doesn’t get done, then the pressure will be on Nagy to keep together a team that could fracture at a moment’s notice thanks in part to contract issues out of his control and having to work through the continual growing pains of a quarterback whose job feels like it’s hanging in the balance with each drop-back. No pressure, coach.

•   For your listening pleasure:

https://twitter.com/TheAthleticCHI/status/1305992390738497537?s=20

•   I pitched Michael and Brett on re-purposing my Anakin-prepares-to-slay-younglings-dot-jpeg to reflect myself playing the role of Anakin and the younglings being fans of other teams. It didn’t make it past the conversation stage. But maybe it should have:

•   In other words: Back off cretins, A-Rob is a BEAR!

•   Moreover, I can’t imagine Ryan Pace trading his best and most consistent offensive contributor in a poop-or-get-off-the-pot year for the team, his coaching staff, and himself. I’m not saying it can’t happen. But if it were to happen, Pace might as well start freshening his résumé because I don’t imagine that pivoting toward trading good players after pouring a ton of money in short-term offseason fixes will go over well with management.

•   Color me shocked that Bleacher Report’s one change the Bears should make would be to extend Allen Robinson. Instead, Chris Roling asks for fewer Mitchell Trubisky pass attempts. I get it. Totally. The less Trubisky, the better. But when you’re facing a 23-6 deficit and your opponent is down its top three cornerbacks, you’re gonna have to pass the ball at some point.

•   The gift and the curse:

•   The will to win (TWTW) is not a metric that gets analyzed enough:

https://twitter.com/NFLonFOX/status/1305261083658256387?s=20

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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