If you’ve been reading here long enough (first of all, thanks for stopping by and sticking around), then you know I have no problem being transparent. With that being said, I wanted to give a little bit of a heads-up that I’ll be unavailable for stretches this morning due to appointments already on the calendar. OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way we can talk Chicago Bears football.
As someone who cycles in and out of “good sleep” and “bad sleep” periods in extreme ways, I had a bad feeling that my recent run of struggles was going to catch up with me. And it did in the form of my body crashing on me in the early evening on Monday. The result might’ve been a good bit of extended sleep, but it also led to me being awake at 4 a.m. — to which I was greeted with some Bears trade news. Welcome aboard, Mr. Feeney:
I have mixed feelings about the trade. Mostly positive, to be sure. Trading for Dan Feeney is better than the alternative of standing pat. However, it isn’t the best alternative. Although, maybe I shouldn’t be so nitpick. Help is help, after all.
Still, I keep waffling between thinking this is the kind of thing that probably could’ve been addressed in the offseason *AND* isn’t this what Lucas Patrick is supposed to bring? And then I’m reminded that Patrick has to start at center because an injury to Cody Whitehair’s snapping hand moved him to left guard when Teven Jenkins’ leg injuries took him out of the lineup. The Bears could’ve gotten Ja’Tyre Carter some time at center this offseason, but were unable to because he spent a chunk of the summer at right guard because Nate Davis was MIA this summer for one reason or another. What a mess this position group is (and continues to be).
Some notes on the day ahead, as NFL active rosters must be down to 53 players by 4 PM ET: ▫️Players let go with fewer than 4 seasons of service will hit waivers ▫️Waiver claims will be processed by Noon ET on Wednesday ▫️Players let go with more than 4 seasons of service become…— Field Yates (@FieldYates) August 29, 2023
The folks at spotrac share some contract details that come along with the deal. For the Bears, it means they’re absorbing $1.205 million. PFF’s Brad Spielberger adds that is just a portion of the $3.25M deal Feeney had coming his way from the Dolphins. Meanwhile, Miami holds a $2.045M dead cap hit. A small price to pay to swing a deal that nets the Dolphins a sixth-round pick.
While it’s on our mind, this is what the Bears’ allotment of 2024 picks looks like right now: 1st, 1st (via Panthers), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th (via Eagles), and 5th. Surely, Bears GM Ryan Poles can cut a deal that lands the team a sixth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. I’m not an oddsmaker, but I’d set the line at Bears sixth-round picks made in 2024 at 0.5 (and would take the over without flinching).
I bet Patrick will be loading this up with all sorts of cuts between now and the 3 p.m. CT deadline:
Here's an updated tracker of all 32 teams' roster cuts ahead of the deadline tomorrow afternoon: ⬇️https://t.co/opaQ8JY3N4
From the “Obvious headlines are my favorite” department comes this one from Jason Lieser: Bears GM Ryan Poles is counting on highest-paid players to make difference. We’ll see if Poles spent his money wisely or if we’ll see the Bears have to dip back into the deep end of the free agent waters to mask the mistakes of the past.
Leftovers from the preseason finale? Alex Shapiro (NBCS Chicago) explains why the Bears had rookies Gervon Dexter Sr. and Zacch Pickens play 3-technique defensive tackle spot at the same time. My hope is that one (if not both) of these players are starting defensive tackles for this team by year’s end.
Tank Specialist Ihmir Smith-Marsette will be reporting to duty in Carolina. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports the Panthers are trading for IMS in a deal that includes conditional seventh-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. Smith-Marsette had two of the worst games one could possibly imagine (and had them in back-to-back weeks). He had a block-in-the-back that negated a Justin Fields TD run and literally fumbled away the Bears’ comeback chances against the Vikings in Minnesota. Days later, there was a costly fourth-quarter drop in a loss to the Commanders. It would be fitting if Smith-Marsette contributed to the Bears getting the first overall pick for a second straight season.
NFL reporter Aaron Wilson has DB/return ace Desmond King on the list of players the Texans released on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s cut deadline. King was a first-team All-Pro defensive back in 2018 who earned second-team All-Pro recognition as a punt returner. Considering the Bears’ needs at both of those positions, it might be worth checking in on the University of Iowa product.
The bad news for ex-Bears punter Pat O’Donnell is that he is out of a job. But the good news is that he no longer has to stay in Green Bay if he doesn’t want to. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets the Packers released O’Donnell, who spent the first eight years of his career in Chicago before signing with the Cheesedoodles last offseason.
Shakeia Taylor (Tribune) introduces us to the “Law Firm” of Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton and Keith Randolph — a pair of Fighting Illini defensive linemen who are among college football’s best. Newton is already garnering consideration as a potential top-5 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, so we’ll be keeping tabs on his development as college football kicks into gear.
Hollywood finish: The Little League World Series ended on a walk-off home run. (Baseball Is Fun)
I’m dropping this off because Eli (BN Bulls) makes some good points by highlighting the Bulls’ 3-point shooting concerns:
When Vucevic shot 40.0% from 3 in 2020-21 … he was taking 6.3 per game. He doesn't need to shoot that many, but he's down to 4.2. Might as well try getting him one more per game.
As for Williams, he's shooting 41.4% on his career. Time to start looking for him more.— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) August 28, 2023
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