Bears Twitter Madness is back. You can vote on the whole bracket if you start at the top of this thread. Or if you want to vote for (or against – hey, it’s a free country!) BN Bears, here’s our matchup with Bear Report’s Usayd Koshul. May the best account win!
The 2024 NFL Draft is ONE MONTH FROM TODAY.
That’s it. There was your first Bullet of the last Monday of March. The NFL Draft is coming. We’re approaching the final countdown and I couldn’t be happier. The mock drafts we obsess over will soon start getting clarity. In each of the last two years, we’ve seen an early-to-mid April mocks hint at the Bears’ intentions. In 2022, it was a growing consensus from the likes of Mel Kiper Jr., Chad Reuter, and Kevin Fishbain that was forecasting the team’s eventual pick of cornerback Kyler Gordon. A year later, around the same time, Darnell Wright began popping up in a bunch of notable mock drafts. So keep your eyes open for the mocks that drop early next month.
Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the exercise of getting to know prospect names via the mock draft front. But there is nothing better than when the guys and gals on the beat start putting puzzle pieces together and turn mock drafts from informative exercises to put certain players on our radar to something that looks like an actual predictive method.
NFL Draft hats are OUT. And you can get one below:
I like the side patch. That is a good look. It’s there, but it isn’t overbearing. The only question for me is if I want it as a fitted cap or a snapback.
At what point do the Bears call Jim Harbaugh’s bluff and offer up the No. 1 pick (so the Chargers can have J.J. McCarthy) in exchange for Justin Herbert?
And, hey, if it leaves the Vikings stuck with Sam Darnold as their QB1 in 2024 then so be it.
One last Bears-Chargers nugget from LAC GM Joe Hortiz on trading Keenan Allen via the team’s official website:
“Yeah, I knew who I was trading,” Hortiz said. “He’s a very talented player and I respect him as a player, as a person. It’s difficult when you have to cut a player, trade a player, release a player.
“It’s always difficult for a player like him certainly, but it creates an opportunity for other players to step up,” Hortiz continued. “Again, we’re not done building that room out so we’re going to look to continue to add pieces to that room.
“I think when you’re talking about trading Keenan specifically, yeah that’s not a decision you make with no acknowledgment of, ‘This is a talented player that can still compete,'” Hortiz added.
All of that seems similar to what the Bears were doing a few years ago with trading Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, and (to a lesser extent) Roquan Smith. That cap bill comes for everyone and there comes a time to pay the piper. The Chargers (and to a greater extent, Buccaneers) are showing us that it doesn’t HAVE to be a complete tear-down. There are alternate routes. But executing them each has its own different degrees of difficulty.
NFL dot com analyst Bucky Brooks offers up a free-agent signing that could impact each divisional race in 2024. When it comes to the NFC North, it isn’t a move by the Bears that catches Bucky’s eye. Instead, it is the Packers’ addition of safety Xavier McKinney that stands out. McKinney, who was on my Bears offseason wish list, has ball skills and could thrive in a new-look Green Bay defense. In other words, I’d advise Caleb Williams not to target McKinney in coverage.
Let the record show that not all of Green Bay’s moves are being met with unflinching praise. For instance, Stephania Bell calls the Packers signing of running back Josh Jacobs a head-scratcher:
It’s true, last season was an off year for Aaron Jones. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1, and it limited his availability throughout the season. But the oft-repeated mantra was that Jones was the heart of the team, a critical presence in the locker room and the key to its run game. The argument against Jones is he’s an aging running back who was going to cost too much to re-sign. Yet the Packers brought in a back on a more expensive multiyear deal (four years, $48 million) who has fewer years of play in the league but has accrued mileage at a faster rate. This is not about Jacobs’ undeniable talent, it’s about the rationale.
I think the NFL has gone too far in the “don’t pay running backs” camp. But I understand where Bell is coming from with this angle. With that being said, I’m not looking forward to watching the Bears trying to stop Jacobs knowing that he’ll probably have bigger holes to run through because teams have to respect Jordan Love as a passer (bleh) in a way they didn’t have to when Jacobs was in Vegas.
Ah, yes. Another quarterback prospect with connections to the Bears in the pre-draft process:
Quincy Patterson, a Chicago native, led the Temple Owls in rushing touchdowns last year. Patterson’s Temple bio notes that he was often deployed as a short-yardage situational quarterback. Maybe there is a gadget role in his future at the next level.
This is a relief: One NFL executive throws cold water on the idea of the Super Bowl going exclusively to a streaming platform soon. To be clear, it is still a possibility. And because the NFL has never turned down an opportunity to cash another check, I think it’ll eventually happen. But I don’t think it is on the cusp of going down soon. (Awful Announcing)
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Brett has a look at the initial Chicago Cubs starting pitcher schedule, which lines up Shota Imanaga for the home opener at Wrigley. See ya there! (BN Cubs)
Our friends at BN Blackhawks are keeping up with which Blackhawks prospects are playing in the Frozen Four:
NEWSLETTER
