[CHIcity]

i like talking to bears fans outside of the bears messageboard...it's a bunch of kids over there that don't know too much.

i think the tj trade was basically made 2 years ago when benson was selected with the 4th pick...they tried to deal him last offseason but it didn't happen. i feel like they got fair value for him by moving up so many places in the 2nd round...like it or not, rb's don't carry much trade value (especially backs with 1 year left on their deals). plus turner's system calls for more of a straight ahead runner like benson instead of the "dancer" we had in tj. i'll feel confident going into the season with benson and ap as our 1 and 2 back...they'll be able to add depth from another teams cuts...no need to waste a draft pick on a rb this year.

as far as briggs goes, the bears have ALL the leverage. he can cry all he wants to about the 7+ million franchise tag they hit him with but if he doesn't play, he's not getting paid and may ruin his chances of a bigger payday next season with another team. i think briggs is a special player BUT definitely benefits from a cover 2 system that pushes plays to the weak side. bottomline is, they can't tie up that much money in one position (lb) so briggs needs to go. hopefully they can groom jamar williams in his 2nd yr to replace briggs in the 08 season. if they have a chance to grab a special OLB in the 3 or 4th round this year, angelo will probably pull the trigger.

i'm very happy they didn't join in on the overspending in this years free agent pool...they have too many players they've developed thru the draft that need to be re-uped (tommy harris, tillman, vasher). i remember last offseason when every bears fan was bitching they didn't dish out top dollar for randal el...how good of a year did he have last season w washington??

i'm pro rex grossman by the way...look for a lot of progress to be made this upcoming season...no one will mention griese anymore by the 3rd or 4th week of the season. chicago fans are very impatient when it comes to qbs b/c of our track record w that position but dude is gonna b the real deal...hopefully the new qb coach works with him on stepping up in the pocket this offseason.

the draft...our biggest need is depth in the secondary (this is obvious after the superbowl)...really wish we could move up and get ol boy from lsu but it's not gonna happen. i'd love another quality tight end, maybe even another wr even tho i really like our wr corp (moose, berrian, a healthy bradley and currie, davis), and more depth on the DL (boone and scott are about to b gone). i'm not too into the idea of drafting OL this year...we have a lot of depth in that area with metcalf, st claire, etc.

hmmmm what else...wish the offseason wasn't so damn long