So what were we supposed to expect from Craig Counsell? David Ross a world series winner with the Cubs in 2016 and manager after Joe Maddon I say we would be in a better position right now. Counsell signing the highest contract for a manager gives me the vibes of what he was in Milwaukee, he's alright. There is no way Ross would have let then bullpen no matter how bad it is give up nine runs to lose a game 9-8 when you're up 8-0. While I was surprised how well we did against the Dodgers there's always trouble waiting when we go out west to face them. They're even having trouble with the Padres the team the Cubs gave up the runs to, in a series we should have won. And of course Milwaukee is still ahead of us. I was never really overwhelmed about the signing. Truly Counsell looks weird in a Cub uniform. But mark my words and I don't like to be the wet blanket if the Cubs fall short of the playoffs or get knocked out early like the Ross years we're going to be wondering what was the point. 

 It was going to happen and it happened. I am furious. The Bears giving the reins at QB to a kid with a bunch of ballers and vets around him he better have his shit together otherwise we'll be moving on from him. A kid who it has been said isn't even the best athlete in the draft somehow ends up at #1. The Bears have to draft him. And Just Fields handled it like he should thanking Chicago for the opportunity. If I was him with a Wikipedia page I would leave that period of my life blank. Chicago gave him nothing but a check. They didn't know how to handle him and he will go on to have a great career because he is the ultimate professional with all the talent in the world. Stupid me I figured there would be some way to hold onto both players but as they say it is a business. When this team starts to struggle and all the fantastic moves made in free agency and the draft is going to be worthless if this kid cannot beat Green Bay.  

Word in Chicago: Cody Bellinger is coming back on a 3 year deal with incentives in the contract that if he wants to leave he can walk away at anytime in the three years. I'm sorry anything good he has to say about the City of Chicago and wanting to be here to me is hollow otherwise you would have signed a long time ago before spring training games had started. You're going to have to prove you want to be here in Chicago besides any sort of payday. Most people want to win and show what they can do over a period of time. At their peak. I don't understand how after one good year and two bad ones before that you could say you deserve a max contract. And if the Cubs had made the playoffs and lost in the first game for us in Chicago we can say he got us further than the year or years before and deserve a large contract but not the amount of years or money he was looking for. But Cody is back and let's see if he's even worth the contract the Cubs just gave him.

The Bears: Go ahead and do what you're going to do anyways: draft a quarterback namely Caleb Williams and get rid of Justin Fields. Let's see if this is going to go down the path that other regimes have gone. How many quarterbacks we can ruin. We ruined Justin Fields and are looking to get rid of him after firing nearly your entire offensive staff. To do what exactly? Have Justin or whoever swallow a new play book and see where that gets us with the bare minimum of talent around him. No quality running back. One top notch receiver and and a pretty good tight end. The offensive line is trash. The defense is coming along but we don't know if the head coach is going to be around next year so if the Bears do draft  Caleb Williams he's going to be in the same position as Justin Fields. I honestly believe Caleb Williams is not the best quarterback in the draft and I don't want to be here again looking for another quarterback like the Carolina Panthers. 

Another thing that bothers me is the front office not just being straight up with Fields the last two years whether or he was going to be replaced. I say let the man know right away what the reality is which is he could be traded no matter how much he wants to be in Chicago. I do not believe Caleb Williams is the best qb in the draft which is why I say keep Fields. Last year I said no matter what they do with the qb position they're going to have to put people around him in order to succeed. And they did not do that last year and here we are again with the same conundrum. Bears gm's and coaches should never unpack their suitcases because the Bears will not hesitate to ride you out on the rails. I say Ran Poles and Eberflus is tied to each other at this point because of the situation being the same as last year and it was not Poles who put the Bears in a position to win. It was Eberflus who took over the defense after his coordinator suddenly resigned. Though Poles didn't hire Eberflus he's tied with him as far as success. If you ask me if anyone should go it would be Poles because he flat out doesn't know what he's doing. I've said every regime wants their own players so I say go ahead and draft Caleb Williams. Do what you think is best but the clock is ticking.      

It has been said that no one believes in you more than you especially when you're asking for a $200 million contract for multiple years. Cody Bellinger had a red hot start to the season and when he was injured the Cubs struggled. But that's one year with the Cubs when the previous seasons he had bad numbers and blamed it on injuries. If I was him I would have signed a two year contract because as you see no one is hot to sign him. He had plenty of interest after the 2023 season that quickly waned as free agency has gone on. Everyone is basically yelling at the Cubs "sign him already!" But the Cubs are 

lukewarm on doing that because he had one good year. He really needs to bring his numbers down big time but Scott Boras won't let that happen because they say he can get the big contracts for his players as an agent. Not this player. He started during the season saying the Cubs would be fools not to re-sign Bellinger. But let's be realistic one season does not a legend make. I've heard he wants a contract as long as 8 years. I'm not sure there were a lot of teams looking to sign him when the Cubs snatched him up. And you see the same with pitchers and catchers reporting this month. He'd be better off signing with the Cubs for another two seasons and then signing a big contract. The only problem is he's too close to thirty years old. No one wants to sign someone for 8 years at 28. G©

 

Let the Chicago Bears go about their business which might mean drafting a quarterback with the number one pick. Are we sure Caleb Williams is the right pick? His numbers regressed a year after he won the Heisman trophy but as they say he beat the teams he was supposed to but not the teams that were tops in the Pac 12 conference in 2023. Was that his fault? I don't know I never saw him play but I get the feeling that they figured him out from one season to the other. The teams he dominated in '22 he struggled against in '23. Including losing to Tulane in 2022. Then going 1-5 in the last six games of '23. Of course he didn't play in the bowl game this season expecting to be a high draft pick. Saying at one point in the season if he wasn't drafted by certain teams he would stay in college where he'd make more money. Now he's saying he is not anti-Bears. One thing that is consistent is his ability to score. At least in 2022. I don't know how many teams have given up the number one pick twice in two years. I suggested the Bears keep Justin Fields to see what he can really do with a quality coaching crew around him but the coordinators the Bears hired are coming in with the idea they will be working with Williams. It looks like the writing's on the walls for Fields. If you're a Chicago fan of any sport we've seen too often players go to other teams and do well. Chicago is a ruiner (I'm sure that isn't a real word) of stars so it might have been a good thing we didn't draft Pat Mahomes. It is good to see him at his best in multiple Super Bowls and not being run out of Chicago. I don't want to see Fields go but this has been a year of bad quarterback play. But the Carolina Panthers who took our number 1 pick last year took a quarterback and it was a disaster for them. Who is to say the Bears won't have the same experience? Most QB's who are successful sat for a year or two getting some tutelage from a veteran. I believe that veteran should be Justin Fields. G©

       

The Bears have made some quick moves within a week of the end of the season, on the offensive side of the ball. The defense started out as trash but with some huge improvements in personnel and Eberflus taking the reins of the defense they greatly improved to the point they were in the running for the playoffs. There isn't so much to improve on that side of the ball except depth. There is still a passionate discussion about whether to keep Justin Fields. For a franchise that hasn't had a "Franchise Quarterback," since Sid Luckman. I'd watch the Bears offense and it looked so clumsy. Nothing like an NFL offense at all. People wanted to blame Fields as he started to look un-interested and wanting out of Chicago where he was the most sacked qb in the league which is a wonder why they didn't get rid of the offensive line coach. His looks were probably because his handlers didn't know how to deal with him. Luke Getsy, the offensive coordinator is who I blame for ruining fields if he continues to struggle. They fired the quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach, running backs coach (which is a head scratcher because the running game was one of the bright spots on offense), and the tight ends coach. It is a wonder if these guys were from the previous regime. I like the way the Bears are doing things with the coaches and front office. Desist with this loyalty where if the head coach is fired so is everybody else. A chance to get the right guy in the right place not tie him to the Head Coach. This is showing the Bears are serious about being contenders for a while. Everyone is expendable including Ryan Poles a former practice squad member with the Bears. I've not been a big fan of a man who never smiles. Though the last gm Ryan Pace always had a smile on his face but some would say quarterbacks were not his forte if Fields whom he drafted does not get better. I'll hold my full opinion on Ryan Poles depending on what he does in this draft. I'll say what I said last year. If Justin Fields is your quarterback then let it be known and not have him waiting until draft night to find out he's being replaced. G©

     

Everyone is so hot to get Justin Fields out of Chicago. Considering what other teams and many teams including Chicago had to use backup quarterbacks. Minnesota Vikings had to use at least four since Kirk Cousins went down. Quarterback play this season has been terrible especially among the teams who drafted quarterbacks in 2023. I am of a mind that if you draft a quarterback you should sit him to let him know the speed of the NFL. If the Bears do draft a qb with the first pick it would be a bad idea if they think any quarterback they draft will be ready to play on day one which is why the play at that position was so bad unless you're Lamar Jackson. 

The Bears have two picks in the first round and most mock drafts I've seen says the Bears will draft a qb with the first pick they traded away last year to Carolina who drafted a qb and now it's coming back to the Bears. If they do draft a qb they should keep Fields to prepare the kid for the league. 

I remember when the Bears Drafted Mitch Trubisky in 2017 they had the plan to sit him to let him learn the position. Only they signed Mike Glennon who was complete trash so Trubisky had to learn sooner than planned and quarterback is one of the hardest positions to learn and the easiest to destroy a career if you don't have the right coaches. 2017 was a great quarterback class which included Patrick Mahomes. Everytime I see him play it makes me mad because the Bears could have had him. Someone told me that if they did draft Mahomes they would have ruined him. We've already seen David Montgomery walk to a division rival and is doing well and Roshaun Smith was Traded to Baltimore where they're looking like a Super Bowl team. Can it be said that Chicago is a place where football careers come to die with all of the hall of famers we've had? So what is the point of drafting another quarterback when to me it is clear that the coaches we have now have no idea how to coach up a talent like Fields. So drafting a quarterback no.1 and letting fields walk is not a good idea. I say trade out of the first round altogether because the Bears don't draft again until number 9 or 10. I say trade the pick and get a package of players and picks and find your studs in the later rounds where you can find the diamond in the rough. Stop relying on the draft and losing so we can get a high draft pick who isn't going to accomplish much but find his way out of Chicago. And then we're back where we started.  G©