Da Dos

Tag: Trades

  • Duuuuvall DE?

    Duuuuvall DE?

    Still slow, but below’s a vid of best available FAs

    EDGE Za’Darius Smith, 6’4 270, 32

    Last year the Lions traded for him when Aidan Hutchinson went down

    Za’Darius isn’t the greatest vs run, but he is outstanding rushing QBs

    “He had more pressures in ’24 than guys like TJ Watt, Maxx Crosby, Bryon Burns and Will Anderson”

    Za’Darius would essentially play the Yannick Ngakoue/Darrell Taylor role as a pass rush specialist and little else, but as we saw with Taylor at least, that can be useful [esp if the price is right]

    I suspect Poles is eyeing “Dark Horse” DEs to trade for as well

    Your guess is as good as mine

    JAY makes a case for Kayvon Thibodeaux, but honestly, I don’t believe he’s big enough at 6’5, 258, he’s about 20 pounds too light. Thibodeaux also played in a two point stance at ROLB not with his hand in the dirt.
    Besides, 7 sacks per season? ehhhh


    Lambert over at Sportsmockery pitches for D.J. Wonnum. I give the author props for creativity, but Wonnum mirrors Thibodeaux at 6’5, 258, ROLB and Poles would have to take an INJ risk/upside gamble; that being said, Wonnum would be cheaper than more popular options

    My target would be former #1 overall pick Jags DE Travon Walker [6’5, 272, 24]; some trade rumors flew around Walker pre-draft. Could’ve been something or nothing, but perhaps he’s attainable. He started slowly with only 3.5 sacks his rook campaign, but has racked up 10 sacks in each of the past two seasons and has played in both a two and three-point stance. The Jags have plenty of cap to extend him, but will they? The Jags excercised the 5th year option on Walker, and maybe he’s not going to be overly thrilled about that if he notches another 10+ sacks. Plus, Jags hired a new GM in James Gladstone alongside a new HC in Liam “Duuuvall” Coen. Maybe they want THEIR guys in a ‘soft remake.’ They seem determined in salvaging underwhelming Trevor Lawrence‘s career and may want picks to do so

    In Walker, Poles could nab an ascending DE with an $11M cap hit this year which is more than manageable with some strategic cap magic

    The rest of the FAs are the usual suspects, so friendly reminder, HB JK Dobbins and Nick Chubb still available though both come with major INJ history. I don’t believe there’s a knee ligament they haven’t torn between the two of them, and then some

    Some interesting IOL can also be taken off the bargain-bin, but honestly, I kinda like where Bears are at there

    Bill Murray intrigued me last season before he went down. I am a bit curious if Ryan Bates still has anything in the tank, while Luke Newman is getting groomed for C/OG. At OT, Ozzy Trapilo is the swing, so Bears appear relatively sound at oline all around

    Never thought I’d say that

  • Thuney Tunes

    Thuney Tunes


    Now that Joe Thuney has been extended until 2027 [a very reasonable contract if he remains healthy], does that mean the Bears cleared enough cap to trade for Trey Hendrickson? Well, yes, but mostly no unless Hendrickson is willing to play for that $16M/yr he’s currently on, then get paid next year

    If Poles cuts Tremaine Edmunds and D’Andre Swift in ’26 that could clear about $18.7M. Restructure some contracts, convert a bunch to signing bonus, and voila, technically Hendrickson could squeeze into cap

    The Bears would also have to count on the cap increasing by a good amount

    However, given that Hendrickson will likely demand upwards to $35M/yr, it’s easy to see how the cap would be tighter than a nun’s…budget

    Here’s a good breakdown on the situation

    IMO, I absolutely wouldn’t turn over a 1st. In fact, I wouldn’t offer anything higher than a 3rd. In some ways a team would be doing the Bengals a favor for taking the headache out of their locker room. The more this Hendrickson fiasco drags out, the more this becomes a bigger distraction as the days turn to weeks, even months, the less the Bengals are going to demand. At some point, gotta figure they just cut their losses. Then again, this is the cheap-ass Bengals that make the McCaskeys look like Sinatra

    Here’s another take on possibly trading for Hendrickson.