Lurk McGurk

I think you have a really good shot at him at #4. It would be pretty sweet to get him and not have to give up anything in the process.

I think you're right. They may have offered a little something but not enough for the Bears to gamble on what they could lose out on if things didn't go their way after moving to #2. Who are you hoping for now? Richardson or Levis? (of course it could still be Young or Stroud but that seems really unlikely)

The odds of #1 overall have taken a giant shift to Stroud. Young was about a 2-1 fave to go #1 a week ago. Stroud is now -320 and Young is +300. Expect Stroud and Young to be gone 1 and 2, but if Young is still there at #3 somehow, expect the competition for teams to move up to #3 to be very fierce.

Getting Moore and a 2025 second, instead of just a 2025 one is prefereable imo. It gives you flexibility to focus your attention elsewhere and not have to think about trading for an aging WR (Hopkins etc.). Another aspect of it is that Carolina will have a rookie QB throwing to a Moore-less receiving corps. That is likely to improve the position of the picks that the Bears are getting back. Even one less win could be the difference between the 2024 first being #20 overall to #15, or #14 to #9, etc. That aspect is significant. Fun Fact: The Panthers have never had back to back winning seasons. I wouldn't expect the picks in both 2024 and 2025 to be in the bottom half of the rounds, since they haven't shown the ability to sustain success yet.

This makes the most sense to me out of all of the theories at this point. I'm not buying that Poles is outright lying. I think he's applying more pressure. We'll see how it unfolds.

More insight from Peter King:

For anyone interested in listening to Brugler going over the above mentioned mock (Brugler starts @ 12:36):

Counter offer: Bears add in WR Velus Jones Jr. Colts add in their 2025 first, second, and fourth. That generously leaves you the 2025 third. But seriously, I'm down for your proposal. Do I need to sign something?

Yeah I'm thinking someone is going to get desperate, like Carolina, and give up a bunch. I'm starting to think it's looking less likely that the Colts are the trade partner. Which is good for holding onto draft capital for them. Hopefully the Bears get a team to bite, and the Colts still wind up with who they want without giving up as much and it all works out. Somehow you all have won me over to rooting for that lol

I think you may be right about Ballard. I think there's at least some truth to what Poles is saying about what he thinks he can get, and I think Ballard may not want to compete with that. I'm thinking thinking that Houston is a strong possibility and then another trade with Carolina, or just with Carolina. With Carter being less likely of an option at this point, I think they'll be more willing to go farther back. And will do. I like it here, but my bombardment of posts will definitely ease up lol

None of us know for sure obviously, but it would be a really bad look for Poles if he's making all of this stuff up. If he doesn't come away with anything close to what he says he's getting offered, the fan base is p'ed off, he looks like a fool to his employers, and he loses credibility with other GM's in future negotiations. He could be risking all of that, but it seems unlikely to me. There's gotta be some truth to this.

I'm hopeful but not 100% certain. He needs to be more efficient as a passer. With the improvement he's shown I'm on board with sticking with him even though the Bears have #1 overall. I'm optimistic about his future. That being said, I think a good strategy with trading #1 is to aim for a future first in 2024 to give you the option to go for QB if Fields doesn't show that improvement this year.

Peter King interview on ESPN 1000 (Waddle & Silvy): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3-6-5-pm-peter-king/id1482801842?i=1000603063858 Answers questions about his article and gives more insight. Definitely worth a listen.

I echo @Bearzzz thoughts. This is by far the most enjoyable forum experience I've had. The Bears forums are a complete disaster, good information, but about 80% of it bickering nonsense you have to sift through. There's a lot of good information here without the vast majority of that other nonsense. The fact that I'm here says that I appreciate what's going on here, I wouldn't be here otherwise. While I do want to fleece teams as badly as possible (for obvious reasons), I'm actually rooting for you all to get your QB somehow without having to give up the farm, while the Bears still find a way to get as much as they can. I appreciate that you all have been welcoming. I can honestly say that I probably won't be around much after the draft, but I'm gonna miss y'all. It's fun here.

I heard the raving about Richardson's arm and how far he was chucking it. I really can't think of a word better than "smooth" to describe what I saw from Stroud, but I think Stroud was actually dropping his deep throws as far or farther than Richardson was. It was over 60 yards, looking more like 65 yards-ish.