Draft day

[Hards Alumni]

Could be. Cousins would have to have been pretty naive not to expect them to possibly draft a QB at some point.  Just not at 8.

Isn't it well established he is pretty naive?

[Hards Alumni]

He was told when he signed that ATL would take a QB, but in a later round. Word is he was shocked last night.

How many 'fingers of tequila' shocked was he?  Hopefully, not more than three.

[Uncle Rico]

Isn't it well established he is pretty naive?

Well, he does do his own research and his dad is a nutjob

[Silkk the Shaka]

For the Bears fans who thought #40 was a drastic overpay for Montez Sweat, is there an edge you would prefer that is still on the board?

[The Sultan]

For the Bears fans who thought #40 was a drastic overpay for Montez Sweat, is there an edge you would prefer that is still on the board?

Once they re-signed him the trade made sense.

[MUBurrow]

For the Bears fans who thought #40 was a drastic overpay for Montez Sweat, is there an edge you would prefer that is still on the board?

Of course not, but that doesn't take into account the economics of trading a pick away for a guy you need to immediately re-sign. When you do that your capital gets pinched from both directions so the player you're acquiring needs to be an absolute stud, not just outperform the player you could have selected and signed to a rookie wage scale deal.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Of course not, but that doesn't take into account the economics of trading a pick away for a guy you need to immediately re-sign. When you do that your capital gets pinched from both directions so the player you're acquiring needs to be an absolute stud, not just outperform the player you could have selected and signed to a rookie wage scale deal.

But Sweat is a stud right? And they have a QB on a rookie contract for the next 5 years, which is the time to spend on other premium positions (ex. stud edge rusher)

[MUBurrow]

But Sweat is a stud right? And they have a QB on a rookie contract for the next 5 years, which is the time to spend on other premium positions (ex. stud edge rusher)

I don't disagree. And the four year contract should match up with their competitive window.  I just think it generally works better to use the picks to stay young and pay guys higher AAV money on shorter deals as they hit free agency.  But if Sweat keeps giving you years where he stays healthy and is hunting double digit sacks, it works.  Its just that the bar gets raised considerably on the production level you need to consider the deal a success when it costs you draft pick compensation AND money.

[Hards Alumni]

But Sweat is a stud right? And they have a QB on a rookie contract for the next 5 years, which is the time to spend on other premium positions (ex. stud edge rusher)

But they may have been able to have Sweat as well as the 2nd rounder.  That's the real point.

[Silkk the Shaka]

But they may have been able to have Sweat as well as the 2nd rounder.  That's the real point.

? How ?

[Dish]

For the Bears fans who thought #40 was a drastic overpay for Montez Sweat, is there an edge you would prefer that is still on the board?

I would be calling the Bengals to see what the price is for Hendrickson. If they're going to take advantage of Williams/Odunze's rookie contracts, I'm good with giving Hendrickson 3 years of guaranteed money for when he's still 29 years old.

[MUBurrow]

But they may have been able to have Sweat as well as the 2nd rounder.  That's the real point.

Yep.  Sweat's deal is 4 years, $98M, $63M guaranteed.  This offseason, Jonathan Greenard signed for 4/$76M/$38M, Danielle Hunter signed for 2/$49/$48, and Bryce Huff signed for 3/$51/$34.  The question isn't whether Sweat is better than the guy you'd draft, its whether Sweat is better than one of these guys PLUS five cheap years of say, Kool-Aid McKinstry or Kris Jenkins.

[Hards Alumni]

? How ?

Well Sweat was due to be a free agent after last season.  So this off season they could have inked him to the same deal he signed when he was traded.  Sure, they'd be competing with other teams, but that could have been the case anyway.

Unless I'm mistaken... which is possible.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

But they may have been able to have Sweat as well as the 2nd rounder.  That's the real point.

No, they wouldn't have.  Sweat was getting traded and whoever traded for him was going to extend him.  He wasn't getting to free agency. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yep.  Sweat's deal is 4 years, $98M, $63M guaranteed.  This offseason, Jonathan Greenard signed for 4/$76M/$38M, Danielle Hunter signed for 2/$49/$48, and Bryce Huff signed for 3/$51/$34.  The question isn't whether Sweat is better than the guy you'd draft, its whether Sweat is better than one of these guys PLUS five cheap years of say, Kool-Aid McKinstry or Kris Jenkins.

I'm not sure why people continue to fail to understand that Sweat was not making it to free agency. 

[Pakuni]

Worked for Green Bay

Do we know that for sure?
What if, instead of Love, the Packers had chosen another player still on the board ... Patrick Queen, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, Antoine Winfield, Jayson Johnson, Trevor Diggs.
Would a player like that helped put the 2020 or 2021 Packers in the Super Bowl?
None of us can answer that question, of course, but you should weigh the opportunity cost of passing on really good players for a QB you stash for three seasons.

Regardless of all that, it's not an apples to apples situation. Love wasn't taken 8th overall a month after the Packers gave Rodgers $100 million.

[Hards Alumni]

No, they wouldn't have.  Sweat was getting traded and whoever traded for him was going to extend him.  He wasn't getting to free agency.

Oh really?  A team can force a free agent to sign a contract extension? 

As the kids say.  Huh.

[Pakuni]

I'm not sure why people continue to fail to understand that Sweat was not making it to free agency.

Why?
Regardless, according to the numbers posted by MUBurrow, the Bears arguably had to overpay to keep Sweat from free agency.

[Hards Alumni]

Do we know that for sure?
What if, instead of Love, the Packers had chosen another player still on the board ... Patrick Queen, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, Antoine Winfield, Jayson Johnson, Trevor Diggs.
Would a player like that helped put the 2020 or 2021 Packers in the Super Bowl?
None of us can answer that question, of course, but you should weigh the opportunity cost of passing on really good players for a QB you stash for three seasons.

Regardless of all that, it's not an apples to apples situation. Love wasn't taken 8th overall a month after the Packers gave Rodgers $100 million.

Sorry, it was mostly tongue in cheek.  It was just what the Atlanta executives argued when they were questioned.  Personally, I think the situations are not at all comparable, except that they're both hilarious.

[Jockey]

Oh really?  A team can force a free agent to sign a contract extension?

As the kids say.  Huh.

Basically, yes. Offer more money than other teams.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Oh really?  A team can force a free agent to sign a contract extension? 

As the kids say.  Huh.

Why?
Regardless, according to the numbers posted by MUBurrow, the Bears arguably had to overpay to keep Sweat from free agency.

Common sense.  No, you can't "force" anyone to sign an extension but any team trading a 2nd rounder for him was going to extend him.

And while it was a lot of money I hardly consider it much of an overpay considering what other high-profile edge rushers are getting. 

[The Sultan]

Do we know that for sure?
What if, instead of Love, the Packers had chosen another player still on the board ... Patrick Queen, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman, Antoine Winfield, Jayson Johnson, Trevor Diggs.
Would a player like that helped put the 2020 or 2021 Packers in the Super Bowl?
None of us can answer that question, of course, but you should weigh the opportunity cost of passing on really good players for a QB you stash for three seasons.

Regardless of all that, it's not an apples to apples situation. Love wasn't taken 8th overall a month after the Packers gave Rodgers $100 million.

Ironically it was the quarterback that was Green Bay's biggest problem in the '21 playoffs.

[Pakuni]

And while it was a lot of money I hardly consider it much of an overpay considering what other high-profile edge rushers are getting.

What other high-profile pass rushers are you comping him to?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

What other high-profile pass rushers are you comping him to?

Hunter
Chubb
Crosby
Gary

[Pakuni]

Hunter
Chubb
Crosby
Gary

Crosby? That's not close.
Crosby has more career sacks (52 to 41.5), more tackles (321 to 222), more TFLs (88 to 51), more QB hits (124 to 99).
He finished 4th in DPOY last year and 6th in 2022. Sweat's never been in the top 10. He's been second-team All Pro twice. Sweat has never been first or second team.
All that, and Crosby is a year younger and has never missed a game to injury. He's a significantly better player.

Hunter? Since Sweat has been in the league, Hunter has more sacks, tackles and TFLs ... despite sitting out one of those seasons.

I'll give you Chubb and Gary. But both those guys received smaller guarantees - and in Gary's case, substantially smaller - than Sweat. As did Crosby and Hunter.
It's fine. The Bears have the money and it's not necessarily bad that they're using it. But they absolutely went over the market to keep Sweat from hitting free agency.