Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I do find it funny some of the media types making it sound like the move to Indiana is done deal and that Chicago is losing the Bears because the city and the state suck.
Chicago Bears 2026
Wow. You can add center to the list of Bears needs.
That hurts. That's awfully young to call it a career, but I'm sure he's more than comfortable monetarily, so if his interest is to focus on his mind and body.... to totally understandable. Some of these guys retire and have aches and pains for the rest of their lives.
I remember watching a video about Jim Otto and what he had to go through every day just to get out of bed and get to the breakfast table. No amount of money or fame is worth the way he spent the balance of his life, although he would probably disagree. I'm sure Dalman has not suffered the injuries Otto suffered, but even a fraction would be too much. All of these guys are one play away from becoming an invalid.
My question is: can't the Bears just turn around and make the offer to Linderbaum that we gave to Dalman, and then we're in the same situation we were in before this announcement?
Aren't we getting the money back from the Dalman contract?
Lindenbaum $s will be far greater than Dalman $s. Not a wash unfortunately
Looks like Linderbaum is expected to get $4 million to $8 million more per year than Dalman was getting, so you are correct.
Doesn't mean don't want him! Just doesn't seem realistic with their current cap situation and needs all around.
Linderbaum wants 25 million compared to Dalmam 14 million
Can you imagine walking away from a job that was going to pay you $14,000,000?
If I made $9,000,000 after tax last year, and it meant I could avoid 300 pounders pounding on me, in a word, yes.
I don't know if anyone suffered more than Otto. He played thru everything and played years past where he shoulda been done.
Never been a warrior tougher.
But he was wrecked when he quit.
I saw a report he is expected to make between $18 and $22, though I'm sure it is possible someone overpays him to $25. No matter what he is going to reset the market as the richest center ever.
Never said we didn't. Could be looked at as paying him the difference for the next two years if you want but money is tight and there is SOOOO MUCH to do in the defense.
Bears are supposedly kicking the tires on Tyler Biadasz.
Yeah, I believe I saw he’s made $24M in his career. Add in his father had to retire early (was in his late 20s) after a football injury left him partially paralyzed (not sure if that was permanent or not), and I can certainly understand it. Also believe he has some type of engineering degree.
Illiniaaron
- Geneseo, IL
I've seen articles that when you take out taxes, agent fees, accounting fees, etc. you can take the salary you see and deduct 50% from that as to what the player actually ends up with.
Getting a 2nd rounder back.
Burden is ready for a bigger role. Loveland is going to be the focal point of the offense anyway.
Could this be the move, before the MOVE? (Hi Maxx, you up?)
They are clearing room for someone.
They have a LOT of holes right now. That Dahlman retirement really created a mess because that was an offensive line, especially the interior, that came together beautifully. I don't think that was on Poles' bingo card of off-season occurrences. So, the debate can be had at what needs to be addressed first:
Center
Left Tackle
Both safeties
Pass rusher(D-End or D-Tackles)
Center, LT and Edge are prime positions and are very expensive.
Edmonds is going to be traded as a cap casualty and I'd guess that Kmet and Swift are borderline. Johnson didn't want to keep Swift in Detroit, so it makes sense that he could do without him now in the last year of his contract to save even more space.
You also have receivers that are going to have to really have to step up, most notably Odunze. He needs to start playing like a top 10 pick. He dropped a lot of balls last year, including a sure fire TD in a playoff game that hit him right between the numbers. As a unit, the WR corps led the league in drops. They're hanging their hats on Loveland, Burden and Odunze. That'll be an interesting room.
There are some major holes and question marks, but they do have a lot of cap space(I think more will be added via trade) and some draft capital. With regards to draft picks, we have to remember that the Bears are no longer picking top 10. They're in the mid 20s with their first round pick and at the back end of the second round with both of those picks. They need to find a plug and play guy, if not two.
Going into the off-season, you felt that finding a LT, a pass rusher were priorities. Losing a pro bowl center really put a wrench into that.
It'll be interesting.
Let's get their center McGovern also...