No Moss

Worst. Day. Ever.

Look, I'm happy that the Bears have cleared about 20-30 million from their cap, and that there's more savings to come, but you're surely on crack if you think that money would be best spent on Randy Moss.

Let's look at some quick facts that keep Moss off this team:

#1. Personality. The Bears of the 1980's were all about flashiness and style, things that Moss would have excelled in. However, the current Bears team is very much about teamwork and selflessness (see: universal hatred of Cedric Benson for his holdout). If Moss continues to be his usual entertaining self, he may find that he doesn't have an audience for it.

Oh, and then there's all the crime and anti-team behavior. You know: not playing games when you don't feel like it, marijuana, and, of course, the Straight Cash Homey incident.

#2. Oakland. I cannot stress this enough. Bringing in an A+ receiver does not a good team make. The Raiders brought in Moss to give their team a legit receiving threat (to go along with LaMont Jordan on the ground) in what seemed like a surefire move to get the Raiders back into contention. Well, except that the rest of the team still sucked, and Moss didn't see why he should put himself on the line for a bad team. This says it all.

Moss flopped around like a dead fish, and underperformed for a team that likes to throw the deep ball. Heck, they even had a speedster (Porter) to take some heat off of Moss on the deep routes. It just doesn't matter if Moss doesn't care. If Moss can turn his back on Oakland (which had a much better run game than we do), why not Chicago?

#3. Money. As much cap room as we've saved, I find it hard to believe that the Bears would go after the top WR available with so many other holes to fill. Moss had a 2007 performance that nets him the big bucks, and it's not likely that the Bears would blow all that cap room on just one player (Unless his name is Lance Briggs).

The Moose is Loose

That just about sums it up

If you didn't already hear the news, Muhsin Muhammad was released yesterday. This clears the Bears of nearly $4 million dollars that Moose would have gotten by staying with the team through 2010. This is, however, only half the story. If Moose were a "clubhouse cancer" or "me-first" type player, I would understand the move. Likewise, if Moose were on a team filled with younger players that could outshine him, it would also be logical to move an older player.

The problem is, none of these things are true.

Moose was one of the lone defenders of Grossman during his struggles, and took the work ethic of the receiving corps to new heights. He took most of the blame for any loss upon himself, and finished 2005 and 2006 as the team's leading WR (Berrian took those honors in 2007, but with the offense as dismal as it was, that's nothing to cheer about). Not only was Moose a solid player amid a mess of inconsistencies, but there really isn't anyone else on the squad who can overtake him as the WR1 or WR2 on the depth chart (and they don't want to risk running Hester every play, so don't even try telling me that).

The real reason, I believe, is to better allocate his salary (much like the cut of Fred Miller) into one of three places:

#1. Re-signing Lance Briggs. This is the correct move, as Briggs proved last year that he can be everything Urlacher is and more. With Urlacher having the dreaded neck surgery, Briggs will be more valuable than ever. Give him every penny because, hey, he's earned it. This also allows the Bears to use the unrestricted free agent tag on Berrian (more on that here), netting them some return instead of just letting him walk.

#2. Re-signing Bernard Berrian. While not the best move, it would certainly explain the willingness to part with Moose so hastily. The Bears could then bring in Marty Booker on the cheap, and have a similarly potent 1-2 WR corps for half the price of Moose and Berrian. This, of course, allows Briggs to walk -- not my favorite resolution.

#3. Letting both walk and using the money on something else entirely. Very possible. The Bears have a few players that are now on the chopping block because of money (Griese and Darwin Walker just to name a few), and have expressed interest in bringing back players such as Grossman. It's very possible that a lot of players get shiny new restructured contracts, and the Bears sign only Marty Booker just to fill the gap Moose left.

However this turns out, I think the Bears may have gone into "double edged sword" territory. As much as I won't miss Moose dropping the easy catches (above) or his slowing routes, I will miss his work ethic and consistency.

Here's hoping this one doesn't come back to bite us in the ass...

Monopoly Money

If this doesn't cover those paternity suits, I don't know what will!

With $20 million to play with, the Bears could stand to spend some money this offseason -- we have some key contributors that are headed to free agency (Briggs, Berrian), and a perpetually troubling QB deficiency. With the cap increase, the Bears are actually in a position to make some moves. Here are some likely possibilities:

#1. Bears get a QB in the form of Losman, Anderson, or McNabb, and sign them to a long-term deal. Probably the most likely of events, but let's face it -- the problems we have aren't going to get a magic fix just by changing the QB (and these guys aren't much better than Grossman anyways). I think we should roll Grossman/Orton in 08 using a conservative offense and use the money for...

#2. Sign Briggs to whatever the hell contract he wants. I don't care if we dump Benson and Clark to do it -- Briggs has shown that he's worth every penny. He makes the plays, and keeps Urlacher looking like, well, Urlacher. Also, while we're at it, give Mike Brown an extension. This guy has had some bad luck (IR for most of the past three seasons), but when he plays, he makes a world of difference. We don't have anything even close to his skill set, and he might come cheaper after another injury-plagued season.

#3. Let Briggs, Berrian, Grossman and Brown walk. Promote Hester to WR2 (behind Moose), and have him flip/flop with Rasheid Davis. Start Garrett Wolfe at runningback. Use the money to rebuild the offensive line, and lock up key players. Get some depth at the O-Line, and get a new offensive coordinator. With a great pocket, you really have only the QB to blame if you screw up the passing plays -- we can finally gauge some talent.

Then again, all of this means nothing if we (shudder) sign Julius Jones:

"Marion! No! Don't leave me -- take me with you!"

Let's face it -- as bad as our running situation is, Jones is over the hill. He'd be good for MAYBE one season, and then we'd probanly be starting Wolfe anyways (not to mention eating Benson's contract for NOTHING). Let Wolfe start, and put Benson as the 3rd down back -- when we had Thomsa Jones (and a respectable run game), Benson really thrived in that role.