Martin

I’ve been against Harbaugh, but maybe that is the ultimate reset we would need. It would remove Tepper from any football decisions. I can see Harbaugh leaving Michigan if the win the natty, i.e. mission accomplished.

10 hours ago, Bear Hands said:

I don't expect to get a top-2 FA in any position group.

I wouldn’t either, however I found the salary projections very interesting, especially as it comes to Burns.

Here is an early look at 2024 free agency, including projected market value from Spotrac. Our own Brian Burns is the 6th ranked FA with an annual salary projection of $21.7. Far from his $30 or so demand.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2024-nfl-free-agency-kirk-cousins-chris-jones-and-tee-higgins-headline-top-50/

Fitterer has to be gone, if not I’ll have a hard time getting excited.

Could be a foundational piece of the o-line. A lot of the best o-lines has a 1-2 round center, so yes a bit boring, but might be a difference maker for us at 33.

A really good center. Not sure how high he’ll go, but very intriguing. Just declared.

1 hour ago, Bear Hands said:

I am actually super excited about Ward.  Think he has a ton of potential and could warrant 3rd-4th round consideration.  Needs a redshirt season but there's a lot to like and he really developed as a passer this past season.  

Me too, very high upside.

Now this is someone with all the tools, but need coaching and seasoning. Very intriguing for us.
 

In many ways this is one of the bigger games this year. If the offense can look good again, maybe, just maybe, we have something to look forward to for next year. Was last week an outlier or not?

Hopefully Fitt is replaced and all history is out the window, makes for a much cleaner negotiation, e.g. this is what we’ll offer you or we’ll trade you. 

3 hours ago, Soul Rebel said:

So, you're saying......

 

This is the way 

3 hours ago, mav1234 said:

We may not be the most attractive job but Johnson is a dude that turned Goff into a winner again so I doubt he's too worried about his QB right at the start.

While we poo on Tepper, willingness to spend on coordinators etc is probably attractive.

The whole question is if he can convince coaches he really will let them do their thing without interference. It's why I think hiring a president would be the right move, signals a real change in how he plans to be involved, then.

Did Tepper interfere with Rhule? I thought Rhule ran his own kingdom? As for Frank, he definitely stepped in to try to salvage that poo show. Tepper is too involved in the operations, personnel etc. but it seems like he leaves the coaches alone unless it is going really bad.

Who do some people think Ben J is not a leader? Is that the word out there? Have I missed something? We know he’s a spectacular play caller, so that one checks the box for sure.

45 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

That's being generous.

His entire 7 minute rant is based on the 15 million a year rumor and it's full of completely idiotic takes.

The video is garbage.

The take that he should take less just to show he really wants the job is hilarious and delusional. There is no single argument against Ben in there outside him asking for a market based salary. Garbage sums it up well.

 Think this is a very poor and at best very naive take on Ben Johnson. Nobody will take a job for less than their market value just because. Asking for what he thinks he will get doesn’t mean you’re not passionate about it. Also, saying Ben would accept half from other teams is just something he made up, he has no idea. He seems really bothered by the $15 million, and there is very little substance in his argument. This shouldn’t move the needle in any direction on how you feel about Ben as a potential HC.

8 minutes ago, Gapanthersfan said:

So the fifth head coach in 3 years is something to get excited about? 

Complete clown show. 

Not sure I agree with the 5 HCs in 3 years thing, even though it is correct in theory (or 6 coaches with all 3 interim coaches accounted for).

Tepper didn’t make any changes initially in year 1, but it was time for Ron to go. I think I’ve read that he let Ron go early to give him a head start for other openings.

He held on to Rhule for too long, I don’t know who can argue against letting him go.

He wanted Ben, but had to settle for Frank as Ben said no to all teams (not just Panthers). I also don’t know how you can argue against letting Frank go, he was an absolute disaster.

So Tepper has hired 2 HCs in 5 years, both bad hires I might add, but it’s not like he’s churning through new hires every year.

11 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

That thought occurred to me too, but I also have to think it would be an easy enough thing to check the report against some of the sources for the previous article to see if it bore up under scrutiny.

I don’t doubt he understands he has been part of the issues in the past, the question is what he will do next?

16 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Russini is one of the better reporters out there. She doesn't do fluff pieces.

Hell, she and Joe Person wrote the "Hunger Games" article ripping Tepper just a short time ago. Why on earth would they turn around and do a puff piece for him?

Agree, neither of them have held back on criticism. Sure their sources could’ve lied to them, but it is far from a puff piece 

5 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I think we already know what that is going to look like. Tepper making too many of the calls with some help from whatever powerless and hapless GM there is. All handing a pile of turds over to an overpaid head coach to attempt to polish with two hands tied behind his back.

I would love to be proved wrong but this has happened twice already.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it plays out this way, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if we hire a real GM this time. I think Tepper knows that is the right thing to do, but will he be able to put his ego aside and actually do it? That’s the question and probability is probably not that high. But…

7 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Unfortunately I think the biggest factor working against us is Tepper and his reputation. There are very few coaches interested in that nonsense and the ones that likely will be are more like Reich trying to get one big cash grab.

Not so sure about this. It depends on what the future org would look like under a new GM. But we’ll see.

If Bryce finish strong and we have the 33rd pick, it makes us a lot more attractive to prospective GMs and HCs. The one thing that would take the wind out of the sails completely is if we keep Fitt.

5 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

Honestly I kind of want pick 33. It’s a good trade pick because teams have all night to look at who dropped beat it might take to get them. Say Penix or McCarthy is sitting there, I could see a team trading up with us for one of them. Similar to the Titans trading up for Levis last year. The Bears getting that top pick is embarrassing, but is the long term for us it doesn’t matter if they get pick 1, 2, or 3. 

Agree with this one, I’d love the 33rd pick if we can get it.

16 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It's Tyreek Hill at the moment, IMO.

The 49ers had McCaffery but missed Williams and Deebo and lost games. It's goofy to include RB's in the MVP discussion anymore and especially on the 49ers. 

Lamar would be far better here than Bryce, that's not a question at all. Even under the pressure Bryce gets, Lamar would be scrambling ans making plays with his feet that Bryce isn't capable of. That's why he is so hard to defend(same as Cam, Vick, etc), you HAVE to account for his rushing ability AND his throwing ability. If you cheat one or the other, they are going to hurt you.

I agree with Hill, McCaffrey and Lamar being the clear top 3. Their teams are depending on them and they could be dropped in on any team and would immediately raise the level of play on those teams. And that is what the MVP should be about. 

1 hour ago, KatsAzz said:

For the life of me I could never understand why the Panthers switched to a 3-4 defense when most of the players were more suited to play in a 4-3 defense.

I naively thought Burns would turn in to a game wrecker in a 3-4, I was soooooo wrong.

I think they just went for the best DC, and his system happens to be a 3-4. There was obviously not a single second spent on what systems the new coaches would bring meant to the roster, painfully clear in Franks case.