Speaker 1: The following is a presentation of the Chicago Bears Network
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Speaker 1: day and now welcome to Bears All Access. Your all
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Speaker 1: Everybody here in Chicago hoballs Well, this is Bears All Access.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Chariaker, brought to you by IGF editor MC
Speaker 1: broadcast partner from news radio seven eighty one oh five
Speaker 1: point m w BBM. Chicago Bears Super Bowl winning guard
Speaker 1: Tom Fair. How did that Super Bowl go for you? Buddy? Oh?
Speaker 1: It was fun. I enjoyed it. Um. I had a
Speaker 1: chance to go to a charity event before a puppy
Speaker 1: ball kind of related deal and got to see some
Speaker 1: of my favorite companions, which are puppies, and as long
Speaker 1: as they all get adopted, and then you know you
Speaker 1: kind of watched the game with a little bit of
Speaker 1: envy after we've had an opportunity to play in the
Speaker 1: game and win it, but also broadcast the game and
Speaker 1: lose it. You know exactly what each team is going through,
Speaker 1: and then you know you think you're gonna kind of
Speaker 1: sneak through the week. And then also I get a
Speaker 1: call from your good buddy Dave Logan and Denver that
Speaker 1: he wants me to come on to a show out
Speaker 1: there to talk about the Bears. So I mean, this
Speaker 1: is not only a local subject a local topic. This
Speaker 1: is a topic that everybody at the puppy event to.
Speaker 1: You know, people in Denver that are should be worrying
Speaker 1: about hiring their own coaching staff are concerned about what
Speaker 1: the Bears are going to do and what they're thinking. Gosh,
Speaker 1: you just covered three topics right off the beat. But
Speaker 1: before we get into those, Jim Miller from Serious x
Speaker 1: M NFL Radio is moving the chains. Will come and
Speaker 1: join us at around six ten. We'll also be joined tonight.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from John Hook, the bears new cornerbacks and
Speaker 1: passing game coordinator, good friend of ours back with the organization,
Speaker 1: who's here from two thousand and twenty fourteen. He'll be
Speaker 1: back after a couple of years in Atlanta. And then
Speaker 1: we'll also be jong by Brad Spielberger that will be
Speaker 1: fine to talk finance is the business season of football
Speaker 1: from Pro Football Focus and over Thecap dot Com. He'll
Speaker 1: be joining us as well, coming up in the six
Speaker 1: ten hour. All right, So you picked up the baton
Speaker 1: for me, okay, Dave Logan, you know they did. They
Speaker 1: texted me and I forgot to call him back. So
Speaker 1: thank you for picking me up, buddy. I just remember
Speaker 1: because you know what, I honestly don't even want to
Speaker 1: talk about it right now, because it is we are
Speaker 1: hours removed from the end of this season, Kansas City
Speaker 1: wins the Super Bowl and we are onto the Bears.
Speaker 1: What do we talk about last week time? Well, we
Speaker 1: said this is the center of the football universe from
Speaker 1: this day forward. What can all right? Can you can
Speaker 1: sit there right now in that chair and you can
Speaker 1: say the Bears will definitely not trade justin fields. And
Speaker 1: he caused down the table because that's kind of the
Speaker 1: topic that opened the door for Denver between Chicago to
Speaker 1: open up a little bit of conversation because people that
Speaker 1: I talked to outside the Bears are more concerned about
Speaker 1: the rumor mill of the Bears thinking about trading justin
Speaker 1: fields when it seems like they finally got it in place.
Speaker 1: They got the quarterback, they got the offensive coordinator back
Speaker 1: on board, and that relationship is so important in the
Speaker 1: second year development of a quarterback that it seems like
Speaker 1: it's too much of a topic of interest. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you this. I was on a podcast this week with
Speaker 1: Adam Johns and Adam Hogue and they asked me, and
Speaker 1: I said, the most significant development of the postseason, even
Speaker 1: though we've just started, is the retainment of Luke getzeeing
Speaker 1: the offensive staff for justin fields, because I don't want
Speaker 1: to see that change, and you know there are We'll
Speaker 1: get into it. Jim Miller later on of the program.
Speaker 1: The number of offensive coordinator positions open and Eric b.
Speaker 1: Enemy apparently is the new Washington commander's offensive coordinator, but
Speaker 1: the movement at that position jobs still open. I believe
Speaker 1: there are five offensive coordinator positions still open in this league.
Speaker 1: Is the most difficult thing to fill in the NFL? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is. It depends a lot on the quarterback. You
Speaker 1: have the supporting defensive staff. You know, you look at
Speaker 1: a guy like Eric b. Enemy now going from having
Speaker 1: one of the best quarterbacks in the history the NFL,
Speaker 1: and the short term going into a team that has
Speaker 1: a lower drafted quarterback that's kind of in, you know,
Speaker 1: at the front of the line right now, with very
Speaker 1: little certainty. So you think about the decision where you're
Speaker 1: going with offensive coordinators, there's so many factors that come
Speaker 1: into place that you have to take into account that
Speaker 1: it's just not a foregone conclusion. Oh, if you know
Speaker 1: there's eleven guys on offense and you know how to
Speaker 1: move the football around, you can be an offensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: That's not the case. You have to meet. You have
Speaker 1: to match the offensive coordinator with the talent. Part two
Speaker 1: of that is losing the two thousand and six Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And thankfully, I guess this is a two pronged problem. One,
Speaker 1: you won the Super Bowl at eighty five. You didn't
Speaker 1: go back, so you never lost one. But the losing
Speaker 1: of a super Bowl and the impact of that on
Speaker 1: your organization, the feeling of it is significant. And you know,
Speaker 1: we're watching that Super Bowl and watching it unfold, and
Speaker 1: it was a tremendous game. I thought it was. It
Speaker 1: was an outstanding game. I know a lot of people
Speaker 1: are saying it's one of the best ever. You know,
Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of super Bowls. I can't put
Speaker 1: it in that category. It was fantastic. But the loss
Speaker 1: of a Super Bowl and what it does to you
Speaker 1: as a player and eats away at you as an organization.
Speaker 1: Even if you get to the NFC Championship Game and
Speaker 1: lose that, the trickle down effect of that which you
Speaker 1: have felt is really difficult to overcome, not only individually
Speaker 1: but as a team in an organization. Town Well, I
Speaker 1: will say losing the NFC Championship Game as an active
Speaker 1: player to the San Francisco forty nine ers is the
Speaker 1: most difficult actual player loss that I've ever had in
Speaker 1: my career. But then you look at going through the
Speaker 1: loss and just the emotions that you go through after
Speaker 1: losing Super Bowl as a part of an organization, no
Speaker 1: matter what part you are, from equipment manager to broadcaster
Speaker 1: to chef to you know, security director. All Right, Puppy Bowl,
Speaker 1: you gotta tell me about it. You are the biggest
Speaker 1: dog fan I've ever seen in my life. They are
Speaker 1: like little children for you, no question about it. You're
Speaker 1: three dogs. So tell me what you did on Super
Speaker 1: Bowl Sunday. No. I went down to a place on
Speaker 1: downtown Chicago. Was on Fullerton Street and got the name
Speaker 1: is skipping me and I feel bad because it was
Speaker 1: a great place. But they had a big outdoor part
Speaker 1: and the dogs are friendly all year round to go
Speaker 1: there to the patio. But then they had a number
Speaker 1: of dogs that were up for the adoption agency in
Speaker 1: the Bears marketing department put together a event that was
Speaker 1: surrounded by the puppy Bowl but also had access to
Speaker 1: you know, donating money to the facility for adoptive pets,
Speaker 1: and so it was really neat um and um it
Speaker 1: was a cool location. And yeah, I brought my uh
Speaker 1: one of my great nephews, John Henry, and oh he
Speaker 1: probably loved it, picked up and put it, you know,
Speaker 1: petted puppies and you know some of them, you know,
Speaker 1: they're sad stories behind him, but it's awesome how gracious
Speaker 1: the people are that come and adopt him. What did
Speaker 1: you think of the game? I thought it was a
Speaker 1: good game, I thought for sure, and I if I'm
Speaker 1: glad I'm not a betting man, because I thought Philly
Speaker 1: was gonna win the game for sure. And I was
Speaker 1: amazed of the fumble that uh, Justin Jalen had when
Speaker 1: he was switching the ball from his left hand to
Speaker 1: his right and then when he lost control of it,
Speaker 1: how he kicked it forward and then the game was
Speaker 1: wide open from that point on. The biggest kick in
Speaker 1: the game wasn't the midst of the first field goal.
Speaker 1: The biggest kick in the game was the boot by
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts that put it into a position that since
Speaker 1: Kansas City could re cover it, returning for a touchdown
Speaker 1: and get right back in the game. Emphasizes once again
Speaker 1: because we all felt after playing them and losing twenty
Speaker 1: five twenty in that game a soldier field and as
Speaker 1: we find out, Jalen hurt says, hey, he really messed
Speaker 1: up his shoulder in that game. How difficult it is
Speaker 1: to win the bundle? Forget about all the Tom Brady
Speaker 1: New England years. They had something going on. The Steelers
Speaker 1: from the seventies, they had something unique going on. Teams
Speaker 1: that have gone back to the Super Bowl after missing
Speaker 1: maybe a couple of back to backs, but boy is
Speaker 1: it hard to win. We both felt the Eagles with
Speaker 1: the most balanced team in football, I did you know?
Speaker 1: And going back and look at the analytics and the
Speaker 1: numbers of the eighty five Bears and this Philadelphia Eagles team.
Speaker 1: They were super similar and then you just look at
Speaker 1: the numbers that stood out about their ability for their
Speaker 1: defense to get sacks and they were held sackless. I
Speaker 1: thought the biggest telling of the game was going to
Speaker 1: be the offensive performance of the Kansas City offensive line.
Speaker 1: They were great, Hell, they were great. The right tackle
Speaker 1: was awesome, and so you know, Handsas City was super
Speaker 1: creative when they got a turnover and they got down
Speaker 1: inside the red zone. Oh my gosh, creativity. Creativity where
Speaker 1: they had you know, uncovered or you know, you know,
Speaker 1: receivers going into the end zone. Yeah, I'll tell you
Speaker 1: this too. The offensive line. You know, let's from keep
Speaker 1: in mind Ryan Pull's general manager of the Bears, had
Speaker 1: a lot to do with putting together that offensive line.
Speaker 1: He was kind of the guy behind it all in
Speaker 1: terms of draft and putting the thing that that thing
Speaker 1: together And I know I texted him this week about
Speaker 1: that and he just gave a thumbs up. You know,
Speaker 1: that was an impressive performance by you know, that defensive line.
Speaker 1: We talked about eight to ten deep and the quick
Speaker 1: passing game and Patrick Machomes adjusting and morphing into what
Speaker 1: you need to morph into regardless of what your capabilities
Speaker 1: and traits are as a player and as an offense
Speaker 1: as a team, they got rid of the ball quick
Speaker 1: and used the short passing game to their advantage. I
Speaker 1: mean it was. It was impressive, no question about it.
Speaker 1: A big reverse field punt retire, Oh, which was an
Speaker 1: amazing day. Yeah. You know, Dave is a great coach
Speaker 1: and just some pure athleticism on display to get the
Speaker 1: ball down within the five yard line. The longest longest
Speaker 1: punt return in Super Bowl history. Yes, and that always
Speaker 1: amazes me to all these benchmark moments in games. The
Speaker 1: longest punt return in Super Bowl history. You know, you
Speaker 1: think you've seen it all, but you never do in sports,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. Coming up next, we'll be joined by
Speaker 1: our friend Jim Miller, who is at the game. We
Speaker 1: can talk more about that. Also, a new day is
Speaker 1: done for the Bears franchise with its open letter announcement
Speaker 1: closing on the three hundred and twenty six acre Arlington
Speaker 1: Park property. We'll talk about that all coming up next
Speaker 1: with Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac here on Chicago Sports
Speaker 1: Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome back everybody to Bears.
Speaker 1: All access were brought to you by IGS Energy. Choose
Speaker 1: clean energy for your home at IGS dot com because
Speaker 1: every good choice adds up to a better world. With
Speaker 1: top there, I'm Jeff Joniac. Let's bring Jim Metal from
Speaker 1: Serious XM NFL Radio is moving the chains, and also
Speaker 1: Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus. He is a salary
Speaker 1: Cap analyst contributor as well to over Thecap dot com,
Speaker 1: a former Minnesota Banking's legal intern and Vanderbilt a lum
Speaker 1: to Lane Law. A lot on the schedule for both guys.
Speaker 1: Jim first Salo at Super Bowl with something else. Did
Speaker 1: you love it? Yeah, what a great week, So Jeff
Speaker 1: toomm gonna be with you guys. Yeah, it was a
Speaker 1: great Super Bowl, great game and just very competitive and
Speaker 1: what can you say? Kansas City got it done. They
Speaker 1: made they made the most place and certainly you know
Speaker 1: everybody talked about in the trenches. You give up no
Speaker 1: sacks against that group, whether it's footing. But both teams
Speaker 1: had had to play in that but they made the
Speaker 1: plays that were necessary to get the win and couldn't
Speaker 1: be really shut out offensively that whole second half against
Speaker 1: a pretty good defensive Philadelphia. So all the way around,
Speaker 1: a great game. All right, we will get in depth.
Speaker 1: I really want to talk about the field. Want to
Speaker 1: talk about a couple of things about the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: later in the program. But you know, at the game,
Speaker 1: men's celebrate the Chiefs. But Brad Spielberger, I keep saying
Speaker 1: it over and over again. Tom and I We've been
Speaker 1: doing this a long time. Jim's been a Bear, and
Speaker 1: it's we have a lot of invested here. We have
Speaker 1: never seen what's about to trans form this franchise. Then
Speaker 1: here in twenty twenty three with the salary, cap space
Speaker 1: and the number one pick on the draft and what
Speaker 1: all that means. Welcome to the program, first time with us.
Speaker 1: You do a great job. But Bears fans are in
Speaker 1: a word you for it, Brad, and should they be
Speaker 1: thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the intro,
Speaker 1: and yeah, they really should. I mean you talk about
Speaker 1: it being stored for the Chicago Bears. It's a stored
Speaker 1: for any team to have this many resources going into
Speaker 1: the offseason, extra draft capital from the trades of Roclan
Speaker 1: Smith and Robert Quinn, the number one overall pick and
Speaker 1: ninety four million dollars in cap space, they could set
Speaker 1: up the next five years, ten years of the team
Speaker 1: potentially with the big offseason, you know, brand I mentioned
Speaker 1: this to our director of Research and Statistics, Doug Colletti
Speaker 1: has been with us for thirty six years, a banker
Speaker 1: by trade. Buddy does this for fun and helps us
Speaker 1: out with our statues in every week in our booth.
Speaker 1: And I mentioned to him this week about the next
Speaker 1: ten years, and I had to reel it back a
Speaker 1: little bit because you hit the nail on the head.
Speaker 1: It's really five years when you look at the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: Eagles transforming their roster, keeping some key elements of course,
Speaker 1: and doing it in two and a half years. Really,
Speaker 1: this league now has become the next five years. But
Speaker 1: it is it is a keystone moment depending on what
Speaker 1: you get just safe for example, you get your next
Speaker 1: great pass rusher, your next great cornerstone offensive lineman, or
Speaker 1: a alpha male on that offensive line, or a great
Speaker 1: corner you know, yes, you these guys will be here
Speaker 1: possibly eight to ten years, but really, in reality, it's
Speaker 1: in the next five years. But it is transformation. Is
Speaker 1: that the range we're looking at here this kind of offseason, Yeah,
Speaker 1: exactly right, I mean, especially in the free agency you're
Speaker 1: usually looking at, you know, three four year solutions at
Speaker 1: past But then like you said those draft is, maybe
Speaker 1: you do land that blue chip player that sticks around
Speaker 1: for a very long time, hopefully playing with Justin Fields
Speaker 1: for a very very long time. But the key for
Speaker 1: this offseason as well is, you know Justin Field going
Speaker 1: into the third year of his rookie contract, can you
Speaker 1: build a contender before hopefully, as we're all hoping, you know,
Speaker 1: he gets a huge payday. So there's a short window
Speaker 1: and a long term window and play here. You know, Brad,
Speaker 1: you look at the positions at the Bears need most
Speaker 1: and you look at free agency. Do you have a
Speaker 1: dedicated amount of money that you would want to spend
Speaker 1: at a certain position to consider an upgraded or is
Speaker 1: it kind of fly by the seat of your pants.
Speaker 1: If this guy unusually becomes a valuable you got to
Speaker 1: take a shot at him. I do think it is
Speaker 1: kind of touch and go. You have to a plan
Speaker 1: in place. If you're gonna splash on a certain player,
Speaker 1: then maybe you pivot elsewhere. But you know, one specific example,
Speaker 1: let's say to Ron Payne, the interior defender in Washington
Speaker 1: does not get franchise tagged. I unfortunately think he will.
Speaker 1: But let's say he doesn't, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: a really really good young player that can transform the
Speaker 1: tior of your defensive line, which you know, I think
Speaker 1: it was a bit of a week spot for the
Speaker 1: team this past year. You kind of have to rite,
Speaker 1: you say, hey, we have all these resources available. Players
Speaker 1: like this don't really hit the market very often. And
Speaker 1: that's a guy I think he's getting, you know, twenty
Speaker 1: million dollars a year, potentially maybe even more. But you know,
Speaker 1: coming off one of the best seasons of his career,
Speaker 1: first double digits back season, can play nose tackle, can
Speaker 1: play three technique. You know, it's a really really good
Speaker 1: young player. Well, brave, go ahead. I'm sorry, all right, Jim,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Jim. Well, I'm just gonna as Brad. Because
Speaker 1: we've seen teams go from worse to first. Obviously Jacksonville
Speaker 1: would be a team last year. But I want to
Speaker 1: focus on Cincinnati because they were targeted. You know, they
Speaker 1: signed Trey Hendrickson, they added Mike Hilton, they drafted Jamar Chase,
Speaker 1: and here they went worse to first and went to
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. But you can't just be some drunken
Speaker 1: sailor out there. You know, when you have ninety four
Speaker 1: million dollars, it's got to be targeted, right, Maybe just
Speaker 1: touch on that of areas to target like Tom was
Speaker 1: was talking about No. One hundred and ten percent. I
Speaker 1: think my favorite thing Ryan pol has ever said of
Speaker 1: all of his press conferences. We's about how free agency
Speaker 1: is not how you build a roster. It's through draft
Speaker 1: and develops. Free agency is for some you know, mid
Speaker 1: tier signings, adding depth, adding rotational pieces. Again, anyway, this
Speaker 1: funny situation, maybe you do make a bigger mover too,
Speaker 1: but you couldn't be more right. It's about those mid
Speaker 1: tier deals, those mid tier guys, that's where you typically
Speaker 1: win in free agency. You mentioned Trey Hendrickson, Mike Hilton,
Speaker 1: great examples of Von Bella safety for the Bengals, and
Speaker 1: we can go on and on know Woose the either
Speaker 1: outside corner. None of those guys broke the bank. They
Speaker 1: were all you know, mid tier to upper mid tier signings.
Speaker 1: But they make a huge impact if you then also,
Speaker 1: you know, hit on the draft and you want to
Speaker 1: save those big, big deals for your internal players that
Speaker 1: you hopefully develop into superstars. Hey, Brad, when you look
Speaker 1: at the combine coming up. So does Ryan Poles have
Speaker 1: a booth fair having interest from every one of the
Speaker 1: gms in the league to peak there, you know, just
Speaker 1: to peak their interest about what they think about the
Speaker 1: first pick in the draft or is it? Is it?
Speaker 1: You know as it do you take a subtle approach
Speaker 1: and try to you know, sync into the free a
Speaker 1: jim market a little bit to see what veterans could
Speaker 1: come aboard immediately and help your team. No, it's a
Speaker 1: great question. You should just set up shop in the
Speaker 1: middle of the place and is that right? Everyone come
Speaker 1: in and give you your highest bit for this first
Speaker 1: overall pick. That would be a great set up. But
Speaker 1: I do I think this is really when conversations start
Speaker 1: about free agencies and of course you know, can't be
Speaker 1: tampering or anything like that, but you can get a
Speaker 1: feel for maybe which players are available, how the market's
Speaker 1: going to play out. You know, you know which players
Speaker 1: are you know, view as scheme fits or team fits
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, culture otherwise, and you start to get
Speaker 1: a feel for the market at large. Because even though
Speaker 1: every deal is of course unique and it's it's in
Speaker 1: its own right, you know, those things impact each other. Right,
Speaker 1: If you know certain players are not interested in going
Speaker 1: into your city or not interesting going to other cities
Speaker 1: and things like that, it can kind of sway the
Speaker 1: values because you get a better understanding of the entire
Speaker 1: market at large. All right, Brad, I don't know whether
Speaker 1: to ask you a question about Aaron Rodgers now or later.
Speaker 1: But I think when you really you think about the money,
Speaker 1: and you think about the future, and you think about contracts,
Speaker 1: and you think about the uncertainty of the individual himself.
Speaker 1: Is that money movable or is it money that we're
Speaker 1: kind of all, you know, silly to think that he's
Speaker 1: going to be anywhere else but Green Bay. So it
Speaker 1: is movable. But I think it'll be interesting there is
Speaker 1: at the trade compensation. I don't think it's going to
Speaker 1: be as much as people expect. Like we're not going
Speaker 1: to see the Russell Wilson trade two point zero. I
Speaker 1: mean the guys that sixty million dollars just for next
Speaker 1: season and a new team to say, hey, we're not
Speaker 1: going to bring this guy in for maybe and maybe
Speaker 1: one year sixty million then he potentially retired. Now, they can't,
Speaker 1: you know, make him sign a I promised to play
Speaker 1: two plus years or whatever. But so that's where I
Speaker 1: think it happens. I'll say this though, I do think
Speaker 1: Green Bay wants to move on. I think this is
Speaker 1: the off season to do it because if they keep him,
Speaker 1: these financial penalty is actually worse next year to move
Speaker 1: on from him than it is this year. So I
Speaker 1: really really do Maybe I'm just an optimistic Bears fan,
Speaker 1: I really do think he's going to be on a
Speaker 1: different team next year. Well, it's interesting because he's in
Speaker 1: the dark, and it sounds like that Bob mc an
Speaker 1: article that came out today was in the light. So
Speaker 1: I don't even know if Aaron knows that what's been reported,
Speaker 1: but it should be interesting all the way around for
Speaker 1: the Bears. As you mentioned having that one number one
Speaker 1: overall pick for sale. You know, where does it start
Speaker 1: with quarterbacks? It could be the Texans that maybe want
Speaker 1: to trade up from two to one. You look at
Speaker 1: the Colts at four. Basically Jim Ersey, owner of the Colts,
Speaker 1: came out and said, hey, they're they're looking to develop
Speaker 1: a young quarterback. He got the Raiders at seven, the
Speaker 1: Falcons at eight. I mean, what is fruitful for the
Speaker 1: Bears if they do decide to trade down to make
Speaker 1: sure it's not too far down to get the guy
Speaker 1: that they want to get, you know, if it's not
Speaker 1: a quarterback that they're thinking about. Obviously, Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: Colts GM could bowed. Almost had whiplash when you kind
Speaker 1: of look over at er say saying, you know, what
Speaker 1: are you talking about? Why are you giving out showing
Speaker 1: our cards? You know? But I think that is the mark, right,
Speaker 1: is that you have two teams in the a F
Speaker 1: two thousand, mccolts and Texans, and if they both are
Speaker 1: in love with Bryce Young hypothetically, then you convince Indianapolis
Speaker 1: to jump up to one. And of course Chris Ballard
Speaker 1: and run Polls work together in Kansas City. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of connections, there are a lot of relationships, and
Speaker 1: then and then in theory, you still could get Jalen
Speaker 1: Carter from Georgia or Will Anderson from Alabama. I think
Speaker 1: that is their ideal scenario. I know fans don't want
Speaker 1: to trade beyond I don't want to go to seven
Speaker 1: or nine. But the Raiders are told Panthers, I get that,
Speaker 1: I do. You do get way more compensation though, so
Speaker 1: it's kind of a you know, a cost benefit if
Speaker 1: you get more picks, maybe more future first round picks,
Speaker 1: but then you do maybe miss out on some of
Speaker 1: the you know, generational prospects we're seeing in those two
Speaker 1: defenders from the SEC. Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus
Speaker 1: with Jeff Joni Actp there and Jim Miller here on
Speaker 1: Serious excuse me, serious Sex and Bears All Access on
Speaker 1: seventeen score brought to you by Idius Energy. Brat, you
Speaker 1: keep mentioning your Bears fans, so give us a little background.
Speaker 1: Your name is becoming quite popular right now because salary
Speaker 1: cap talk is now just like fantasy football talk. It's
Speaker 1: a big, big deal, and you are a cap specialist.
Speaker 1: What's your history here with the Bears? What's your story
Speaker 1: and and what years were you with the Vikings as
Speaker 1: an intern? Oh? I appreciate that. Yeah. So I'm born
Speaker 1: and raised from Moneta. I went to New Trier. You know,
Speaker 1: don't hold that against me, but why would so? You know,
Speaker 1: I grew up on the North Side, you know, born
Speaker 1: and rais, like I said, Dinard bassement my entire life
Speaker 1: and then you know I knew I always wanted to
Speaker 1: pursue a job in sports So when I was in
Speaker 1: law school, I went to Tulane kind of pointedly. They
Speaker 1: have a big sports law program, and I know they
Speaker 1: are the enemy in the NFC North, but the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vices are a first rate organization. And when I was there,
Speaker 1: Kevin Warren was the president, and I actually was fortunate
Speaker 1: to be able to work with him a couple of times,
Speaker 1: go into his office and present things to him, and
Speaker 1: I could not be more happy. We're talking about spending
Speaker 1: all this money and making all his draft picks. The
Speaker 1: number one edition this offseason very well could be Kevin
Speaker 1: Warren signing on his president of the Team'd you learn
Speaker 1: about him? You know, it's funny. He's just he's this
Speaker 1: guy that has this this gravity to me, walks into
Speaker 1: a room and almost the air kind of gets stucked
Speaker 1: out of the room, but in a good way. But
Speaker 1: then you watch him and he talked to us interns,
Speaker 1: you know as lowly legal intern the same way he
Speaker 1: would talk to Rick Steelman. Like he's just a very
Speaker 1: very pragmatic and caring And you know, if you listen
Speaker 1: to you when you're talking to him, and you're in
Speaker 1: your mind, you're like, this guy is a hundred things
Speaker 1: more important on his docket to get to today. But
Speaker 1: he's really engaged in kids or what everyone is talking
Speaker 1: about and everyone is saying, and I think it just
Speaker 1: goes a long way and just establishing, you know, a
Speaker 1: good culture of respect and all these things. And the
Speaker 1: last point, which I'm sure George mcceski loves. When he
Speaker 1: got to Minnesota, they were thirty first in revenue. When
Speaker 1: he left, they were in the top ten. So he
Speaker 1: runs a good business. He knows what he's doing. Hey, Brad,
Speaker 1: what do you start looking at some teams around the
Speaker 1: league that may be in uh salary cap or dead money? Hell,
Speaker 1: is there any a team out there that may be
Speaker 1: able to match up with the Bears because of it?
Speaker 1: Either it's a player that they're gonna get rid of
Speaker 1: because they're paying too much that they just can't afford.
Speaker 1: That's yeah, there's a couple. I think you look around
Speaker 1: the NFL. It depends tobe what players the Bears, you know,
Speaker 1: position wise they want to go after. But you know
Speaker 1: you've seen and mentioned kid Keenan Allen, the wide receiver
Speaker 1: with the Los Angeles Chargers. I'm so they'll approach him
Speaker 1: about a pay cut and maybe he's unwilling to do so.
Speaker 1: M we saw today Aaron Jones obviously taking the pay cut.
Speaker 1: Maybe a different running back, you know, says no to
Speaker 1: that proposition, and the Bears can add a you know,
Speaker 1: a Cap Titulty running back on the market, and then
Speaker 1: a couple other ones. You know. I think Russell Gage,
Speaker 1: who's had Bay Buccaneers, maybe gets let go. They're less
Speaker 1: tackle about him and Smith. I'm a big brex from
Speaker 1: Jones guy. But hey, it's a you know, really good
Speaker 1: left tackle comes on the market. Maybe you take a
Speaker 1: look there. Um, those are some names I'm keeping an
Speaker 1: eye on. Um. If guys together, the Bears probably could
Speaker 1: use if they you know, if they do some available,
Speaker 1: well could you could you really clear up Brad? People
Speaker 1: hear so much about dead cap and the Bears took
Speaker 1: you know, a big hit last year dead cap. They
Speaker 1: basically wanted to clear out the credit card. Atlanta has
Speaker 1: elected to go that route as well, where they cleared
Speaker 1: the credit card out because a lot of these teams
Speaker 1: they're kind of kicking the can down the road, and
Speaker 1: the Bears elected to take that hit, and why they
Speaker 1: have put themselves in the position to have the most
Speaker 1: salary cap space of any team in the NFL. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you nailed. I always like to use the expression
Speaker 1: the credit card, right, So you basically you can spend
Speaker 1: more cash in a giving year than the salary cap
Speaker 1: in that year. But what you're doing is you're pushing
Speaker 1: cap hit down the road, and like you said, then
Speaker 1: we're seeing you know, Khalil Max set the record for
Speaker 1: the most the largest cap hit for a non quarterback
Speaker 1: or a defensive player I should say, the largest cabit
Speaker 1: for a defensive player to not play on a team.
Speaker 1: You know, that was a record you set last year.
Speaker 1: So I think it was smart of them to do,
Speaker 1: you know, take all their lumps in last year. Don't
Speaker 1: spread it out because you can't spread it over two years.
Speaker 1: I think it was smart to say, let's just let's
Speaker 1: just take the hit now and that way we can
Speaker 1: have the flexibility going forward and we can spend in
Speaker 1: the short term because we don't have any of this
Speaker 1: there's dead weight. I think it was the correct approach
Speaker 1: by Ryan Poles and the Bears. Brad there's a big
Speaker 1: faction of fans that he say, listen, hey, listen, it's
Speaker 1: not my money. I just want to spend it, right,
Speaker 1: it's fantasy football. But I am not a huge proponent
Speaker 1: of a free agency I've said it at many times
Speaker 1: on every single show. I want to build through the draft.
Speaker 1: That's why I love what Ryan Poles's philosophy is and
Speaker 1: what he wants to do. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: this team has to spend a certain amount of money.
Speaker 1: You understand the cap better than most explain that aspect
Speaker 1: of this offseason. Given the cap space of ninety four million,
Speaker 1: what they have to send spent from a percentage basis
Speaker 1: or a particular dollar figure just to get through the year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so we totally agree there, right, Like I always view it,
Speaker 1: as you know, we do research on these things, and
Speaker 1: the end, what happens when you spend at certain positions
Speaker 1: and how big you spend. I'd like to say you
Speaker 1: should go after non premium positions because you should be drafting,
Speaker 1: you know, edge defenders and tackles and quarterbacks and wide
Speaker 1: receivers them to you know, go after centers and line
Speaker 1: off ball linebackers and safeties and things like that. In
Speaker 1: free agency, But there is actually a cash spending minimum,
Speaker 1: and so it's tied to the salary cap, but from
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one to twenty twenty three. For every team,
Speaker 1: they have to spend at least ninety percent of the
Speaker 1: cumulative three year salary caps. So the Bears were way
Speaker 1: below this past year, and they were a little bit
Speaker 1: below in twenty twenty one, so they kind of have
Speaker 1: to spend to a degree this off season. Again, you
Speaker 1: don't have to make these splash moves and go make
Speaker 1: the biggest free agent acquisition around, but they are going
Speaker 1: to be, I'll tell you right now, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest spenders, one of the most active teams in free agency.
Speaker 1: But of course you can also you know, extend guys
Speaker 1: like Cole Comment Darnell Mooney. That of course counts in
Speaker 1: the cash spendature as well. Hey, Brad, when you think
Speaker 1: about the future of the quarterback position here and you
Speaker 1: think about the decision the Eagles are going to have
Speaker 1: to make with Jalen Hurst, is this a template that
Speaker 1: the Bears are most likely you're gonna have to follow
Speaker 1: with accordingly? If Justin has the success that Jalen has had, Yeah,
Speaker 1: i mean you're seeing a league watch. Yeah, these teams
Speaker 1: are going to go all in and maybe trade picks.
Speaker 1: We saw honestly with spliac with the Chicago Bears, where
Speaker 1: when you have the rookie contract quarterback that you believe in,
Speaker 1: that's when you can make these splash moves and spend elsewhere.
Speaker 1: And then when you get to start paying that guy,
Speaker 1: you know, forty five fifty million dollars a year. You
Speaker 1: see like with the Kids Chiefs where they trade away
Speaker 1: Tyree Hill. Look, could they have afford it, Yes, but
Speaker 1: the Chiefs were twentieth and cash spending this year and
Speaker 1: just won the Super Bowl. I mean they they should
Speaker 1: terrify teams across the league because you know, as they
Speaker 1: started their parade, this is a rebuilding year for them.
Speaker 1: But yeah, kind of everything follows from the quarterback. I
Speaker 1: think the Bears will spend this offseason around Justin Fields
Speaker 1: because if he has the year we're all hoping for,
Speaker 1: he's going to be looking at that that monster price
Speaker 1: tag as well. And that's my final question is do
Speaker 1: you stick to one side of the ball free agents, say,
Speaker 1: on offense. We've seen use the other teams use this template.
Speaker 1: They'll draft one side of the ball, i e. Defense
Speaker 1: and bringing a lot of veteran free agents on the
Speaker 1: offense to really supplement, say a young quarterback like a
Speaker 1: justin Fields. It's an interesting point. I think they could
Speaker 1: to a degree. I think they also realized last year
Speaker 1: that drafting defense. I don't know if this was their thought,
Speaker 1: but we've done some work in the past on a
Speaker 1: lot of defensive players can take longer to impact your
Speaker 1: team in the win lost column. And so if you
Speaker 1: draft a lot of defense early on on the build,
Speaker 1: like they obviously did, and then you kind of pivot
Speaker 1: to drafting some impact offensive playmakers like all these wide
Speaker 1: receivers we've seen come in and be immediately very very
Speaker 1: important to their offense, and then pivot to, yeah, getting
Speaker 1: some short term answers on defense and free agency. That's
Speaker 1: why I would do it this offseason, and I do
Speaker 1: think they might do it, you know, to a degree,
Speaker 1: focus their resources in that capacity. Most significant offseason for
Speaker 1: the Bears. I don't know since when I mean, my goodness,
Speaker 1: Brad Spielberger, we'd like to have you on again as
Speaker 1: this unfolds. Outstanding insight, love how you look at the game.
Speaker 1: Appreciated buddy, Thank you very much, Brad Spielberg, Pro Football Focus.
Speaker 1: We'll continue on with top there and Jim Better here
Speaker 1: on Bears All Access. We're brought to you by Just
Speaker 1: Energy at Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This
Speaker 1: segment of Bears All accesses brought to you by Athletico
Speaker 1: Physical Therapy. Visit Athletico dot com to acustant employment in
Speaker 1: clinic or virtually didn't start feeling better tomorrow Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: along with Tom Fair and Jim Miller the former Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears quarterback John Holk. I did a sit down interview
Speaker 1: with John yesterday, but Alisa will hear that coming up shortly.
Speaker 1: But Jim loved with brand. Spielberger had to say, I
Speaker 1: love the fact he's a Bears fan. I didn't know that.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. There's a great job in pro
Speaker 1: football focus. But the fact that continues to get emphasized
Speaker 1: here is the Bears do have to spend a certain
Speaker 1: amount of money, and I think that's significant. And Tom
Speaker 1: in the break and he and I were talking about
Speaker 1: where you want to spend your money, and I said
Speaker 1: earlier on this program weeks ago, I'd like to invest
Speaker 1: in the offensive line through the draft and invest in
Speaker 1: free agency on the defensive line. But if there's an
Speaker 1: alpha offensive lineman out there, I don't care if it's
Speaker 1: outside or inside, interior, offensive linementer or a tackle. Then
Speaker 1: if it's possible, and those guys are rare, they don't
Speaker 1: come around much. I'd like to get that too. So
Speaker 1: it's it's shopping. It's a shopping spree. This is what's
Speaker 1: I'm out shopping through the draft and shopping through free agency. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt. It's got to be targeted. And certainly
Speaker 1: you don't want to overspend. But let's be honest. You
Speaker 1: don't get fired for spending money. You get fired for losing. Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: so that's the reality of it. But you gotta be targeted.
Speaker 1: You gotta be smart, and I think they will. I
Speaker 1: think they'll be fisically responsible because you know, that's why
Speaker 1: I used to and ask Brad about the Bengals, because
Speaker 1: they were really targeted. I mean, look how good Trey
Speaker 1: Henderson has been for them and Mike Hilton who was
Speaker 1: in division. They didn't have to break the bank. And
Speaker 1: he mentioned Von Bell there was another guy, big playmaker, right,
Speaker 1: he had the big interception in the championship game for
Speaker 1: for for Cincinnati to make it to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And so if you're targeted and you can you can
Speaker 1: build your team with mid level players that are that
Speaker 1: are sending, that are still young, that are you know,
Speaker 1: going in the right direction, and then uh, you know,
Speaker 1: sign him for modest money and not have to break
Speaker 1: the bank, but yet are going to impact your team
Speaker 1: and the right way. But it's got to be everything
Speaker 1: else that we talked about. Character wise, Do they fit
Speaker 1: in the building? You know, how are they as teammates?
Speaker 1: It's it's a certain guy, a certain individual you're you're
Speaker 1: going out there to get that really is going to
Speaker 1: be a fit of what Matt Eberflus and visions and
Speaker 1: what Ryan Eberflus in visions of the type of guys
Speaker 1: that they believe can win. But certainly there's only so
Speaker 1: much pie, piece of the pie that can go around,
Speaker 1: you know. I think one thing about the Bears, fortunately
Speaker 1: unfortunately on defense, there in such desperate need of personnel
Speaker 1: at any position that if they went out and they
Speaker 1: identified the most alpha ish type of player out there
Speaker 1: on the free agent market on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, could you go out and set your sights
Speaker 1: in that guy? And you know, I remember when Reggie
Speaker 1: White was a free agent or Wilbur Marshall became a
Speaker 1: free agent. And there's periods of times throughout NFL history
Speaker 1: where there was a star quality guy that just became
Speaker 1: unaffordable to the team they were playing for, and you
Speaker 1: had to go out and you had to man come
Speaker 1: in here and bring this guy in with all the
Speaker 1: fanfare possible. And then you see what ended up happening
Speaker 1: to Reggie and Wilburn, guys like that. So, or is
Speaker 1: there a player position out there, no matter first, second,
Speaker 1: or third level that can come in here and want
Speaker 1: the pressure of being brought in as a high price
Speaker 1: free agent and be responsible for changing the attitude inside
Speaker 1: the locker room and the results on the field. And
Speaker 1: I'll amplify that a little bit, Jim, I I don't
Speaker 1: want I want young guys. So you know we're talking
Speaker 1: about twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven. I don't I
Speaker 1: don't want the thirty somethings. No, don't, no disrespect. Certain
Speaker 1: situations command the thirty somethings. Right when you're ready to
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl, you go and get Simeon Rice
Speaker 1: in Tampa Bay, or you go and get you know,
Speaker 1: a player that we've seen like Von Miller trade for
Speaker 1: him or whatever the case may. I then this was
Speaker 1: a young team that got a lot of snaps out
Speaker 1: of rookies and they're developing, and I just want to
Speaker 1: get this is my hope that they continue to build
Speaker 1: it the way that you would envision a perfect scenario,
Speaker 1: because they nearly have a perfect scenario in this current situation.
Speaker 1: Would you agree, Yeah, I think you're right. I think
Speaker 1: you want to you want to diagnose the guys that
Speaker 1: are on this side of thirty, you know, the twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty seven year old guys that are just coming out
Speaker 1: of their first contract and are moving on and testing
Speaker 1: the free agent waters that they're going to dive into
Speaker 1: because the Bears want to build a nucleus here. They
Speaker 1: want a strong, young football team that will carry them
Speaker 1: moving forward. Um, you know, I said, you know, it's
Speaker 1: funny because Pat brought peck her when my partner on
Speaker 1: Sirius brought this up. He when he was with the Jets,
Speaker 1: he had the opportunity to sign Reggie White. He said,
Speaker 1: but you know the problem with the Jets is getting
Speaker 1: them in the building. We needed to get the players,
Speaker 1: like right now, Derek Carr is there in New York
Speaker 1: and they this minute. Yeah, like this minute. So the
Speaker 1: Jets don't want to let them out of the building.
Speaker 1: Pat said, you know our problem was we weren't you know,
Speaker 1: a high, high free agency destination when you look at
Speaker 1: the Jets, and but just to get the guy in
Speaker 1: the building was a big thing. But for Reggie, he
Speaker 1: did want to move on, he said. Pat knew it.
Speaker 1: He was trying to get the deal done. He has
Speaker 1: his agent there with him, and it's kind of the
Speaker 1: the moby dick that got away, he said. Once he
Speaker 1: left that building, Pat goes, we we got no shot
Speaker 1: because once he went to Green Bay, they threw everything
Speaker 1: at him and Pat and it was over. And but
Speaker 1: the Jets were right there, you know, trying to get
Speaker 1: the deal done. And that's typically what happens. You don't
Speaker 1: want to let the guy move on to another destination.
Speaker 1: You better fly him in a private plane then, because
Speaker 1: you want to be in control of it every exit possible.
Speaker 1: That's why they call him the Reverend. It's called in God,
Speaker 1: we Trust Decided gree Bay. Yeah, exactly right, we're gonna
Speaker 1: we're gonna take a break. Coming up next, my conversation
Speaker 1: with New Bear's cornerback coach and passing game coordinator John Hook.
Speaker 1: It's all next here on Bears All Access with Amstezinski,
Speaker 1: our producer from the Score Studios, with Tom There Jim Miller.
Speaker 1: I'm Jeff Act at Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score.
Speaker 1: This second of Bears All Access is brought to you
Speaker 1: by cd W. Be able to get it. He is
Speaker 1: back with the Bears. Earlier this week, sat down with
Speaker 1: my old friend and Bear secondary coach John Hook's third
Speaker 1: stint with the organization. He was a Bear in nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1: Much more to discuss here we go. I guess once
Speaker 1: a Bear, always a Bear, because, as people may or
Speaker 1: may not know, because you've been gone for a bit here,
Speaker 1: this all started in nineteen eighty when you became a
Speaker 1: Bear with Walter Peyton and Dan Hampton and the great
Speaker 1: Alan Page. How's a field. It's great, It's really been.
Speaker 1: I've been blessed through my whole career actually to play
Speaker 1: here back, you know, as brief as it was, but
Speaker 1: to be here and get the field for the tradition,
Speaker 1: and then get to coach here with some of the
Speaker 1: players that were on the team at that time, special memories,
Speaker 1: special coaches, and then to be able to come back
Speaker 1: again at this point in my career with this coaching
Speaker 1: staff and the ownership obviously and Ryan Poles. It's it's
Speaker 1: really special to me and in my family two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine, at twenty fourteen, here with the very secondary
Speaker 1: coach and the first thing it pops in my head
Speaker 1: because it didn't happen very often. It doesn't happen very
Speaker 1: often in the NFL. At twenty thirteen season, Peane Tillman
Speaker 1: Tim Jennings starting Pro Bowlers for the NFC coach by
Speaker 1: John Hope. That was our great memories even then, Yes,
Speaker 1: oh absolutely. And you know the great thing about those
Speaker 1: two guys, they pushed each other. And of course Charles
Speaker 1: was a he was a he was a force to be,
Speaker 1: you know, he he pushed it and Tim, you know,
Speaker 1: Tim wanted to be He did not want to be
Speaker 1: left behind. So you know, they pushed each other. It
Speaker 1: was pretty cool competition. Yeah, and to this day you're
Speaker 1: tight with both. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's been. It's been
Speaker 1: pretty neat. So I was in Atlanta obviously before I
Speaker 1: got here, and it was my first year and we
Speaker 1: were kind of an up and down team and DBS
Speaker 1: were playing okay. So I'm in New Orleans and I'm
Speaker 1: going out to dinner because we had had our meetings
Speaker 1: and everything, and I'm gonna grab some oysters at dinner.
Speaker 1: And I get a text and the text says, hey,
Speaker 1: do you get up early tomorrow? I want to be
Speaker 1: at the game. And it's Charles and I quit. I
Speaker 1: text him back, are you in New Orleans? He goes, yeah,
Speaker 1: I am in New Orleans. I'm here for there was
Speaker 1: a safety that was being inducted into the Ring of
Speaker 1: Honor there at New Orleans and he was there to
Speaker 1: support him. So I said, yeah, I'll be upeven thirty.
Speaker 1: He goes, sounds good, I'll meet him the lobby seven
Speaker 1: twenty five. I get a text. I'm here, so, you know,
Speaker 1: for him to take the time before the game that
Speaker 1: early on a Sunday morning. He came. I got him
Speaker 1: some passes to the sideline and all that. But it
Speaker 1: was awesome. And then Tim lives in down and suburb
Speaker 1: of Atlanta and Gwenette County and he would come to
Speaker 1: the games. This past season we played the Bears. He
Speaker 1: was there and he sat with my wife, and he
Speaker 1: sat with my two daughters and they had a great time.
Speaker 1: So they have both stayed in touch more than I
Speaker 1: would ever imagine. So you're in the family of defenses
Speaker 1: that Maddieberflus is, so it's a natural connection. But it
Speaker 1: goes deeper in that because you were born and raised
Speaker 1: in Kettering, Ohio. When the boss stay, you're a mad guy.
Speaker 1: He was Toledo obviously played at Toledo, but you guys
Speaker 1: also both coached at Missouri. There's connections to Gary Pinko.
Speaker 1: I mean, is that the relationship quotient to this whole
Speaker 1: thing or does it go deeper in Then that's part
Speaker 1: of it for sure. You know him being in the
Speaker 1: same system, him working with Rod my brother, and Elli
Speaker 1: my brother coached him at Toledo for one year. By yep,
Speaker 1: oh wow, that's interesting. Yes, So we have deep connections.
Speaker 1: And then obviously through coach Marinelli and just the systems
Speaker 1: and belief system and how you play defense and what
Speaker 1: it takes, the standard, what it needs to be to
Speaker 1: be great, and we've all gone from him and I
Speaker 1: have learned it the same way and so we have
Speaker 1: a lot of similar beliefs for sure. So it happened quickly.
Speaker 1: Boom cornerback coach passing game coordinator. It's a kind of
Speaker 1: a phase in this era of football to have on
Speaker 1: both sides. You know, you could have an offensive coordinator,
Speaker 1: but you could also have a run game coordinator. How
Speaker 1: does that look for the Bears in twenty twenty three? Well,
Speaker 1: right now, I'm just kind of learning and getting to
Speaker 1: know who the players are, watching them on video. We're
Speaker 1: going through cut ups right now. The defensive staff, coach
Speaker 1: Williams and those guys, they do a great job of
Speaker 1: taking me through what explaining what they're trying to get done,
Speaker 1: how you want to technique this certain coverage or that.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about it and it's been a good
Speaker 1: experience so far. Man he Reflus has a very specific
Speaker 1: set of guidelines and he stays within those rails about
Speaker 1: what he wants in a player. And knowing you and
Speaker 1: how you coach, you feel right into that. What was
Speaker 1: that conversation like when you guys interviewed and spoke and
Speaker 1: also with Alan wams Well, it was you know, an
Speaker 1: Alan has been a little bit has that background as well,
Speaker 1: and so it's those are easy conversations because it's about
Speaker 1: you know, assignment, alignment, technique and key and those four
Speaker 1: things will drive every player on defense. And I believe
Speaker 1: that when it was taught to me here and I
Speaker 1: still believe it to this day. Those four things drive
Speaker 1: every player. And when you get those and your players
Speaker 1: are able to execute and understand those four things, it
Speaker 1: goes a long way. Also the toughness aspect of it,
Speaker 1: because you you coach hard, oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: and coaching hard and it's never personal. But all we're
Speaker 1: trying to do is make them the best art It's
Speaker 1: my responsibility to make them him or whoever the best
Speaker 1: player they can be. So, which you've already watched on tape,
Speaker 1: there's a four pack of guys right now that really
Speaker 1: get everybody attention and that it includes Kyler, Gordon, Jiculon Brisker,
Speaker 1: Eddie Jackson and Jalen Johnson. These four players, uh, what
Speaker 1: have you seen on tape that sticks out to you?
Speaker 1: And three of the five leading tacklers for this team
Speaker 1: last season we're defensive banks. Yeah. Well, a little bit
Speaker 1: of that too is evolution of offenses. Um, they're more
Speaker 1: perimeric stuff ball gets on the edge sometimes quicker. But
Speaker 1: they all have good skill sets. They all have unique
Speaker 1: skill sets. Eddie. You can tell he's a veteran players
Speaker 1: understand the games is slowed down for him from when
Speaker 1: I remember when he first came into the league, Jenny,
Speaker 1: when you can see his growth process through this Kyler,
Speaker 1: it was fun to watch him, just because I didn't
Speaker 1: even Atlanta last year coming out for the draft, and uh,
Speaker 1: he's exceeded. Uh. You know, for him to play outside
Speaker 1: and inside as a rookie, that's that's a difficult task.
Speaker 1: And you know, you saw him grow every game and
Speaker 1: so you know, I think it's, uh, it's pretty encouraging.
Speaker 1: And then with Brisker, I did him also coming out.
Speaker 1: I knew he was physical all that, and then we
Speaker 1: happened to play the Bears in Atlanta. I had no
Speaker 1: idea how long he was, how big he was, and
Speaker 1: he is a presence on the field and he's got
Speaker 1: a bright future ahead of him as well. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: the combination of those guys and just the Gordon aspect
Speaker 1: of it. To go to that nickel spot as a rookie.
Speaker 1: We didn't play it that much at University of Washington.
Speaker 1: We both know that's one of the more challenging positions
Speaker 1: on either side of the ball. In this league, so
Speaker 1: many responsibilities and you got to be a willing tackler,
Speaker 1: which he was, but then to kick outside and it
Speaker 1: kind of just kind of took a deep breath, and
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm around the ball a lot more
Speaker 1: so the ball hawking aspect though. That's that's what this
Speaker 1: organization wants, us with this franchise wants, that's what either
Speaker 1: Fluce wants, just to hit the ground floor running like that.
Speaker 1: How much progress do you anticipate from these two young guys, Oh,
Speaker 1: they'll grow, you know. The biggest growth jump you know
Speaker 1: you'd like to see and you usually do see is
Speaker 1: between their first year and their second year. You know,
Speaker 1: they're just trying to catch their breath. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's getting ready for the combine. It's headed into the draft,
Speaker 1: then you're headed into mini camp, then you're headed into
Speaker 1: OTA's and then you're you know, a brief break and
Speaker 1: you train and then you're headed into a training camp
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, it's preseason. All of
Speaker 1: a sudden, it's real ball and it just goes. And
Speaker 1: so this will be their first time where they're not
Speaker 1: preparing right now for a combine. They're not you know,
Speaker 1: they got a chance to take a deep breath, get
Speaker 1: their bodies back to where it and they need to
Speaker 1: be get their brains back to where they need to be.
Speaker 1: And so you'll see growth because they have a chance
Speaker 1: to hit reset, refresh themselves and then get ready to
Speaker 1: go again. Brisker is a heck of a blitz heer
Speaker 1: and he has been all the way back to high school,
Speaker 1: Lackawanna Junior College. And you know from our conversations over
Speaker 1: the years, I don't care what coaches sitting in. I
Speaker 1: love the corner blitz. So you know, hopefully you can
Speaker 1: put that in the program. They have plenty of blitzes.
Speaker 1: They do a good job here and you know a
Speaker 1: lot of the things that we did in the past
Speaker 1: they still do because Matt's run this system before and
Speaker 1: he's he's added his own twist to it. Alan's added
Speaker 1: some things and it's pretty fun. It's it's neat to
Speaker 1: see have you evolved from the time you got into
Speaker 1: the league with the Houston Texans when you know that
Speaker 1: was Tom Capers it was an expansion franchise as a coach,
Speaker 1: because the game has changed since then. It's as we
Speaker 1: can see in the Super Bowl with the kind of
Speaker 1: quarterback the Bears have with Justin Fields, how have you
Speaker 1: adapted as a coach. I've adapted because I've had to
Speaker 1: adapt the positions had to adapt. I was fortunate I
Speaker 1: had an experience where I was got to be the
Speaker 1: coordinator for two years at the University of Maryland from
Speaker 1: Mike Locksley. What a tremendous experience that was because I
Speaker 1: really understand I don't know if I really but I
Speaker 1: have a better understanding of college offenses and how these
Speaker 1: quarterbacks are trained and what the offense is trying to
Speaker 1: do with the with the RPO game, with the zone
Speaker 1: read part of it. There's things that I didn't when
Speaker 1: I got there that I was able to learn because
Speaker 1: coach Lotsley did a great job of allowing me to
Speaker 1: listen to how he taught. He's a big RPO guy,
Speaker 1: so there was a lot of good things from that
Speaker 1: experience that helped me grow as a coach as well.
Speaker 1: Now you're back with the Bears organization that finished three
Speaker 1: and fourteen last year, but they have the talk of
Speaker 1: the league right now. Number one pick, draft assets, financial
Speaker 1: assets for free agency, and a roster that is going
Speaker 1: to look vastly different than it did a year ago.
Speaker 1: It almost feels like another ground floor opportunity foundation already laid.
Speaker 1: Are you excited about that aspect of this franchise? Oh?
Speaker 1: I am. You know. I think they've done a good job.
Speaker 1: They know what the culture they want. They've set the culture,
Speaker 1: players abought into the culture, and I just see continue
Speaker 1: to grow. All right, So exciting stuff with John Hope,
Speaker 1: Bears new cornerback coach and passing game coordinator. We'll get
Speaker 1: time and Jim's opinions on that and more as we
Speaker 1: wrap up tonight's program. Bear On Bears All Access. It's
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Speaker 1: visit in Chicago Bears VFP dot Com Final two minutes.
Speaker 1: This is the rap session, Buddy, Here we go. Tom
Speaker 1: fair Jim Miller. First of all, John Hoek glad to
Speaker 1: have him back, Big Jim. Yeah, great coach. He's been
Speaker 1: around for a long time, a ton of experience, and
Speaker 1: like you said, recently with the college game and how
Speaker 1: this RPEO game unfolds. He mentioned like Mike Locksley there
Speaker 1: at the University of Maryland, so he's tuned in. You know,
Speaker 1: he's tuned in. And I thought even last year, you
Speaker 1: go look at what Atlanta did defensively because they again
Speaker 1: they were salary cap strapped much like the Bears. They
Speaker 1: haven't been able to really spend, and how they had
Speaker 1: to generate pass rush and do the things that they did.
Speaker 1: And they've got some young secondary players that are really
Speaker 1: coming on strong. When you look at Alan, who I
Speaker 1: think is just Terrell excuse me, Who's just going to
Speaker 1: be a terrific corner when it's all said and done.
Speaker 1: You know, I like John Holk because I don't want
Speaker 1: some of these young guys to think that the game
Speaker 1: has come easy to them. He's a no nonsense coach
Speaker 1: and he has eye expectations for the physical contribution of
Speaker 1: the position. So that's why I'm excited about John. One
Speaker 1: minute to go from a franchise perspective, much more must
Speaker 1: fall into place, Tom. But the announcement on the three
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty six acre Arlington Park property closing still
Speaker 1: a lot too, doesn't mean they're going to develop it,
Speaker 1: but they own it now Here we go. It's it's exciting.
Speaker 1: So the Bears, in the Chicago Bears, you know, get
Speaker 1: involved in the stadium mix like we've grown to appreciate
Speaker 1: around the league league wide. All right, Jim, we go
Speaker 1: back to the Super Bowl. The turf? Can that ever
Speaker 1: be fixed? Once and for all? Well, I just go back.
Speaker 1: You know, they basically roll that out, you know, because
Speaker 1: it's an open door stadium when they open the thing,
Speaker 1: but that turf is outside. They water it and do
Speaker 1: all the things, and then they roll it back in.
Speaker 1: And that's what the players said. It was like it
Speaker 1: was like playing in the water park, you know. So
Speaker 1: it wasn't dried up enough. So and what do we say,
Speaker 1: it slows down? Pass rush? Well, it slowed down, Philly,
Speaker 1: Let's put it that way. Zero sex give it up
Speaker 1: by the Kansas City Chiefs Office. Tom shaking his head,
Speaker 1: because cleats make a difference. Stand your feet right, that's right.
Speaker 1: Keep your feet under your body. That stop there, Jim.
Speaker 1: We'll tuck to you next week. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Adams Zinski, also to our guest John Hook
Speaker 1: and also Brand Spielberger from Pro Football Focus. Have a
Speaker 1: great night, everybody, stick here at the school or more
Speaker 1: coming up. This has been Bears All Access. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening, everybody. We're brought to you by IGS Energy
Speaker 1: at Chicago Sports Radio six seventy eight SCORE. Good night everybody,
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