2006 Offseason - Thomas Jones Trade

The Jones trade...

What the hell....for a second round draft pick! I think that was a bad trade...we get a pick approximately 25 spots before ours...wtf. You think Benson can handle a full load with how often he will be running plays (if Rex is still same old up-down Rex)? I hope so. He will be tired. We are a running team...and I realize we don't have enough financial resources to keep them both...but we better at least retain the 1...2... punch using Peterson & Benson combo (with Benson being the right hand/ primary punch). I'm afraid politics will get in the way of logical football. We shall see.

At least my 1..2... punch with Benson and Peterson seems like it will be realized. As long as that happens I think we will be ok. Its just the loss of value in the trade that bothers me. I don't think we got enough for my boooyy jonesy....very upsetting.

"The Bears pride themselves on being a running team and have long maintained that they need at least two talented running backs to succeed. Angelo feels that the team already has that in Benson and Adrian Peterson, both of whom move up a slot on the depth chart. Peterson had only 10 carries for 41 yards in 2006, but he rushed for a career-high 391 yards on 76 attempts while averaging a robust 5.1 yards per attempt in 2005.

“We feel good about Cedric and Adrian,” Angelo said. “We still feel we have two quality running backs. That was a part of why we did what we did.”

So thats good if thats actually how we run our offense. I sincerely doubt it will be as successful as he thinks. Jones is too good not to miss him. Hmmm, when are we running and when are we doing play action?....let me see....when peterson is in the backfield = a pass to Peterson. When Benson is in the backfield = run up the gut.

We will be very easy to read, unless Benson really puts in some effort to becoming a better pass blocker or route runner/receiver (not that I dont think he has good hands).

Im thinking about it, and maybe im not so terribly upset about the Jones trade. I mean, he was going to leave anyway. How much can you negotiate for a player that the other team knows that your administration NEEDS to get rid of due to financial constraints. Maybe that was all the value we were going to get for him. He was good for our team, but hes aging, and even though I still believe that he has more room to grow, he expects to be paid high amounts, for arguably fairly average play right now.

Now, that is NOT to say that I dont appreciate his work ethic and what he did for our team while he was here, because god >knows we wont see that type of "work hard" attitude from Benson (at least not that I can predict based on his behavior so far). Jones will be missed, I know...because there is no doubt we lost talent at that position, I just hope Benson proves himself and Peterson steps up and does what he always seems to do...pleasently surprise us all.

I'm not happy with Lance. I just don't even understand why you would come out with such a bad reaction toward playing in Chicago when there is such a small chance that you wont actually have to play there. I think that it makes the Bears lose their team-over-the-individual appeal as they have always seemed to have (support of Rex, Jones/Benson relationship).

Now, can we expect that Briggs will play half heartedly all year? Bull shit!

He says its not about the money, but respect with a long term deal, and yet he turned down a six year 33 million dollar offer last year. He's being an ass, but I cant help but still love him...hes extremely valuable to our defense and will be for a long time. And I know for certain that he will be playing with us this next season whether he likes it or not, because nobody is going to be willing to give up two first round picks plus the money for him this year. He can hold out all he likes, he will end up playing when it comes down to making his weekly paycheck at the $7 mil franchise amount versus not making anything by sitting out.

Do you know anything about the new quarterbacks coach? Is he better than our guy this past year? I hope so...we need someone to have that fire lit under Rex, and someone who can hone his talent and give him a little bit of consistencty and reliability.

Is it the guy from the 49ers? The guy who was working with Alex Smith? I think so. Should be better. Any new perspectives and hands in Rex's training process are a welcome treat to what we have been seeing. If he is even close to a good coach, then we will be in great shape. Because, Ive always seen some raw talent there that sincerely needs honing. I dont think that Wade had a good way of making his (Rex's) most beneficial instincts consistently show up, or making his habits consistently dissappear. Maybe this guy will have some new strategies to reinforce his good habits.

DLP