Not a bad idea... it might only take a 4th/5th rounder to get him, too.
Here's a better idea:
Rather than spending a 3rd/4th/5th round pick on a player who's been a disappointment and has only 1 year left before becoming a FA, how about we just spend that pick on drafting our own and having him for 4 years?
HARD PASS
Cause it's very rare a rookie tight end comes in a makes an immediate impact, thats why.
Given the epic fail we had at the position in 2019, I know everyone has a raging boner for any TE anywhere that caught a few passes last season but let's be smart and unemotional about this.
The Bears already have one high-priced FA TE with injury/production problems on the team (Burton), they don't need another. They also already have one high-draft-pick bust TE on the team (Shaheen), they certainly don't need someone's else's too (Njoku, Ebron, etc.)
Pace just needs to calm down and make a solid mid-round TE draft pick while getting Burton fully healthy again. That's it. Let's not squander money chasing other teams' crap TEs.
Going over the free agent list, you do see players that are hard to get excited about. There are reasons why their teams let them walk. Obviously every player situation is different, and you have to have FAs on your team and can't just build through the draft. But it's like paying full retail when you "buy" a player that way, and sometimes it's buying damaged goods also. I'm not against bringing in a veteran TE or any other position. Ideally though you draft better than Shaheen and don't have this problem to begin with. For example when Pace drafted Shaheen he passed over George Kittle. He drafted Trubisky and passed over Patrick Mahomes, and spent extra draft picks to do that. I get it that every team misses in the draft. No team is perfect by any means. But Pace does have his share of misses in those first two rounds. Thankfully he has had some great hits in the mid to late rounds. That sure helps.
For years I've noticed (often) that FAs that are going to be pricey are mid to late round draft picks that now command serious money to "buy" on the open market. Best scenario is to draft these kind of guys ourselves rather than Shaheen types.
I haven't done a deep dive on this year's FA TEs (or those who might be available via trade). But just off the top of my head:
Hunter Henry Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Austin Hooper Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Greg Olsen 35 years old so well past prime, hurt most of last 3 seasons
Eric Ebron Former 1st round bust, had 1 good season only, injury concerns
David Njoku 1st round disappointment, will cost draft capital (not a FA), 1 year rental only
I'm just not seeing much to get excited about there. I'd rather spend money on an OL like Glasgow and take my chances on the draft for help at TE.
Rather than spending a 3rd/4th/5th round pick on a player who's been a disappointment and has only 1 year left before becoming a FA, how about we just spend that pick on drafting our own and having him for 4 years?
HARD PASS
Cause it's very rare a rookie tight end comes in a makes an immediate impact, thats why.
Except he isn't (and wasn't) a rookie. He was drafted the same year as Shaheen.
If Cleveland cuts him, then yeah sure he's worth a serious look. But I'm not interested in giving up a draft pick for a guy who's a FA in only 1 more year and who has been a disappointment thus far in his 1st 3 seasons.
Going over the free agent list, you do see players that are hard to get excited about. There are reasons why their teams let them walk. Obviously every player situation is different, and you have to have FAs on your team and can't just build through the draft. But it's like paying full retail when you "buy" a player that way, and sometimes it's buying damaged goods also. I'm not against bringing in a veteran TE or any other position. Ideally though you draft better than Shaheen and don't have this problem to begin with. For example when Pace drafted Shaheen he passed over George Kittle. He drafted Trubisky and passed over Patrick Mahomes, and spent extra draft picks to do that. I get it that every team misses in the draft. No team is perfect by any means. But Pace does have his share of misses in those first two rounds. Thankfully he has had some great hits in the mid to late rounds. That sure helps.
For years I've noticed (often) that FAs that are going to be pricey are mid to late round draft picks that now command serious money to "buy" on the open market. Best scenario is to draft these kind of guys ourselves rather than Shaheen types.
I haven't done a deep dive on this year's FA TEs (or those who might be available via trade). But just off the top of my head:
Hunter Henry Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Austin Hooper Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Greg Olsen 35 years old so well past prime, hurt most of last 3 seasons
Eric Ebron Former 1st round bust, had 1 good season only, injury concerns
David Njoku 1st round disappointment, will cost draft capital (not a FA), 1 year rental only
I'm just not seeing much to get excited about there. I'd rather spend money on an OL like Glasgow and take my chances on the draft for help at TE.
+1
Here's the bottom-line for me. Don't "buy" a guy who is damaged goods or old like a 35 year old Greg Olsen. Draft your own young version of Greg Olsen. Yes. It's "hard" to draft good guys. I understand that. But that is the gig if you are a GM. Sure, you can pay full-retail and "buy" some guys who's team as let them walk (for whatever reason). But it is costly and there are real reasons why teams are letting these guys walk. So, yeah, buy some FAs to flesh out your roster, but I'm all about drafting well to begin with so you can minimize buying FAs at full retail price.
And one last thought. Yes, there is a learning curve with young players as they transition from college to the NFL. So Butkus is right that most TE's are not going to be studs year one. And they can have injury problems just like the old guys... that's just fate and you can't control it. But, I still believe it is best to draft talent. But you gotta be able to recognize talent in the draft. We draft a Shaheen and pass on George Kittle that year. We draft Trubisky and pass on Patrick Mahomes. I totally get it that every GM is less than perfect in the draft. I get it. I understand that fact. But you want a GM who minimizes the whiffs. And riczaj01 has made an excellent point over the years that if you have more available draft picks each year (like Belichick) then the whiffs don't hurt as bad due to the fact you have more opportunity to "hit" on your draft overall, because you have more picks. LOL, you still need to recognize talent at a high percentage rate, but you CAN absorb some misses each year that way. Pace has put himself in a tough situation since he has been here. He trades AWAY draft picks AND ALSO has misses. That's tough. And we see where we are at right now in 2020. We have some critically serious needs, and we are a bit limited in this draft to meet all of those needs.
Cause it's very rare a rookie tight end comes in a makes an immediate impact, thats why.
Except he isn't (and wasn't) a rookie. He was drafted the same year as Shaheen.
If Cleveland cuts him, then yeah sure he's worth a serious look. But I'm not interested in giving up a draft pick for a guy who's a FA in only 1 more year and who has been a disappointment thus far in his 1st 3 seasons.
I'm aware Njoku isn't a rookie. I was making reference to your desire to draft one to solve our tight end problem. Was Njoku a disappointment in 2018 when he was 8th among tight ends in receiving yards?
I mean seriously, I'm just amazed at the guys some of you lump into the "bust" category.
I haven't done a deep dive on this year's FA TEs (or those who might be available via trade). But just off the top of my head:
Hunter Henry Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Austin Hooper Good player but hurt a lot, probably will be expensive
Greg Olsen 35 years old so well past prime, hurt most of last 3 seasons
Eric Ebron Former 1st round bust, had 1 good season only, injury concerns
David Njoku 1st round disappointment, will cost draft capital (not a FA), 1 year rental only
I'm just not seeing much to get excited about there. I'd rather spend money on an OL like Glasgow and take my chances on the draft for help at TE.
+1
Here's the bottom-line for me. Don't "buy" a guy who is damaged goods or old like a 35 year old Greg Olsen. Draft your own young version of Greg Olsen. Yes. It's "hard" to draft good guys. I understand that. But that is the gig if you are a GM. Sure, you can pay full-retail and "buy" some guys who's team as let them walk (for whatever reason). But it is costly and there are real reasons why teams are letting these guys walk. So, yeah, buy some FAs to flesh out your roster, but I'm all about drafting well to begin with so you can minimize buying FAs at full retail price.
And one last thought. Yes, there is a learning curve with young players as they transition from college to the NFL. So Butkus is right that most TE's are not going to be studs year one. And they can have injury problems just like the old guys... that's just fate and you can't control it. But, I still believe it is best to draft talent. But you gotta be able to recognize talent in the draft. We draft a Shaheen and pass on George Kittle that year. We draft Trubisky and pass on Patrick Mahomes. I totally get it that every GM is less than perfect in the draft. I get it. I understand that fact. But you want a GM who minimizes the whiffs. And riczaj01 has made an excellent point over the years that if you have more available draft picks each year (like Belichick) then the whiffs don't hurt as bad due to the fact you have more opportunity to "hit" on your draft overall, because you have more picks. LOL, you still need to recognize talent at a high percentage rate, but you CAN absorb some misses each year that way. Pace has put himself in a tough situation since he has been here. He trades AWAY draft picks AND ALSO has misses. That's tough. And we see where we are at right now in 2020. We have some critically serious needs, and we are a bit limited in this draft to meet all of those needs.
Here's the bottom-line for me. Don't "buy" a guy who is damaged goods or old like a 35 year old Greg Olsen. Draft your own young version of Greg Olsen. Yes. It's "hard" to draft good guys. I understand that. But that is the gig if you are a GM. Sure, you can pay full-retail and "buy" some guys who's team as let them walk (for whatever reason). But it is costly and there are real reasons why teams are letting these guys walk. So, yeah, buy some FAs to flesh out your roster, but I'm all about drafting well to begin with so you can minimize buying FAs at full retail price.
And one last thought. Yes, there is a learning curve with young players as they transition from college to the NFL. So Butkus is right that most TE's are not going to be studs year one. And they can have injury problems just like the old guys... that's just fate and you can't control it. But, I still believe it is best to draft talent. But you gotta be able to recognize talent in the draft. We draft a Shaheen and pass on George Kittle that year. We draft Trubisky and pass on Patrick Mahomes. I totally get it that every GM is less than perfect in the draft. I get it. I understand that fact. But you want a GM who minimizes the whiffs. And riczaj01 has made an excellent point over the years that if you have more available draft picks each year (like Belichick) then the whiffs don't hurt as bad due to the fact you have more opportunity to "hit" on your draft overall, because you have more picks. LOL, you still need to recognize talent at a high percentage rate, but you CAN absorb some misses each year that way. Pace has put himself in a tough situation since he has been here. He trades AWAY draft picks AND ALSO has misses. That's tough. And we see where we are at right now in 2020. We have some critically serious needs, and we are a bit limited in this draft to meet all of those needs.
We did draft the young version of Olsen
LOL, I new that was coming :-)
Only the Bears, right? Finally draft a GREAT tight end and our offensive coordinator decided he didn't fit his offense and so they got rid of him. For a 3rd round draft pick. It's stuff like this that Bears fans have had to endure for decades. The franchise is just clueless as far as building and sustaining a great offense. Those 3 point games last season just about killed me watching the futility.
Oh well...
"Before former Bears GM Jerry Angelo was fired following the 2011 season, he traded tight end Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a third-round pick, to the confusion of the entire Bears fanbase. At the time, then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz felt he couldn’t make good use of Olsen’s talents in his system and Angelo decided the Bears would ultimately be better off without him. In a way, that trade was essentially the beginning of the end for both Angelo and Martz in Chicago."
And getting back to the topic, I'm not against bringing in a veteran TE. But even if we do, I'd like to see us draft a solid TE. Same with the OL. I'd be fine bringing in a solid FA, and also doubling down and drafting OL help. The two are not mutually exclusive. It's okay to do both.
Except he isn't (and wasn't) a rookie. He was drafted the same year as Shaheen.
If Cleveland cuts him, then yeah sure he's worth a serious look. But I'm not interested in giving up a draft pick for a guy who's a FA in only 1 more year and who has been a disappointment thus far in his 1st 3 seasons.
I'm aware Njoku isn't a rookie. I was making reference to your desire to draft one to solve our tight end problem. Was Njoku a disappointment in 2018 when he was 8th among tight ends in receiving yards?
I mean seriously, I'm just amazed at the guys some of you lump into the "bust" category.
Didn't call him a bust (Shaheen and Kevin White are BUSTS). Called him a disappointment and I think that's a fair description considering he was a 1st round pick. If he wasn't a disappointment, the Browns would be looking to extend him rather than trade him.
It's true as you point out that he had a solid season in 2018. So did Trey Burton and Eric Ebron.
We all know the Bears are hurting for draft capital this year so yeah I don't think it's a good idea to trade away more draft capital for a guy who's been a disappointment thus far in his career and has only 1 year left on his contract anyway. Now, if Cleveland decides to release him, then that's a different story. Then he'd difinitely be worth a look.
Only the Bears, right? Finally draft a GREAT tight end and our offensive coordinator decided he didn't fit his offense and so they got rid of him. For a 3rd round draft pick. It's stuff like this that Bears fans have had to endure for decades. The franchise is just clueless as far as building and sustaining a great offense. Those 3 point games last season just about killed me watching the futility.
Oh well...
"Before former Bears GM Jerry Angelo was fired following the 2011 season, he traded tight end Greg Olsen to the Panthers for a third-round pick, to the confusion of the entire Bears fanbase. At the time, then-offensive coordinator Mike Martz felt he couldn’t make good use of Olsen’s talents in his system and Angelo decided the Bears would ultimately be better off without him. In a way, that trade was essentially the beginning of the end for both Angelo and Martz in Chicago."
People have a funny way of having hindsight 20/20. A lot of people didn't like Olsen in Chicago b/c they felt he was to soft and would get tackled by DB's on first contact; and wasn't a blocking TE either. He was nothing special in Chicago. Most of his fumbles, and lost fumbles happened in Chicago, and only his first year in Car, until he started to break down a few years ago, was similar to what he did in Chicago. He never showed that 800-1k a season stuff here. You knew he was good, but you had no reason to know he was going to be what he became in Car. There was a lot of we need more of a Ditka 2 way complete TE then we need a oversized WR that goes down to guys 1/2 his size.