Grady Jarrett is a veteran interior defensive lineman that’s only missed time in one of his 10 seasons with the Falcons.
6 years as a captain is probably my favorite thing about Grady Jarrett. I want leadership more than anything else, and 10 years is right in that wheelhouse. So are these stats. We got interior pressure and a great presence and someone that can slide into the rotation without holding anyone else back. There’s still plenty of opportunities to add in the draft and get a speed rusher or something more exotic.
Now again and again and again. I’m not an expert on the All 22 and I don’t pretend to be. I’m working more off reports, vibes, stories and connecting my own personal experiences to understand my feelings here. It would be nice to have my own tape cut to back all this up but ultimately I can only do the best I can do.
In that spirit, the best I can do right now is say the Bears are fully committed to Best Player Available at #10 and with 3 picks in the top 41.
You absolutely would not feel this way if they traded for Trey Hendrickson from the Bengals. That would probably take out Dayo and Grady pretty easy while also costing at least one of the 2nd round picks. That’s a lot to give up, even with Hendrickson being a tier-1 pass rusher. We just don’t need to take those risks with everything that needs to be improved simultaneously.
And then most important is that all these deals line up perfectly with Caleb Williams’ rookie contract. Nothing I love more than seeing 3-year contracts stacked on top of each other so we can unload the mother of all contracts when the time is right. We have a window open now and we’ve done the smartest moves possible to strengthen that window. And then when it closes, we have cap space lined up to open that window another time. That’s really important to the long-term health and strength of the franchise. So good on Poles more than I ever thought that I’d admit.
Of course – none of this could work out. We could see injuries and depreciation and poor effort. All of that is certainly on the table. Just please consider though that they improved the following areas on paper over the last week:
- Center
- Left Guard
- Right Guard
- Run Blocking Tight End
- Big Defensive End
- Interior Pass Rushing DT
And then mix in the head coach. Mix in another year of Caleb Williams development. Mix in maybe a new stadium and we’re really cooking with gas.
I know a lot of people want to be hesitant because it’s the Bears but I’m kinda rapidly warming up to where I think this is a solid scary team with high character vets. That’s only going to make the next draft class better and that’s the biggest part in turning the culture. That I know to be true.
We’re so much closer than we were in January. And obviously again this could go south. But don’t you dare tell me Ryan Poles isn’t making every move imaginable to turn the organization around.
And right now, that’s just about all we can ask from leadership.
And right now, they’re actually doing a decent job.
Who knew?
PS – This is the exact thing you want to avoid – paying $77,000,000 for a solid guard. So much smarter to trade for Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney. Borderline genius.
