orton gets the start next week

by guy incognito on Dec 10, 2007 3:53 PM CST

it's orton's turn now to start. smart move...we need to see if kyle has progressed much to be either a legit #2 (ours, or to trade) or compete for the #1 job next year. i hope opening up the playbook for him will allow him to play much better than he did as a rookie. orton was one of the best QBs in college at purdue and carved up good defenses regularly. hopefully his mediocre stats before were mostly a result of a) being a rookie, and b) having a majorly scaled back playbook.

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NECKBEARD!!

Might as well by this point, anyone think Griese is going to get cut by next season?

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by thecubreporter on Dec 10, 2007 4:14 PM CST reply actions

what kind of money hit...

would that be? hard to see the bears paying anybody who was not on the field (and not hurt).

by dc60123 @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 10, 2007 4:27 PM CST up reply actions

$2mil

On the radio they mention a $2 million roster bonus due in March for Griese. So don't be shocked if he's cut before then.

Unleash your inner Grabowski.

by jrm78 on Dec 10, 2007 4:51 PM CST up reply actions

fwiw

here's the contract details I was working with..

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_contract.aspx?sport=nfl&id=263

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by thecubreporter on Dec 10, 2007 4:56 PM CST up reply actions

I could be wrong on this but...

I believe the remainder of his bonus would cost against the cap which was $4.5 MM. That's $900,000 a year, so $2.7 MM total. It doesn't matter how it was actually allocated, it's pro-rated for cap purposes.

If they wait until after June 1st, then just the $900,000 I believe.

Probably too much to eat...

He's owed $6.5 MM on the rest of his deal (not including bonus) if we keep him through 2010.

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by thecubreporter on Dec 10, 2007 4:55 PM CST up reply actions

having had a drive home to think...

i doubt griese's fate is determined before the bears know what rex will do. no way they would lose both of them in the same off-season.

by dc60123 @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 10, 2007 5:48 PM CST up reply actions

My guess, um... hope...

is that this final injury ends Rex Grossman's career as a Chicago Bear. I don't care how "unlucky" he's been in getting hurt, he's been hurt a lot. "Injury-prone" are more unlucky than non-injury prone guys. Or something.

by tyger1147 on Dec 10, 2007 6:37 PM CST up reply actions

i just hope he survives intact...

unless the pod people who have been impersonating the o-line revert to their original form, orton will surely be forced to demonstrate his ability to move and buy time. that skill alone would make him a legitimate contender in camp next year.

by dc60123 @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 10, 2007 4:26 PM CST reply actions

ortons less mobile than rex

by Jbasic89 on Dec 10, 2007 9:22 PM CST up reply actions

i seriously doubt that

especially since grossman has a fucked knee.

by mike b on Dec 10, 2007 9:34 PM CST up reply actions

uh

orton is definately less mobile than grossman.

it doesnt' matter who we have behind our makeshift line, fix the line and then we can evaluate a qb. still bet grossman is the starter in week 1 next year.

by lopey986 on Dec 11, 2007 2:24 AM CST up reply actions

I doubt that Orton is less mobile than Grossman

Since both of them came out of college with 5.06 in the 40 yard dash and I doubt that all the knee problems that Rex has had since coming to the Nfl has helped him with his speed. However I'm willing to bet that Orton has a better pocket presence because as our late great defensive coordinator Rex is a "Mental Midget" and he has no clue on how to step up in the pocket.

by beardown on Dec 11, 2007 4:05 PM CST up reply actions

Opening up the playbook...

hahahahaha

I understand what you mean, though--compared to 2005 when he was a rookie. At first, though, it sounded hilarious.

by tyger1147 on Dec 10, 2007 4:29 PM CST reply actions

hey!

they're not as stupid as i was beginning to fear.

by mike b on Dec 10, 2007 9:27 PM CST reply actions

changed

Everybody has said Orton has changed over the past 2 years, so i dont think we should judge him off his rookie season. Orton being more mobile?? well lets just see if he can step up into the pocket (which rex fails to do alot), would like to see Rex #1 and Orton #2, Griese #3 next year. Even if Orton plays bad this upcoming game it might not be his fault since our O-line cant hold anything back so orton is pretty much an open target.

by bearsfollower on Dec 11, 2007 10:42 AM CST reply actions

wait wait wait

it won't be orton's fault if he plays bad because the o-line can't hold anything back but it is rex's fault that he doesn't step up into this "pocket" that the line always creates for him? nice double standard ;)

by lopey986 on Dec 11, 2007 12:40 PM CST up reply actions

They'd cut

Griese before making him a #3 I would guess.

Anyone know if he received his bonus money all up front? If it's just a cap hit and they don't actually have to pay him anything over the next 3 years, this seems obvious to me to cut him loose.

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by thecubreporter on Dec 11, 2007 12:46 PM CST up reply actions

Read this very thread.

You can check the link if you don't think it's accurate.

by tyger1147 on Dec 11, 2007 3:05 PM CST up reply actions

If I don't think what's accurate?

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by thecubreporter on Dec 11, 2007 3:14 PM CST up reply actions

Griese's salary bonus and cap ramifications.

It's up in this very thread with a link to the information to verify.

He's owed a $2 mil roster bonus and the cap costs would be $900,000 per year.

Knowing those, I think it's got to be likely he's gone. I just hope to God that Orton can be a place-holder for a year.

by tyger1147 on Dec 11, 2007 9:37 PM CST up reply actions

I know

I wrote some of that...

my question is on his signing bonus (different than roster bonus), did he receive all of it upfront or how was it divided? For cap purposes it's divided evenly over the length of the contract (hence the $900,000 a year)but it very well could have been allocated differently. I just know it was $4.5 MM overall on his signing bonus but don't exactly when Griese will get that $4.5MM.

And if they weren't mixing their terms, a roster bonus would be different than a signing bonus. (I think I said that already)

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by thecubreporter on Dec 11, 2007 10:57 PM CST up reply actions

Oh

my bad--sorry

by tyger1147 on Dec 11, 2007 11:45 PM CST up reply actions

I think first they need to see if they can sign

Grossman. He might get some interest from some other teams being how bad the QB situation is in the NFL.

by beardown on Dec 11, 2007 4:10 PM CST up reply actions

orton's tools

anyone know what his strengths/weaknesses are? i recall he was a very accurate QB, high football IQ, and had a pretty good arm in college - not quite rex's cannon, but very few QBs have that kind of arm. at the very least, i don't think he threw softballs a la griese. i think he broke most of drew brees' records at purdue. but i haven't followed him that closely.

by guy incognito on Dec 11, 2007 1:09 PM CST reply actions

Well he certainly

didn't show much of an arm in 2005. He seemed (to me) to struggle with having enough mustard on the out passes and anything over 30+ yards didn't have much zip on it.

Of course they never asked him to pass besides third down and long for the most part.

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by thecubreporter on Dec 11, 2007 1:24 PM CST up reply actions

Grossman "willing" to come back

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3150453

thanks Rex...way to take one for the team.

After seeing what the Falcons and Dolphins and a number of other teams put out at QB this year, Rex will have some suitors.

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by thecubreporter on Dec 11, 2007 3:18 PM CST reply actions

Remember the great QB debate...

In Orton's last three years at Purdue he had a +60% completions. And that was prolly over 35 starts.

Just saying...

by Chad @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 11, 2007 3:32 PM CST reply actions

Drafted on the second day...

...obviously many scouts didn't think he had whatever "tools" were necessary to be a successful QB.

IIRC, Purdue, at least then, ran one of the first versions of the spread offense. As Kliff Kingsbury knows, this can inflate one's stats. Orton could have been, and I think scouts thought this to an extent, a "system QB."

However, also IIRC, Orton was "Heisman candidate" going into his senior year. The reason he didn't was because his team was losing, he got hurt and he started playing poor towards the end of the year. If those things hadn't happened, I think he might have gotten drafted higher. Those first two things are things that weren't under his control, and so they could very well have not been valid concerns.

I think there are at least reasons to be hopeful about Orton. And hopeful to the extent that he CAN be solid starter. However, I'm not willing to make any sort of claims about that.

by tyger1147 on Dec 11, 2007 9:48 PM CST up reply actions

actually

he was drafted on the second day because he suffered a pretty serious injury his senior year if i remember correctly. i remember at the time of the pick on the front page of ESPN they had a picture of Orton and someone else and the headline was "Steal of the Draft?"

by lopey986 on Dec 12, 2007 12:11 AM CST up reply actions

All this...

could be true. I'm just saying that he played at a very high level in college and that is the first step.

by Chad @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 12, 2007 12:57 AM CST up reply actions

Injury

Orton was playing great his senior year. It was during the Purdue/Wisconsin game that his Hesiman chances vanished with his late fumble, returned by Wisconsin for the game winning score. The next week, he hurt his hip. He missed his next two starts.