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Inside Emery’s draft history - Dan Durkin: Let’s turn the tables and evaluate Emery, and look at his successes, failures, trends, and see how well he’s scouted positions the Bears should look to upgrade this April.
Did the Bears overpay for Jay Cutler? - Mark Potash: It will be months, maybe years, before the dust settles on the Alex Smith trade. But compared to the price the Bears paid for Jay Cutler, it looks like the Kansas City Chiefs got a bargain. Plus, 10 other thoughts
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Bearsss
Bears working on salary-cap puzzle - Brad Biggs: Fifteen players coming out of contract who played a significant role in 2012 counted more than $29 million against the cap during that season. NFL salary cap increases to $123 million.
Bears have several ways they can create cap room - Sean Jensen: The Bears need to create some more room if they’re going to do more than window-shop in free agency.
Dan Pompei's Bears mailbag - Manti Te'o, players to draft, players to cut, players to move, and staying fit at 78.
Rahm praises Israel Idonije for public service - Mayor says Bears standout is the perfect example of how people in highly visible positions should give back.
Free agents - Gregg Rosenthal has three Bears listed among his top 85.
31 Reasons why NFL teams hate the Patriots - New England’s 1985 “Cinderella” status is a blemish on the Bears one and only Super Bowl win and for that the Bears hate the Patriots.
Hillenmeyer to give fans a chance to game against pros - Larry Mayer: Through his new company, OverDog, former Bears LB Hunter Hillenmeyer plans to give fans a chance to play video games against pro athletes.
Shea McClellin's videogames reviews - David Taylor pointed me to this a while ago: our young DE is a gamer in his spare time. You can also read advice from Tim Jennings on fashion.
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Polish Sausage
NFP Agent's Journal - Jack Bechta's Five notes from the 2013 NFL Combine: This year’s Combine had several themes you may not have picked up on unless you were there.
QB salaries cause teams to make difficult decisions - Albert Breer: Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger both recently re-did their contracts to help out their teams. It indicates a growing problem, as QBs take up a higher and higher proportion of the salary cap.
Draft preview - Russ Lande breaks down 14 players who helped their draft status the most with their performance at the Combine.
Know thy enemy: Packers - Tom Silverstein: Troubled defensive lineman Johnny Jolly will be reinstated from suspension as of Monday; Ted Thompson has been willing to give players a second chance, but a lot will depend on how what kind of condition he is in and whether it would be best for him to start over somewhere else.
Know thy enemy: Lions - Josh Katzenstein: The Lions reportedly will host a veteran free agent that could add some needed leadership, with former Eagles DT Mike Patterson scheduling a visit.
Steven Schweickert's guest videogames video week: "Reset (Thank You) / Rising Sun [[ WARNING: SPOILER ALERT ]]: It just doesn't feel right to put these songs without the final battle, because it was this exact video that got me to buy the game in the first place (and if you watch the guy's entire project, trust me, it hits you right in the feels). And yes, my favorite video game piece of all time.
If you want a non-spoiler-y version... They play right after each other in the game - the first is kind of an interlude/cutscene piece and the second is the last battle theme."