The Bear’s Leap Den: February 29, 2020

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

OK Peeps, there’s only ONE song that is appropriate for LEAP DAY!

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

BEARRRSSSS

NFL Combine: Bears have met with WRs Van Jefferson, Gabriel Davis - Bears Wire - While receiver doesn’t rank high on the list of priorities for the Bears this offseason, they’d do well to target a receiver in the draft.

Quick Hits: Bears follow league-wide trend - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears followed a league-wide trend in naming Dave Ragone pass game coordinator. GM Ryan Pace talks about holding training camp at Halas Hall. That and more from the NFL Combine.

Four Bears recovering from offseason surgeries - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears expect Roquan Smith, Mitchell Trubisky, Trey Burton and Anthony Miller all to be full-go by the start of training camp, if not sooner, after undergoing offseason surgeries.

With All These New Bears/QB Rumors, Let’s Roll Through Who’s Actually Available in Free Agency and Trade - Bleacher Nation - Sorting through possible Bears QB targets who are established veterans with pedigree and starting experience.

5@5: How Would Trubisky React To A Prove-It Year? - 670 The Score - The Mully & Haugh crew debates a five-pack of questions every weekday.

Bears Set On True Competition For Mitchell Trubisky - 670 The Score - Bears general manager Ryan Pace has publicly backed Mitchell Trubisky’s as the team’s starting quarterback, but behind the scenes, Chicago has indicated it wants to bring in true competition for Trubisky, sources indicated.

Bears Have Need To Address At Outside Linebacker - 670 The Score - Bears outside linebacker Leonard Floyd will get one last opportunity to become the pass rusher that the team believed he can be, but Chicago also needs to start looking for alternatives. Could the answer come in the NFL Draft?

Morrissey: If NFL players won’t save themselves, what’s there to be done? Nothing. - Chicago Sun-Times - The owners aren’t the only ones who are ignoring the dangers of their game. Both sides seem to care about the same thing: money.

Should Bears draft a quarterback? - Chicago Sun-Times - If there’s a quarterback in the draft that shares Bears general manager Ryan Pace’s unwavering optimism, it’s Georgia’s Jake Fromm. Ken’s Note: Firm pass on Fromm from your Denmaster.

Bears are Looking at Top Pass Rushers to Address the Need at Edge - Chicago Audible Blog - The Bears need help at edge. After talking with some prospects, it’s apparent Chicago is looking at some of the top players to possibly address the need.

Chicago Bears Combine Report: Which Defensive Backs are the Bears Looking Into? - Chicago Audible Podcast
- Listen as the guys share the best stories from the defensive backs and tell you which ones have met with the Chicago Bears.

North Texas’ LaDarius Hamilton Would Welcome Opportunity to Play Alongside Khalil Mack - Chicago Audible Blog - North Texas standout LaDarius Hamilton has met with the Chicago Bears at the NFL Combine and would appreciate an opportunity to learn from Khalil Mack.

No easy answers: How Matt Nagy, Bears will try to fix run game - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears will have to hope coaching and scheme changes will produce the fix to their run game their offense so desperately needs.

Black History Month: The courage to be a black quarterback - NBC Sports Chicago - NBCS Chicago is celebrating Black History Month with special episodes to discuss the impact of the black athlete in sports. In the final episode of the series, Laurence Holmes is joined by his “Football Aftershow” teammate and former Chicago Bear Alex Brown to discuss, making coaching in the NFL more diverse, is the Rooney Rule helping, and the common practice of moving black

The Bears won’t be the only team in the NFC North going after TE Austin Hooper - NBC Sports Chicago - The first Bears-Packers battle of 2020 may not even take place on the field.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Saints will let Teddy Bridgewater leave, but where will he land? - ESPN - By this time next month, Bridgewater will likely have a new home, but nailing down the most likely destination is tricky.

Mekhi Becton sparks NFL Combine buzz with 5.10 40-yard dash - NFL.com - Mekhi Becton is officially one of the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine's biggest sensations after posting a 5.10-second 40-yard dash at 357 pounds. Ken's Note: Holy cow!

Mock Draft 1.0: Joe Burrow to Bengals, two other QBs land in top 6 - Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears don’t have to worry about the first round of the draft. But that hasn’t stopped the Sun-Times from compiling its first mock draft of the season, with more to follow:

Jameis Winston had meniscus trimmed this offseason - ProFootballTalk - Jameis Winston remained in the Buccaneers lineup after injuring his right thumb last season and that wasn’t the only injury he dealt with in 2019.

New CBA could push cap as high as $205 million for 2020 - ProFootballTalk - The NFL and NFLPA have added specificity to the range that was first identified in December, selecting an even $200 million as the 2020 salary cap. And there will be even more specificity eventually added if the proposed CBA is ratified before the start of the new league year.

XFL faces new TV challenges this weekend - ProFootballTalk - For the first three weeks of the XFL’s first (technically second) season, the ratings have consistently dropped. For the fourth week, the XFL will be facing the most competition yet for eyeballs.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Packers Free Agency Rumors: Green Bay is gauging LB Joe Schobert’s price - Acme Packing Company - This could be the team just checking on the price of the overall linebacker market, but Schobert has plenty of Wisconsin connections and might be a good fit in the Packers’ defense.

Mike Zimmer ‘open’ to moving Riley Reiff to LG. Somewhere, Mike Remmers shakes his head in amazement - Daily Norseman - Why fix one position when you can potentially disrupt three?

Report: Some General Managers, coaches believe Matthew Stafford wants to be traded - ProFootballTalk - The Scouting Combine is many things other than the Scouting Combine. Among other things, it’s Rumor Central, with reporters in varying degrees of sobriety constantly talking to coaches and executives in varying degrees of sobriety.

2020 NFL Scouting Combine Day 2: OL, RBs, ST live updates, open thread - Pride Of Detroit - Live updates as the OL, RBs, and special teamers take the field in Indianapolis.

IN CASE YOU YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Report - Bears and Bengals have discussed Andy Dalton Trade - Windy City Gridiron - This one shouldn’t come as a shock after both Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy have talked about wanting to get some experienced competition for quarterback Mitchell...

Infante: 2020 NFL Combine Winners and Losers from Day 1 of QB, WR, TE workouts - Windy City Gridiron - Our Lead Draft Analyst, Jacob Infante, gives his winners and losers from the first day of on-field workouts at the the 2020 NFL Combine.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert; and Robert Zeglinski’s The Blitz Network

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, and T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert; and Robert Zeglinski’s The Blitz Network

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like us on Facebook.