Howie messed up the team so badly because of the last two drafts that he needs to trade known commodities for picks to draft their replacements. It worked out well for the Titans in years past. What can go wrong?

Hate giving up two 1st round picks but this is a good trade for the Bears. Simmons is the best DT in the league and those picks will be in the 27-32 range.

Simmons is better, healthier, more reliable, and more mature than Carter. He’s also much older. The value comp there is interesting.

11 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

Was trying to think of times that someone trading multiple 1sts actually worked, and the 2 I can think of are both the Rams: getting Stafford and getting Ramsey. Helped them win the Super Bowl. The other examples have been pretty sketchy: Mack, Russ, Deshuan, Gardner, Adams, Tunsil, Parsons.

Very true. The other side is that the crappy teams unloading the stud players tend to squander their new draft picks.

So these blockbuster trades often result in both sides being unhappy with the result.

On 10/27/2026 at 8:50 AM, Saltpeter said:

If we fire Sirianni, I’d think Steichen would be the top choice for HC if the Colts fire him. Good playcaller, would probably bring Stoutland back and work well with him. Has gotten career years out of Hurts and Daniel Jones. Continuity with Hurts if Hurts is still here. Not gonna chase some fad that we don’t have the personnel for.

Being part of the group that drafted Anthony Richardson alone should be a massive caution flag. The reason he had to try to work with Daniel Jones in the first place is because of their hilariously bad QB pick.

On 10/26/2026 at 4:31 PM, Diehardfan said:

Works for me. Get Shane back if SM doesn't work.

This is the play anyway. It's actually not possible to lose OCs every year because eventually some will fail as head coaches. When that happens you can often just re-hire them anyway. A good example is what kept happening with Josh McDaniels. People tend to forget about this because it takes a few years to get the recycler going.

34 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

What makes you think that?

I think there are a few issues and that's probably a contributor.

I think he has a leg injury which is limiting his explosiveness. I think he is playing tentatively possibly because he doesn't trust others in the secondary. Safety is an adjustment for him.

If Howard is the great architect that we think he is, he needs draft picks and a hoard of them. That's when he is at his best. Believe it or not, we are accelerating the rebuild by selling right now in a lost year while we tank. Guys like Baun and Barkley will be ancient (both are in their 30s next year) when this team is a serious contender again. Barkley is breaking down right now and not the same player since 2024. Baun is good. But not the tackling machine we have seen in the past. We are holding on to 2024 too much. That's an eternity ago in NFL years. Taking offers for everyone but Q. Looks like buyers want to pay up.

Damn, Bears give up two 1sts for the Titans player?? Two!!!!

Bears are acting like the Rams.

I wonder what we could get for Carter? A 1st and a 2nd?? Two 2’s?

For Davis, a 2nd and a 3rd?? 🤔🤔

Changes to EMB forum structure for draft and offseason topics

Purpose: we've had feedback over the years to get more topics about draft in one place and generate more discussion.

-Rename NFL Draft and College Football to NFL Draft and Offseason (not many topics about college football there)

-Move IWTETG under the Offseason forum, keep TATE about the current team

-Move the Draft/Offseason forum up in the list so easier to find

Loosening up the format:

You can create topics there about a list of players you want not just one topic per person. Example: "My top OT targets this draft."

The mods may not be able to maintain pin, lock or updating where the player ended up, we'll do our best. If you started the topic, you can also edit it yourself to show who drafted/signed them.

29 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I think he has a leg injury which is limiting his explosiveness. I think he is playing tentatively possibly because he doesn't trust others in the secondary. Safety is an adjustment for him.

I think he has a sports hernia. Which is. Contributing factor. But I also think the added weight can't help his quickness he needs in the slot.

17 minutes ago, Moderator6 said:

Changes to EMB forum structure for draft and offseason topics

Purpose: we've had feedback over the years to get more topics about draft in one place and generate more discussion.

-Rename NFL Draft and College Football to NFL Draft and Offseason (not many topics about college football there)

-Move IWTETG under the Offseason forum, keep TATE about the current team

-Move the Draft/Offseason forum up in the list so easier to find

Loosening up the format:

You can create topics there about a list of players you want not just one topic per person. Example: "My top OT targets this draft."

The mods may not be able to maintain pin, lock or updating where the player ended up, we'll do our best. If you started the topic, you can also edit it yourself to show who drafted/signed them.

@olsilverhair wants to fight you. Meet him in R&R if you're brave enough. Watch out for the pee puddles and sheet smears on the way over. @hputenis over did it on the Indian food yesterday. @olsilverhair had a liquid breakfast

25 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

Damn, Bears give up two 1sts for the Titans player?? Two!!!!

Bears are acting like the Rams.

I wonder what we could get for Carter? A 1st and a 2nd?? Two 2’s?

For Davis, a 2nd and a 3rd?? 🤔🤔

Besides the cap ramifications here, if possible, I would trade both of these guys for that return and shake their hands. And thank them for the Superbowl.

27 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

Damn, Bears give up two 1sts for the Titans player?? Two!!!!

Bears are acting like the Rams.

I wonder what we could get for Carter? A 1st and a 2nd?? Two 2’s?

For Davis, a 2nd and a 3rd?? 🤔🤔

Bears gave up a lot for Simmons. Idk if any team would give up a 2nd for that fat piece of garbage Davis

2 minutes ago, Godfather said:

Bears gave up a lot for Simmons. Idk if any team would give up a 2nd for that fat piece of garbage Davis

😅 We kept the wrong Bulldog of the bunch.

49 minutes ago, Diehardfan said:

Howie messed up the team so badly because of the last two drafts that he needs to trade known commodities for picks to draft their replacements. It worked out well for the Titans in years past. What can go wrong?

I gave Howie a lot of criticism for his drafting in the past. He then went on a great run 2021-2024. In the last 2 drafts despite criticism, they have drafted 2 new starters on the O line (Kendall is likely starting Center next year, Bell we'll see may be the new RT unless replaced). But it's understandable, these last 2 drafts weren't great and may be looked at more about who they didn't take as well. This last draft most of us wanted OT, Safety and a TE that can both block and catch (just give me a Brent Celek type any day over guys that can only do 1 thing).

The Bears already owned us now they have Simmons. 😭

35 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

Damn, Bears give up two 1sts for the Titans player?? Two!!!!

Bears are acting like the Rams.

I wonder what we could get for Carter? A 1st and a 2nd?? Two 2’s?

For Davis, a 2nd and a 3rd?? 🤔🤔

The time to trade him would’ve been before giving him the big contract

The secret and easiest path forward and what makes the Eagles the Eagles are the lines. Howard needs to accumulate all the Round 1- Round 3 picks he can get and just attack these 2 areas the next 2 years. If that's rectified with premium talent, everything else will fall into place.

3 minutes ago, McMVP said:

The time to trade him would’ve been before giving him the big contract

The Titans gave Simmons a $105m contract extension this past offseason, with $60m guaranteed. Then traded him same year. I guess it's possible.

@vikas83 @LeanMeanGM @paco how does that work with the cap, we keep thinking guys with recent contract extensions are untradeable due to cap/dead money/etc.

5 minutes ago, NOTW said:

The Titans gave Simmons a $105m contract extension this past offseason, with $60m guaranteed. Then traded him same year. I guess it's possible.

@vikas83 @LeanMeanGM @paco how does that work with the cap, we keep thinking guys with recent contract extensions are untradeable due to cap/dead money/etc.

I don't have time to really look into it but I found this article on BR.

The Titans took on dead cap hits of $14.1 million in 2026 and $20.8 million in 2027 by moving Simmons, per Spotrac's Mike Ginnitti.

Tennessee ultimately paid $25.3 million to have Simmons play seven games with the franchise this season, per Ginnitti.

The Bears are currently projected by Spotrac to have $2.7 million in 2026 cap space following the trade. The franchise may need to restructure ahead of the 2027 campaign, at which point Spotrac currently projects the team will be $41.7 million over the cap.

Spotrac projects the Titans will have $37.4 million in 2026 cap space and $83.3 million in 2027 cap space.

Simmons could instantly slot in as one of the most disruptive players in the Bears' defensive line.

The 33-year-old has recorded four sacks, six tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits in seven games with Tennessee, all of which would at least tie for the team lead in Chicago.

That continues a dominant run that has seen Simmons rank second only to Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones in sacks over the last six seasons.

I saw DeVonta Smith didn't participate in the walkthrough yesterday. Do we have any idea when he will be back?

5 minutes ago, NOTW said:

The Titans gave Simmons a $105m contract extension this past offseason, with $60m guaranteed. Then traded him same year. I guess it's possible.

@vikas83 @LeanMeanGM @paco how does that work with the cap, we keep thinking guys with recent contract extensions are untradeable due to cap/dead money/etc.

So, this is a bit of a misnomer, particularly in the Eagles case (and the Titans used the structure Howie has used forever). Unlike a team like the Cowboys, the Eagles (and the Titans) in this case don't use massive signing bonuses. Instead, they use large, annual option bonuses that are guaranteed. So in Simmons' case, he signed a 3 year, ~$106mm deal but the singing bonus was only $20 million. He has $60.2 million gteed at singing, and rolling guarantees for $29.8 million of 2028 comp at the beginning of the 2027 league year and $10mm of 2029 comp at the beginning of the 2028 league year. So, he practically has $100 million guaranteed.

If you cut a player, then all the guaranteed money must be paid and you get a massive cap hit (the $60.2 million fully gteed less the cap charges to date if he were cut today). But, if you trade a player, all the future guarantees are moved to the acquiring team. Remember, the dead cap is simply cash paid to date less cap charges to date when you trade someone. So the dead cap to the Titans is only like ~$16 million, which is the singing bonus that hasn't been charged yet from this contract. All the other guarantees move to the Bears.

He also has like dead money from a prior contract for like $20mm.

27 minutes ago, NOTW said:

I gave Howie a lot of criticism for his drafting in the past. He then went on a great run 2021-2024. In the last 2 drafts despite criticism, they have drafted 2 new starters on the O line (Kendall is likely starting Center next year, Bell we'll see may be the new RT unless replaced). But it's understandable, these last 2 drafts weren't great and may be looked at more about who they didn't take as well. This last draft most of us wanted OT, Safety and a TE that can both block and catch (just give me a Brent Celek type any day over guys that can only do 1 thing).

Agree. My post was sarcasm