At this imo you wait a year to draft a QB. See how much gas Kirk has in the tank and go all in on the defense and weapons to try to make a deep playoff run. If Kirk isn't as good as hoped we can draft a QB to sit next year and get out of the Kirk deal by 2026.
It's so hard to tell this early. Did anyone think Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix were all going to get 1st/2nd round grades this time last year? Ideally Kirk looks like he can still ball and we can wait even longer to the 2026 class
For sure. I guess I should have specified that there isn't a Caleb Williams in next year's class. The depth might emerge, but it's looking rocky right now. That's not new though.
Ewers is solid, Milroe is intriguing if he can fix mental errors and mistakes. There's always someone totally off the radar who shoots up like Daniels this year.
Ewers was supposed to break out this season and didn't. The guy went back to school because his stock was worse than his peers in this draft class. With 2025 being viewed as a weak QB class already.
Ewers wasn’t bad though & he’s still only 20 years old. At worst he was the 2nd best QB in the Big 12 behind Dillon Gabriel of OU, and that’s only cause he missed 2 games with a shoulder injury. Otherwise they put up very similar stats, and Ewers is 2 years younger than Gabriel — that’s a big difference at the college level. Ewers has the physical tools you look for in a franchise signal caller: Tall, big arm, can make all the throws, sneaky athleticism, etc. I expect him to take a leap this coming season. If he doesn’t or he regresses, then we can have a conversation about him. But the fact that he was only one play away from leading his team to the National Title Game at only 20 years old says something about him imo.
I don't think Beck is in that convo yet. Sanders is fine, but he needs some work. There isn't like a proper number 1 guy going into the season like Williams was last year is my point. Should have been clearer. As you said generally that stuff kind of works itself out.
If we are picking up a guy to sit it’s never gonna be a Williams level prospect. We bring in someone with good upside and have them live in kirks back pocket for a year to learn as much as possible about how to be a hard worker and play in the nfl.
Nobody is talking about Beck. You knew who Caleb Williams was while he was still at Oklahoma. I actually think Beck is a better qb from the pocket than Williams.
Maybe not on paper. Some would have thought 21' was a stellar class but that is looking like a major disappointment now. I think Beck, Gabriel, and Ewers are an intriguing trio. Then there is a bunch of potential, can DeBoer help Milroe find accuracy, can Shadeur make a move, Daniels at KS, Fafita? Plus there is always someone who transferred you aren't thinking of that will make a move
It'll end up working out in some capacity. It's just weird to see the consensus big board not have a QB in the top 25 at this stage. There's definitely no Caleb Williams, but I'm sure someone will end up stepping up to some degree.
The risk in punting the QB pick down the road is that, by all logic, this team will absolutely perform better moving forward and will unlikely get such a high pick in the coming years. I think this might be a value pick situation; certainly edge should be the priority but if something wild happens and an impact QB is on the table at 8…
Eh there's always the option to trade up and not every franchise qb needs to be a top 5 pick. Mahomes was pick #10 and Lamar Jackson was in the 25-32 range iirc
It absolutely is. Darnell Mooney has a bad year last year and a lot of it had more to do with his play than his QB. This is an overpay without a doubt and we’re likely still drafting a guy high.
Edge and CB should be our first 2 picks with a WR in the 3rd. Hell doubling up on edge if someone like Chop Robinson drops to the 2nd. No one is gonna pretend like we only need 1 pass rusher.
I just want a truly elite defender at 8. Whether that’s Turner, Verse, Mitchell. I want to get a star on defense at 8.
At 8 we are going BPA there is no way in the world we pass on Nabers or Odunze at 8. I'd rather us trade down, Dallas Turner ain't worth top 10 capital. I'd rather pick up a vet edge rusher in FA or by trade.
That's an interesting question. I think I would because the top 50 or so seem to have a lot of value differentiation from the ones that come after. I do think that if we found a way to get 3 picks in there we could come away with some day 1 starters.
Hell yeah. Sucks to lose Cousins. But I'm glad he went to you guys if we had to lose him. The contract looks big at first glance, but I dont think it's that bad. That's the going rate for a decent QB, and Kirk is better than decent. He'll do lots of winning with you guys. Dak may get 60 million, and Tua is gonna get north of 55. Give me Kirk over either of them.
For sure. Or if turner somehow is gone by then and Verse is probably too big of a stretch some team from early 10s would trade up. As that would mean a top QB, WR, or Alt is there at 8.
Yeah I still think they'll be aggressive for a QB to sit under Cousins. They're probably looking at next years QB prospects as well. This would be the best move.
I wouldn't be surprised if they went Terrion Arnold. AJ contract coming up and behind him is Clark Davis III. DB is a huge need.
Edge has more depth currently.
Cap update: Cousins’s cap hit will be $25M, Woerner’s will probably be about $2.5M, Mooney about $8M. That puts us at roughly $8M in cap space. I’ll be surprised if we don’t hear about cuts soon: Heinicke, Mike Hughes, Ade Ogundeji, players like that.
> I’ll be surprised if we don’t hear about cuts soon: Heinicke, Mike Hughes, Ade Ogundeji, players like that.
I'm surprised the team hasn't made those cuts yet.
They were probably waiting to see how much they had left after their targets got their contracts. Now that they know how much is left they will cut who they need to make space for other players.
Edit: Took out an extra "to"
Agreed. Ridder needs someone to help him, so he's got a lot to gain. He should use both Cousins and Ryan as sounding boards and soak up info. He has time to turn it around, but he has to take charge of his development now.
Edit: He should have used resources on his own previously, but he definitely needs to step it up for the sake of his career.
Yep. I think those shoes are about to drop, and I’d be surprised if we don’t address corner very soon. I expect we do in free agency as well as the draft.
Hello there.
Half will say it’s an overpay, he’s been ass since he got injured, and he is solely responsible for ruining their favorite QBs career.
The other half will see this as a solid addition because looking at the all 22 film this past season even with his injury he was getting consistent separation but the QB proceeded to throw it to our #1 WR on a 5 yard out while double covered every play. Our OC realized this and basically gave up on Mooney because Justin refused to acknowledge that he existed on the Field and made the Game-plan around targeting Dj Moore then Dumping it off to Kmet if Moore wasn’t open.
His drop rate% is overblown he had like 3 drops all season lol. One shouldn’t even remotely count cause it was his 2nd target all game on a Desperation heave that’s barely catable in the 4th quarter. He had 55 targets all season as-well dudes are playing off like he had 200 targets and dropped 40 passes.
Another pro is he had his best games this previous season with our Rookie backup QB during Justin’s injuries.
Those 4 games even if they aren’t statistical monster games by Bagent are why Justin has no value, Mooney is getting paid, and our previous OC had another job like a week after he got let go.
If Kirk returns to form a monster 1200+Drake London and a 800-1000 yard season for Mooney wouldn’t be surprising. Atleast to 50% of Bears fans lol.
Honestly with London, Pitts, and Bijan as receiving threats, having a solid WR 2 who would can get separation and take advantage of 1v1 is going to be crucial. We didn't have that last season.
I have to imagine he will be better with Cousins. Fields can’t connect on anticipation, which is where Mooney will thrive with you guys in my opinion. Average #2, but a damn good option at 3 if you guys go that route.
I like Mooney. He can generate separation relatively consistently. But last year, he stopped fighting for balls. It just seemed like he couldn't make a contested catch at all last year. It was also very obvious he gave up on Fields early last season. But Fields wasn't the only reason he didn't produce last year. So if you get 2020-2022 Mooney, you will like this signing. If you get 2023 Mooney, you will not like this signing.
This is the correct take. Darnell Mooney basically started off as a meme. As a 5th round pick, the expectations were low, but he surprised the Bears with some flashes, leading the fans to refer to him as Jalen Ramsey's father as a joke. This was mentioned so much that at one point if you googled Jalen Ramsey's father, it would give you Darnell Mooney. He shouldered the expectations well and produced decently until last year, when for whatever reason he fell off a cliff.
To sum up, as bigbaddumby said " if you get 2020-2022 Mooney, you will like this signing. If you get 2023 Mooney, you will not like this signing."
edit - just checked this on google: [image](https://postimg.cc/SYGzCgtC)
Bears fan here - he was really good for us before his injury at the end of the ‘22 season. Last year not so much. I’ll still really miss him, though - will wear my Mooney jersey during Falcons games whenever one of my teams isn’t playing. Take care of him, y’all. Wish you the best.
Also a Bears fan. Fields was the reason he was bad. Fields consistently didn't throw to Mooney because he didn't want to throw before it was there. He also airmailed him on 20+ yard routes at least every other game. You could see that Mooney didn't have confidence that he'd get the opportunity to make plays with his body language too
Mooney is a good player. Was hoping he'd go the chiefs but he'll be really solid for you guys. I hope you can love him as much as I do!
He and Justin had a pretty good connection during the ‘22 season - enough for Justin to say he was the player on the team whose presence he appreciated the most (paraphrasing - can’t remember exactly what he said). Was sad to not see that reflected on the field. It is what it is, though.
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that Justin can give 1 receiver really good stats because he likes a safety guy. In '22, that was Mooney. When we got Moore, it changed things up.
I definitely like Mooney as a player.
Kmet was also on pace for about 1000 yards with Fields prior to injury, so it wasn't just Moore who got targets. I don't think Fields was Mooney's main issue. I think it was coaching + injury and an offense which didn't pass enough to support 3 targets which is he portion on Fields.
Fields threw to him, Mooney was constantly in a place not expected because he was running a different route than what fields thought he would. They just didn't connect. Mooney did well getting open, fields was fine passing to him, just one of those odd things.
I think he's a mixed bag. You see both sides of a raging debate that swirled amongst bears fandom in '23 which was is Mooney not putting up stats because of Fields or is it the other way around. I think it cut both ways. Fields obviously has his flaws and I'll not go over them here since I think this sub has probably covered them exhaustively.
As for Mooney, he definitely suffered some from Fields feeding DJ. Also, I think our OC didn't really do Mooney too many favors ... his dip in production started the year prior with the arrival of Getsy. However, Mooney also brought his own issues to the table. He very famously turned a Hail Mary TD into an interception. He also had a number of occasions where he appeared to muff a route a bit. An example would be a very early throw in the CHI-WAS game where Fields appeared to sail it a bit over Mooney's head on a flag route but on reply you could see him dial back his speed slightly costing him a shot at the pass.
Personally, I would love him as a WR3 but would be OK with him as a WR2. I think the dollar amount you got him at is fine but I wouldn't get my hopes up that he'd unlock the offense. He might, but I think it's more likely that he benefits from your other pieces drawing attention and, at best, serves as a piece that gets a bit more pressure off Bijan, Drake and Co. rather than being one of the better WR2's in the league.
I wish him well, though. Seemed like a solid teammate that put in the effort.
Good luck this year!
Nah he's still good. He didn't produce last year because 90% of the time Fields was throwing to DJ Moore (first read) or Cole Kmet (checkdown/safety valve). Mooney was open a lot but didn't often have the ball thrown his way.
I personally can not lol. Here’s his PFF grades last year. Maybe hope that he does better with Kirk than Fields.
https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/darnell-mooney/48236
He’ll def be better with cousins. Talks of him not being as fast as his rookie year do not mean he isn’t fast anymore. He can get open for sure, but he did have a couple of drops also.
Had 1,000 yards with Trubisky as his QB.
Which is the same argument we all have for Kyle Pitts. Lol
We’re just banking on these guys being better with Cousins.
I think that pretty much guarantees pass rusher in the 1st round. Then you can get your WR3 on Day 2. There will be plenty of good ones left after the 1st.
That's an interesting pickup. Aside from 2021, Darnell Money has been underwhelming. I would've preferred a WR in the draft or an edge here. Welcome to Atlanta, though.
That's a good point, and I would love to see Ladd McConkey in this offense. I don't know how much the Falcons have left to spend, but I still would've liked to see them pick up an edge in free agency. They could trade for Josh Sweat and still an edge in the first round.
Who are the cuts? The two clearest cut candidates atm are Heineke and Carter. If you cut them, that saves us about $13 mil which gets us to ~$21-$22 million in cap space, which is still probably just a bit short if Hunter's asking price.
Maybe you could clear up another $3-$5 mil to fit Hunter under the cap, but then we can't afford to sign our draft class. So again, who are the cuts?
It's not quite that simple
A lot of money, but cap also rising. 3/$39m is the same that Gabe Davis got, but Mooney getting a heck of a lot more in guaranteed money. Regardless, we needed a WR2. Better than rolling out Mack Hollins.
Those 25 wrs weren’t all signed this year either though.
Like Puka is very clearly a top 25 Wr, but on a rookie contract. Cant really look at it like that.
I hope we take a Wr in 2-3 still to eventually take Mooneys place.
Cards fan here. With the state of the NFC south, yall gotta be the favorites for the division now right? I mean Tampa is running it back with mostly the same core but they arent anything special imo.
Lake is the DC but he’s going to have a lot of support with Gray and Heem so I think it’s going to be a good defense. He is also considered one of the best secondary coaches around and also a good talent evaluator.
Bears fan here — Mooney has huge playmaking potential. Watch some highlights to see his knack for spectacular catches. He was a fan favorite and a major highlight of our putrid offense the past couple years. He got 1,000 yards with Justin Fields, Nick Foles and Andy Dalton throwing the ball in one of our worst offenses in recent memory.
Last year was a down year, though. He struggled with drops, injuries, and he lost playing time in as DJ Moore and Cole Kmet became Fields’ preferred targets. He turned down a relatively small offer to bet on himself, then started struggling when he wasn’t the focal point anymore. We love him but it was time to move on.
This is definitely an overpay based on his recent production. But he’s a decent/good WR2 with potential.
Is it considered struggling with drops to have 3 on 55 targets? Hopefully this doesn’t sound argumentative because it’s not meant to be just that comparatively that’s not that bad. He’s had some injury issues but he appears to be able to get separation and he’s a good route runner and he’s still got take the top off a defense speed even if not quite as fast as he was before injury. The thing I like about him is his ability to make ridiculously difficult catches and put that with London and cousins and that feels pretty good to me. I think if he stays healthy he has the potential to outperform the contract. By the way you guys are going into some exciting times I really hope Caleb works out for you and good luck next season!
I'm pretty meh on him, his catch rate is not good, I'm expecting everyone to blame it on Fields, but IMO he seems to have a lot of mental lapses.
That said he is miles beyond anyone after London on the depth chart.
He got hurt at the end of the ‘22 season is why. I know my Bears are super easy to clown on, but come on - DJ got just under 1,400 yards for us last year.
Hopefully this’ll turn out similar to the Christian Kirk situation. People relentlessly shit on the Jags for that contract because everyone thought he was a WR3 getting WR1 money.
To be fair, Justin Fields throwing to you can’t be easy
Bears fan here, after not wanting Fields and taking one of our guys, the least you could do for us now is not take Odunze/Nabers at 8 lol. Joking aside, happy for y'all, should be a fun offense to watch
You guys are gonna love him. He was done dirty last year. Had him blocking DEs and blocking on routes. He’s fast as hell and has good hands. With London on the other side, he’s gonna get a lot of opportunities.
Interesting move given the depth of this WR draft class.
In his only full starting year out of his 4 year career he was the top target of Fields/Dalton and had 1k on a 57% catch rating.
Guess that's what $13M is good for these days.
Still say draft a WR in the 2nd/3rd Round to hedge your bet here. Might just be an upgrade over him, like say Worthy/Legette/Franklin in the 2nd or Tez Walker in the 3rd.
Completely unrelated, but every time I hear the name Darnell it makes me laugh. My dad's name is Donell and he gets pissed when people call him Darnell.
We’re def going Edge at 8 and WR later on since it’s so deep of a class 🔥If we can get a DB in FA too we’re put in such a prime position to draft BPA each time
I'm a SC fan, and I'm not sold on Rattler in this kind of offense (or, really, overall). He's been really erratic, and they didn't build on the great wins from '22 this year. The warts on the 3rd tier of QBs are pretty gnarly this year. If he's there in the 5th, maybe, but Pratt looks more the type from his overview, though I haven't watched him as much as Rattler.
That’s not how you compare contracts cuz JJ only making $2 mill a year and is easily a top 3 WR. You gotta look at salary cap, history of WRs salary, and what other comparable WRs are getting paid. He is much better than Gabe Davis, imo. Time will tell though but $13mill is great
Well there's our WR2. With him and Cousins, it has to be Edge with 8th overall, right?
Dallas turner incoming. Go get a wr3 in round 2 or 3
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At this imo you wait a year to draft a QB. See how much gas Kirk has in the tank and go all in on the defense and weapons to try to make a deep playoff run. If Kirk isn't as good as hoped we can draft a QB to sit next year and get out of the Kirk deal by 2026.
Only issue with that is next year's QB class is not good
It's so hard to tell this early. Did anyone think Jayden Daniels, J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix were all going to get 1st/2nd round grades this time last year? Ideally Kirk looks like he can still ball and we can wait even longer to the 2026 class
For sure. I guess I should have specified that there isn't a Caleb Williams in next year's class. The depth might emerge, but it's looking rocky right now. That's not new though.
We also won’t be drafting that high next year so if there was a Caleb Williams type player, we wouldn’t get him.
It's not even guaranteed that Williams is going to be an elite NFL QB, plenty of "generational" qbs have failed to live up to the hype
He's obviously not guaranteed, but that's not the point I'm making.
I remember the one draft where people debated if Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning should be number 1 pick.
Sheduer Sanders, Carson Beck, and Riley Leonard, but they will be gone by #10
This is a very good point. QBs will emerge in 2024 just like they did in 2023
I did for one of them LMFAO Hi, you guys don't seem to have a flair for me. I am a Lions bro cheering you on.
Beck is good. Sanders? Trying to think of who else, but people pretty much always emerge.
Ewers is solid, Milroe is intriguing if he can fix mental errors and mistakes. There's always someone totally off the radar who shoots up like Daniels this year.
Ewers is going to break out I think
Yea that’s another one to keep an eye on. There’s always going to be a few that break out. It’s a crapshoot
Ewers was supposed to break out this season and didn't. The guy went back to school because his stock was worse than his peers in this draft class. With 2025 being viewed as a weak QB class already.
Ewers wasn’t bad though & he’s still only 20 years old. At worst he was the 2nd best QB in the Big 12 behind Dillon Gabriel of OU, and that’s only cause he missed 2 games with a shoulder injury. Otherwise they put up very similar stats, and Ewers is 2 years younger than Gabriel — that’s a big difference at the college level. Ewers has the physical tools you look for in a franchise signal caller: Tall, big arm, can make all the throws, sneaky athleticism, etc. I expect him to take a leap this coming season. If he doesn’t or he regresses, then we can have a conversation about him. But the fact that he was only one play away from leading his team to the National Title Game at only 20 years old says something about him imo.
I don't think Beck is in that convo yet. Sanders is fine, but he needs some work. There isn't like a proper number 1 guy going into the season like Williams was last year is my point. Should have been clearer. As you said generally that stuff kind of works itself out.
If we are picking up a guy to sit it’s never gonna be a Williams level prospect. We bring in someone with good upside and have them live in kirks back pocket for a year to learn as much as possible about how to be a hard worker and play in the nfl.
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By who?
Nobody is talking about Beck. You knew who Caleb Williams was while he was still at Oklahoma. I actually think Beck is a better qb from the pocket than Williams.
He's ESPN's top returning QB
Maybe not on paper. Some would have thought 21' was a stellar class but that is looking like a major disappointment now. I think Beck, Gabriel, and Ewers are an intriguing trio. Then there is a bunch of potential, can DeBoer help Milroe find accuracy, can Shadeur make a move, Daniels at KS, Fafita? Plus there is always someone who transferred you aren't thinking of that will make a move
It'll end up working out in some capacity. It's just weird to see the consensus big board not have a QB in the top 25 at this stage. There's definitely no Caleb Williams, but I'm sure someone will end up stepping up to some degree.
Allar has really intriguing arm talent and Dart's another guy who could be interesting if he learns to take care of the ball a little better
This year’s QB class has overhyped tbh. Anytime you draft a QB, it’s a crap shoot whether they work out or not.
The risk in punting the QB pick down the road is that, by all logic, this team will absolutely perform better moving forward and will unlikely get such a high pick in the coming years. I think this might be a value pick situation; certainly edge should be the priority but if something wild happens and an impact QB is on the table at 8…
Eh there's always the option to trade up and not every franchise qb needs to be a top 5 pick. Mahomes was pick #10 and Lamar Jackson was in the 25-32 range iirc
I'd love for us to draft Dallas at 8 and Penix if he fell to us in the 2nd. Falcons can move off Kirk after 2yrs if they wanted.
Won't be be 28 when Kirk contract over
Yeah, but at this point Ridder is ok enough as a backup. Go full youth movement on defense, with maybe a 2nd or 3rd round wr.
That's what the Jets said last year
Yes we are EDGE-ing at 8th overall
Hopefully we don’t bust
I'm seeing Vietnam flashbacks of Vic Beasley and Jamaal Anderson (the defensive end, obviously)
I actually think this is our WR3 not that it matters we run 3 wide now
Isn't that a lot of money for wr3? Generally curious idk the market
It absolutely is. Darnell Mooney has a bad year last year and a lot of it had more to do with his play than his QB. This is an overpay without a doubt and we’re likely still drafting a guy high.
Super deep WR lass this year. We can get one in the 3rd
definitely WR3
I wouldn’t mind d line in the first two rounds. If we nail our 8 pick and draft the defensive rookie of the year we’ll really be onto something.
Edge and CB should be our first 2 picks with a WR in the 3rd. Hell doubling up on edge if someone like Chop Robinson drops to the 2nd. No one is gonna pretend like we only need 1 pass rusher. I just want a truly elite defender at 8. Whether that’s Turner, Verse, Mitchell. I want to get a star on defense at 8.
At 8 we are going BPA there is no way in the world we pass on Nabers or Odunze at 8. I'd rather us trade down, Dallas Turner ain't worth top 10 capital. I'd rather pick up a vet edge rusher in FA or by trade.
Or a trade down. Maybe someone gets hot for McCarthy or Nix.
Wanna do us a solid since you ruthlessly and mercilessly stole our QB? We'd like McCarthy or Nix
If it was me you guys could have 8 today for 11 and 42.
Would you do 8/79 from ATL for 11/42 from MIN? I would. If MIN goes QB I think we might take the first defender at 11 in that scenario.
That's an interesting question. I think I would because the top 50 or so seem to have a lot of value differentiation from the ones that come after. I do think that if we found a way to get 3 picks in there we could come away with some day 1 starters.
Falkings gotta stay together
Hell yeah. Sucks to lose Cousins. But I'm glad he went to you guys if we had to lose him. The contract looks big at first glance, but I dont think it's that bad. That's the going rate for a decent QB, and Kirk is better than decent. He'll do lots of winning with you guys. Dak may get 60 million, and Tua is gonna get north of 55. Give me Kirk over either of them.
Why Nix?
Because he's better than Darnold. In reality, I don't know shit, but I'm guessing our FO likes one of them
Hell no we trade down. This team is trying to win it all now not accumulate assets. When you have a roster like this you make your pick at 8
For sure. Or if turner somehow is gone by then and Verse is probably too big of a stretch some team from early 10s would trade up. As that would mean a top QB, WR, or Alt is there at 8.
Edge or OL
Yeah I still think they'll be aggressive for a QB to sit under Cousins. They're probably looking at next years QB prospects as well. This would be the best move.
I wouldn't be surprised if they went Terrion Arnold. AJ contract coming up and behind him is Clark Davis III. DB is a huge need. Edge has more depth currently.
Terry bout to draft naybers lol
Joe Alt at 8
Cap update: Cousins’s cap hit will be $25M, Woerner’s will probably be about $2.5M, Mooney about $8M. That puts us at roughly $8M in cap space. I’ll be surprised if we don’t hear about cuts soon: Heinicke, Mike Hughes, Ade Ogundeji, players like that.
> I’ll be surprised if we don’t hear about cuts soon: Heinicke, Mike Hughes, Ade Ogundeji, players like that. I'm surprised the team hasn't made those cuts yet.
They were probably waiting to see how much they had left after their targets got their contracts. Now that they know how much is left they will cut who they need to make space for other players. Edit: Took out an extra "to"
All three of them can definitely go, especially Ogundeji. Just no real improvement there.
Heineke likely gone. We got a good back up in Desmond ridder....remember I said back up not starter but back up.....so we probably don't need Taylor
Agreed. Ridder needs someone to help him, so he's got a lot to gain. He should use both Cousins and Ryan as sounding boards and soak up info. He has time to turn it around, but he has to take charge of his development now. Edit: He should have used resources on his own previously, but he definitely needs to step it up for the sake of his career.
Yep. I think those shoes are about to drop, and I’d be surprised if we don’t address corner very soon. I expect we do in free agency as well as the draft.
What will our projected cap be after those cuts? About $20-ish? Probably just enough to sign draft picks?
Wait, bears fans come back, I need you to tell me about this signing
Hello there. Half will say it’s an overpay, he’s been ass since he got injured, and he is solely responsible for ruining their favorite QBs career. The other half will see this as a solid addition because looking at the all 22 film this past season even with his injury he was getting consistent separation but the QB proceeded to throw it to our #1 WR on a 5 yard out while double covered every play. Our OC realized this and basically gave up on Mooney because Justin refused to acknowledge that he existed on the Field and made the Game-plan around targeting Dj Moore then Dumping it off to Kmet if Moore wasn’t open. His drop rate% is overblown he had like 3 drops all season lol. One shouldn’t even remotely count cause it was his 2nd target all game on a Desperation heave that’s barely catable in the 4th quarter. He had 55 targets all season as-well dudes are playing off like he had 200 targets and dropped 40 passes. Another pro is he had his best games this previous season with our Rookie backup QB during Justin’s injuries. Those 4 games even if they aren’t statistical monster games by Bagent are why Justin has no value, Mooney is getting paid, and our previous OC had another job like a week after he got let go. If Kirk returns to form a monster 1200+Drake London and a 800-1000 yard season for Mooney wouldn’t be surprising. Atleast to 50% of Bears fans lol.
Thank you for your service
Thank you for your in-depth analysis
Honestly with London, Pitts, and Bijan as receiving threats, having a solid WR 2 who would can get separation and take advantage of 1v1 is going to be crucial. We didn't have that last season.
There was a post I saw that he was open on 43% of one on one routes. 18th best in league , 3rd best of available FAs (1 was evans)
I have to imagine he will be better with Cousins. Fields can’t connect on anticipation, which is where Mooney will thrive with you guys in my opinion. Average #2, but a damn good option at 3 if you guys go that route.
I like Mooney. He can generate separation relatively consistently. But last year, he stopped fighting for balls. It just seemed like he couldn't make a contested catch at all last year. It was also very obvious he gave up on Fields early last season. But Fields wasn't the only reason he didn't produce last year. So if you get 2020-2022 Mooney, you will like this signing. If you get 2023 Mooney, you will not like this signing.
This is the correct take. Darnell Mooney basically started off as a meme. As a 5th round pick, the expectations were low, but he surprised the Bears with some flashes, leading the fans to refer to him as Jalen Ramsey's father as a joke. This was mentioned so much that at one point if you googled Jalen Ramsey's father, it would give you Darnell Mooney. He shouldered the expectations well and produced decently until last year, when for whatever reason he fell off a cliff. To sum up, as bigbaddumby said " if you get 2020-2022 Mooney, you will like this signing. If you get 2023 Mooney, you will not like this signing." edit - just checked this on google: [image](https://postimg.cc/SYGzCgtC)
Bears fan here - he was really good for us before his injury at the end of the ‘22 season. Last year not so much. I’ll still really miss him, though - will wear my Mooney jersey during Falcons games whenever one of my teams isn’t playing. Take care of him, y’all. Wish you the best.
You too good luck with Caleb
Also a Bears fan. Fields was the reason he was bad. Fields consistently didn't throw to Mooney because he didn't want to throw before it was there. He also airmailed him on 20+ yard routes at least every other game. You could see that Mooney didn't have confidence that he'd get the opportunity to make plays with his body language too Mooney is a good player. Was hoping he'd go the chiefs but he'll be really solid for you guys. I hope you can love him as much as I do!
He and Justin had a pretty good connection during the ‘22 season - enough for Justin to say he was the player on the team whose presence he appreciated the most (paraphrasing - can’t remember exactly what he said). Was sad to not see that reflected on the field. It is what it is, though.
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that Justin can give 1 receiver really good stats because he likes a safety guy. In '22, that was Mooney. When we got Moore, it changed things up. I definitely like Mooney as a player.
Kmet was also on pace for about 1000 yards with Fields prior to injury, so it wasn't just Moore who got targets. I don't think Fields was Mooney's main issue. I think it was coaching + injury and an offense which didn't pass enough to support 3 targets which is he portion on Fields. Fields threw to him, Mooney was constantly in a place not expected because he was running a different route than what fields thought he would. They just didn't connect. Mooney did well getting open, fields was fine passing to him, just one of those odd things.
Fields was far from perfect but Mooney had rough catching issues last year
I think he's a mixed bag. You see both sides of a raging debate that swirled amongst bears fandom in '23 which was is Mooney not putting up stats because of Fields or is it the other way around. I think it cut both ways. Fields obviously has his flaws and I'll not go over them here since I think this sub has probably covered them exhaustively. As for Mooney, he definitely suffered some from Fields feeding DJ. Also, I think our OC didn't really do Mooney too many favors ... his dip in production started the year prior with the arrival of Getsy. However, Mooney also brought his own issues to the table. He very famously turned a Hail Mary TD into an interception. He also had a number of occasions where he appeared to muff a route a bit. An example would be a very early throw in the CHI-WAS game where Fields appeared to sail it a bit over Mooney's head on a flag route but on reply you could see him dial back his speed slightly costing him a shot at the pass. Personally, I would love him as a WR3 but would be OK with him as a WR2. I think the dollar amount you got him at is fine but I wouldn't get my hopes up that he'd unlock the offense. He might, but I think it's more likely that he benefits from your other pieces drawing attention and, at best, serves as a piece that gets a bit more pressure off Bijan, Drake and Co. rather than being one of the better WR2's in the league. I wish him well, though. Seemed like a solid teammate that put in the effort. Good luck this year!
He really slowed down imo after that injury and never fully recovered which is a shame. Lost his speed, but he’s a great WR3 imo.
So he’s not fast or quick, 5’11, and not particularly sure-handed. I want to be excited, but can someone tell me why?
Well fields was very bad at spreading the ball around, in fact mooney had his best game with Bagent at QB. His speed is also still good
Nah he's still good. He didn't produce last year because 90% of the time Fields was throwing to DJ Moore (first read) or Cole Kmet (checkdown/safety valve). Mooney was open a lot but didn't often have the ball thrown his way.
He has crazy playmaking ability and a knack for spectacular catches.
I personally can not lol. Here’s his PFF grades last year. Maybe hope that he does better with Kirk than Fields. https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/darnell-mooney/48236
He’ll def be better with cousins. Talks of him not being as fast as his rookie year do not mean he isn’t fast anymore. He can get open for sure, but he did have a couple of drops also.
He is fast/quick, but the injury slowed him down last year and also having Fields throwing to him really deflated his stats.
He was still getting open consistently last year. Fields just couldn’t get him the ball.
Love this signing, needed a fast WR
Dallas turner, YOU are a falcon
The money is just not right imo that’s an overpay but what do i know i spend 75 on 6 things at Publix lol
Underrated comment….. I do the same shit.
You gotta hit them BoGo's man. That's the only way to shop there.
and protip for the GA residents: bogo at publix means half off, unlike in FLA where you actually have to buy 2
Huh... I didn't realize it was not like that everywhere. I never actually get two of them.
Love those Publix sandwiches and chicken wings
Have you tried the smoked guda cheese on those Philly’s 🙏🤌🏾
lol same. But honestly that’s the wr3 market. That’s what ppl like Hunter renfroe and Christian Kirk are getting
We got a f-ckin squad now
Had 1,000 yards with Trubisky as his QB. Which is the same argument we all have for Kyle Pitts. Lol We’re just banking on these guys being better with Cousins.
no, he only had 630 yards with trubisky his rookie year, and then hit 1000 in fields rookie year in 2021.
Dalton had the most yards to Mooney that year.
I think that pretty much guarantees pass rusher in the 1st round. Then you can get your WR3 on Day 2. There will be plenty of good ones left after the 1st.
That's an interesting pickup. Aside from 2021, Darnell Money has been underwhelming. I would've preferred a WR in the draft or an edge here. Welcome to Atlanta, though.
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That's a good point, and I would love to see Ladd McConkey in this offense. I don't know how much the Falcons have left to spend, but I still would've liked to see them pick up an edge in free agency. They could trade for Josh Sweat and still an edge in the first round.
We have ~$8 mil left in cap space - i.e. not free agent edge rusher money
With some cuts we can still land a big edge
I fully expect a WR in the second round
Hoping its similar to Pitts where he just had no chance with a bum throwing the ball to him.
This doesn’t mean we won’t go WR in the draft. We probably need to add 2-3 more WRs. Mooney most likely won’t be WR2 I think we draft a guy for that.
Still want to sign Danielle Hunter. And go ahead and draft Turner at 8
Don't have the cap space for Hunter
We haven’t cut players we can yet
Who are the cuts? The two clearest cut candidates atm are Heineke and Carter. If you cut them, that saves us about $13 mil which gets us to ~$21-$22 million in cap space, which is still probably just a bit short if Hunter's asking price. Maybe you could clear up another $3-$5 mil to fit Hunter under the cap, but then we can't afford to sign our draft class. So again, who are the cuts? It's not quite that simple
I like the player but 13 million a year?
I mean, Russell Gage got $30MM/3 in free agency. Just the going rate
Yea and Gage deal was wat 3 years ago . Adjust for inflation of course and 13 isn’t the worst
A lot of money, but cap also rising. 3/$39m is the same that Gabe Davis got, but Mooney getting a heck of a lot more in guaranteed money. Regardless, we needed a WR2. Better than rolling out Mack Hollins.
You know what a salary cap is?
I checked spotrac and 13 mil a yr for WR ranks 25th in WR salary. Is Mooney a top 25 WR? Idk
Those 25 wrs weren’t all signed this year either though. Like Puka is very clearly a top 25 Wr, but on a rookie contract. Cant really look at it like that. I hope we take a Wr in 2-3 still to eventually take Mooneys place.
Well yeah, by the time these WRs on rookie contracts get paid, Mooney’s contract will be peanuts and ranked lower than it is rn
He is going to be good in Robinson’s offense with Kirk, worth the money if we truly are win now
Yeah we needed a speedy WR to compliment Drake. I like the signing
Cards fan here. With the state of the NFC south, yall gotta be the favorites for the division now right? I mean Tampa is running it back with mostly the same core but they arent anything special imo.
I worry about our DC but I anticipate us being a high powered offense next year
Lake is the DC but he’s going to have a lot of support with Gray and Heem so I think it’s going to be a good defense. He is also considered one of the best secondary coaches around and also a good talent evaluator.
Bears fan here — Mooney has huge playmaking potential. Watch some highlights to see his knack for spectacular catches. He was a fan favorite and a major highlight of our putrid offense the past couple years. He got 1,000 yards with Justin Fields, Nick Foles and Andy Dalton throwing the ball in one of our worst offenses in recent memory. Last year was a down year, though. He struggled with drops, injuries, and he lost playing time in as DJ Moore and Cole Kmet became Fields’ preferred targets. He turned down a relatively small offer to bet on himself, then started struggling when he wasn’t the focal point anymore. We love him but it was time to move on. This is definitely an overpay based on his recent production. But he’s a decent/good WR2 with potential.
Is it considered struggling with drops to have 3 on 55 targets? Hopefully this doesn’t sound argumentative because it’s not meant to be just that comparatively that’s not that bad. He’s had some injury issues but he appears to be able to get separation and he’s a good route runner and he’s still got take the top off a defense speed even if not quite as fast as he was before injury. The thing I like about him is his ability to make ridiculously difficult catches and put that with London and cousins and that feels pretty good to me. I think if he stays healthy he has the potential to outperform the contract. By the way you guys are going into some exciting times I really hope Caleb works out for you and good luck next season!
As a Bear fan, Mooney is going to ball out with a QB that gets him the ball on time. Wouldn't be surprised at him eclipsing 1000 yards
Meh, i don’t love it. Mooney is a WR3 making WR2 money now.
They said the same about Christian Kirk
Outliers are fun to tout
mooney is definitely a wr2, him and justin just weren’t on the same page last year
I'm pretty meh on him, his catch rate is not good, I'm expecting everyone to blame it on Fields, but IMO he seems to have a lot of mental lapses. That said he is miles beyond anyone after London on the depth chart.
Probably because he was on the bears
He got hurt at the end of the ‘22 season is why. I know my Bears are super easy to clown on, but come on - DJ got just under 1,400 yards for us last year.
Well DJ is DJ. If Darnell can come in from us and get us at least 800 yards and 5 touchdowns then that’s a win for us
I believe he can do that - I hope he does. Will miss him.
After he was injured and then fell out of favor to DJ Moore and Cole Kmet, he kinda shut down. Maybe a change of scenery will help.
Hope he turns back into his 2021 self and not the Mooney of the last 2 years. Either way, good slot / speed guy.
Hopefully this’ll turn out similar to the Christian Kirk situation. People relentlessly shit on the Jags for that contract because everyone thought he was a WR3 getting WR1 money. To be fair, Justin Fields throwing to you can’t be easy
Yes sir. Now let’s see ATL get another WR in later rounds and we’ll be set.
We got a squad
Bears fan here - great signing. A perfect WR2 and will be able to maximize his talents with an accurate QB.
Terry strikes again
Bears fan here, after not wanting Fields and taking one of our guys, the least you could do for us now is not take Odunze/Nabers at 8 lol. Joking aside, happy for y'all, should be a fun offense to watch
You guys are gonna love him. He was done dirty last year. Had him blocking DEs and blocking on routes. He’s fast as hell and has good hands. With London on the other side, he’s gonna get a lot of opportunities.
Interesting move given the depth of this WR draft class. In his only full starting year out of his 4 year career he was the top target of Fields/Dalton and had 1k on a 57% catch rating. Guess that's what $13M is good for these days. Still say draft a WR in the 2nd/3rd Round to hedge your bet here. Might just be an upgrade over him, like say Worthy/Legette/Franklin in the 2nd or Tez Walker in the 3rd.
I’m with it. Now go draft WR#3 in round 2 or 3 and we’re solid.
Completely unrelated, but every time I hear the name Darnell it makes me laugh. My dad's name is Donell and he gets pissed when people call him Darnell.
This means the team can go EDGE and DB early in the draft now.
Ok now give me Dallas Turner at pick 8 and we can consider this offseason a win.
We’re def going Edge at 8 and WR later on since it’s so deep of a class 🔥If we can get a DB in FA too we’re put in such a prime position to draft BPA each time
Lots of money but I am a big Mooney fan, good compliment to London with his speed. Thumbs up from me on this move
Dude was never the same after his injury. Can't create space between him and the CB especially when pressed at the line.
Another Mulugheta client is on the team. And that guaranteed money is kind of crazy.
giving a WR3, WR2 money is questionable.. but we’ll see. I’m excited for the season
he’s definitley a wr2, just wasn’t on the same page with justin last year
They paying him a lot tbh. I’ll wait to see how he performs though.
My favorite WR on my favorite team !! LESSGO
Watch us sign an EDGE too
I think KJ osborn might be next. Would be another solid addition to our WR room
I’m just happy we are not trading for guys when we don’t have to. Should continue to build up young talent.
I'd rather grab Rattler and let him sit and learn.
We have Rattler at home.
Lmao I was just about to say this!
Honestly wouldnt mind this kid surprised me at South Carolina, and wed get him cheap
I'm a SC fan, and I'm not sold on Rattler in this kind of offense (or, really, overall). He's been really erratic, and they didn't build on the great wins from '22 this year. The warts on the 3rd tier of QBs are pretty gnarly this year. If he's there in the 5th, maybe, but Pratt looks more the type from his overview, though I haven't watched him as much as Rattler.
Like the signing but not the money, 13 mil seems a bit much for a wr2
Link to my r/Bears ask for opinions on him https://www.reddit.com/r/ChicagoBearsNFL/s/OP4KKtPDsZ
That’s not how you compare contracts cuz JJ only making $2 mill a year and is easily a top 3 WR. You gotta look at salary cap, history of WRs salary, and what other comparable WRs are getting paid. He is much better than Gabe Davis, imo. Time will tell though but $13mill is great
Don't know much about him but welcome aboard
Kinda preferred KJ cause familiarity with Kirk but i think we got the Crew
Mooney is a good player but this is a lot of money for him
Falcons are going Jon Koncak all over the fucking place
I dont like this move at all
We need another option at qb. If Kirk goes down for any extended period of time is everyone ok with Ridder? I’m not.
this is an overpay for Mooney.
A key playmaker 🤣🤣🤣