Bears Make More Moves… Should Poles Call About Maxx Crosby?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Forward Progress – A Chicago Bears Podcast

Episode: Bears Make More Moves… Should Poles Call About Maxx Crosby?
Date: March 11, 2026
Hosts: Dan Bernstein & Matt Abbatacola

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the Chicago Bears’ latest free agency moves and considers a hot topic among Bears fans: Should GM Ryan Poles call about star edge rusher Maxx Crosby, given recent trade drama? Dan and Matt blend sharp football analysis with signature wit, dissecting roster strategy, the Maxx Crosby situation, and larger NFL protocols in free agency, all while never losing sight of the wild ride that is the modern Bears fandom.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Should the Bears Pursue Maxx Crosby?

[02:26 - 07:29]

• Hosts discuss the fallout from a rescinded Maxx Crosby trade due to failed physical and debate if the Bears should at least "price" the player and make an inquiry.

  • Dan Bernstein: “There’s no downside. Go make the call… Just see where things stand. Maybe it’s out of your price range. Maybe you’re not interested at all… it can never hurt to make the call.” (02:26)
  • Matt Abbetacola: “Even if you’re the Bears… you’re 20% interested… still make the call. It just doesn’t matter. Find out what it could be.” (03:29)

• They weigh the hypothetical cost—would a first-round pick be worth it? Would they go higher?

  • Matt: “If it’s more than one first round pick, I’d have to pass. If it’s a number one pick and something else? …If you’re targeting a defensive player in the first round at 25, I make that move.” (05:24–05:31)

• Importance of medicals and due diligence:

  • “The most important thing… is get whatever information you’re allowed to get… and find out what’s real.” (04:14)
  • “If my doctors say, ‘Yeah, don’t trade anything for him, he’s not going to be the same,’ then don’t.” (06:52)
  • On medical information sharing:
    • “The only way around it would be the player himself…” (07:20)

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2. The NFL’s Messy Medical and Free Agency Protocols

[07:35 - 21:10]

• The hosts riff on the oddity of multiple doctors (including “Dr. Cowboy Hat”) reviewing Crosby’s MRI and question how medical info is shared in trades.

  • Matt: “You go to a doctor, and he wears a cowboy hat. I’m leaving, correct? …Even if you’re in the actual Wild West, doctors didn’t wear cowboy hats!” (08:35–09:00)
  • On Dr. Cooper’s involvement:
    • “Dr. Cooper has essentially become this generation’s Dr. James Andrews…” (08:15)
  • The two explore the legal aspects (HIPAA, the CBA, etc.) of teams and doctors accessing player medicals.

• Broader criticism of NFL free agency ‘frenzy’:

  • Announcements being made before deals are official, and financial planning happening based on those unofficial moves.
  • Matt: “These announcements… they're not done deals… does the NFL need to look at this? …Or do they just not care?” (14:56–16:04)
  • Dan: “There’s just no getting around [the chaos]… If you announce a deal is done or it’s not, you deal with the consequences by the protocols a league lays out.” (20:21–21:00)

• Memorable tangent:

  • A humorous exploration about which professions can and cannot wear cowboy hats (doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc.), blending football talk with trademark banter. (08:35–11:16)

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3. Bears Free Agency Moves

[23:17 - 31:32]

• Departures:

  • Nishan Wright: Cornerback signs with the NY Jets—1 year, $5.5 million. Hosts remark on his “anomaly” season and limited market.
    • “No one thinks he’s good. I think a lot of people are just looking at this year as an anomaly in his career…” (24:01–24:05)

• National perspective on Bears’ fluky 2025 season:

  • Both agree national analysts are skeptical of the Bears’ success but feel optimistic with Ben Johnson (coach) and Caleb Williams (QB) as pillars.
  • “Your counter argument is it’s not a fluke. They have the coach, they have the quarterback, and now they gotta prove it.” (25:21–25:23)

• Additions:

  • Khalif Raymond (WR/Return Specialist): From Detroit, likely replacing Duvernay, mainly as a return specialist. (28:13)
  • Kentavius Street (DT): Versatile D-lineman, likely to play DT for the Bears; known for strength and flexibility. (28:58–29:33)
  • Cam Lewis (CB): New depth addition.
  • Matt calls these “solid, versatile, depth moves”—a theme this offseason.
    • “Versatility and speed, which he has both… may not be a defensive end in this scheme… may move into rotation on the interior.” (29:04–29:33)

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4. Broader NFL Free Agency News & Quips

[33:20 - 36:47]

• Isaiah Pacheco to the Lions:

  • Joking about “Sonic and Knuckles” backfields and NFL pop culture references. (33:20–34:13)

• Jets acquire Geno Smith; Daniel Jones to Colts:

  • Express shock at Jones’s record two-year, $88M contract.
    • “Two years and 100 million… That’s insane.” (44:51–44:58)
  • Laugh about Geno Smith’s Twitter beef with Wendy’s, highlighting off-field antics. (36:54–38:02)

• Fun segment on football names (“Max Hold, Max Value, Max Crosby”) and made-up drafts for the best “Max” names. (38:32–39:43)

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5. Lighter Side: Banter & Digressions

• Both hosts riff extensively on names, family stories, and TV pop culture.
  • Examples include the “Mark Wayne” name story, Ed Gein TV references, and mock drafts of odd name combos. (40:05–44:28)
  • Threadbare but affectionate ranting about Golden Corral as Doug Buffon’s “Sinatra booth.” (33:03–33:20)

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6. 312 Sports Housekeeping & 312 Day Teaser

[45:50 - 47:10]

• Announce upcoming “312 Day” sports swag and Cubs ticket giveaway on March 12.
  • “We’re celebrating 3:12 day on 312 sports… you may have a chance to win a pair of tickets… and some exclusive 312 sports swag.” (45:55–46:28)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On due diligence for Maxx Crosby:
  • “The most important thing you can do is get whatever information you’re allowed to get… and find out what’s real.” — Matt (04:14)
• On overpaying for anomaly players:
  • “No one thinks he’s good. I think a lot of people are just looking at this year as an anomaly in his career and a fluke where the ball bounced his way.” — Dan (24:01)
• On bad NFL protocols:
  • “The NFL… has a sponsored show called NFL Free Agency Frenzy. Like, they push this, they sell this hard… but these announcements are just that—announcements, not done deals.” — Matt (15:01)
• On professions and cowboy hats:
  • “You go to a doctor, and he wears a cowboy hat. I’m leaving, correct? …Even if you’re in the actual Wild West, doctors didn’t wear cowboy hats!” — Matt (08:35–09:00)
• On name oddities:
  • “If Mark leaves Norman, Oklahoma, going 14 miles an hour, and Wayne leaves Enid… when do the names Mark and Wayne meet and fuse together?” — Matt (42:18)
• On Daniel Jones’s Colts contract:
  • “Two years and 100 million… That’s insane.” — Matt (44:51)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:26: Should Bears call about Maxx Crosby? Starting the discussion
• 05:24: Cost-benefit analysis—what’s Crosby actually worth in draft capital?
• 08:35: Dr. Cowboy Hat, NFL medical quirks, and profession hat rankings
• 13:11: CBA, HIPAA, and medical rights in NFL trades
• 14:56: The chaos and “frenzy” of NFL free agency announcements
• 23:17: Key Bears free agency moves and departures
• 28:13: Who are the new Bears (Raymond, Street, Lewis)?
• 33:03: Golden Corral booth, Doug Buffon, and Chicago lore
• 33:20: Notable NFL moves—Pacheco to Lions, Jets QB update
• 35:46: Daniel Jones’s blockbuster deal
• 36:54: Geno Smith vs. Wendy’s Twitter beef
• 38:32: “Max” name draft and fun with football names
• 45:50: 312 Day contest and closing housekeeping

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Final Thoughts

Summary: A classic Forward Progress blend: insightful Bears analysis (should the Bears “make the call” on Maxx Crosby?), clear-eyed skepticism on front office moves, and the trademark banter fans expect. The hosts are cautiously optimistic about Chicago’s direction, advocate for aggressive but smart moves (know what you’re getting), and take plenty of time to riff on NFL culture, media hype, and the absurdities of the offseason.

For Listeners: If you want inside-baseball Bears talk with plenty of laughs and a little local flavor, this one’s rich with both football and comic gold. For now: “Bottom line is, make the call.”

Transcript

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[Dan Bernstein]

Forward Progress A Chicago Bears podcast with Dan Bernstein and Matt Abeticola on 312Sports.

[Matt Dicalicola]

All kinds of NFL happenings. That Chicago Bears, they're very busy on the free agent front, just kind of picking around some of the middle levels here, trying to fill some spots. And some of their former players have found some paydays elsewhere. While a very valuable Possibility now is that again after a trade was rescinded due to a failed physical. And we'll talk about all of it right now on Forward Progress, a Chicago Bears podcast. Bernstein, Nevada Cola man, it is a, it's a wild morning considering that the Bears might be in a position to go price Max Crosby. And as we discussed at length in dbu, bottom line is there's no downside. Go make the make, make the call. Just price it. Just see where, see where things stand. Just say, hey, maybe there's a point where we would want to get in here if things got into our price range. Maybe it's out of your price range. Maybe you're not interested at all. Maybe you're not. It can never hurt to make the call.

Yeah, even if you were, let's say if you're the Bears and you're like right now on March 11, you're 20% interested in finding out, still make the call. It just doesn't matter. Find out what it could be. Maybe the the two number one picks, with all the movement the Raiders did in free agency on Monday and Tuesday, maybe they are just willing to say, yeah, this relationship is severed. It's just not going to move forward. We need to do what we need to do to cut ties right now and get something in return. And maybe it's not those two number one picks anymore. Find out what it is and if it's doable, have the conversation further. If it's not, you made the phone call, you did your due diligence on one of the best edge rushers in

the game right now and where the next question obviously is going to be like, hey, if it were just one first round pick, would you do it? I can't answer any would you do it? Hypotheticals because I don't know what my doctors say. Like the most important thing you can do is is get whatever information you're allowed to get, talk to whomever you're allowed to talk to and get find out what's real. And if you and if it means you elevate it to the next level, that means you go to the net, whatever the next process is based on what you're hearing, just have everybody in place, have everybody ready. Understand the market and understand the condition of the asset for which you might be dealing. And I don't think that is that too much to ask for them to just act responsibly in that way? Unless you would say, I don't care if he's 100% healthy, I wouldn't give up a seventh round pick for him. But no sane person would say that, Right? So at some point in between these extremes is a, is a, is a region of reasonable business approach for me

with Max Crosby, if it is a number one pick and something else,

if

you're targeting a defensive player in the first round at 25, I make that move. I make that move. For me, if it's more than one number one pick, if it's more, if it's, if it's two first round picks, I would ask something as a fan which I can't be guaranteed and that's winning. Like, I need to know that they're going to win the super bowl in the next two years with Max Crosby, which you can't know.

That's the game.

I'm willing to give up a first round pick this year. If they're planning on picking defense in round one this year, I'll take Max Crosby over whoever I can get at 25.

And it may be the case where they don't know who they would pick in round one at this point, because if it's very possible, knowing where their board is and, But I think, I

think with their research and their board and their staff, they have enough knowing right now that we're going defense or offensive line or whatever it might be, I'm pretty sure they're going to go defense here at 25. If they stay put at 25, they're going to go defensive line for me, if Max Crosby takes one number one pick, I'm doing that. I'm taking that conversation to the next level. What else is there beyond that first round pick in 2026? I just, there are guarantees that I couldn't get when I'd have to pass. If it's more than one first round pick.

Yeah, I can't even know because it all depends on how healthy he is. And if my doctors say, yeah, don't trade anything for him, he's. He's not going to be the same.

But that's the thing, though, Dan. You can't get to that point until you make that commitment.

There, There has to be a way, at least now, of finding out more than, than a, than using that window post trade, agreeing on it conditionally. I, I would think there's got to be a way around that.

The only way around it would be the player himself, because you can't have your doctors call any other doctors and have that conversation that that doesn't happen.

And that's why if the player says,

here, here's all the stuff. Here's everything you need to see. Now, what do you think? But I don't think that's going to happen either.

Let me ask you this, then, because this was Adam Schefter last night, he said, my understanding is there were multiple doctors that reviewed his MRI scans. There were doctors, plural, that examined him, including Dr. Daniel Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys doctor that performed surgery on Patrick Mahomes and Malik Neighbors. Many teams and players rely on Dr. Cooper's expertise. And Dr. Cooper was one of the doctors that reviewed the images where the Raiders then felt. It says here, the Raiders felt compelled to back out of this trade.

That's not what meant the Ravens.

It meant the Ravens felt compelled to back out of this trade.

All right, so then how does that work?

I don't know. It says Dr. Cooper, who can be seen wearing a cowboy hat on the sidelines at Cowboys games, has essentially become this generation's doctor. James Andrews, the go to physician for knee injuries. Dr. Neil Elatrache, who performed Crosby surgery, would dispute that.

All right, let's put a pin in that for real quick. You go to a doctor, and he wears a cowboy hat.

I'm leaving, correct? Right. Oh, I'm leaving immediately.

Unless. Unless the calendar year is, like, it starts with 1800 or you live on a secluded ranch somewhere, you can't make

it to a hospital even then. Even if you are like, in the actual wild west, doctors didn't wear cowboy hats. They were doctors.

Yeah, because my. My only thing is, if I see a guy who's a doctor wearing a cowboy hat, his answer for everything is cut it off.

Or shoot it.

Or shoot it. Yes. Like, doc, I broke my finger playing basketball. All right, we got to take the whole hand off.

Well, no, that ain't your shooting finger. I. I think you can live without that one. Don't worry about it. That's your hay baling finger, and you can get one of your sons to bail the hay for you.

All right, so we're in agreement. Doctors wear hats. We're not interested. How many hats? Cowboy hats.

If he's wearing a jaunty derby, it might be different.

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Okay, so cowboy hats. We're not interested in going to see that doctor.

No.

Okay, good. All right, let's go back to this.

And really, really, you can. You can add, like, lawyer, accountant.

Oh, yeah.

Lawyer.

Yes. Lawyer with a cowboy hat.

No, I like.

I.

No. Unless the guy's coming to clean my pool or something. No, I don't even have a pool. But no, the. The. The list of Jobs that. That would be. Put that list together of jobs you would have somebody do for you. If that person, it's not while wearing a cowboy hat. It's if that person habitually just presents as a pretend cowboy.

All right. Okay. Doctor, lawyer. I'm. I'll. I'm good there. I agree with you. I'll give you accountant. I don't mind if an accountant wears a cowboy hat.

I'm not.

I wouldn't mind that.

See? No. My accountant needs a visor.

A monocle and a visor.

That's a monocle on both eyes, actually.

Why don't you get glasses, buddy?

No, because that'll show there was a tax loophole. Because it'll show me that he knew that if he simply had two monocles that were declared rather than actual glasses, he could save money on his taxes.

All right, what else? Okay, so doctor, lawyer, we agree on. Accountant, you can have. What else?

I don't know.

Regularly wears a cowboy hat. We don't want this guy doing any service for us.

Nursery school teacher. Okay.

Yeah. In general.

Well, I don't want a school teacher in general if the guy's like a. Like a gym teacher in Texas.

It's different. Oh, no, I would. I would. No, like. No, no, no, no. If you're a gym teacher, you can't wear a cowboy hat. I think if you're in a classroom, I'd be more willing to give the cowboy hat a ride than a guy who's a PE Teacher.

Oh, that's interesting because.

I mean, because. Does that spell athletic to you?

It's coachy if you're in Texas. Right? I don't know. Maybe you have the Tom Landry fedora. So this is like. We will not only put a pin in the other thing, we will leave this as an open item and then get back to discussing why certain doctors apparently had access to the MRI scans.

Yeah. How does that work? So, yeah. How does. How does the Cowboys doct. I don't know. Get a look at Matt?

I don't know, but is it that according to PFT, it says Dr. Cooper, whose involvement helps explain the Cowboys not re. Engaging on trade talks. Makes it clear it wasn't a situation where a doctor went rogue or a doctor received a wink nod because the Ravens were looking for a way out. Because. Because apparently the cowboy hatted Dr. Cooper is representing all independent physicians. Yeah.

I don't get it. I want to understand better how that works.

Why did he get a free look?

Right.

And.

Yeah, that would. That would dictate What I would want my team to do beyond that phone call.

What do you think is this worth? You know, tell me what this is worth and then we'll decide if we might trade for it. Is this a two year player? You know, you don't even have to put a name on there. Just say, look at this knee. Tell me about this knee as a pass rusher.

Well, you're the smart guy. Is there, is there something involving medical stuff in the NFL? Is there, Is there something within the cba?

Is there any right. Is there anything collective that would supersede hipaa? Yeah, once you sign it. Once you sign an NFL contract, you sign away certain rights you would otherwise have as a private citizen. Or maybe, maybe, maybe just specifically in

regards to injuries, football related injuries as far as medical stuff is concerned. But anything else outside of that, you know, HIPAA still applies.

I might, might be reasonable that way where you, you have to give a team a look. And I know in it, it's just bad form unless you're trading with the Bulls. It's bad form to trade a hurt guy because the Bulls love trading for hurt guys. That's also in DBU today. There's a third one, by the way.

Do they get examined? Do they get like. Do they have the Bulls have team doctors that look at people or they just.

I don't know.

Welcome along and here's a slice of cake. Welcome to the team.

Hey, how you doing? Well, I, I'm, I'm missing both of my legs. That's fine.

Like, are they sitting around a room right now going, you know what, it's. When Dillingham got here, we never. No one shook his hand. Well, yeah, because his hand doesn't work.

We didn't realize his shooting wrist had cysts in it that was preventing it from working properly. We should have figured that out.

We should have noticed from that guy, right?

Yeah.

A lot of fist bumps.

Yeah. It's interesting. Maybe at least he wasn't wearing a cowboy hat. Maybe he's a germaphobe. Yeah, I don't, I don't.

All right, here, let's do the.

Let's do this.

Before we get into who the Bears did sign in day two, let's. I want to continue this Max Crosby thing real quick. Look at it more of a big picture type situation because this really, it's really isn't a good look. I mean, you have all these announcements about guys being signed. Nothing's official. Nothing's official until 3:00 today, our time. That's when everything becomes official, when guys actually sign. So all of these deals that we've talked about the last 48 hours, there's a possibility that they all don't happen, that guys change their mind, that teams change their mind. Yet teams make decisions, financial decisions, based on things that are announced that aren't real, not artificial.

Well, that's like the Raiders signed a bunch of guys because they thought they had all this room to do, right?

So now how does that impact those decisions if Max Crosby still in the building and like, is this just like something that goes with the territory? That this is a byproduct of what the NFL has created? The NFL, Dan, on NFL Network, they have a sponsored show called NFL Free Agency Frenzy. Like they're into this. Like they push this, they sell this hard. Like these, these last two days are very exciting, yet not concrete decisions. Because a guy could say at 2:00 today, yeah, you know what? I really don't want to go there. I'm not interested in going there or I talk to my family and my wife doesn't want to move there or I don't want to be there. So I'm just not going to sign. So these, these announcements are just that. They're just announcements and they're not done deals. Does the NFL need to look at this, especially after this? Because Max Crosby is the most significant name to move this off season and this is not a good look for your league. Do they just not care or do they evaluate how this process works?

Didn't we do this with Drew Brees? I don't, I don't. I think we did.

Google it and see.

I, I think we did. It was.

When it was, when was this, what, going Chargers to Saints or was it.

No, it was free agency and I think it was the Dolphins. I think it was the, the Dolphins who failed Drew Brees in a physical. This has happened multiple. It happened in the NBA with the Sean Elliott deal. You know, there have been times where somebody has said, nope, we've, we found a red flag here and this can't happen. Remember Carlos Correa? Wasn't that a big deal too, with Carlos Correa's angle?

Yeah, you're, you're right here. Drew brees failed his 2006 physical with the Dolphins due to concerns over a severe right shoulder injuries, throwing arm, a 360 degree labrum tear, and rotator cuff damage suffered in the 2005 season finale. Doctors were unsure if his throwing arm would ever fully recover. I guess they made a mistake. They probably should have.

Well, stayed with it. That's why I say these outcomes are. Are nebulous and completely uncertain.

He underwent extensive arthroscopic surgery to repair his damage, which included 11 anchors in his shoulder. Like boat anchors?

That's a lot. No, it's news anchors. It's entirely different.

Some guys haven't died. They're just inside. Drew Brees shoulder, Correct?

Yes.

Dolphins coach Nick Saban later regretted this decision as Breeze recovered fully, leading the Saints to his super bowl, becoming a Hall of Famer.

Oh.

Oh, Nick. Oh, Nick. God damn it. I regret that decision. Well, the NFL going to the NFL altogether was a regret.

Yeah, but that's the kind of thing that makes coaches never trust doctors again.

Yeah, where they're like.

I remember one time, one doctor told me something he was wrong. That's why I don't go to doctors anymore.

Yeah.

I just eat organ meats and fermented things.

All right.

Meanwhile, do you see, by the way, RFK is going in for rotator cuff surgery? I'm not making this up.

Oh, really?

Did you see that report?

Look it up. Hurt himself lifting.

I don't know, lifting a dead bear with his brain worm, but could you.

Picking up Kid Rock while they work out.

Now he's going to doctors. I find it interesting right now that you actually need something repaired in there. I thought he would just come up with a special potion of mushrooms and fermented beans or something.

Bleach all over it or something.

Right. Or, you know, go eat more roadkill or something, because that would solve everything for him. Or.

Okay, raw milk.

This.

This has happened before. It's a good recall in your part about Drew Brees. But does the NFL evaluate the way this whole process works, or are they just happy that they get all the news cycle in early March when nothing's happening in the league?

Everything's happening in the league. Everything. All the time. The super bowl just happened, and it's still NFL, top of mind. Bottom line is, make the call. You said 20% possibility. I would say if there's any percent possibility, it's a phone call. Yeah. Do it while you're. While you're working out. Do it during lunch. Just call over, say, hey, how's everything going? You know, we might be interested, depending on where the price is. So just keep us informed. Send me. Send me a text.

Yeah. So you don't think the NFL needs to evaluate the way this whole thing goes down? I don't care.

I don't know enough to say that yet. I don't know enough to say that there's, there's any league wide issue here. If you've got protocols in place, they, they've got a way that they do these trades and a way that they do the physicals. And if in fact Dr. Cowboy is, is allowed to look at it and maybe other doctors are too. If you're gonna, if you gotta fill out certain paperwork or you have to prove that you are, I don't know, maybe you have to view it there. You're gonna bring it home with you. I'm not sure. Well, I don't know.

No, I mean, more than just that. Just the whole entire free agent process where you're announcing things that aren't official and then teams are making decisions, guys, agents, players are making decisions based on announcements that aren't official at some point.

There's no getting around that. There's just no getting around it because you're not going to be able to

make them official or not. Like you can't have a legal tampering period. Just when you, when you open your window and you say the windows open to sign guys get guys signed and I know guys are going to talk before that, I would say that you have an illegal.

The whole point was that they couldn't control it. The reason why they started calling control

this, this isn't controlled.

I know it's not. They can't. No matter what you do, if you, if you, no matter how many scenarios you say, well, this is when you can talk to players while they're talking to agents, they're not talking to players. And this is something, this is all theoretical. There's a million ways to do it. At some point, either you announce a deal is done or it's not. And you deal with the consequences by the protocols a league lays out.

Yeah, I mean, that's where I'm leaning because I think they, they love the whole, they love all the attention. They love the idea again. They have a sponsored segment on NFL Network that's called NFL Free Agency Frenzy.

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[Matt Dicalicola]

Well, instead of talking about who the Bears don't have and talking about who the Bears have, let's start with a Bears departure, and that is Nishan Wright. When we were going through the names of the of the unrestricted free agents who were still available for other teams, Nishan Wright has signed a one year, $5.5 million max deal with the Jets. He was at 1.1 last year just relative to the cap. And that's nice. Nice raise for him. Very much so it is. Well, short of what it seemed like people thought he would get.

Yeah. Because the speculation weeks ago was 13 to 16 million PER.

Well, I don't think anyone thinks he's good.

I think a lot of people are just looking at this year as an anomaly in his career and a fluke where the ball bounced his way. You know, I hope, you know, he seemed like a good teammate, a good Chicago Bear. He had a, he was part of a very memorable season for us. I hope he, we finally got him a game. Whenever they play the Bears, we got him a game ball.

We finally got our guy again.

Worked that hard. So, yeah, he goes to the jets and like I texted you yesterday, I mean, he gets one or two interceptions, he'll lead the team and he'll be a hero.

But that was. It shows me. And remember when we looked at the Pro bowl voting and he did really well among fans, but not among players and coaches, that was a first sign where, yeah, this is an inflationary little bump of an anomaly year. This is, this is not really who he is and he is playing over his actual abilities or he's racking up statistics that are over expectation to a point where people aren't going to pay for this to sustain. And look, this is. The proof is right there.

Yeah, no, you're right. And then how much of that type of perspective on the Sean Wright do you think nationally has carried over into the Bears as a whole? Because you look at those a lot. One score a lot, right?

A lot is the answer.

Yeah, I agree with that. A lot.

I think there, I think there are a lot of people and they should. Looking at this league and I don't know if it means anything that it's been in the Bears history, but the answer to all of those concerns about fluke year. Fluke year. They were battling it all year. Are they a fluke? Are they a fluke? Is this a one off and the counter argument is Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams. Yes, that's it. Your counter argument is it's not a fluke. They have the coach, they have the quarterback, and now they gotta prove it.

I still think the national perspective kind of leans the other direction that, oh, the Bears, Yeah, they finished 11 and six. They won their division, but they could have easily have gone, you know, 6 and 11.

I don't think that that is really a surprise or all that controversial. We know how little separates teams in this league. We know how little separates being really good from and having outcomes that go your way to being closer to the mean. And that's what happens when you only have 17 games. Sometimes you get things that aren't necessarily representative. Now, it's possible that the Bears are saying, you know, we're even better than our record showed and you're looking at it the wrong way because we have the coach, because we have the quarterback. And the answer is it's probably somewhere in between. And there are, there are teams that are better than their records every year and worse than their records every year. But you. But I don't, I don't think Overall, the Bears arrow should be pointed anywhere but up.

So Nishan wright gets a one year, $5.1 million deal with the Jets. What other. Other movement from Bears players? I can't think off top of my head.

The only one that I. That's the only one I saw them lose. Signed Brisker yet right now Brisker is still available.

Byard still available.

Duvernay is still available.

Duvernay, which obviously I think the Bears found a replacement for for Duke. Duvernay.

Yeah. Let me just. These are the names in green, which means still available as of right now.

Yep.

Duvernay, Ryan Bates, Durham Smythe, Travis Homer, Joe Tryon, Shoyinka, Andrew Billings, Chris Williams, Jalen reeves, Mabin, Nick McLeod, Jaquan Brisker, Elijah Hicks, Kevin Byard, Jonathan owens, Jalen Jones, C.J. gardner, Johnson and long snapper Scott Daly. Okay.

And still believe that a few of those guys will come back to the Bears when they do finalize their, their, their movements? Obviously, looking at day two, their second tier priorities, we can look at the players that they actually did sign, starting with aforementioned Khalif Raymond from the Detroit Lions to be a wide receiver kick return specialist.

Okay. He's more of a punt return specialist, but he is a return specialist.

Return specialist, yes.

Would they use him on kickoff returns as well?

I would think so.

All right.

Does that seem to make sense?

Yes. You're not going to have him and Devin Duvernay unless you're looking at Kalief Raymond as your Alameda Zakia's replacement and not your Devin DuVernay replacement.

Yeah, but I would think with his ability to be return specialist, I think that's where they're leaning. But yeah, we'll see how that plays out. The only thing I didn't like is every time I saw his name mentioned and a highlight it was against the Browns, who had one of the worst special teams in the league last year. The Bears also signed Kentavia street from the Atlanta Falcons.

I don't know much about Kentavious Street. What can you tell me?

Well, I know that originally, I think Draft by the 49ers Spent the last three years with the Falcons and he comes to Chicago with ten and a half career sacks. But I also think that a theme that we've seen so far is that the Bears are looking for versatility and speed, which he has both. And he may not be a defensive end in, in this scheme. He may be a guy that moves into rotation on the interior part of the line.

That's fine. In his full name by the Way. Kentavious Ravion Street. Okay, That's a lot of syllables. So he is. He's listed at 6, 2, 3, 15, which. That looks more. More defensive tackle in this defense than it does anything else.

Wow. That's.

Jesus Christ.

That's my height with £100.

Couldn't imagine that. You have a giant face.

Oh, dude, I would be. I would be so fat If I was 315.

If you. If you added a huge.

I wouldn't. I wouldn't look like a football player

if you added 100. Yeah, but on your frame. But, like, I just know you'd have the giant frying pan face.

Oh, my stomach would be huge.

You think you'd have it there?

Oh, God. Yeah. I would be fucking fat and disgusting.

Well, we've signed this guy. How does he look? Well, the scouting report says fat and disgusting.

But he's a Great attitude, though. Yeah.

Great team guy, loves football.

And they also signed Cam Lewis, cornerback.

I don't know anything about him either.

Yeah, these were three guys I didn't know a ton about.

They're guys yesterday. Yeah. That's okay. The free agency.

Yes, it's fine.

The NFL should be about.

You gotta have a roster, dude. Fill a roster.

Yeah. Get guys younger, usually better than older.

And I think that's the. That's kind of the theme we've seen is versatility. Guys that can do more than one thing. And I think that's what Dennis Allen wants on this defense. Guys that can do more than one thing.

Yeah. You do run into trouble if you have too many of those guys and then you don't know who does the thing.

Well, again, that's. If you don't trust your coaching staff to determine that. And I trust this coaching staff to have a plan in place.

I do, too.

Okay. And so that was it, though. Those are. Those were the three. Day two, during the NFL free agency frenzy brought to you by Microsoft.

Okay.

I think that's what it was when I saw the.

Was it really?

I think so, yeah.

I don't have any objections.

No. How could you. You know who the fuck they are. How could you have objections to it?

No, I. Because. But, I mean, look, I don't know who this guy is. God damn it. Why they sign you. You know, that makes people angry. You know, you get. You know. Come on. How many draft days have you been through? I don't know. This person is. But the Bears made the wrong pick every year.

Yeah.

Just stupid. I've only seen this guy's highlights, and I'm Angry. Come on, you know what we're dealing with here.

Or my favorite is the team they get him from. Like, you don't like that team.

Oh, that's.

Yeah, yeah. Yes. Okay. Baseball's different.

Don't. Don't try to wrap this around me.

Don't, don't. Don't even start. Baseball's a different creature altogether.

Baseball's a different creature. Who. Who was.

And there have been, like, it wasn't all together.

Oh, we're trying.

Baseball's a different creature.

The guy I mean, Jonathan Owens had been on the. On the packers, right?

Yes. So, yeah, because remember, Simone got.

She got.

She got destroyed on. On social media.

Where to go.

Very first game, it was like a former, like, packers type apparel that she had on, and people were just.

They were. And then she said, tell me where the. Tell me where the good restaurants are. It was like, Milwaukee. Yeah.

Not a good look for. Oh, yeah.

I don't know. People up. Here we go. The Golden Corral.

Yeah. That's a matter of special night out.

Well, it was good. It was good enough for Doug Buffon in Bourbon A. He lived there.

He had every.

He had, like, his own booth. He was like.

Every meal was there.

He was like the Frank Sinatra of the Golden Corral. I forgot the big corner booth. You know, people coming over to kiss his ring. Don Rickles would walk in.

Yeah, I totally forgot about that. Yeah.

Oh, buddy, it's. They got a lot of food here. Yeah. Yeah, they do, man.

All right, well, we'll see what else. What else the Bears have left in. In free agency. I'm. I'm telling you, though, I'm ready now. Like, let's move past this. Let's figure out the Max Crosby thing. I'm ready for the draft to get here. And the draft is what, April 23rd, I think something. Something like that. So other news, though, around the NFL, I know Isaiah Pachenko, he ended up at the Lions, so he'll be in the backfield with. With Gibbs. So what is that Sonic? And is he Sonic or was he hedgehog? What's his name?

Sonic and Sonic and Hedgehog.

Knuckles.

Sonic is a hedgehog.

Oh, that's right. He is a hedgehog. Right. So it was. It was Sonic and Knuckles.

Knuckles. Knuckles, yeah. I believe Knuckles is the antagonist to Sonic. Is that right?

Oh, I thought they were enemies.

I. To me, it's all. It's all lost. I'm not even bothering right now that I don't know anything about Sonic. I don't know anything about Knuckles. I know it's not Sonic and hedgehog and they're pointing at each other and.

Are you frustrated?

Are you the hedgehog?

All right, so Isaiah Pacheco's a lion.

Such a bastard.

The Jets.

Who you.

The jets have their quarterback. They finally found their quarterback, Dan.

They did?

Yes.

Who is it?

Geno Smith.

Okay. Daniel Jones signed a massive deal with the Colts. Do they think he's good?

They must.

Okay.

They must.

Must you pry? I don't think. I think he's probably fine. But that's a big.

What was the number? What was his number?

All right. It was in the. Daniel Jones 88 million. Is that what I saw?

Yes. Three year 88 million.

Yeah.

Oh, it's two year 88 million.

Jesus. Woof. Two year 88 million. That could be worth up to 100 million. 50 million in the first year. It is the largest two year contract in history. In history for Daniel Jones.

So he gets 50 million fully guaranteed at signing, while 60 million is guaranteed

for you Signed Daniel Jones for the. For the most expensive contract in history.

He's fired up, he says, as Jones told the Pat McAfee show on Wednesday, I'm fired up to be back and definitely grateful for the opportunity to be back. Better be here with the Colts.

I'd be fired up too. 88 million base. 50 million fully guaranteed. 60 million guaranteed for injury.

Wow.

Max value of 100 million. I just rather sign max value if he's available. If whoever.

Max Crosby's not there.

Yeah. Then sign max value. The largest two year contract in NFL history. Congratulations, Daniel Jones. Go get it, man. Get it when you can. And if. And if that half a season got you that. Hey, baby. You can add him to that list no matter what happens.

The Raiders are trading Geno Smith and a 2026 seventh round pick to the jets for a 2026, six round pick.

All I know is Geno Smith is in good with me from the. Did you see? What? For some reason, Wendy's came after him on Twitter. So the Wendy's corporation comes after Geno Smith and says something like, well, we have a job. If you're unemployed, you can come be an official burger taster with us. Cause we're hiring. And it was. And out of nowhere like, okay, a lot of guys get waves, a lot. But they came after Geno Smith. And then he clapped back at Wendy's with receipts of all of their current revenue issues and the fact that they're closing stores and their same store sales are dropping precipitously.

Yeah, he did Some work on this.

Yes. And he. And he. He, like, linked to all of these things. Like, is this you? Why don't you get your business in order before you're throwing strays in my direction? And that. That shuts them up right there. Like, that was. That was as solid a piece of work. Like, man, what are they doing to me? All right, well, all he had to do is a few clicks about anything in the business papers about Wendy's, and he. Benny, set it right back at him. All right?

[Talkspace User/Testimonial]

So.

[Matt Dicalicola]

Okay, Gino, you got this. Go be the quarterback of the Jets.

You know, I got a. I got a text the other day from Tannehill. It was a. I don't know what story he was at, but it was a picture of a. Of a bottle of hairspray, and it said, max, hold on it. He said, bad offensive lineman. Don't draft him.

Yeah, that's. That's not good. Max Hold.

Max Hold.

Yeah, holding number 65.

So we got Max Hold, Max Value, and Max Crosby. Who do you want?

Max Value, Max.

Oh, really?

Yeah. I believe in nominative determinism for the names that we make up.

Okay, Yes.

I want Max Value ahead of Max Crosby because Max Crosby may not return Max value.

Value is 1, Crosby is 2. Old is 3.

Only if it's 2 x's. Only if he's got 2 x's in back, because that's. That's. How do you decide that one if you're the parent?

Well, because you can't do three.

Why not?

I mean, you're sending the kid in a certain path and direction in life that he doesn't want to go.

Maybe. Well, I mean, two is a decision,

[Dan Bernstein]

right?

[Matt Dicalicola]

He's like, this guy's Super Max.

Yeah.

How do you change?

Yeah. How do you make that? Yeah. Why not just Max? Because, well, Max is normally short for Maximilian, Right. And there's never two X's.

The only time I've seen two X's is TJ Maxx, where you get the Max and Crosby. Right, but. No, but the only time I had seen it, you get the Max fold the minimum, T.J. max. Don't you remember those?

Yeah, I do remember.

Okay. Yes, absolutely.

They're still open.

I know, but they don't sing that anymore because now. Now they're actually kind of cool.

Right, so then are you advocating for. For the Watt boys to have one T's? Like T.J. watts.

That's their last name.

Oh, okay, so that's different to you?

No, if it were, you could change

the Spelling of your last name.

That's not the point. The point is, as parents, don't get frustrated. I'm just.

I'm just asking a question, and you write it down.

It's like. It's like the whole issue with. With Mark Wayne Mullen, your new head of DHS Homeland Services. Did you see what happened with that? So his mother was going to name him either Mark or Wayne. He's an uncle Mark and an uncle Wayne. Like her brothers or something are Mark and Wayne. Okay, so they wrote it down, and then they were going to cross one out and they forgot.

Like on the birth certificate.

Yes.

So is. This is it. So it's Mark Wayne. So it's two words. Mark Wayne.

One word.

One. Really? Mark Wayne.

Yes, it's his name.

Oh, boy.

As somebody said, underqualified, over named. But the. The story. I don't think I'm making this up.

But as you got older, wouldn't you pick one or the other then?

I mean. Yeah, or change it to, like, Steve or something?

Oh, no. I mean, if you like. I like either one.

[Dan Bernstein]

Just pick one.

[Matt Dicalicola]

I wouldn't want to go through life as Mark Wayne. John Wayne maybe, but not Mark Wayne.

John Wayne. Apparently, what happened was there were two uncles. This is what I've heard.

Okay.

And they were gonna name him either or, but they wrote him down.

They were gonna name him either they

were gonna name him Mark or they were gonna name him Wayne.

Because either Or.

Or they could name him either Or Mullen. That would be different. But I don't really get it.

All right, let's do this.

Here's what he said. Here's his quote.

Yeah, what is it?

My father was the youngest boy of eight children.

Father was the youngest boy of eight children. Okay, got it.

And he had two brothers who did not have any sons.

That sounds like a math question.

And since I was the youngest, one

son sold four apples, and the other son.

Wait, hold on. And if I was the youngest of seven in my family.

Well, I thought it was.

And if I was named after both of them, Mark and Wayne.

Wait, his dad had. There was eight kids in the dad's family, and then seven in his family. So he had six siblings.

So if Mark. If Mark leaves Norman, Oklahoma, going 14 miles an hour, and Wayne leaves Enid, Oklahoma, going in the opposite direction at 27 miles an hour. When do the names Mark and Wayne meet and fuse together?

Wait a second. I need to go back. So the. The dad was the. Was part of eight siblings, and then Mark Wayne Mullen was Part of seven siblings.

Yes.

Okay. That's too many kids.

That's why I said so if you had another kid, the other one would have been Mark or Wayne, but he was the last kid or a mistake or something, apparently.

Mark or Wayne.

No, but. So they just decided to push the two names together to name after his brother, who is other brother. So they. They kept having kids just to name them after the dad's brothers.

Get some condoms. All right, so let's do a name draft. Okay. So you said before, Max Value, Max Crosby, Max hold in this one.

I want.

We're going to. We're going to. We're going to draft John Wayne. John Wayne Gacy, Mark Wayne Mullins.

What's your order? I'll take John Wayne first. I'll take Mark Wayne Mullen second, and John Wayne Gacy as a first name. Are you saying that you have to name your kid like John Wayne Gacy of Atticola?

Well, no, we're just drafting the names.

The entire names. Well, John Wayne Gacy kind of has a bad connotation, although people probably don't remember. Now. You can name your kid Ed Gein. Nobody would know.

I'm disappointed. He didn't win a SAG award. Charlie Hunham. I thought he should have won an award for. For his portrayal of Ed Gein.

That was.

Yeah. You know, we still never finished. We never finished the whole series. We stopped at the episode where he banged his dead mom on the kitchen

table and we're done.

I think that. I think that's what drew the line. We're like, yeah, I think I'm good. I think I'm good on this.

I think I've seen enough of these episodes now. All right. Okay. What's for dinner?

Yeah. On the kitchen table.

Let's move.

Mom out of the way. Dead carcass.

Ah.

You all right?

Yeah, I'm all right. What happened? What a day. No, it's just. This is just. There's all kinds of stuff going on. I'm just trying to keep track of everybody who's coming and going for the Bears. I can't believe that. Daniel Jones money. I can't believe that. Daniel Jones money. Yeah.

Two years and 100 million.

Possibly. Yeah.

That's insane. All right. I don't think there's anything. Anything else new came up.

I think that's it. I think we're good for now. And knowing the luck that we've been having, in. In about 15 minutes, there will be massive NFL news. And you know what? If that does happen, we will reconvene, as we like to say.

Yeah. I want to look more into this whole idea of multiple doctors reviewing Max Crosby's MRI scans. I want to understand how that works.

Well, Dr. Cowboy was able to do it.

Yeah. So. All right. Yeah. Anything happens, anything significant will be here for you.

We'll be right there. We are. We're waiting and ready to go live if something wild happens.

Oh, hey, I'm sorry. Did we have. Do we have any. Anything we have to mention any housekeeping duties for 312 sports?

Well. Or no mention what's happening tomorrow. Okay.

Yeah. I thought you wanted to do that.

Or no.

Yeah.

Because tomorrow is. Is 3:12 on the calendar.

Correct.

And we're celebrating 3:12 day on 312 sports. It's March 12th, 3:12. So all day tomorrow. Tomorrow you're gonna have the chance to win our 312 day, 312 day sports package. We're going to select three winners at random to receive a pair of tickets to Cubs opening weekend against the Nationals at Wrigley Saturday or Sunday, and two pieces of exclusive 312 sports swag, which is pretty exclusive at the moment, by the way. So. And we're going to give you the keyword for all this stuff tomorrow. So be listening to tomorrow's podcast, tomorrow's Dan Bernstein unfiltered tomorrow's Forward Progress, and you may have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the Cubs opening day weekend and or be one of two people that win some exclusive 312 sports swag. But that is tomorrow. Just wanted you to know about it right now on Forward Progress, a 312 sports podcast. Forward progress has stopped. 10, 2 19, 2 19.

[Dan Bernstein]

Forward progress, a chicago bears podcast with

[Matt Dicalicola]

dan bernstein and mattdicalicola on 312 sports.