Bears Fail to Meet J.J. Watt's Three Qualifiers
It's safe to say free agent defensive end J.J. Watt crossed the Bears off his list of potential teams, at least if ESPN's Ed Werder is correct.
You may have seen Watt standing on a Chicago rooftop overlooking the city on a tweeted photo with his wife, the Chicago Red Star soccer forward Kealia Ohai Watt. It was a tweet for entertainment purposes only, not an indication of any pending move.
Released at his request by Houston, Watt now has three considerations when choosing his next team according to Werder via Twitter.
The three considerations are the team's quarterback, supporting personnel and money.
The Bears, of course, lose right off the top.
They don't even have a quarterback, unless Nick Foles or the old sneakers Mitchell Trubisky left behind at Halas Hall can be counted. They're still trying to solve this issue with Carson Wentz or Derek Carr if such speculation is to be believed, although some would suggest they've already strengthened the position with the expiration of Trubisky's contract.
The third priority on the list is money.
Hmmn, do you think Watt takes Bitcoin?
Maybe some Lou Malnati's pizza and a few Portillo's Italian Beef and Cheddars in lieu of cash? He said when the Texans played the Bears that he loved both Malnati’s and Portillo’s from his many trips as a youth to Chicago from the Milwaukee suburbs to play hockey.
The Bears could handle those but paying out any amount of actual money could pose a problem considering Spotrac.com has their salary cap account currently overdrawn by $2.5 million. They still have to find money for the draft, to pay whatever quarterback they unearth and somehow rescue Allen Robinson from free agency.
So, they lack the cash. And it's doubtful Bears cap man Joey Laine is at Halas Hall right now asking Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace to empty their pockets on the table for spare change to see if they can scrounge together enough to make a signing possible.
Supporting cast?
Sure, the Bears have a supporting cast on defense. Why wouldn't he want to play with Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, Eddie Jackson, Danny Trevathan and Kyle Fuller? Those are big names to be associated with and they've had success on defense.
Of course, it did say supporting personnel in the tweet and not supporting defensive personnel. Can the offense hide somewhere?
Pay no attention to that offense behind the curtain.
OK, it is true their main offensive threat doesn't even have a contract and they've had a year to get Allen Robinson this deal. And their two tackles seem to be criticized in Chicago more than anyone except Mitchell Trubisky and Cody Parkey.
And they have two wide receivers more interested in beating up on opponents rather than beating them.
So, beyond that the Bears would seem the perfect fit?
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
