Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽

Bear Down 🐻🔽

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@swaywins @lostwanderer320 @nypost Fertility is definitely a concern with TRT. Going to make it more difficult to conceive naturally even if you get off. HCG will get your sperm count up but your motility rate is going to be an issue.

[Yogi @Houseofyogi]

Chicago lost the Bears this week. A team that's been in the city since 1921.

They didn't lose them to a bigger market or a better deal. The Bears decided they'd rather be a tenant in Indiana than deal with Illinois for one more year.

Think about how badly you have to run a place for that to be the smart move.

They lost them for two reasons.

The people running Illinois would rather villainize a builder than keep one. And they're bad at their jobs.

In 2021 the Bears spent $197M on the old Arlington Park racetrack.

Before they could break ground, Cook County valued the empty lot at $192M (Bears said $60M). They were salivating at the chance to extort a building that didn't even exist yet.

That fight dragged on for years.

The Bears were ready to put $2B into the stadium. All they wanted was a promise the county wouldn't reassess them into oblivion, plus $855M for infrastructure everyone uses. Roads, transit, utilities. A $3B project, two thirds of it private money pouring into Illinois.

Springfield had since 2021 to get this done. They dragged it to the final night of session, passed it through the Senate at 3:39AM, and the House went home without voting.

So now it's all gone.

The funniest part? This started because Cook County tried to grab the tax early. They knew a built stadium would pay $53M a year. Now they get under $4M on a vacant lot. No jobs, no buildout, no new anything.

Congrats on fighting for scraps and losing the whole prize.

Pritzker: they're "an $8.5B valued business" that doesn't need propping up.

But be smart for a second. Almost every NFL city throws in public money for a stadium. Not charity. The return is real. Tourism, hotels, restaurants, jobs, game days, property tax on a huge development. The math works.

Indiana did the math. While Illinois sat on it for years, Indiana passed a bill in months, put up $1B, and took the team.

And the Bears took a worse deal to get there. In Illinois they were going to own their stadium. In Indiana they rent it from the state. A team that wanted to build its own home gave up ownership just to escape Chicago.

Nobody won but Indiana. The Bears lost their stadium. Illinois lost the team, the $2B, and $53M a year in taxes.

Pritzker after they left: "I wasn't willing to give up billions of dollars of taxpayer money to give it to a billionaire-owned family or team."

There it is. "Billionaire-owned."

That's how Democrats talk about any business right before they run it out of town. Call them a billionaire, act like you're saving working families, take a victory lap while the tax base drives across the state line.

Meanwhile they're running the whole state into the ground. And you already know how this ends. You're living in it.

Pensions are $143B in the hole, worst in the country and not close. You pay $6,285 a year in property taxes, double the $2,969 national average, for a city that's $1.15B in the red. The mayor called its finances "the point of no return."

When you run things this badly, you sell what's left.

They leased the parking meters for 75 years to Morgan Stanley and a sovereign wealth fund in Abu Dhabi. Took $1.15B and burned through it in two years. The investors already made it all back, with 58 years left to collect.

Sold the Skyway. Sold the downtown garages. Every asset that made money, gone for one check.

But a fixed property tax rate for a team that's been here 106 years? That's "propping up billionaires."

Companies are leaving. Boeing for Virginia. Caterpillar for Texas. Citadel for Miami. In 2023 alone Illinois lost 56,000 people and $6B in income to other states. The ones who left earned a third more than the ones who moved in.

Indiana didn't outbid anyone. AAA credit, 16 years straight. A $676M surplus. Fourth-lowest debt per person in the country. They just weren't a disaster.

Illinois could have collected $53M a year. It chose zero. Ignore all the bad management but make sure to stick it to those evil, pesky billionaires.

[StaceyDales @StaceyDales]

Ben Johnson’s #Bears are worlds ahead of where they were last year at this time. Expect another exponential jump from Caleb Williams and the offense this season…

@nflnetwork #DaBears

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@therealburns3 Agora market is the best

[Nick Whalen @_NickWhalen]

My thoughts on the Bears Draft Class

Things I didn't like:
1) Non-premium positions = S, C, TE, LB made up 4 of top 6 picks
-Non-premium positions earn less money in the NFL and easier to replace....meaning the ROI could be less

2) Didn't trade up in rd 2 for a DL
-Maybe they thought Jacas would fall to them(almost worked), but it didn't and they should've moved up to guaranteed themselves a solid DL prospect
-I could only really debate one pick could've been a DL based on value, so I'm not really torn up about them not picking a DL early. They pivoted instead of reaching.

Things I did like:
1) Drafted the 2nd-highest class by average RAS
-Poles talked about wanting to get a faster defense this offseason, but they did it as a team at the draft
Thieneman 4.35 40
Jones 9.63 RAS
Roush 9.94 RAS
Thomas 4.28 40
Muhammad 9.51 RAS
Elliott 8.74 RAS
Van den Berg 9.99 RAS

2) They drafted scheme fits, which makes them even more scheme diverse, and I see how they'll be utilized
-Thieneman and Bryant can both play FS/SS, which makes their coverage rotations unpredictable
-Jones is a perfect zone blocking C and played at Iowa, who has a great history of producing NFL OL
-Roush is the best blocking TE in the draft. But his 9.94 RAS still makes him a receiving threat unlike Smythe/Lewis(Bears last 2 blocking TEs)
-Thomas gives the Bears one of the fastest WRs they've ever had, which changes that WR room. His RB and return background give him many ways to help the team
-Muhammad is an athletic CB, who has a chance to start in a few yrs
-Elliott is one of my favorite picks. Smart, instinctive, physical, leader, captain and wore the green dot. I could see him starting in '27 or '28.
-Van den Berg is the perfect late round gamble they need at DL. Strong/elite athleticism who needs to work on his pass rush bag/technique

3) High character guys with low injury histories

4) Poles made trades
-We can all agree we wanted him to move up in rd 2. So set that aside.
-Late in rd 2, he traded down to gain more capital later
-Traded up in rd 4(I felt like it was expensive) to secure Malik Muhammad. I'm a big fan, so that made it worth it.
-Traded up to get Jordan Van den Berg when he wouldn't have fallen to the 7th to get a twitched up DT for that room

This is going to be a hot take...I don't feel like the players the Bears are getting heat for are as bad of reaches as they're being made out to be.
1) Logan Jones 57th overall
-Jake Slaughter went 63rd overall and Zuhn went 91st overall, which made all 3 picks higher than ppl thought.
2) Sam Roush 69th overall
-8 TEs were drafted from pick 45 overall to the end of rd 3. Given that many NFL teams were drafting these guys ahead of consensus tells us how they felt about their value.
3) Zavion Thomas 89th overall
-Thomas is the 12th WR drafted since 2010 to be a minimum of 190 lbs and run a 4.33 40 or faster. Only 2 of the 12 players on that list have been drafted after round 3, D'Onte Thornton round 4 and Trey Palmer round 6.
Not all of the players from this group were hits(1st round picks only have a 50% rate), but players this fast and heavy are rare and the NFL drafts them in rounds 1-3.

Overall:
I'm happy with what Chicago did because it sets themselves up very well in the future at a number of positions. 2027 offseason = fix the DL

[Cream sleeve @creamsleeve]

DRAFT WEEK GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Hey Bears faithful. Big week at Halas.

So me and my guy Rob at @TalleyBrand cooked up something special.

A custom Darth Burden cutout.
27" x 16".

Luther Burden III…
right at that moment.

Control. No hesitation. No apology.
FGB energy all over it.

Front yard.
Video backdrop.
Fan cave.

Make no mistake. We’re turning the heat up.

Also throwing in a Darth Burden sticker
and an FGB sticker.
_____

HOW TO ENTER:
• Like
• Repost
• Follow @TalleyBrand and @CSleeve16374

Winner announced Saturday, April 25. Day 3 of the Draft.

_____

OR EARN IT

Now through the end of the Draft…

Shop at https://t.co/2dlartgwAs.
Every order gets a Darth Burden sticker and an FGB sticker.

Here’s the power move:
Every order gets 3 entries to win a second cutout.
Burden. The. Third.

Two winners. Two cutouts.

You can’t buy this.
You either win it… or earn it.

Good luck and Bear down!!!!!

-cream

[SleeperBears @SleeperBears]

Caleb Williams, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden & Jahdae Walker are all at USC training together via (@dae2walker IG)

Next season is going to be SPECIAL🐻⬇️

[Marcus Whitman @TFG_Football]

Just so we're all clear!

If you hire a black guy, the team he came from gets Two, 3rd Round Picks. BUT! If you choose to just randomly name your old QB a President and give him a pure vibes-only position, you are free to hire anyone without awarding picks to your opponent.

Everything is totally normal about this entire situation.

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@jacobinfante24 Trade Bageant and draft the Greek!

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@Jake_B30 Feel like the Bears have had some bad luck with the D line. We’ve had some premium draft picks without premium pass rushers available. Best shot on a guy would have been drafting Verse over Rome.

[Louis Riddick @LRiddickESPN]

“Yesterday’s price, is not today’s price.”

[Dan Wiederer @danwiederer]

Six weeks out from the draft, a couple things that have come up a lot that pertain to the Bears ...

- The love for the pass rushing depth in this class has been pretty consistent.

- Talent quality/value on Day 2 is considered strong, particularly at CB, S, WR and EDGE.

[Dave Kluge @DaveKluge]

Is it too late for the Bears to back out of the Chase Claypool trade?

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@AdamSchefter Don’t forget Roberto Garza

[Brad Biggs @BradBiggs]

In 2005, Roberto Garza had a $7 million, 3-year deal set with Baltimore before it failed him on his physical.

'It stings. It hurts. It’s a kick in the balls because you were ready to cash in. Looking back, everything happens for a reason. It worked out for me to go to Chicago.'

[Adam Rank @adamrank]

Not too late to give the Bears their comp picks.

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@Conradicous @ggabefootball @LicDelRivero Peter woods imo would be the best fit at DT. Hope he’s still available at 25

[Caleb Williams @CALEBcsw]

🤠

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@ggabefootball My thoughts exactly. Seems like this is going to be a D line heavy draft for us

[Dimitri Atsaves 🐻🔽 @D_Atsaves]

@therealburns3 Think it had more to do with character concerns than liking him as a prospect. I think this coaching staff and locker room is better suited to handle a guy like Jalen. Still don’t see it as a move poles would make though.