Free Agency Rumors Thread

[Nirvana]

His knee doesn't worry anyone? I'm worried we sign him and then think the DL is addressed.

this will make you feel better

Former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Henry Melton's recovery from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament has progressed to the point where Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery said on Thursday the club's preference is to re-sign Melton who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on March 11.

"We do want to bring back Henry and we'll work through that process," Emery said at the NFL combine. "He's made progress. He's made positive progress."

[+] Enlarge
AP Photo/Charles Rex ArbogastHenry Melton collected 13 sacks combined in 2011 and 2012 but played in just three games last season.
Slapped with the franchise tag by the Bears last season ($8,454,725) after posting 33 tackles and six sacks in 2012, Melton started just three games before landing on injured reserve on Sept. 27 -- Melton has 15.5 sacks in 48 career games.

After undergoing surgery and sitting out the final three months of the regular season, Melton has apparently dedicated himself to strengthening his injured left knee over the past couple of months.

"He's in every day early," Bears head coach Marc Trestman said. "He's got to drive in from downtown. If you see him, you'll see that he has been training and he has been working. He's very focused. You'll see he dropped some weight. He looks very good physically right now. Obviously he's in there working the knee, but he's been on time, he's working hard with [Bears head athletic trainer] Chris [Hanks].

"As I said, I spoke with him yesterday for 30-45 minutes and he's committed to getting himself back and he's got work to do to get there, but he's in a very good place right now and we all understand the situation and we'll see where it goes."

The Bears' ability to retain Melton is expected to boil down to money. Considered one of the top defensive tackles scheduled to reach free agency, there is no way of knowing how much other teams are prepared to offer Melton when the new league year begins on March 11.

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4690550/melton-drops-weight-bears-want-him-back

 

[CATCH17]

awesome.

Fits this coaches time here to a T.

Injured and a risk off the field. Seemingly looking for a payday.

But he knows the great and powerful marinelli.

ugghh. this year is going to be as bad as the quincy years.

Nah it will be about the same as it has been as long as Romo is standing.

A quality QB will get you to 8-8 most of the time regardless of what is around them.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Spencer coming off of injury too and Hatcher will be 32 next year. Melton is 27 and just as good as Hatcher at that position. I'll take my chances with Melton.

Melton just as good as hatcher ? LOL c'mon dude that's ridiculous . Hatcher is a top 3 DT in the game . Wife beater drunk coming off torn acl no thanks .(but I guess he'd get along with Brent if he comes back ) what a joke of a franchise .

Melton has 15 sacks in 5 years wooooo Super Bowl . Hatcher had 12 last year alone .

 

[Apollo Creed]

awesome.

Fits this coaches time here to a T.

Injured and a risk off the field. Seemingly looking for a payday.

But he knows the great and powerful marinelli.

ugghh. this year is going to be as bad as the quincy years.

Despite Jerry's best efforts, this team will never be this bad as long as Romo is QBing. Romo starts 16 games, the worst we can do is 7-9, 8-8. Even with a historically bad defense he had us in the conversation at the end of the year.

 

[Nirvana]

Melton just as good as hatcher ? LOL c'mon dude that's ridiculous . Hatcher is a top 3 DT in the game .

I'll take a 5 years younger Melton as well.

 

[TheCowboy]

 

[Mrdude108]

Jernigan would probably be an even better fit if they were to get Melton, just because his lack of a quick twitch wouldn't matter as much at the 1T. Although, DE would be more important obviously. Selvie and Crawford is about all we have there.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Hahaha some cowboys fans are hilarious this guy is a bum .

 

[TheFinisher]

Jernigan would probably be an even better fit if they were to get Melton, just because his lack of a quick twitch wouldn't matter as much at the 1T. Although, DE would be more important obviously. Selvie and Crawford is about all we have there.

Jernigan and Melton would be a perfect pairing.

 

[montgod]

I'll take a 5 years younger Melton as well.

I would agree, but right now its about what you can get for your money and the Boys need a LOT for their money in terms of multiple players than just one stopgap especially with Boys injury history lately.

 

[Common Sense]

Melton just as good as hatcher ? LOL c'mon dude that's ridiculous . Hatcher is a top 3 DT in the game . Wife beater drunk coming off torn acl no thanks .(but I guess he'd get along with Brent if he comes back ) what a joke of a franchise .

Melton has 15 sacks in 5 years wooooo Super Bowl . Hatcher had 12 last year alone .

Come on, dude. You at least need to get your facts straight if you're going to take an extremely hyperbolic position on the matter.

 

[Bowdown27]

Jernigan would probably be an even better fit if they were to get Melton, just because his lack of a quick twitch wouldn't matter as much at the 1T. Although, DE would be more important obviously. Selvie and Crawford is about all we have there.

I think if we sign Melton. It opens the door for us to have more lee way at our pick. De or dt now not just dt

 

[Common Sense]

Linval Joseph to the Vikings, I believe.

 

[TonyS]

Despite Jerry's (and Jason's) best efforts, this team will never be this bad as long as Romo is QBing. Romo starts 16 games, the worst we can do is 7-9, 8-8. Even with a historically bad defense he had us in the conversation at the end of the year.

FIFY

 

[Avery]

Blaine Gabbert traded to San Francisco for a 6th round pick.

I guess Khan's analytics finally took a backseat to common sense.

With Chad Henne as the starter, I can't envision a scenario where JAX doesn't go QB in R1 or R2.

 

[Nirvana]

If we sign Melton, that takes Hatcher out of play for us and Donald is a sure pick to the Bears in the 1st. We then likely trade down and pick up a 4-3 DE with our first pick.

 

[iceberg]

jenkins to the eagles.

 

[theebs]

Getting Melton would be CLUTCH right now. Perfect fit.

Definitely, he can sit next to lee and Claiborne when both are hurt during camp and give jerry something to sell the fans about how great this team is going to be when they are all healthy.

 

[Common Sense]

If we sign Melton, that takes Hatcher out of play for us and Donald is a sure pick to the Bears in the 1st. We then likely trade down and pick up a 4-3 DE with our first pick.

Donald to the Bears at 14 is looking like a pretty sure thing, regardless.

 

[Matts4313]

Before this year, there wasnt a soul on the planet that thought Hatcher was better than Melton. Most people had Melton as a top 2 DT with Atkins.