Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Adam Hoge talks Bears as NFL free agency looms (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 6, 2026

In the second hour, Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote were joined by CHGO host Adam Hoge to discuss the latest Bears storylines, including their trade of receiver DJ Moore to the Bills and their release of veteran linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. After that, Rahimi and Grote discussed who will be the Bears' top receiver in the 2026 season with Moore gone. Later, they held the Halftime segment.

Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster nibbles in our yard for me? Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires. I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end. Huh, Nibbles. Gone too soon. May he scurry in peace. Hey, sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff. Nibbles would have loved you like a brother. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust.

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Ring Central, voice of your business. I'm Susie Welch, the host of Becoming You, a podcast where I help you stop living by default and start living by design. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts. This hour is brought to you by Vesectomy Clinics of Chicago. Adam Hogg says Adam Hogue, Bears Insider. What's up, everyone, my name's Adam Hogue. Host of the Hogan John's podcast. What I like about this coachies staff, it's like the 100 guys in a bar series.

When 100 guys in the bar are all screaming the same thing, that usually means that they're on to something, even if it's 100 guys at a bar. That's what I think about this with Colson Lovell. And so snap counts go up. Johnsey, it is that time for another high draft pick, Luther Bird it. Adam Hogue. Adam Hogi or Hogg, excuse me, I don't know how to pronounce the last name.

With Rahimi Harrison Grotie on Chicago Sports Radio, 1043 to score. Because football season never ends, I love to hear until I collapse. Adam Hogue's favorite song to get motivated as well on a Friday. And it continues today here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104.3, the score. He joins us on our hotline and on Twitch. Twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. Adam, Trayne Edmonds is gone.

Drew Dalman is gone. DG Moore is gone. How are you with all of this information? I think the bears are operating like a contending team that has to make tough decisions. You know, I think you, when you look at Tremaine Edmonds, this one was pretty predictable, I thought from the start. You just look at an aging linebacker who's making a lot of money. And you know, you can clear some of that from your books by going cheaper. And I think there's some other options out there. Some with ties to Dennis Allen and Ben Johnson that you could look at.

And then I think with DJ Moore, you know, this is a result of drafting best player available. And that's what I think smart teams do. And a lot of teams say they do it. and then they don't really do it. But when we went into the draft last year, I don't think many of us thought that the two, you know, the first two picks would be Colson Loveland and Luther Burden. But they were.

And that gave the Ben Johnson a bunch of weapons to work with. And, and I think that that all of a sudden made DJ more expendable when you looked at the fact that they could save $16.7 million against the cap by moving him. I thought the question there was what they could actually get for him. And the Buffalo bill showed that you can get quite a, quite a lot for him because I was not

even when we found out about the trade yesterday, I was not expecting the second round pick to come back for DJ more. So, you know, these are decisions and situations you get in once you start getting into a contending window. And I don't think you can fault the bears for anything that they've done so far.

The curb ball, of course, was Drew Dalman retiring and that's, you know, sort of the thing that they're navigating to try to create some extra room to address that problem. I too was very pleased with the second rounder. Take that and run and make the deal. That is perfect.

Does it please you? It pleases me greatly. What? I was on Buffalo Radio today, Hogue, and they were kind of like in, yeah, Grotie, you got to sell us on DJ Moore. They're just a little bit skeptical. How do you characterize his legacy with the Bears

and just DJ Moore the player? You know, I think DJ Moore is a really good player. And I think, you know, I go back with him all the way to when I was still doing sidelines for North. Western and I covered a game where we were at Maryland and DJ went off in that game. I don't remember the numbers off the top of his head, but I think it was like three touchdowns and over 200 yards receiving.

I always thought he was underrated even coming out. And I think that, you know, he's a very valuable player if you put him in the right position. Is he a true number one dominant wide receiver? No, because you got to manufacture some time. touches for him. He's very good with the ball once it's in his hands. And I think he's got some sneaky ability to blow the top off the defense too. But some of those intermediate routes, you know, I always wish sometimes that he would be the guy in the slot that would run some of those option routes. And that's just apparently not really his game. And so I think that does

limit him in his route tree just a little bit. But I love the fit for him in Buffalo. I really do. I think that, you know, he's exactly what the bills have been lacking at times. He's not going to be a problem there. I also feel really, you know, happy for him that he's not going to a place like the Raiders where he was going to have to start over with a rookie quarterback once again. He gets to go play with one of the best in Josh Allen. So I think it's a really good fit for DJ Moore. I think it's a really good fit for that offense.

Joe Brady, who's had DJ Moore in the past two. I think that's a very relevant note when it comes to that fit. $24.5 million cap hit, though? I mean, that's the part I'm still kind of struggling with. If I was in Buffalo, you know, trying to digest this trade, I think that's the part with this contract that is a little hard to swallow. And I know part of the deal, too, extra money became guaranteed. I think what, going into 2028 now.

So, you know, you're locked in for about two and a half years there in terms of cap space. And I have a feeling he'll be a really good player for the bills, but one that they're still feeling uneasy. about, is he worth what he's taking up in the cap up there in Buffalo? Well, and we brought up the playoffs Adam when it came to the bill side of this. They only beat the Jaguars

by three. They had to come back in that game. And then there was the emotional overtime loss to the Broncos where you've got players tearing up in the locker room afterward and how much that must have sat with them knowing they've got a lot of cracks at this and they haven't gotten as close

as they wanted. And perhaps this was a trade that truly because of the value and the second rounder coming back may have satisfied all parties. Yeah, and I think we're going to find out a lot about Joe Brady here really quickly. You know, it was a fascinating, very risky move that they made because with all that emotion that you're talking about, Leila, I mean, to let Sean McDermick go, I talked to some coaches down in Indy last week that are still like flabbergasted by that move and just feel like, you know, he deserved better. At the same time, I can also see why the bills are like, look, we can't you. just keep running this back and, uh, and, and wasting opportunities here with one of the best

quarterbacks in the league in his prime. So give him an offensive head coach, uh, give him a few more weapons. And like I said, I think DJ is going to be a really good fit. I always like watching the bills to begin with. Um, I'm selfishly happy that they're kind of going down this road just from an entertainment standpoint, because I think the bills are going to be one of the more interesting teams in the league next season. Uh, we also have some news. Oh, regarding a former I and I. I and I. New England reached agreement today.

You had to, Adam. You had to. According to Adam Schaefter, guys, New England reached agreement today with quarterback Tommy DeVito. Hey! On a two-year, seven and a half million dollar deal, 7.4. That includes $2 million guaranteed per his agent, Sean Stalado, who got a lot of face time whenever Tommy DeVito broke out onto the. the scene for New York, if you recall.

So I guess Tyson, Bejan, is safe then? I guess. But is he? I don't, I mean, fairer questioned. What do you think, Adam? You know, I think the Bears are handling this properly with Bejian. You know, I think he has value out there. But if you were the Bears, you, he's still got a lot of value to you as well, like to this

team. And so you, you don't give them away for nothing. I'm holding firm on the idea that if you can get a second round pick for Tyson, Bejant, I would make that move. But anything less than that. Backup quarterbacks are too important. And I also think that Bejant, this is more my own personal opinion on him as a quarterback. You know, there's backups that you can survive with for like a month if they have to play in a pinch. But otherwise, if it's more than that, your season's probably over anyway.

Yeah. Then there's backups. But then there's like backups like Nick Foles who, you know, who at the Eagles that actually I feel like you can win some playoff games with. And I got to say like with what I've seen from Bejan and the fit with Ben Johnson, I lean more towards Bejant being that, you know, that second option I brought up, which I don't know if catastrophe struck the quarterback position, which we none of us ever want to talk about, right? But you've got to be prepared for it if you're Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson.

that the season would be over with Bayjant going out there. I think you would still have a chance. I mean, obviously your chances go down, but I think you'd have a chance. Whereas if you move on from Bejan and you're running somebody else out there, more than likely, you know, your season would be over in that situation.

You'd be looking at more like a guy who could just squeeze out a few games with and survive with. So I think that's the value that Bejan has for you. And by the way, the other part of this, I don't know what we talk enough about it. I don't think Tyson Bejian really wants to go anywhere. Now, if it's a perfect fit where he knows he can start and, you know, being a good position to have success, great.

But I don't, if you're Tyson-Basian, you want to spend one more year with Ben Johnson increasing your value, learning more about the game of football with one of the best offensive minds and getting better at the position, or do you want to go waste away in New York with a defensive head coach, you know, and Aaron Glenn and the Jets? Like I think that's a no-brainer if you're Tyson-Bajun to stay in Chicago. So I think that's part of this too. His pro dad, Ben Johnson? Yeah.

Well, and I would say, guys, I would say before Ben Johnson, I would not have agreed with what you're indicating, Adam, and that is that the bears could still be sustainable if they were to lose Caleb Williams just because of the arm strength and too many balls that were floated down the middle that I saw from Tyson Baygent, where I was like too many what felt like jump balls for everybody. But with Ben Johnson, that definitely changes the trajectory a little bit. as we talked to Adam Hogue here of CHGO and of Hogan Johns on Rahimi Harris and Grotie on the score. So Hogue, here we are with the bears having suddenly cap space and about $45 million in cap space. My question to you is we all know the big players, the big splash guys out there. What splash or splash is do you think, are realistic to think that the bears are going to make? Do they have to like, is there only going to be one splash at one position and the rest? best is sort of fill in with the rank and file players out there.

Well, first of all, I'm already on record saying it is possible to do the double splash with Tyler Linderbaum and Max Crosby. And, you know, I think now that once you saw the move last night with Trayne Evans and you realize how much cap space they had created with just a few moves, you kind of realize how flexible this thing can be. Now, I'm not saying that's what's going to happen. I'm just saying it can happen. You can make that work.

I would tend to believe that only one of those moves would happen. And then the smaller ones would be like, you know, say signing like an Alex Anzolone at linebacker to replace Tremaine Edmonds, who's a, you know, an older veteran, but has ties to both Dennis Allen in New Orleans and also Ben Johnson and in Detroit. Like that's a name I would keep an eye on, you know, just as a cheaper option at linebacker. But let's follow some breadcrumbs here. Let's like, let's back up a year, right?

So Ben Johnson comes in here. And what first thing that they do that they address right away is the interior of that offensive line. They go out and they trade for the best, in my opinion, the best guard in the game in Joe Tuny. Right. Then they go get a guy that Ben Johnson was very familiar with and Jonah Jackson was probably underrated and he delivered this year. Then they went out and they signed the number one center on the free agent market and

Drew Dolman. And we have a ton of evidence that we just witnessed in a really fun football. football season of how much of a difference that made for the Chicago Bears and how much their identity changed of front, how much all of that mattered. And then stunningly, Drew Dalman retires the other day. So in following these breadcrumbs, and I would also throw in what happened in Detroit this past year, right? Not only do they lose Ben Johnson, but they lose Frank Ragnall. They try to go younger at their guard positions. And statistically, if you're just to pull up the Lions offensive stats, it doesn't look like they took that big of a dip losing

Ben Johnson. You turn it on the tape, you watch their actual season, and you realize they lost a lot of that physicality and that identity and crucial moments of football games, which is why they missed the playoffs. So adding all that up, I'll ask you guys this. Do you think they're going to go cheap at center? They can't. I, are you kidding? The first thing I thought when they traded DJ Moore was that they were going to get Tyler Linderbom. Yeah, that's me wish casting. I'm okay with it. they also did their homework on Tyler Biotish the other day. He signed with a different team. Like I'm just adding all this up,

trying to use my own logic and covering this football team, you know, especially in the past year, but even beyond that. And I just, I'm not saying they're going to get Tyler Linderbaum because he's a free agent. He can sign with whoever he wants, right?

But I'll be shocked if they don't make a big run at him. And by the way, if you're Tyler Linderbom and you're looking at your options out there, aren't the Bears pretty appealing right now? Isn't this offensive, line and Caleb Williams and playing for Ben Johnson. If you're leaving the Baltimore Ravens, which has been a great place to be drafted and developed and play, very physical brand of football, they play. And you're saying, oh, I hit free agency. They didn't give me my fifth

year option. I have the, what are your options out there? To me, the bears in this offense would make a lot of sense. So that's just me following the breadcrumbs with all of this going on. I certainly won't be surprised if they spend big on Tyler Linderbaum, even though it's, it's it's going to be more expensive than Drew Dolman. I also think he's slightly better than Drew Dolman too, so he could be an upgrade. I mean, he's more mobile. You know, that's always kind of been a signature of his

as well. Adam, I would like to point this out that we followed up a conversation with you to our listeners where Marshall Harris had talked to you about breadcrumming. Do you remember that from a couple weeks ago? Yes, I do, actually. Different from following the breadcrumbs. And then I pointed out that Adam Hogue would never

breadcrum somebody. You wouldn't do that. But then I just did. No, you followed breadcrumbs. It's a different deal entirely. Oh, okay. It's different. It's a newer type of thing is what that is.

It's basically like leading somebody on with the least. You would never. Happily married man, father. Adam Hogue wouldn't do that type of thing. We know your character. So for the listener, just for the record, difference between following the breadcrumbs and our previous conversation about the act of breadcrumming

is a dating term for Adam Hogue. Got it. Carry on. Yeah, I've been happily married for 13 years and with my wife for, I think, 18. So I don't even dating is, I don't even know what the kids do anymore. Hug would never. It's all online, man. It's a ridiculous world out here that we live in.

I could go down a road of, this was a long time ago, but like going through Kevin Fishbane's dating apps back in Burbony. Again, like, this was a long time too. Just being fascinated by like, what is this thing even? I don't understand what's happening right. Oh, the possibilities are endless, I tell you. But what about safety? What about that? What about, just to get us out of this.

Kevin. We would have gotten out of it. I was just trying to point out the difference because Ray and I were laughing at the coincidence of the term being brought up in two different ways. I don't want a Hogue's wife like here. Why were you talking about dating today, honey? I mean, I don't want to get him in trouble. Because Hogue would ever do that.

I know he wouldn't. But you know how the world works. You know, they could take one little piece of what we're talking about here. So, yeah. We have taped, though. Yeah. Well, I know. Sorry, Adam.

Yeah, the full perspective is there. Yeah. I'm going to hit the eject button. Seriously, though. Like, are the chances of either Byrd or Brisker coming back better now as well? Or do you think Byrd was always going to come back or Brisker? We don't hear much about Brisker anymore, it feels like. Well, I, well, okay.

Well, okay, let's start with Brisker because I heard. last week and Andy got no indication that the bears were going to bring him back. And there seems to be an assumption, you know, just in NFL circles right now that he is going to be elsewhere. And I don't think that really surprises anybody. Now, I don't want to shut the door completely because I do think that there's questions about what his market would actually be out there, just given the concussion and the health history. So, you know, if he goes out there, he tests the market. And it turns out that he's not in the first wave of free agency, maybe not.

not even in the second wave of free agency. And all of a sudden, he's still sitting there in a really, you know, affordable place. And the bears, you know, are still weighing, you know, what they're going to do at safety. That's why I'm not completely closing the door, but sure, all signs points of brisker being elsewhere. Now, the buyer thing, I think is interesting because I think there's the opposite of that. The assumption is, you know, especially when you have the GM on record saying he wants to bring them back and, and the player on record saying he wants to come back, which he did when we talked to him in San Francisco at the Super Bowl.

You know, you would think that they would come to an agreement. Now, Johns and I reported, you know, in our post-combine piece on Monday that the market for him, it seems to be like between $8, $10 million a year. That certainly seemed doable. All these other moving pieces, though, right? The Drew Dalman thing, like you wonder, does that impact that a little bit? but I think it could, but they don't have any safety signed right now. You've got to have somebody.

I just think you already lost one big leader on your defense in Tremaine Edmins. To lose another one in Kevin Byard, I think would be rough. So my guess is they still find a way to make that work despite, you know, all these moving pieces that are going on right now. Adam, do you think that somebody else may be next when it comes to the Bears attrition here, you know, the savage offseason that's happening in a way where there have to be these business decisions made? well look i look there's certainly other guys that you could look at logically just looking at their

contracts um i think that the obvious the obvious ones are are are are gone though already like germane seemed to be like an obvious cut DJ if you could actually move that contract seemed like okay yeah you got to do that and obviously the bill stepped up and made that more than doable so that became kind of a no-brainer as well you know i think i i realized why Cole Comette's name comes up, I just really don't think that they're interested in losing Cole Comed at all. I think Ben Johnson loves Cole Comette. I think he's too important to the run game. He's proven time and time again. He can still step up and make big catches like he did in the playoff game to go to overtime. So I just think he's too valuable and he's also a leader in

that locker room. So I have been given no indication that that's a possibility. Now, do they try to extend him and move that cap number around. That's certainly a possibility. And then when it comes to DeAndre Swift, I look at that similarly, with the one exception of some, you know, sometimes guys get released or moved after the draft. Like, don't forget about that wave of free agency and roster movement as well. And the reason for that would be you draft somebody.

When the Bears drafted Kevin Jenkins, all of a sudden, they released Charles Leno that following Monday. So those things can happen sometimes. And I just, I think DeAndre Swift will be a bear this coming season. But you do look at that contract and you realize they could save more cap space if they were to move on from him. I think the only scenario that they would do that though would be if they end up drafting a running back, maybe the guy that Ben Johnson just loves false to them in the second round with one of these two picks now that they have. And then all of a sudden that allows you to spring somebody lose.

Again, I'm not predicting that. I just, those are the types of things you've got to keep in mind because it's not like all these moves happen in the next two weeks here in March. Sometimes they happen post draft as well. Spring to all fields with Adam Hogue. Thank you for your patience and your information. All right, guys. Always love talking. Have a great day.

Tell Carm, I said hi. Aw, Carm. Thanks, Adam. That was Adam Hogue. He is on the CHGO Bears podcast and the Hogan-John's podcast. You can check both of those out. And yes, Mark Kerman is a part of that coverage. Love it Tyson, Bejant.

his Bayesian alert meter went off when we were talking about Tyson Bayesian. He is the foremost authority. Do you know that about Mark Carmen? He has an internal antenna. I know he does report on Beijing quite a bit. They had him on their shows. They're best, like, they're friends. I love Tyson. It's no secret. That's not Mark Carmen. The Carm and the Baygent, they have a mutual bromance. It's not one way. It's not just Carm adoring Bayesian. It goes, and I get it. I adore Carm too. Seems that a little Jason Bajet has a lot of bromances when you consider how Ben Johnson talks about him.

Bro burpees. Burpees, bro. Burpees are good for you. They suck, but they're good for you. Flat out burpees is what they are. Suffer. Love a burpee. Build it on through suffering through burpees. Love it.

Love it all. Love it, love it all. Love it, Roehymy. We love Karm too. Love a Boutherbaugh. Love you, Karm.

We do love Karm. And same thing. Karm would not bread Karp, bread, bread, Karm is a, that dude. No, he is not that dude. He has a, he's in a very loving relationship as well. See, that's my point. Just like Adam Hogg. It's really just about me shouting out people's character right now. It was just getting a little uncomfortable in that little segment there.

I was just trying to point out that Hogue talking about following bread crumbs is not the same as breadcrummer because that was the previous convo. Because Ray and I both did the same thing, our ears perked up. That's hilarious. There's a clarification and then a compliment to Adam Hogue. You got it, Ray, huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Adam Hogue would never. That's right, man. Hogue, we believe in you, man. You're a good man and thorough.

See, that, is that taking it too far? All right, let's go to a commercial break before we get in trouble here on the score. I was too busy grinding my absolute face off. I love Tyson. Why have I asked my age-fat guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our aerodox. I knew I could trust him to change pop-pops. too while I was on vacation.

Make it quick, young man. Aw, see? Papa trusts you. I think we should call it doctor. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never

miss a call again. In just a few minutes, you can personalize your own AI receptionist to answer questions. questions, route calls, schedule appointments, and even send texts in multiple languages. Plus, it's easy to scale. Create unlimited AI receptionists across any phone system. It's all powered by one reliable platform for effortless AI communications. See for yourself at ringcentral.com. Ring Central, voice of your business.

Gone South has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens. Follow and listen to Gone South Season 5, wherever you get your show. goes. Rahimi Harris and Grody. Bears tight end. Cole Komet. Cole, welcome to the party, pal. Well, thanks for having me. I heard it was a big day.

So naturally, I dropped everything I had going on today. You've complained a lot through the years about not being able to hear the score on the 670 AM dial when you're inevitably cruising around downtown. And now that we have an FM signal, Cole, you can now hear the score all day, all the time, all you want. You can hear all the Bears hot takes you want. Well, that's perfect. I'll make sure I blast that in the locker room. Beautiful back!

Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's Tyndle 2 on 1043 The Score. You guys ever figure out if counting crows are good, Mark? I don't think I have a definitive answer. I do think it's a good question, though, because they are omnipresent. Like, the counting crows have always been there, had some really, like, fun, hit poppy songs. But yet they're a little bit more low-key than your average pop band. I still can't call it.

I don't know. I don't know if I like them. We just need to ask more people. Maybe a little older than Cole come at. Possibly. Yeah. Possibly. But, you know, what's old is new and all that kind of stuff.

That's true. People like that. Okay. For now on, for all of our guests, instead of talking about dating apps and whatnot, we will ask them. Are the county crows good? Are the county crows good? It's a good musical question, I think.

We did not ask Adam Hogue about. dating gaps. We were just pointing out the difference between following breadcrumbs and the act of breadcrumming someone. Oh, I'm not as... And the fact that the two were conversational to Hogue on our show amongst us. Oh, so you and Ray are way better at the breadcrum stuff. Like, I couldn't quite grasp it. But now I can't. We talk about it a lot on our breadcrumb podcast. Right after the Snuggle Puss podcast. Do we think, is Max Crosby breadcrumming the Bears? Is he leaving the door just wide enough? and giving hints to keep us still interested. I'm giving that 10 breadcrumbs.

Yes. Do you guys know that, of course, I give out bears? You do. Do you guys know that the, and I love this, the afternoon show, Spiglin-Hobes, they give out haluses, which is great, because there's so many haluses. They do a halis scale. That's really good. Interesting.

I like it. Should the halis scale face off with the bear scale? Well, look, the bear scale is all. always going to be the original. That's where people are going to go. But if you want an alternative, the Hallis scale is pretty hipster, man. An alternative scale. Yeah. We all got to have our scales. And now we have a breadcrum scale and a counting crow scale. We have the longtime Bill's Radio Network sideline reporter Sal Capaccio coming up at 1 o'clock. I wonder if he has a Bills scale. Does he give out Bills?

Bills. Grady claims he's the Buffalo version of him. No, I'm not that narcissistic. Ray said that. That was me. Oh, that was you. I put it in Grody's head. I think Grody said, yeah. It's living in Grody's head now. I actually had heard that previous and I don't, maybe it was Chris Emma, possibly Chris Emma, who I believe going on with Sal Capaccio today on his radio station as I did this morning

as well. But I think he's been a sideline reporter. He does report for the bills and he hosts a fewer days a week. So if that's not, not that it's great to be Mark Grody, but that sounds like, yeah, the Mark Grody of Buffalo. Who wouldn't want to be? more dirty bears. I got,

you know, we all got issues, man. We'll get to the bottom of this at one o'clock. Sell. In the meantime, we're talking to him,

of course, because of the DJ Moore trade. And we've talked about how the bears have depth at wide receiver. Or is it just receiver when you consider how Colcomette

and Colston Loveland are used in the offense? Colson Loveland led the bears in regular season receiving yards 713. DJ Moore right behind. him at 682, Romo Dunezay right behind him at 681.

Loveland played 16 games out of 17, DJ played all 17, Rome played 12 because he had an injury. Luther Burton had 15 games and got 652. So for people who have heard about this trade, who's the first name that pops up as who you think wide receiver 1 is going to be? Or do you think that the responsibilities fall to a tied end? but for me right now just because of his catches of consequence mark as you've liked to talk about yeah like if there's a weighted runs created plus when it comes to catches in football i think my guy's luther burden right now not to say that rome can't be that dude because we

did just talk about how ben johnson called rome caleb's blankie but it's hard to disagree with what luther burton did especially toward that latter half of the season Roma Dunesay led the bears in average yards per catch at 15. Luther Burton right behind him at 13.9. I think, it should be Roma Dunezay. It should be Roma Dunezay because of where he was drafted, what we know about him as a receiver, the coming in at the same time as Caleb.

Like that, that, like, do or die might be too strong for Rome going into this next season, but it's kind of a must-win season for Roma Dunezay. So I tend to still go with Rome as that guy. He was pissed off at the end of the season, for lack of a better phrase. He was mad that he dropped the pass in the end zone, which, again, he would not accept any excuses that I offered him. Was it a bad ball? Did he get tip? Nope, I got to make that catch. I was not there on locker cleanout day, but my partner on Take the North Dan Weeder was, and he said he was just lamenting, basically, still. And that's not Roma Dunesay. Like, Roma Dunesay, fun loving guy, always available, always smiling, always having fun. He got serious at the end of this year. He knows

what's at stake. He understands it. I think it's going to be Romadunesay, because I think he's going to be well-motivated. The drops he's have to go away. He's got to be healthy, and I think he will be. So while I love Luther Burden And I wouldn't be shocked if it was Luther Burden I do think it's still Romadunes Day. I think Roma Dunesay will be the Bears leading receiver next year. Do you think that it's by targets

or do you think it's by production? Because we know about Luther Burden's yards after the catch and yak and rack and how that might come into play here. Big time. Big time. I mean, the ferocity with which Luther Burden runs after he catches the ball is

something of beauty. Just got to make sure he catches the ball before he takes off and runs. But I think statistically, I think he, like yards or yards overall. I don't know about targets necessarily, but I think big play yards, you're going to see Roma Dunesay make, finally, finally make the jump, finally look like a number one wide receiver that they drafted in the first round. Lot at stake for Roma Dunes. I feel like going into next year.

So let's do a thought exercise. I mean, okay. Danny Parking. He loved thought exercise. I love them. Actually, we know exactly where you are. You're going to be on Fox Sports 1 later today. Oh, about that.

Mr. TV. Mr. Somebody's got to zip my fly, put on my tie. I mean, is that necessary groaning? You passed a pen to me, man. If you missed it on Tuesday, Danny said that when he puts on his suits, the belt is even already in the loops of the pants. So all he has to do is just zip up and button and that's it. He's got it really good.

Like I think they even pick him up for work. and drive him to work. That's pretty normal, though, right, for national TV and morning shows? Let's just get this straight. Okay. The whole wardrobe thing and the, it days like TV, blah, blah, blah.

No. That is, that is Danny's life as a national host at Fox in New York. Yeah, that's what I mean. Like, that's not TV. Just so we're clear. That's why I said national TV.

No, you did. Yeah. But Danny at the time was like, you know, TV, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Not all that. I got a driver. I told me, please be quiet.

I'm trying to focus, right? I'm trying to study. Please roll up the window. I don't want to talk to you or see you. Why did we just now find out about your Danny Parkins impression? Oh, I do it behind here a lot. We all do. We all do.

Everybody's got a Parkinson's. We do. But. Obviously. I say, getting back to you, Danny would appreciate the thought exercise. He invented the thought exercise. I'm pretty sure the hypothetical. existed before Danny.

He just coined the term. He said it a lot. I'm 37 years old, well-educated. I've been a little thought exercise for you. I'm poorly educated and I'm here too. So getting back to the concept of the hypothetical. All right. Do you trust Rome?

Put Romodunze's body in DJ Moore's body. Pretend that's Rome making the catch against the Packers on Saturday night. Yeah. December 21st, do you think it happens? Oh, would he have held on to the football? Is that what you're asking me? Yeah, because that's really what this is. It's kind of like the NBA.

Do you trust him to make the last shot? He did drop a ball in the end zone. So you're kind of putting me in a bad place here right now. And that's what makes me worry. Now, that doesn't always mean it's your leading receiver, but typically. But I think he could get better. Like, this will be his third year with Caleb Williams as well. Unless I'm not like, Roma Dunezay has not been bad.

He has been a productive receiver, but he has yet to live up to where he was drafted with the Bears and what they see in him. And I think Ben Johnson will probably look at him as the go. I mean, you've got to have one guy. I know that you want the even balance. There's got to be one guy, though, that is your go-to blankie, if I may. But, you know, the thing that made me say Luther is because there were times where on third down, like third and four, third and three, they'd be like, okay, wide receiver, open in the flat, go get the yards, Luther Burden. Totally.

On a third down. Totally. And like not inconsequential distance that he had to go, which means they're putting him on the spot and saying, we trust your ability so much. You're going to catch this ball at the line of scrimmage and move the chains. And that's why I think it's going to be him, because I think they would put him in that spot to use his physical abilities and be able to, even as a rookie to have that trust. And as a second year player, I feel like he might be the guy in those scenarios.

I am not discrediting Roman Dunes' ability. I thought that it was a dream that the Bears could even possibly get him when they drafted him. His career at Washington was incredible. And he did have a lot of at the time the Guaggi that Matt Spiegel speaks of, that go up and get it. But the drops that he had this season were pretty bad. and so he wasn't the only one by any means, was not the only one.

And he pushed himself too hard, I think, when it came to trying to come back from injury. So now that that is behind him, you know, how does he focus and try to get better at that very thing? Right. And I think that not that he wasn't properly motivated the last two years, it just gets different as you get older. The excuses are less. It's this is real. He's getting closer to his contract being over and eventually heading out into free agents. and getting paid and all that stuff is important. So year three for that receiver in this offense, I think is huge. I know we're talking about receivers here, but do you think that Luther Burden will lead the Bears in receiving next year?

Do you think Colson Loveland will have something to say about that? I think Colson Loveland might have something to say. Do you think he's the top guy? Because he was this year. It is. Yes, he was. I think it has to do with DJ. Not having DJ Moore changes the shape of the offense.

And don't forget how much. DJ blocked too. So I don't, I wonder if it even looks the same. You know, the formations and the plays they on. And this is why too, we can't get careless about the part where you got to replace DJ Moore in some way, shape, or form. Yeah, you can talk about those guys getting better. And it's logical to think that the guys on the roster will get better.

But there is something missing from the wide receivers room right now. There is a void left by DJ Moore. that cannot be filled by just any rank-and-file receiver. Precisely. He had value to your team to the tune of being its highest cap hit and A-A-V. That's for a reason. He also had value to another team who wants to continue to contend for Super Bowl. So that doesn't go away.

No, we haven't forgotten the fourth and seven. Fair enough. That's good. Yeah, the fourth and eight, yeah. That's good, yeah. And that's, no, and that's the point. Rome makes some great catches. There were some bad drops.

and some bad plays in that Rams game. Coming up next year on Rahimi Harris and Grady, it is time for halftime. Sometimes sinkholes are bad. Usually, I would say a good 99% of the time. Except for maybe this one. Next. Why have I asked my HVAC guy I found on Angie.com

to change my grandpa's tracheot tube? I was so amazed at how we replaced our aerodox. I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pops tube. I think we should call a doctor. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never miss a call again.

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Looking for something smart, soulful, and full of heart. I'm Jen Hatmaker, host of For the Love, the podcast where we talk about what really matters. Love and family, faith and purpose. Every week, I'm joined by incredible guests for honest conversations that invite all of us to live with more intention, more laughter, and more connection. Join us on For the Love wherever you get your podcast. It is halftime here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. And now that Tremaine Edwards is gone, and Drew Dalman is gone, and DJ Moore is gone,

Grady and I want to know who's next, what's next? The Bears have taken a defined direction when it comes to trying to free up cap space. So we're trying to figure out for what and for who. We haven't gotten to the fun part yet. And that's what we're embarking at. We were just talking about that, that all this elimination and californ. salary cap space is great. Now we start to talk about who's next.

That's right. And also, for the love of everything, it's not legal tampering. Those are two different things. That really bothers you, doesn't it? It does because it's silly. Legal tampering is not a thing. The negotiating period. Does that work? Yeah. That makes it make sense. Teams talk to other teams about teams get to talk to people.

That's what that is. So that's next week. And that's what Mark is referring to. We talked to Adam Hogue about the fallout from all of this and what he thinks could be next. And also because of the Gino Smith news, for example, could Tyson Bejan be on the move? The Bears said they took calls, so we discussed that too. And then who would be W.R.1 and the discussion between Roma Dunesay and Luther Burton. It's laptop. I love a good buried treasure story.

And I also observe what happens with sinkholes from time to time because they're scary. They can just pop up anywhere. I don't have an irrational fear, but I have a fear. Maybe a respect. They're scary. You've seen them. They just swallow up things. Oh, yeah.

Except for this, which makes it sound like somebody just may have had an engineering flaw. Massive sinkhole on golf course reveals hidden booze-filled cellar. Oh. Davy Holm Park Golf Club, located just west of Manchester, this is in England, is more than 110 years old. And seeing what the sinkhole revealed, it's a course that was either built on top of a rather impressive wine in

Portsdiller or one that was purposefully hidden. So they think they may have built the golf course on top of this thing. Which means this has been kept preserved for how long? Is there some good scotch down there? I bet. A nice brandy or something? It has to be, right? After a lengthy stretch of severe rain,

Greenskeepers discovered the appearance of a sinkhole on the 13th hole. The staff got to work around the issue and uncover the old seller stocked full of booze. In the video that they shared on their Instagram, the seller is believed to date back to the original manor house in which the club was built. So this is vast.

Like what, looking at the video, this is some, I mean, it's like a rich person seller. You know, we're not talking about one that's the size of the studio. This thing goes back a ways. So the club hasn't posted any updates or clips of staffers trying to get any of the booze found underground. But apparently it's over a hundred years. years old and was filled with historic

wine and port bottles. So maybe not the scotch, but wine and port. What's port? Like porth? Port. He's our assistant program. That's Parth. Port. Port. Is a type of wine, isn't it? I don't know. What's a port?

Port. Port. Port. Is a sweet fortified wine for Portugal's Dora Valley? Doesn't he play basketball? Port. Port? Yeah. Okay. It's a fortified sweet dessert wine from the Doro Valley in Portugal. Typically produced by adding grape spirit brandy

during fermentation to boost alcohol. Two, cut water levels, people. 19 to 22% ABV and retain natural sugars. Available in Ruby Fruit Forward and Tani. Aged and nutty. It is often served after dinner. Ah, so there was a plan to this cellar.

You know, have the wine first and then you serve at the port later. Ah, yes. A hundred years ago. El Port. El Port. El ports. I don't know if they do L in Portuguese.

Portuguese makes me feel like I am incapable of thinking. Have you ever tried to read Portuguese or listen to it or look at it? I have not, but I just adhere to Stewie Griffin.

No Portuguese, please. Randomly. Randomly one day. Tell that to Brazil. Oh, I think like if you are to to Google Stewie Griffin

and Portugal, there's a whole comment section that Stewie Griffin made it to with the people of port like, like just a random

shot at the Portuguese. Unbelievable. Yeah. It is a very complicated language. Is it? Yes. Okay.

The vowels all sound completely different from Spanish. Like Ray, have you heard Portuguese as a Spanish speaker?

Oh, I have heard it. It confuses the hell out of me. It is confusing for me, yes. I have always

heard, though, that the, the most difficult language because of all the weird stuff is English. English is bad because it was written down and stopped in its development way too early. And it is very hard to learn if you didn't speak English first. Yeah.

Yeah, the rules. There's a lot of rules that are not, you know, found in other languages that complicate matters. Are they trying to communicate? Are they hominems, words that are the same word that mean different things? Yeah, yeah. Like there's a ton of those in the English language. that we all take for granted. There and there, we know who you are.

Right. Like three different words or three different meanings for one word. Like, that's hard. And we know, and we've learned through the years, that is difficult for some of the people that call the radio station. Or usually texters. That too. Definitely Twitter.

You know your people on Twitter. It's usually the angry people. It's usually the attacks that come at us that somehow are always lacking grammar and vocabulary. But speaking of this, oh, okay, so 847 says, in Brazilian Portuguese. And I know I'm messing up the vowel pronunciation. I just know it. It would be Ovino do Porto.

So see, no L to be found in their hair. Ah, yeah, that is hard. I told you, it's confusing as hell language. Yeah. Like, I was listening to some banger of a song. That's some Portuguese song, and it's super popular. And I have no idea what they're saying. I have no idea what the words are.

And then when I read the lyrics, I'm like, that doesn't sound like what I'm reading. We need to have that at the Super Bowl halftime show next year. No. Confuse ever. And make everybody angry. It's not English. I.

That was my bad bunny impersonation. That's it. Go watch the Super Bowl show. That's the worst. I like the way he does that. It sounds cool. It's not a bad bad buddy. Not a bad bad buddy.

That's it. That's it. That's all I got. Aye. Like he does that. I'm from Texas. I like, you are cool, man. I like the way you say.

So this falls under the category of good sinkholes. Sinkhole at a golf course. It's a good sinkhole. Nobody appeared to be hurt, and it revealed ancient wine. Aye. Yeah, okay, so fake bad bunny improved. I'm working on it. What would Danny Parkins have to say about it?

I mean, it's like bad buddy, some people got mad about it. I don't really care because I live in this huge house and I wasn't watching the halftime show. I got two kids. I got this dog. I got this wife. I got this show. This dog. I got this dog.

Omar? Didn't he once try to trade? Oh, terribly enough. This is not aged well. He said he would have traded his dog Omar for, you ready for this, Cassie Carlson? Deshawn Watson. Let's see. Talk about not aging well.

No. No. So maybe we'll get Cassie's reaction to that. But also five on it. And then Cassie, we need to talk about some of the pivotal conversation she had last week at the combine with the Bears brass. Ben Johnson, Jeff King, Ryan Poles. and how that really sheds a light on what we've seen this week. So Fox 32's Cassie Carlson, in studio with us for the next hour.

Next. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never miss a call again. In just a few minutes, you can personalize your own AI receptionist to answer questions, route calls, schedule appointments, and even send texts in multiple languages. Plus, it's easy to scale. Create unlimited AI receptionists across any phone system.

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