Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Bears release linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — what's next? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: March 6, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote opened their show by reacting to the Bears’ release of linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, which freed up about $15 million in salary cap space to use as free agency looms. After that, they wondered if the Bears considered trading receiver DJ Moore in the middle of last season. On Thursday, the Bears agreed to trade Moore to the Bills for a second-round pick.

This hour is brought to you by Cards for Kids. The views and opinions of Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies, literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi Harrison Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Gay thanks. Bye.

Rahimi Harrison Grody. 10 to 2 on 104 3. The score. Adam Schafter reporting that DJ Moore is being traded to the Buffalo Bills that will be activated when the league. year begins on March 11th. What? I feel like this goes back to what Ryan Poles alluded to at the combine, Mark, and he did it again at the season-ending press conference prior to that. We were suspicious of this.

Our ears perked when we heard him talk about tough decisions that he had to make. Now we find out what those decisions were. I don't think you're good at making tough decisions. You don't leave the door open the way Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson, to a lesser degree, did on the final day at Hallis Hall this is a perfect destination for him and Josh Allen

on the fake boy Does it please you? I mean is that some fun dude? It doesn't please me but it's good to see good to hear him out there doing that and that means he's doing growth. How gratifying is it when you win that battle and get the football thrown to you?

What? Did you need a game like that? Did I need a game? Yeah. For what? Just in terms of all of us talking about the lack of targets that you've had relative to past years? I mean, if you say so, will it shut y'all up? Perhaps. It ain't going to shut y'all up.

This season was special for the 2025 Bears because RIP Virginia, but we went out there and made some moments this year, and it was special moments, and we can't look forward to causing havoc to the league next year. That was a really good bear. He was a, that's the category. He wasn't great with the bears. but he was a really good Chicago bear. That end of the day is after Packers.

Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. You can say that again, DJ. Great tribute. Tyler Beaterbaugh. Nicely done. One day, almost 24 hours after the news broke on our show about DJ Moore. That was about 1045. This is Rahimi.

Harris and Grotie on 143 The Score. We thank you for joining us on this Friday. He can't shut me up, DJ Moore. No, we're going to be flapping gums for another four hours today. And you just never know what is going to happen in this wild week on Rahimi, Harris, and Grotie as we sit in studio in downtown Chicago with the darkness covering downtown Chicago right now. It is, my goodness, it got bad quickly. But I like it.

I like it when it's dark when we can't be outside. playing. So this is perfect. Yeah, this is, these are dark skies to stay out, stay dry out there, my friends. Yes. When it comes to the Bears, not only did we get the news yesterday about DJ Moore, but on top of it was news about Tremaine Edmins, which I think a lot of us expected to happen. Tremaine Edmins gets released. We understand that is a $15 million savings in salary cap money for the Bears.

and I think what we have now is a defined direction. When we saw players that we thought might get traded, DJ was on our minds, we've thought about it. It was something that we thought could happen from a roster standpoint when it came to where the Bears had a lot of depth, quality depth at that. Would the fact that he was the highest paid player a $28.5 million cap hit, bills had to pick up $24.5 million of his salary? would that cause the bears to have to do something different? The only thing I think that we ask that we won't get an answer to is how much did they have to pivot from their original plan? Because we don't know the original plan.

When Drew Dalman's retirement became a possibility for them and became, it's not officially official, but when that's out there, you know, we've talked about it. So when Drew Dalman now is somebody you have to replace and you, you know that you've you spent a lot of money last year on the pass rush and that's something you have to improve and you still need a left tackle. I think it's safe to say who's next? Like could they make another move where somebody we expect to see on this team may no longer be here? Yeah. I mean there's no reason for us to sit here and say no. We're not going to see more action even today just because of what's been going on in the names that have been thrown out there. We know that the vulnerable Bears play on the roster right now. Like if you want to go through the list,

you just talked about Tremaine Edmonds. There is Cole Comette. There is D'Andre Swift. Right. If, you know, they might be done clearing cap space, but those are the guys that you would look to still. If they were to make more moves, there is the possibility still of restructuring.

The only restructuring candidates that I jotted down, and this was from the Kevin Fishbane article, who laid it all out really nicely and digestible for everybody. The only thing that's left on the board, because so much has changed since then, would be a Joe Tooney Jonah Jackson restructuring, which would create another $14 million in cap space. But you certainly can't depend on that from those players if they don't want to accept that, especially Tooney at this point. Well, yeah, that would be the second year in a row that Tuny had had some sort of extension slash restructure. So that that would probably be significant.

But I think it's safe to say now that the two players who I wondered about whether or not they were going to be here despite their production are no longer bears plus the sudden retirement of Drew Dalman. I think it's safe to say that nobody's safe. Nobody is safe. And the good news is, and boy, has this ever, have we talked about the, this might be the most I remember ever discussing the salary cap in a bear's off season. It's always pertinent. It's always something worth keeping an eye on. But we're all counting together right now. And with the moves that the bears have made, they are up to around $44 million in cap space right now. And with the latest being, and you mentioned him, Tremaine Edmonds, that created right there.

And we've been talking about it all along, creates $15 million, or created now $15 million in cap space. And I look at Tremaine Edmonds' career with the Bears. I say it as steady, if not spectacular. probably you probably wanted more out of Tremaine Edmonds in the four-year $72 million contract, especially because he replaced essentially an incredibly popular and productive player and Roquan Smith. He had his best year for the Bears' past year, even though he played in his fewest games last year,

12 or 13 games relative to the 14 to 17 that he had played in the previous year. So he will be missed, but he is replaceable. I think it's the same thing with DJ Moore. He will be missed, but he is replaceable. And we'll get into that topic a little bit later on. But these are tough moves. But when you get past the initial hit, the initial jarring of these guys, you're like, okay, it all makes sense. But as you open the show, Leila, now what?

What's you going to do with that money? What is your priority? We know the positions that have to be filled. And I don't even think you even mentioned the fact that the safety portion of this, now comes back into view a little bit. Like I had put, honestly, Leila, I had put Kevin Beyer and Jaquan Brisker out of my mind. I thought that they were going to have to go a cheaper route with that position, period. But now I think you can look at those two guys.

I still think you have to choose one between Kevin Byard, who's probably going to command between $8 and $10 million per year. Well, Brisker could be getting something similar. You know, I saw three years and $30 million for him. but that puts everything back in play in the linebacker position as well. Well, and not just that, Mark, but we now are in a space where we are seeing what Ryan Poles does when he has to make cap space work with his guys. You know, we didn't have Ryan Poles doing this earlier in his time with the Bears.

He was whether or not you want to admit it trying to take. He didn't want to call it a rebuild, but it was a rebuild. Byron Pringle. Nikiel Harry. we'll do it again today if we want. There are many. Nate Davis. So the point is.

Lucas Patrick. Exactly. Should we stop now? No. No, keep it going. Stop now, boys. But that's it. You traded Roquan Smith.

You got that pick. You used it on Chase Claypool. We'll keep it going. Chase Claypool. Loves football. Doesn't like. Likes to fight. Do you remember who he fought on the sidelines?

This is kind of in the background, but the big fight that he had that we're all going crazy over. in on field one out at Hallis Halleke Stevenson. Tyreek Stevenson, him were not playing well together. Did Tyreek win? No. No, I think that that would be Chase Claypool, considerably larger man than Tyreek Stevenson.

But ultimately did Tyreek win? Ultimately, Tyreek won. Well then. Yeah, he got to continue on being a bear because he wasn't horrible at his job. Lost the battle, won the war. Yeah, he had some bad moments, Tyreek Stevenson, but he wasn't a bad player like Chase Claypool turned out. to be. The fact that those two got into it. But that's it. So those were the players that we talked about

outside of the usual, you know, Justin Fields and the like. That's who we talked about in the early times of the Brian Poles era. Now that he's on an extension, he has to also start cleaning up some of the cap hits that he created. Absolutely. So these are his guys that he's having to part with. And I think that that's a big part of this as well. Number one, I was always of the impression. And This is a lesson that Dave Wonstadt taught us that whenever a new head coach comes in, other regimes in the NFL would pay attention because they would want to see, could that free up somebody who has talent who just maybe isn't a fit for that particular scheme? And that always led me to wonder about some of the existing guys who he knew.

There would be some tough decisions made. They just weren't made in the first part. They weren't made in that first season. But I think with Ben Johnson's scheme, you knew that probably some of these good players might not be the ones who were ultimately a fit for what Ben Johnson wanted to do. And we now see either because of cap, depth, maybe how you view your offense, maybe because of just the structure of your contract, we're starting to see now, I think, that new staff decide who they think is valuable and who they think is somebody who can, if they're gone,

would that help the team more? They're starting to really put their thumbprint, their identity. the team and Ben Johnson got to do more of that last year than Dennis Allen did. But now he's got to do the replacement parts. I guess that's where I'll start in terms of who's next. And I would start with that center position for people. I don't know if you mentioned it yet, but Tyler Beattish, the center, who a lot of people were thinking about is the consolation prize to Tyler Linderbaum,

to the Chargers, three years and $30 million. Take him off the board. Linderbom's still in play. command between $20 and $25 million per year, maybe a four-year, $80 million deal, something like that. So it would be a huge, big deal. But we know that that's a legitimate, excellent product. I remember him at the Combine a few years ago and kind of being like small guy.

Like you don't think of offensive linemen, but the smaller, quicker, more athletic type of offensive linemen, who obviously would be great here. You have Connor McGovern as well. If Buffalo indeed does decide to let him go and all signs point towards that, Connor McGovern was a pro bowler in 2024. The guy's 28 years old. Has started 49 games over three years in Buffalo. He plays guard too.

It played an entire season at Guard as well. So that is not a bad product either. But that's where I start, Leila. I start with that center position. Get that right. Don't mess with it because at the end of the day, with all that we're talking about, it's still Caleb Williams, right?

It's still about making sure that this rising quarterback is completely comfortable again because he is the guy who can help you play through any of the holes that you might have on your team if he turns out to be a great quarterback. That's it. When you have confidence in your head coach and you have built trust in your quarterback,

Brian Pulse says he still wants to see some more before he wants to extend him. Because he should. I get that completely. But when that's there, it makes everything else look more comfortably fluid. And when you understand that, I think that that helps you fill in the gaps a little bit easier. So Brad Biggs brought up a name when he was on Mullian Hall this morning as to who could possibly be next. And my priority has become center, number one.

That's mine. But Brad Biggs, as we know, is plugged in. And he also brought up who could be next for the Bears acquiring. Focus has been in the trenches, which is a good thing. right. Left tackle, center, edge. You guys could probably have full phone lines until Monday regarding Max Crosby. Let's talk a little bit about defensive tackle, which is something that isn't as sexy, is certainly not gotten nearly as much attention. I think some people are almost outright ignoring it. They were 27th in the league against the run last year.

They've got two defensive tackles under contract right now, Javon Dex's. and Grady Jarrett. Somehow, some way, before the draft, I think they've got to supplement that position. I believe, you know, if they don't get kind of a named player there, it's going to have to be a consideration for a high pick in the draft because they need more depth there

on the interior of the defensive line, and they need improved production, as well. And I realize that steers the conversation, at least briefly away from Max and Tyler Linderbaum and whatever else. But just look at the depth chart of guys that are being paid right now for 2026 and think about defensive tackle a little bit. So, Brad, in strongly advising us not to ignore the defensive tackle position,

are you actively encouraging us to ignore the pursuit of Max Crosby or Tyler Linderbaum for the Bears? Do you think either one of those or both are underwent? realistic? Do you think that's a fool's errand to keep an eye on that situation and keep refreshing Twitter all day to find out if there's any kind of move? No, I don't. I think the Bears should stay involved on everything. Be aware of everything. Keep an eye on. What's the price? You know, where is the market at? And I don't know that anybody can answer that clearly at this point. I'm just pointing out that defensive tackle hasn't

gotten a lot of conversation. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's one among the first couple moves they make when things can get rolling next week is bringing in a defensive tackle. And I don't have any intel, but what is their evaluation of Jonathan Allen, right? Who is going to be, has either already been released by the Vikings or has been told he will be released by the Vikings. I believe that's a situation where he's got guaranteed money on the books for this season that Minnesota will owe him.

So there's at least some offset potentially involved there. Listen, does he solve your situation deep into the future? No. Is he a pretty good pro? Yes. But again, I don't know what their evaluation of Allen is. but I do know they've got to get better there. And then Brad Biggs on the score with Mully and Haugh here on Rehemi Harrison Grotie.

He said and I thought there was another thought there. It was very empty feeling. Yeah. Brad Biggs leaving me on a cliffhanger. But I highly recommend you go back and listen to what Brad Biggs had to say to our morning show, Mully and Ha you can do that on the rewind feature on our Odyssey app. In the meantime, Jonathan Allen is one of many players the Vikings may have to part with. And yes, the report is that they are going to have to because they're still, as of like right now, and this is over the cap, updating their salary cap space every day from what I can tell.

So according to over the cap now, the bears are $8.1 million under. God, isn't that nice? You'd think it would be more. Is it wrong that I... No, you're right, especially after the $45 million savings recently. And the DJ Moore move only freed up 16 and a half. Keep it common. according to everybody who works on that.

So over the cap, that was their figure. The Vikings, though, are still in salary cap. Hell, $46.6.75 million over the cap. The Cowboys have somehow managed to get under the cap, but I think it's because Dak Prescott's contract goes into like 2097. I joke about it. But no, they did restructure it, and that freed up $47 million or something wild. It was two players, including DAC.

so that made it make sense. But the Vikings are now number one with a bullet at 46.6.675 over. So Jonathan Allen may be somebody who is going to, not only is he going to part ways with the Vikings, but that's an excellent question is, is he somebody who the bears would look into when it comes to a possibility at defensive tackle? I still maintain perhaps stupidly, Mark,

this is an excellent class. for defensive lineman in the draft. Could you get somebody in the draft that would make it easier? Knowing you signed Montess Wet to that big deal, knowing you signed Grady, Jared, and Dio O'Danebo to big contracts as well. They say it's a very rich class. If you look at the mock drafts, there's enough there to think.

There could be somebody for the Bears at 25. Yeah, that's possible. I do like the sure thing veteran. Jonathan Allen right now, 31 years old, three and a half sacks last year, 68 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits. I said the three and a half sacks as well. This is still a really good product. It's hilarious. I mean, he signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings on March 11, 2025. Yeah. And now they cannot afford him anymore. So I would tend towards the

assurity of the position, a veteran, then the draft, you know, and some of the research that I have done. And I know what you said. Like, I've been hearing the same thing, that that defensive edge and defensive lineman pretty good draft this year. But there's been good drafts in the past 10 years for those positions. And I went through all the defensive ends, all the defensive linemen over the last 10 years. There's just not a ton of hits in the 20s, from 20 to 32. Like, there's not a lot of guys that you could look at. And at some point in time, we will go through this. Yeah, you did a lot of research on this.

You put a lot of time into it. It's Evergreens, which means we can do it any time before the April draft, and we will eventually, but I can just tell you off the top of my head, there are not a lot of hits that have occurred over the past years. And this could be the extraordinary year. This could be the exception to the rule. Everybody could be right that this is the strongest draft, and I could be wrong.

But in my research, there has not been a ton of value from 20 to 30. for defensive line and defensive edge over the last decade. But also, do you think that the Bears thought they were getting their version of Jonathan Allen when they signed Grady Jarrett? Or when they... Their version. Yeah, you're right. You're right. And to a much different degree to Shamar Turner.

They did trap Shamar Turner. That was a second round pick last year. Because they've already moved from tackle to end. Right, which is fine. So you have, I mean, and that's part of it too. The bears, we talked about it, Diodangbo. They're depending on some of the guys that they either put assets into or paid money to to be better and start to sprout and be more productive with the team. We've also got some NFL news, some buzz, some rumors headed our way about our favorite non-bear.

So we'll let you know about those coming up next. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 104-3 The Score. We broadcast live from our scores Hyundai Studios brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. Ray Diaz, Tyler Buterbaugh and Brandon Friar are our producers. You can call us and text us at 312-644-67-67. You can also join us on Twitch and YouTube. The address is the same, but it has changed. We are at the score Chicago.

So Twitch.tv slash TheScore Chicago is where you can chat with our Twitch mob. They're having a lovely conversation there right now. Our video team is Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis, Cody Westerland, runs our website as well. So let's do some of the buzz. Let's talk about some of the buzz surrounding our favorite non- bears that we talk about. Non- bears. Non- bears.

And then also, I think we need to get into part of the timeline regarding DJ Moore. Dave Wanstead may have closed a gap for us on a question we had during the season. So we'll do that next. Did you need a game like that? Did I need a game? Yeah. For what? Just in terms of all of us talking about the lack of targets that you've had relative

the past years? I mean, if you say so, will it shut you all up? Perhaps. It ain't going to shut y'all up. I mean, it felt good. Always good to score at home, especially twice. And this time, I'm not going to get fine. So, I'm good.

Hold on. Who in there? said not likely in the background. Was that Chris Emma? Did you hear that? That doesn't sound like an Emma thing. Did you need a game like that? Did I need a game?

Yeah. Listen. Just in terms of all of us talking about the lack of targets that you've had relative the past years? I mean, if you say so, will it shut y'all up? Perhaps. It ain't going to shut y'all up. Leisure.

Leisure. Leisure. Leisure. Yeah. They have similar voice. Yes. On second listen, that is leisure. By the way, that was right.

He needed it because the two previous games, somebody can go back and look, but that's what we were all like, where's the targets? Where's D? Where are you at? What's going on? So, you know. Well, that's it. Is that you started to see, like,

Olin says the phrase, The Tape will tell you. And I believe he is correct when it comes to the tape will tell you. So during the season, when we saw, for example, that on the 16th of November, DJ Moore was targeted a mere three times against the Vikings. In a 19 to 17 win, you're asking yourself, what's happening here? Why isn't he being seen more? There's a lot of ball to go around.

The yards in 2025 for the regular season for the Bears showed you a lot of ball went around to a lot of people. that's how it should be. The Ben Johnson Playbook schemes a lot of people open. It's good. It's good that you have the conversation that naturally there's a lot of people open. You can go to many different people on a play, how it should be. But that was the red flag for a lot of us, I think, when we realized how few times DJ Moore was being targeted. The game before that against a Giants team with a terrible defense, 2420 win, and DJ Moore was only targeted four times.

And that's when you start to understand. and ask the question, is he a fit for this offense? So keep that in mind when you listen to what Dave Wonstadt said to Spiegel and Holmes yesterday. I thought that DJ Moore would have had the possibility of being traded before the trade deadline during the middle of the season. And, you know, when you trade a player, and this is a heck of a deal by Ryan Poles, because any player can be traded. but the key is what are you going to get in return? Are you getting real value back for what he's worth? And to get a second round pick,

and I know they've got to give up a fifth or something, but you're getting a second round pick. You are getting a starter. Okay, so you're trading a starter away, and you're getting one. And I think that Ben Johnson has proven that he will throw the ball to the open guy. you know i mean all you can do is look at last year with you know with with with colson being our top receiver the confidence that we had in him and then obviously luther burton there was no

hesitation about him and throwing the ball how about walker we were all scrambling when he catches that touchdown pass uh to beat the packers we were all reaching for our depth chart to find out who the guy was so the point that i'm making is that this is not a coaching staff or a head coached that says, I'm only going to throw the ball to my pro bowl receiver, and we're going to move him around and we're going to force feed him the ball. That's not the philosophy here. So I really like it. Here's a part of this. So I mentioned that was on the 16th that DJ had only three targets against Minnesota.

The ninth he had four. The trade deadline was on November 4th. So that would have been after the trade deadline. but when Coach Wonstead says that, there's probably a reason. Yeah, he might have some background on that. You know, he might be talking to people. He might have had some indication. And it's possible that the Bears were trying to trade DJ Moore at the trade deadline,

and they couldn't get what they wanted. They couldn't get that second round pick. Maybe they were offered the mid-round pick, which was initially reported yesterday for DJ Moore. So, yeah, I could see where, There's a little bit of smoke right there. But, man, think about the butterfly effect, I guess, as they say. If he had not been with the Bears towards the end of the season,

do they still win the Green Bay game? Do they, does something different happen against the Rams because of that final play? Is Caleb Williams more appropriately checking down in that spot? Who's running the route right there? So it's interesting to think about what would have happened in this season if D.J. Moore had been traded in season. Right. And D.J. Moore couldn't target himself. That's the part I always want to reiterate. Yeah. DJ Moore has to depend on somebody else throwing him the ball. And after that, I think we started to see him scheme differently. We started to see him be available on the perimeters more because Caleb Williams had to roll out. We know that Caleb Williams rolled out to his right often.

There were plays where you could see a defined run across the formation type of role for DJ because he's a good runner that led to him being open more. But I'm going to offer you this thought as well. If the bills hadn't lost in a very emotional way to the Jaguars or beating the Jaguars but then lost in a very emotional way in their next game, you know, would that be something that would stick with them? You know, when you think about that 33 to 30 overtime loss to the Broncos where guys are tearing up in the loss. locker room. And frankly, yeah, the three-point game against the Jaguars, that was not cut and dried. But if they hadn't had that emotional loss, you know, would they be in the position that they were in where they may have upped the value of getting a receiver who Josh Allen could trust

more in a game? Well, they can't mess around in Buffalo. And, of course, they've taken a lot of swings at veteran receivers and they just have to keep on doing it because you have the quarterback. You can't waste it. And they've gotten, obviously, the Buffalo Bills have gotten very close to the Super Bowl and winning a Super Bowl. So they've got to keep taking swings no matter what it is. I was on Buffalo Radio today, and I got the feeling from the two hosts that at least that show that I was on today,

they weren't completely sold on the deal. They weren't completely, they were looking for me to sell DJ more to them. And as they said, after I got off the air with them, they feel a little bit better about DJ Moore now. but they weren't completely sold on it. I think it's a really, honestly, I'm not just saying this, I think it's a really good deal on the surface for both teams. You couldn't have asked for more than a second round pick for the bear. That is perfect.

The Bears got the right draft pick, and they don't know it yet in Buffalo because they're just looking at it from a distance. That's going to be a good connection, Josh Allen and DJ Moore. DJ Moore with a veteran, great quarterback. seems like the quintessential fit for that player. No funny stuff. No development. No rolling of the eyes.

No crazy coach. He's got his old offensive coordinator there. That's going to be a comfortable place for DJ Moore. He might be headed for his most productive years of his career, I think, in Buffalo. I agree with you. And after eight NFL seasons, that's pretty impressive. It is. He's reunited with his former offensive coordinator.

It's huge. Who's now the head coach. And he loves them. He's on tape before this, raving about the creativity of him. Yeah, and I think that's important. And him is Joe Brady, by the way. Yeah, Joe Brady. And I think it's important to point out it's about fits a lot of the time.

You can be a talented player. And if you're not in the system that puts you at your best 100% self, what's the value going to be? So I think that that's something where perhaps we're looking at his value differently because he wasn't the same once the bears had a lot more options. But that's also because maybe the offense changed enough to where it was just not going to be the same for him. It's okay. Both can be true. But I think that for Josh Allen, this is a great deal.

And I understand why, because it's a second round pick that Buffalo gave up, why they think because of the salary as well, why fans think it might have been an overpay. but based on how Joe Brady values him, I think that that's really kind of the intangible in all of this. Absolutely. And then what you're saying about DJ Moore and spreading the ball out, which, as you said correctly, is a good thing. You want lots again.

The Bears had three receivers this year who had 600 yards or more. Colston Lovellum was the only one over 700 yards. It has been my theory. I said it here. I said it on our late night recording of Take the North last night. There is a natural thing that occurs when you have. the new quarterback, you had the new wide receiver in Roma Dunesay,

you add Luther Bird and Colson 11th. This is the, that's the new class coming in, you know? And it's not like they're avoiding DJ Moore, but it would make sense on the surface to really highlight the young guys that you know are going to be around for the next five years or so

ideally to grow with those guys. There may have been, I don't even know if this is the right word, some favoritism towards those younger guys over DJ Moore because Caleb wanted to grow with those guys. Well, and you know what? Opposing teams are going to key in on your blankies,

and they're going to try to prevent you from throwing to them. Your blankies. So it's one thing for us to talk about it. Ben Johnson used that phrase for Rome. He called him as blankie. I guess he did, didn't he? I was giving you full credit for that, but yeah, I guess that was Ben Johnson.

That is definitely Ben Johnson, but I have used that phrase for wide receivers before. But he called him as blankie. So I'm just picking up where head coach left off. This is Blanky. Oh, yeah. See? I can't possibly remember everything Ben Johnson says.

I can't possibly. It was just, it was cute. And I also call receivers Blanky. That's adorbs. That is adorable. I had a pillowcase growing up instead of a Blanky. Aw. When you were just a baby?

Yes. And apparently I told my mother in some sort of informative discussion that when I had lost it, I had deduced to had gone to the moon. What that, it had, oh, you did. You did you like that somehow? That was my rational assumption. Did you, were you comfortable with it? that?

I guess. I don't know. As long as it's on the moon and nobody else has it, I'm good with it. If nobody else could have had him, then it's okay. I would not have traded him to the bills. That would have been the case. I like that for like tiers of receivers. If they're good, it's your blankie.

If they're like kind of mid, then that's your pillowcase. Who would you guys say? Who was his blankie? Who was Caleb Williams's number one blankie this year? And running backs included. I sarcastically offered a lobby dez a keys. There was a short brief period where he was catching passes. little window he caught passes for a couple games.

Low key, ready for this? The first drive of the Vikings game. Drew Dalman. That was his blankie. No. I know. Why do you have to do that? Because I want to create drama. You are. You're pot stirring right now. That's right. Hey, an update on Max Crosby, because we do this. The Cowboys and the Ravens, according to our friend James Palmer, are two of the teams who come up the most when asking around. They're also both aware of one another.

I'd say so. They're also both aware that there are other. teams to varying degrees, specifically to others. Well, well, well, do we have a mystery team situation? I hate mystery teams, man. Bears. Also, this according to NFL, Fox Sports, NFL and Fox, the Raiders are releasing Gino Smith per multiple reports. Wow.

Okay. The fall, the rise, the fall of Gino Smith. Yeah. Wait, rise, college, fall, early, jets. Rise. Seahawks. Seahawks. Fall. Boy, the Gino-Smith career. I'd read his book. I would too, actually.

Coming up next year on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, do we have a psychic among us? You might be surprised at who it is. Next. Lela Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, Rahimi Harrison Grody on 1043, The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score.

And, you know, first there was psychic Steve Stone. You remember psychic Steve Stone. He was calling everything and anything. He still does in game. I was going to say, does it, still does it. Yes. And with the advent of baseball coming back, Steve Stone will get the chance to be psychic yet again. I love Steve Stone.

We all do. So shout out to Stoney. Shout out to psychic Steve Stone. There's a slider that didn't slide. That also happens in life. we may have somebody joining the ranks though Clay Harbor makes a lot of predictions he talks about a lot of possibilities every day

both here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie and Mully and Haw but also on the big pro football show on CSN listen to his calls in January with us on what he thought the top three moves the bears needed to make in the offseason were the first one is we're getting out our scissors you know how we're getting on our scissors

we're cutting somebody snip snip okay this guy guarantees are done. Tremaine Edmins. I'm not saying I dislike him as a player. I'm not saying he is a bad football player. Tremaine Edmins. But what Tremaine Edmins is, third

highest paid offball linebacker in the national football league. Offball. Right? He's 37th and overall grade. 55th in coverage grade. 29th and mistackle percentage. Forty-fifth and catch percentage allowed. Everything you look at when I watch his tape,

I think he's fine. But is that much better than a guy you can get for half the price? No. So my thought process here is if you cut him, you can sign a guy that can do his job for less. You're over the cap already. You need some other positions, maybe a little bit more. You still got T.J. Edwards. Hopefully coming back healthy. So Tremaine Edmonds, Marshall, Grotie, getting cut. Number two, trade somebody. We're going to trade DJ more. What's? Okay? Okay. I love, like I said, I love big play DJ. I think he's excellent the way he goes out there and gives everything. I know there's been a lot of speculation at last play,

whatever. This guy did a good job of buying into the system. He is the 13th highest paid wide receiver. He's making $28 million a year. He was 50th in NFL and receiving yards, 26 in TDs, 25th in pass rating when targeted. To me, you can find another receiver that can contribute for a lot less money than what you're paying DJ more. And right now, DJ Moore, arguably, you got Roma Dunzei, Luther Burden coming on strong. Look at the end of season. Luther Burton, Colson Loveland, Cole Cometts still under contract. You got all these players. I'm not saying DJ's a bad player.

You're over the cap. I think you need help in some other positions. You got some playmakers to wide receiver. you can sign another guy to back Rome and Luther and Colston and these guys up. But DJ, if you trade him, you get off the books. Post June 2nd, you get off the books for his salary. You're probably not going to get much. It's kind of like the Amari Cooper deal when they traded him.

He got like a fourth round pick. And everybody's like, wait, Amari Cooper with a fourth round pick? They got away from $20-something million. So, Marshall, Grody, trade DJ Moore. I think the Bears should sign. Trey Hendrickson. Former teammate of mine, former teammate of Dennis Allen.

He was there when I was in New Orleans when we drafted this guy. So was Dennis Allen. Trey Hendrickson. He's a hard worker. You go back to 2024. He led the league in sacks, fourth and hits, fourth in hurries. Last year, only played in seven games, had a hip issue.

Fifth and pass rush grade when he played. Fifth and pass rush win percentage when he played. ninth in pressure percentage when he played. Right. I go back and watch a tape. He's still got it. He's got a quick first step. He's still strong.

He's still physical. He is still master's level pass rusher, right? Some of these guys are playing checkers. He's playing chess. But what I want to make sure, medical's check out, you bring him in on the free agent visit. Everything looks good. You say his hip's okay? This guy can still play some ball.

Give him a look. What the hell? Well, so does this mean that Trey Hendrickson is coming to the bears? Okay, so to reiterate, that was Clay in January. Clay Harbor.

So he hits on not one but two things. Mm-hmm. And I get that the Tremaine Edmund's concept was probably staring everybody in the face. Yeah, that was out there. However, T.J. Edwards is hurt. He broke his leg.

That's a problem. No, Sewell has an Achilles. and T.J. Edwards was still your most productive linebacker with 112 tackles in the regular season despite missing four games. So it wasn't like it was so cut and dried, but the money is the money. And what is by number one rule? You follow the money. And that's exactly what Clay did. Snip, snip. Clay called it.

I was just looking at the latest like Trey Hendrickson rumors or writings. And there are, according to CBS Sports, an article that was a, from a couple of hours ago. The three top suitors right now, or likely candidates, would be the 49ers, the Patriots, and the Titans.

I don't see the Bears on this particular story. But if we're going to, we're going to praise Clay Harbor for being a psychic, which he might be, then Trey Hendrickson is coming to the Bears. Let's play battleship with Clay Harbor. That is the one true way to test if somebody is psychic. And then we'll know.

Sink is battleship? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Explain that one to me. Well, because you have to guess coordinates. Oh. Yeah. I don't know my battleship rules.

I think you'll enjoy it as a test of psychic powers. Okay. We also want to tell people that our thoughts right now are with our friend Kevin Harlan and also Brian Harlan because their father passed away at the age of 89. The news came down yesterday. The former Packers president, Hall of Famer Bob Harlan died at the age of 89. And Bob was a long time part of the Packers organization, as we know.

He also, I think, helped shape a lot of the NFL and his influence. I think his legacy through his family is part of what we celebrate on this station. It's part of what we celebrate in Chicago sports when it comes to how his family has affected Chicago sports here in town. Some of the personalities we know and love. and also Kevin as well, and what he's meant just being able to converse with him and have fun with him and have his calls be a part of our lives. And Brian Harlan, too, who used to work for the Bears now is an agent who a lot of people around here in this city are very familiar with.

So sympathies to both of the Harlan brothers. Yes, Brian Harlan has an impact on Chicago sports and Chicago Sports Media in a way that goes beyond our greatest comprehension. And my thoughts are with them, of course, and prayers to them and their families. family for losing their father. So I just wanted to pass that along. And we also have some audio that we wanted to play, talking about the bears being on the verge of embarking on the search for a new head coach to replace Matt Eberflus. And Kevin Harlan joined the score and talked about the importance of finding the right general manager and trusting him. Boy, getting that right, the general manager and the

coach. You know, when my dad was up in Green Bay and was looking around, he went around the league. and he talked to Ernie O'Corsi, and he talked to George Young with the Giants. He talked to guys he respected, and he only had about four or five people that he really quizzed, but he went to the power brokers in the league and asked, you know, in their mind, who were the right general manager types?

Because when you get the general manager, you give him the keys, and you say, here it is, you've got total authority, and go out and get the head coach that you want, and we will ask no questions. You've got carte blanche. So getting the general manager right is step one.

And then you get the coach, and in the case up in Green Bay, they got Ron Wolf, and then they got Mike Holmgren, because Wolf had total authority. When Ron Wolf wanted to trade for Brett Farr, he went to that executive committee and was met with a lot of, uh-uh, no way. We're not trading in number one for the backup at Atlanta, who's been playing for Jerry Glantzell. We're not doing it.

And my dad had to take Ron Wolf out of that room. And he approached the executive committee and said, we gave him the keys to the football organization. We cannot back out right now. We have not had anybody with a hand on the rudder for that long. And they changed their mind. They trade for far of the rest of his history. They've had 20 plus years of success.

And that's really what it takes. You need to give your general manager total football authority. But finding that guy and trusting in what he's going to do becomes step one. And then step two, everything falls into place. Just compelling, as usual, from Kevin Harlan. And those asides, I think, really tie us a lot about football, even when he was just sharing his experience of stories that his father told him. Just made me wish the Bears would have been running their organization

in a similar fashion. It just brought back memories of Brett Farm. It made me remember that the Bears went a long time without even having a general manager. Well, and thank you again to Kevin for always joining our show. And as we mentioned, his brother, Brian, is a major figure in Chicago sports. And just now our thoughts are with you and also your family, because this is a great loss. So thank you so much for being a part of this. Thank you for being a part of our station to both Kevin and Brian.

and our thoughts are with you in the passing of your father, Bob Harlan, passing away at the age of 89. Adam Hogue is next on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. We will be right back.