Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Examining the direction the Bears are going in free agency (Hour 1)

Episode Date: March 10, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris opened their show by reacting to the Bears' additions as NFL free agency got going Monday. After that, they discussed what to expect from new Bears safety Coby Bryant and new center Garrett Bradbury. Later, they opened up the phone lines for Score listeners to share their thoughts on the Bears' moves early in free agency.

Rahimi Harrison Grody 10 to 2 on 104 3 The score According to Tom Pellisero, it is happening You reported about two minutes ago that the bears are citing Kobe Bryant That per sources

But are you a different animal And the same beast? You're welcome So the bears have a Kobe White Who's he? Who's who? Well, I just want to let you know They don't have a Kobe White

They have a Kobe Bryant But I've already done it once today And we're gonna do it We miss you, Kobe White I don't care what anybody says. You clinched the nine seed at home court advantage

in that playoff game. What does that mean for you guys tomorrow? Yes, sir, my boy, Dee Booty! Deep Booty! His grandma used to call him D Booty.

7.7.3 at our text line. Wanted to correct you. In all caps, they put Colby White. You didn't get it right either. That's like, you didn't get it right. That's like Emma correcting us.

It's a pillow. For the first year that Kobe White was here with the Bulls had to keep from calling him Kobe Bryant, which I know it was like a huge insult. to Kobe Bryant because Kobe White is no... And now I'm going to have to be careful here

with Kobe Bryant to not call him Kobe White. Give me like 10 more of those, like two weeks worth of it, and then I'll stop. Caleb Daniels. Oh, yeah, of course. That's the helmet. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Who is Caleb Danes? Who's Caleb Daniels? Yeah. I don't know what the f***es first name is. What's the quarterback for the Bears? My question is this. With him specifically, Kobe White, what impact do you think he'll have?

Brian. Oh, Brian. My bad. Kobe White. You did. I really just do that. You did. I've done it 10 times already.

Yes. I'm sorry. We used to have a basketball player. His name was Kobe White. He just got traded. It's fresh on my mind. Whatever you say, stove. It's Steve.

Stowe. What a kind of name is that? That's not a name. My name is Steve. Lila Rahini. Marshall Harris. Mark Grody. Midday's 10 a.m.

2. On Chicago Sports Radio 104 3. the score. I think it's just going to be a couple of days or months before we get used to calling Kobe Bryant. A, Kobe Bryant comfortably, and then B, not Kobe White. After yes, we may have had to adjust from thinking of Kobe Bryant.

It's like a step through double euro step trying to get around it because it's like, wait a minute, I can't say Kobe Bryant because that's the famous. Nobody's name really is Kobe. But maybe it's Kobe White. But no, no, it is Kobe. Are you sure it's Kobe Bryant? Because that sounds like sacrilege. Well, and then Grody joked about typing in the word football as opposed to basketball.

And then people got mad. Like, well, you can just type in Kobe with the C. You're right. Heaven forbid we double check or be specific in this day and age with a search engine. We should just make sure we do the least and trust it blindly. To that texter, that is not true. Because when I try to look for Kobe Bryant highlights of the base. Bears, it just automatically put me to Kobe Bryant from the Lakers.

Yeah, yeah. Mansplating about how Google works is a new one. This is not why you called, and I don't want to talk about it. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And what was important yesterday and what did matter was that we got some defined direction from the Bears yesterday as to what they thought their priorities were. I was pleased. Does it please you?

Yes. I was pleased, Marshall, to see. that the priorities I had, which were linebacker and safety, did get addressed yesterday. Was it the massive splash that people thought it was? No. Was it the, oh, the cap doesn't exist type of take? Absolutely not from Ryan Poles and company, but it was a get somebody who can create turnovers, which we saw them address, both at the safety and the linebacker position. and then it was also in getting Kobe Bryant and Devin Bush

a bit of a pattern when it came to speed Kobe Bryant comes from an excellent defense as we know in Seattle. It sounds like he's very versatile. This is somebody who, now the question becomes, is it Kobe Bryant and Kevin Byard? Or is it Kobe Bryant and somebody else?

I know she didn't say, is it Kobe Bryant and Jaquan Brisker? I guess he falls under somebody else. I'll say this. I am holding out hope that it can still be Kobe Bryant and Kevin Byard. I think I'm shocked that Kevin Byrd has made it almost 24 hours. We're what, 23 hours and five minutes into this thing as far as the negotiating period for the NFL ahead of free agency in the start of the New Year League on Wednesday. I thought Kevin Byrd would have a team, whether that was the Bears or someone else, by now.

And the fact that he doesn't gives me a bit of hope. And it's a growing amount of hope that the bears can find a way to bring him back in the fold. Because let me tell you something, that is a pairing I would like to see Kobe Bryant and Kevin Byer. With the versatility that Kobe Bryant brings to the defense, we know that Dennis Allen loves himself a hybrid. He loves himself a guy who could do more than one thing. And his ability to not only cover as a guy who started in the league as a cornerback, but has moved and played both safety positions, you like the idea of that versus the stoic sensibility of a guy coming off of a first team all pro season in Byard. And while we're addressing the safety position, I think addressing the linebackers is also key to that.

And what we saw was, I think, an echo of if these guys know how to turn the ball over at a remotely close rate, which it is, four interceptions for Kobe Bryant last regular season compared to seven for Kevin Byer, That extra three does matter. But when you see that part of it, along with Kobe Bryant being 26 years old, then you also add to that the Devin Bush aspect of this where he is a guy who's known for his speed. He had two pick sixes last year. That goes with his three interceptions, which was a career high. That's not quite tremendous is four.

But that lets you know that these are guys who can fly around the ball. Perhaps turnover creation is still something that they're looking for. actively trying to make sure it's not a game of chance because you and I, Marshall, have talked about how many turnovers last season by the Bears can you attribute to right place, right time and knowing that you can't always recreate that from season to season, especially if we don't know what's happening with Kevin Byard and we don't yet know what's going on with Nishon Wright. They were the two biggest factors in terms of actually creating the takeaways because you said right place, right time. Yeah, you can be at the right place at the right time,

but you still have to make the play. The biggest thing is, were you in the right place at the right time? Making the play, I mean, we've heard the expression, hands like feet. There's a reason in most defensive backs are defensive backs and not receivers. Hands like feet. Yes. It's so good. Why did that hit me today? Well, I think the biggest thing going into today and why, I said, I know safety isn't considered a quote unquote premium position necessarily, when you have a guy who can cover as a safety and is not afraid to get his hands dirty and get down in the box and hit somebody, that creates the type of players that Dennis Allen likes to have and allows him to play more of a chess game as opposed to largely he was playing, I don't know,

Connect 4, the early part of last season anyway, because he was so short-handed. I mean, they had to go out and get CJ Gardner Johnson out the street. And C.D. came in and did C.D. things. And I don't know where he's going to end up. I guess the message I would have to anybody who's maybe a little anxious at this time, wondering who the biggest of playmakers is going to be, the bear sign on the defensive side of the ball. And the reason they're anxious is because Dio Dingbo exists, and you feel like so much money has already been invested into the defense is understanding it's still early.

We haven't even hit Wednesday yet. There's still a lot of players out there right now that could still end up being a bear. And I'm curious to see how Ryan Poles is going to scheme this. and architect this portion of the defense. Tough day for the Just Get Tyler Linderbom, trade for Max Crosby, and draft Rubin Bain guys. Congratulations. You just named the top three names, both, you know,

one of the top names in the draft and then two in free agency. You know what you taught me, Leila? Do you feel better? Do you feel better about naming people that everybody else names? It wasn't going to be that way for Ryan Poles and the Bears. It just wasn't. One of the greatest lessons that you have taught me, Lela. as we have worked together,

is that when you dream, you got to dream your biggest dreams first. And so I think for everybody, they had to get that out there. Like, I want this guy, this guy and this guy. Well, just get that guy and then simplify it. Like, okay, just get a million dollars for yourself while you're at it.

Yeah, you got to dream big. And you realize maybe I'm not going to get a million dollars. Well, just get Bain. What, Bay is going to be off the board of the top four. Well, just get Linderbom. Now, granted, I did wonder if the Bears were trying to free up some money for Tyler Linderbomb. What I did not really,

was that he was going to get $81 million for three seasons. That's an average annual value, $27 million. Is that a lot of money? Here's the funniest part. According to over the cap, the Raiders still have $82 million of cap space to work with. Did they outbid themselves? Is my question, though.

There's a very high likelihood they did, but that's how much they wanted him to work, Tyler Lindervaum, to work with what's likely as Fernando Mendoza. That's fair. That's fair. but back to the Bears and like just kind of when you see what they did yesterday. I don't have any complaints about anything that did. I'm not like looking at a guy like, why did you give that guy all that money?

Now, that case could be made for a lot of other teams and a lot of other players. But I will say the prudent approach at this point for Ryan Poles I'm okay with because it's not like you've gotten to the end of the road and well, you missed out on this guy, that guy, and the third. Well, and Brad Biggs made the point this morning on Mully and Haugh, and he's right to do so. the Bears were not going to win this off season. And that's a good thing. Because the teams that we mentioned, the team that had over $100 million available in Capspace,

the Raiders. Okay, well, why do they have that? Why do they have the first overall pick? And this is a situation that bears were in a couple years ago, as we know. It's because you had to do that much rebuilding. It's because they have to find a new head coach or had to for the second year in a row. And so when you consider these things, yes, winning the offseason is good because that means you're in the right direction.

But if you're doing that for the Bears, that means that you likely haven't signed enough marquee name free agents and that you didn't make the playoffs. So this is different now. This is the symmetry of the league. Now the Bears are still $13.6 million under the cap. That's according to overthecap.com. The Raiders, as I mentioned, $82.287 million dollars of cap space. commanders have 79.8. Here's where it gets interesting.

You've got a playoff team like the Chargers who have 66.8. I'm glad they play in the ASC. How about that? That's it. There are some teams Savily who have cap space. Like the Patriots go to the Super Bowl.

They lose. They trade Garrett Bradbury, as we know here. But the Patriots have $37.1 million of cap space. That's what you want to do. That's the ideal. You're on a rookie quarterback contract in Drake May. You get to the Super Bowl, not ideal because you lose,

but you've still got enough money to hopefully address what you need. Like, for example, they trade their center to the Bears because they're able to plug and play a center, who they drafted, who they think has had enough experience. That is my goal. I don't think the Bears are there yet. There's still too many gaps that they have to fill in, as you and I, Marshall, have discussed.

I think looking at what you just said, that model of, especially when a quarterback's on his rookie contract, I know that time is winding down, right? You've got a couple more years of that with the option year. I want to see the bears on defense badly, whether we're talking about safety, whether we're talking about defensive line, tackle. And maybe they're doing it with Shamar Turner. Like there's guys that they have now, but I want to make sure this draft coming up, they

get defensive guys, even if they're not ready to be, you know, studs on day one. Two years from now, you should be able to say, we're very very. very comfortable letting you go get your money elsewhere because we've got a guy still on his rookie contract who can contribute for us. This is probably a separate conversation for another day closer to the draft. But there are people who say, well, third round picks don't matter. And I'll show you that they absolutely do if you know how to build a team. There are people who say, well, third and the rest. Okay, that's why we worry about, for example, spending important fourth round draft capital when you only have single digit amount of draft picks on a punter.

That's where it does matter. Or for example, look at how Seattle drafted. Don't forget that Jackson Smith and Gigbo is available at 20th overall. Look at the past first rounds of the Seahawks and how well they've been able to draft, even in the 20s and how that has worked out for them. These are important and valuable picks. Mark Rodie is right. He's done a lot of research when it has come to the last several years

and how teams who pick in the 20s and pick defensive linemen, you think you might be getting somebody, and sometimes you don't. But you still have to give your team and yourselves the best chance with who that player is. Ryan Poles maintains best player available. My challenge to that is always, okay, if it's a receiver, then are you drafting yet another receiver? They might, depending on what they get done in free agency. That's the bluff call and I don't want the answer. But that's where I say that whether or not you like it,

especially when you know that the game is coming to you on the defensive line class in the draft, that might be a different discussion. Just to reiterate, who was picked by the Bears yesterday, who signed with the team? Number one, Case Keenham is back. So Case Keenum is back, two years, $4.4 million deal with incentives up to $8 million. I'm very curious what the incentives are for him as a third string quarterback. I would guess it would be... Is it like, you played in a game?

Yeah. I think it's games played and or games. started and then a yardage touchdown total, win total, it could be any of those things. Yeah, very interested to know. Braxton Jones, and we'll get into this in our next segment here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie, for everybody who thought that he was going to sign a one-year deal, a prove-a-deal for a left tackle, which is rare in and of itself conceptually. That's what happened.

So Braxton Jones reportedly resigning on a one-year deal. Garrett Bradbury, as we mentioned, traded over. Neville Gallimore got the day started. for the Bears, signing a two-year $12 million contract. Most people think that's defensive line depth that the Bears needed. Like, for example, Joe Tryon Sharinga, who they traded for. Devin Bush, as we mentioned, three years, $30 million. DeMarco Jackson, re-signing with the Bears.

I am happy to see that happen. The NFL Free Agency tracker, for some reason, doesn't have Daniel Hardy on here. Why you got to do that to Daniel Hardy NFL.com? He also signed with the Bears. And then that big deal with Kobe Bryant, three years, 40 million. And I do like the fact that he comes from a championship defense in Seattle. No, I think that's invaluable when you talk about not only his production on the field, but he knows exactly what it's like to win, and it's a recent feeling.

Recency bias matters. He obviously came to the Bears because he believed, one, he was going to get paid, but also that he could contribute to helping the Bears do what the Seattle Seahawks were able to do last year. And when you look at where the Bears are right now, it's, it always seems like, like a crossroads of sorts, but a very specific crossroads for this Bears team is, hey, our offense is on the move, it's on the rise, they hopefully have addressed the Drew Dalman retirement in an appropriate and an adequate way. Now, can you get the defense to take the next step forward?

And I see a lot of slander right now on the text line when it comes to Kevin Byard and how good people think he is. But Layla, to just come out and say that he's past his prime, which he's, he's, is an aging player, it doesn't mean he doesn't have good stuff. He's coming off a first team all pro season. I cannot see the text line right now because the computer gods logged me out. Let me read this one to you. Mercifully, I don't have to see it. All right. So 312 says Kevin Byer was bad three years prior to last year. He had two total interceptions in those three years. He lost a step. He did have a ton of tackles his first year here, but he's a free safety. That's not a big market for a 33-year-old

free safety who struggles in coverage. Last year, he baited bad QBs. Kobe is a huge, upgrade. Here's what I would argue. Why not both? Yes. Here's what I would argue. Why are you fighting with yourself? I hope that other teams believe with this texter road, because maybe that means the Bears can get him back on an affordable deal. Let's listen to what Ben Solek, Benjamin Seleck, had to say with our afternoon show about Kobe Bryant. Oh, we don't have the audio. Well, we don't have time to play it before we have to hit a commercial break. So there's that. This is Rahimi Harris and Grotie on 1043 The Score.

That is the voice of Marshall Harris. I'm Leila Rahimi. Ray Diaz, Tyler Beuterbaugh and Brandon Vryer are our producers. Brandon helps us out, even though he's also on our morning show. We're also on Twitch, twitch.tv slash the score Chicago. Our address changed in case you were wondering. We're not at 670 the score anymore. It's The Score Chicago.

That is also where we are at on our YouTube page. Our Twitch mob is up and chatting. I can't see our text line right now, which is probably a good thing, but you can text us and call us at 312, 64, 64, 67. So when we come back, let's hear from Ben Solac on where Kobe Bryant fits in. And also, let's talk about the new offensive line. Do you think they did enough? I'm very curious to know what you think as well.

312, 644, 67, 67, you've got the score. Rahimi Harris and Grody, Midday's 10 to 2. on 104 3 the score. Rivers down the middle of the field and it is hitters! That's courtesy of CBS. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, the score. And yes, you heard that right.

That was Philip Rivers. Remember that happened? He had a nice little run coming back at 44 years old with the Colts. I don't know based on the Colts moves and their health if that's going to have to happen again. I'm going to guess not, but I won't say hard no. Will you say hard yes?

No. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. And just to button up the discussion regarding Kobe Bryant, now with the Bears, Benjamin Solac was on with the afternoon show yesterday with Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel and was very complimentary of who the bears have picked up. So you would see Kobe spread the majority of his time in the box and Byard spent his majority of time up high. They would not have the full, like, you know, the Sealks had with Kobe Bryant and with

Julian Love where it's, hey, you never know who's coming down, who's not. Everybody can do everything. It'd be a little bit more like the Eagles with Vigangio, where they had Reed Blankenship and then they had, you know, at times it was Johnson Garner Johnson, that it was Andrew McCuba. But it was, hey, like, you know, Reed is the player. We'd prefer to have deep. The other guy, we prefer to have closer to line of scrimmage. We can switch it up on you just to get the drop on you, but it's not going to be what we live with. So if they return Byard, which is my expectation, then you're to see Byard spend the majority of his time is the deepest safety, and Kobe spent the majority he was time near the box.

Now, Kobe has cornerback experience. When he played at the University of Cincinnati, he was a corner for his first couple years in Seattle before he broke through in Mike's defense. He was on the corner of the Jeff chart. That was where he was. And so when you think about the coverage ability that you got from a guy like Chauncey,

who plays safety, but really you're trying to play him in the nickel a lot and have him cover receivers, Kobe has that skill set. And that wasn't relied upon a ton in Seattle because they had Devon Wyruspoon and Nicky him on War. They had so many guys. But you can ask Kobe to be a player

who comes down and plays that slot position and then be creative with the safeties that you play behind him as well. So that shed some light. He was very bullish on Kobe Bryant whenever he got drafted. Well, here's why I love this pickup for the Bears. One game,

sorry, one team, one receiver in particular comes to mind. I don't know. Do you guys remember when that team from just north of us came and played against the Bears and they lined somebody up in the slide, and he was just destroying people off the line of scrimmage.

Christian Watson. Ah, that's him. That's good. Good recall on your part. Something about a bay and it being a color, and they put things together in boxes. You already know. And so now, with a player with this particular skill set.

Team Baltimore. Because he can cover. Kobe Bryant can be down as a guy who could blitz, but if you also, you know, oh, I see it's not C.D. Gardner Johnson down there. It's a guy who cover covers in Kobe Bryant. That's not Advantage Green Bay in the way it was last year. And that's, it's a very specific memory, but you notice I unlocked it quickly. Green Bay was not just Green Bay the last month of the season.

You know what? I feel like the Packers game, though, was like the perfect example of it happening multiple times. Yeah, because guys got beat. and now the bears weren't healthy. Kyler Gordon won in the first game. But at the same time, what did Matt Bowen tell you for the last two or three weeks of the season? Just call crossing patterns.

Just make everything slot oriented. And frankly, when we were talking about Wondale Robinson, what is he good at? Receiving yards in the slot. Who had a decent game even for the Giants that day against the Bears before Brian Daybull got fired? Same idea. Yeah, before Jackson Dart took a hit to the head.

This is a weakness. This was a weakness for the bears. And it got more and more exposed as time went on. The beautiful thing about this is the bears are not done. We know they need more safeties. How do I know this? Because they have one. Three to go.

Three to go. And so that's where we sit defensively. Now let's shift gears to the offensive side of the ball. And we do want to take your calls on this and your texts. 312, 644, 67, 67. Twitch mob, you guys have your own show. So we don't keep you from speaking. You know that.

You're out here talking to each other. But when it comes to just the feedback that you may have or your thoughts so far, especially after that DJ Moore trade, moving over to the offensive side of the ball, we thought that perhaps the DJ more trade would be freeing up important money, given that he was your largest cap hit at the time

at $28.5 million. For a big name like Tyler Linderbaum. I did that. I thought that that was the case. I dared to dream. And then he went to the Raiders for $81 million in three seasons. The Bears trade for Garrett Bradbury. But in what I thought was a surprising move, even though it was discussed.

Braxton Jones, I think, did the Bears a favor. I feel like a left tackle who's serviceable in this league, especially who has the height and is at that age where you were just outside of your rookie contract, you could have gone elsewhere and probably signed for more years and made more money. But Braxton Jones, true to prediction, re-signed with the Bears on a one-year contract. We know Ozzie Triple O is hurt. We know that Patel attendants, especially in offensive linemen and defensive linemen, can be very, very impactful on a career in what happens afterward.

But in the meantime, it sounds like they got perhaps a bridge left tackle to figure this out. What do you think about Braxton Jones, Garrett Bradbury now at Center, and then Joe Tunney, Jonah Jackson, and then Darnell right on the right side? So you said you think Braxton Jones did the Bears a favor. I'm going to say Braxton Jones did himself a favor

by returning to a place that he is familiar with, comfortable with, and honestly, he didn't have a great shot last year because he was hurt at this time last year. And now it's a one-year deal. It's not for nothing, a $10 million deal,

if he lives up to his incentives. But a clear shot with no Trapillo being available at the start of the season and probably for the entire year, it's a clear shot at him being a left tackle in Ben Johnson's offense with Caleb Williams at quarterback with a running game that certainly was one of the best in the NFL last year. He could showcase himself and earn this longer-term contract that you're talking about while at the same time establishing himself.

Who knows? If Trapillow can't come back and I'm assuming the Bears are going to address tackle depth by probably drafting another one or getting it. That means four drafted left tackles total for the Ryan Pulse regime. I'm not against it. You should keep trying. Yeah. And it may be like a guy who can play guard and tackle, just a depth on the offensive line.

And so what I'm saying is he may see this as an opportunity for himself to say to the Bears, hey, you guys didn't get the best version of me last year. Now I'm healthy. I'll show you what I can really do. In fact, I'm trying to win a left tackle job here in Chicago going forward. It's a great room to be in. We know about the guys that he'll be with, whether it's Joe Tunney. And now you've got on the other side, Darnell right, as I mentioned.

Darnell right. And so for him, I think this is just a great opportunity for him to get another year to reset and show the best of his ability. Yeah, I mean, I just, I think he did the Bears of favor. and I'm not saying that on any reporting. I just feel like that was the case. So that may be our offensive line. Ben Solac, who was on with our afternoon show, did some scouting on Garrett Bradbury as well.

And this is valid when you consider how this gets put together. I think it's safe to say we knew it wasn't going to be the same line. But listen to what he had to say. Bradbury is just a guy who the strengths are known and the weaknesses are known. And especially the weaknesses are known in the NFC North, right? That's where he was when he was with Minnesota. And so if you can get power on Garrett Brabara, you can walk him back into the pocket, right?

And you can really destroy, we talk about pocket integrity and the ability to kind of like step up and make those pocket throws. You need to have the depth of the pocket set by his center who's holding his water. And Bradbury just struggles to drop that anchor. Always has since he was drafted at NC State

in the first round. The tradeoff, the value has typically been, where he's such a good mover and he's got such great, you know, wide zone ability and he's great, you know, horizontally and laterally. Like, you know, he'll make it worth your time. The juice will be worth the squeeze.

But as he's gone old, you know, that edge starts to diminish a little bit. And so in Bradbury, I think you have a player who is capable of holding down the center job and you know what he's good at when he's not good at. You're going to be able to get to your outside runs. And when you have a quarterback like Caleb Williams, depth of the pocket starts to become a little bit less important. Because Caleb's out the back door anyway. Like, you know, Caleb's not really a step up guy.

Caleb's like, hey, I'm going to run 15 yards back this way and still make a throw. So you a little bit can, you know, account for it and cheese it. You can boot Caleb out and be successful that way. But the level of investment in Bradbury to me indicates, A, that Ryan Poles had a good sense of how heavy the center market was going to be, right? Connor McGovern 13 million. Tyler Lindervaubom at 27 million is insane. He didn't want to be a part of that, and rightfully so. So I think, A, he knew which way it was going and he wanted to get a cheap option that could just definitely start for the Bears.

And to me, it's also an indication that the Bears might still be looking at the center spot somewhere in the draft. It's a really good year for centers, round three, round four, right? Typically, like, you know, it's very rare for like, oh, there's three first round centers. That's not a real thing that never happens. typically when we talk about good years for center in the draft, we're talking about middle round prospects, and there's several guys this year. And so my guess is going to be that the bears are still willing to invest in the position

with a rookie, and then they're going to kind of let Bradbury and the rookie figure it out when it comes to training. So if the criticism on Bradbury is he can't drop anchor, he can't anchor as well. So you may not get that forward push like we talked about. And then there's the outside zone blocking issue that comes with that. Then there's the criticism of Braxton Jones, which is also anchor has not been his thing. And we know that.

We know that from years of watching him. Now, Dan Rochard may have helped with that, especially after having a year. And yes, he did break his ankle and he was still getting back from that. But they thought that they had seen enough. So if you've got two O-Lyman who can't anchor well, one of them being in front of your cornerback,

that is not, I think, a rest of, for sustained success. Like you better be handing that ball off quick. You might have to get flushed out of the pocket quickly. Here's a thought deliberately move the pocket. But then also, how much does that limit your offense? Like we know because of left tackle being exposed last year, Caleb Williams would oftentimes roll out to his right.

Did that result in fewer targets for DJ Moore? You know, all of these things to me go hand in hand. So knowing what you know about Zenaer and knowing what you know about left tackle. Are you as confident in the line this year as you were last year? I don't know if I'm as confident, but I am confident. And the reason why I'm confident, as we talk about the Bears and their free agent signings to this point through one day of the negotiating period here on Rahimi Harrison Grotie

on 1043, the score is this. My confidence in Ben Johnson is unwavering. And if Ben Johnson obviously signed off on these moves, he'll figure it out because that's his job, is not only the head coach, but the offensive schemer, the playmaker, the guy who draws up the plays. I think Ben Johnson will scheme this through. I also think the Bears will draft, as we just said, a backup offensive lineman, but they'll draft a guy who's going to be the center of the future coming up. I think that was always going to be the plan.

They thought they'd have more time to develop behind Drew Dalman. You might not have as much time, but I think they're going to be able to figure this out. Really? Because they've never drafted a dedicated center under Ryan Poles. Ryan Poles won't be the one making that call this year. Ben Johnson will be telling him this is what we need. Ryan Poles is still the general manager. You think Ben Johnson did all of the scouting?

Ryan Poles is the general manager under Ben Johnson's direction in my mind, and no one can convince me otherwise. Is it confirmed? No, I'm saying based on you have to get what the coach, both on defense and offense needs, whether it's Dennis Allen as the defensive coordinator, whether it's Ben Johnson as the offensive. play caller. You think Ryan

Poles isn't going to Ben Johnson and being like, hey, does this work? Which of these? They drafted. He drafted a backup center, but there's never been a, this guy's going to be our starting center. We're drafting this person for this reason. They went out and addressed it last year and

through free agency by signing Drew Dalman, the best available center. So obviously that was a priority. If you think Ryan Poles isn't in conversation with Ben Johnson trying to found out exactly what Ben Johnson needs to make his offense work, I don't know what to tell you, because that's the way this has clearly gone down based on what happened last year.

I understand what you're saying about the drafting of a true starting center. I'm saying Ben Johnson can have his desires and his preferences, just like I think the head coach did before him. But I think that Ryan Poles still does a lot of that, and his scouts do a lot of that on their own. Oh, no, no. I agree with that. But I think at the end of the day, they come to Ben Johnson, like, which of these fits

what you need as a offensive playmaker. And in year one, it was very easy for them to go out and be like, we're just going to get the best center available as a free agent on the free agent market. Clearly they couldn't do that with somebody getting paid $27 million a year. They couldn't do that with Linderbaum. That was not an option with the cap restraints and them trying to, I don't know, reconstruct an entire defense really that could actually affect someone else's passing game while also stopping the run.

It was like a two thing. Like, hey, we get a lot of takeaways, but we're not really stopping. the run or stopping anyone from throwing the ball against us. We just happen to get a lot of takeaways, more than anybody in the NFL. I think now Ben Johnson and Ryan Polzer is like, okay, so what is our future player? Now that we don't have Drew Dalman for at least two years and cannot draft a center to develop, like what the Patriots did basically, as they put one of their guards now at center that they've been preparing for this moment, and that's why they're able to trade away Bradbury.

Now for them specifically, it's we have to go and draft a center. And they knew they were always going to have to go and draft a center. The timeline just went up a little bit with having this bridge guy in here in Bradbury. But that's what I'm saying. Like they hadn't drafted purposefully center. They had drafted a guy who was a backup who had a couple snaps and ended up playing center because they had 20 offensive line combinations. I think 25.

But that hasn't been what they've done. Since Ryan Poles took office, they've always gotten what they think is their starting center through free agency. Right. Ryan Poles, though, back then was in charge of Matt Iberfus, who clearly didn't know what he was doing and who was more defense focused. But you don't think that the former offensive lineman GM still very much had a hand in the offensive line drafting and how he wanted to construct it? Yes, I just think Ben Johnson's at the top of the pyramid now. He's the one calling the shots when push comes to shove.

And Ryan Poles wants to preserve his position also, so he's going to get the guys what they need. 312-644-67 is our number. How do you feel about the Bears' free agency so far? We continue to be on the lookout for news because guys like Nishon Wright are still available. Guys like Kevin Byrd are still available. We're monitoring on this second day of the NFL negotiating window and continue to do so right here on Rahimi Harrison Grody on 104-3, the score. Heimmy Harrison Grody. Can you imagine Lovie Smith doing the whole good, better, best thing?

And saying bleep the Packers? Guys, good, better best. Never let rest. I'll see you on Tuesday. Midday's 10 to 2 on 104 3, The Score. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043, The Score. It was a wild day yesterday in Bears Free Agency. And for all of the ballyhooing and the hemming and the hawing and the hawing and whatever

word you want to use that kvetching, desiring, whatever word you want to use to talk about what we wanted to see the bears do or if you were like that guy that said just get just draft Bain and then get Linderbom and Max Crosby The Capp is it real? That's the word I'll use for that. Buffoonery, does that work?

Congratulations, you just name three of the top names of the off season. Would you like a trophy? That doesn't mean they go to your team, unfortunately. Unless you're the Raiders who have 20 billion million dollars of cap space available. And even then, they just got one dude and gave the other one away. You know what? I hope the Raiders just get whatever offensive line

that doesn't waste Ashton Genties's career. Because unless he's playing against the Bears, he's not doing that much. Do you know what's funny, Marshall, is that the whole dream of having Max Crosby and Tyler Linderbaum on one team could have happened if the Raiders hadn't traded Max Crosby. When you say it like that.

When you say it like that. No, I like what the Bears did on day one. And obviously they need more. They need a lot more. But I like the two biggest moves. The sneaky move I like is the Braxton Jones resigning. Yeah. I love that one year move.

Let's see what's going on. You know who it is. Yes. You know the weaknesses and the strengths. You understand that last year wasn't a great example of his work because he's coming off injury. And so now it's looking forward. And, you know, on the text line, they're killing me with this because they're like me.

And they're like, well, at the end of the day, the same problem we had going in is the same problem we had. Was it going in the last year before that and the year before that? Pass rush. They need somebody to knock the quarterback on his tail, his rear end. This is hilarious. 312-644-67. 67 is our number 6-30. Fix the pass rush.

309. I don't want to overpay for an old pass-rusher. When I tell you that two texts on the text line will absolutely say the opposite of one another, I mean it. Well, the fear of the old pass rusher I get because you don't want to like do it. And then like we didn't even get the pass rush we were looking for. We just paid somebody a bunch of money. Dio Dingbo. I'm sorry.

But that's it is that just because it didn't work to how you wanted it to last year doesn't mean that Ryan Poles is willing to admit that those aren't the guys that he wanted for the pass rush. You know what the bear's pursuit of a pass rusher is like, it's like me looking for love. I'm out here looking for it. And I'll give it a chance. In all the wrong places? Not all the wrong places. I've been looking for love very limited, as you know, lately, because I'll be out here working.

It's been a very work-heavy, work-heavy time for the single crew you and I know. Yeah, and so what I'm saying is, we're in our work season. You can't let one failed attempt at love stop you from trying to love again. So when you look at these past rushers, you can't let- The contracts, though. You can't have multiple wives at the same time. Well, yeah. But I'm saying what I'm saying is you, you go.

go on a couple of dates. You can't let that date that that situation ship with who unique and gagway I mean you name a name. Yonik and gagway if it was a situation ship it was successful for both parties. It was successful short term. He was exactly what you thought you would pay him and then you got exactly what you thought you were getting. It was a fall fling. Meanwhile you may have booked that trip a little early that that that lover's trip with dio a little early. But the thing I was going to say is, Ryan Poles told you how much he valued Montez-Swatt and Dio O'Donbo and Grady Jarrett when he signed them to those contracts.

That let you know how the bears feel about them. And just because you, the listener, haven't seen that on the field, doesn't mean the bears backed off on how they feel about these three. Now, listen, did we all watch it together? Was I horribly concerned when I heard the phrase, we need to get him to win more of his one-on-one battles when talking about Montes-Swed. That is not what you want to say about a guy. You paid that much money to.

So that's where the disconnect is here. But the question is, is the amount of rope and time you're willing to give them as much as it is on the face of Ryan Poles? I don't think so. I think Poles wants to give them more time and more chances to provide that pass rush than he wanted. The wild card in this is, number one, did Die or Dang? tear the same Achilles twice. We still have an answer, do we? He still has two to his name.

And then the other problem, and don't go to AI on this, because they will combine all of the terms and you won't get an accurate answer. It just doesn't work. Trust me. And then the other part of this, too, is we don't know when he's going to return. You know, that's why linebacker was a priority to me, Marshall, to begin with, was because you don't know when T.J. Edwards is going to be able to play. and I don't necessarily think he's going to be completely healthy when he gets back,

not to where you want to be. One can only hope that Dio's favorite basketball players, Jason Tatum. One can only hope. I think Jason Tatum was sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, but don't you remember, they were really aggressive with his timeline coming back? Because before the season, there were reports that he was going to be playing as soon as February. That did not happen.

Wasn't that far behind, though. So I feel like that's part of this, is you've got to understand how much the bears valued the guys they signed to rush the quarterback. And because of that, everything else is not as fluid as we've thought. And I've been saying that, but I think it's one thing to say it and to hope that things will change in the off season. It's another to say it and know that they are not, at least currently. Could that change? Yes, when it does, we will be here and we'll talk about it. But in the meantime, this is where we're seeing a similar pattern tell you.

The three guys they spent big money on are the three guys they're spending big money on. Sweat, Grady Jarrett, Dio Dengbo. Can't wait for the draft. Well, also, everybody asking the question about Case Keenum with the similar money to Tyson Bayton, you're right to do so. Because by money, it doesn't necessarily look like you have a two or three quarterback. It looks like you just have two-toes. So if that's the case, where's that going?

Now, the problem is Case Kingdom is, what, 38 next season? So there's that difference as well. It begs the question. If you have two backup quarterbacks, do you even have one? Oh, wait, that's only a starting quarterback. We say that, right? Closers. Definitely closers.

And speaking of closers, this cracks me up from 847. Are you ever going to talk about baseball, all caps at some point as we are now actually in the baseball season? Guess what? We're not actually in the baseball season. The season opener is the 26th of March. Wow, you know the date and everything? We are now actually in the baseball season?

No, no, we are actually not in the baseball season. We're still in spring training and world baseball classic. Try again. James Palmer joins us to talk about all the NFL news next.