Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Transition: Examining the Bears' opportunity to improve after a week of change

Episode Date: March 5, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Mark Grote welcomed on Matt Spiegel and Laurence Holmes for the daily transition segment.

I've been following this team for so long, and when we had Kaleo Mac, that was the best our defense has looked since 2006, and I was only three. But I was told that radio's dying. We can't get younger listeners. And yet here we are. Thank you. Thank you, children, for listening to us. And I know you're fully formed adults, but compared to us, your kids. We had back-to-back kids. We'd like to thank the kids.

Bears. They are the future. We'll teach them will. and well and let them lead the way. Teaching them will kind of summarizes everything. Thanks to everybody who listened. Thanks to everyone who called in. Thanks to James Big Cat Williams for joining us.

Thanks to all of our callers. Thanks to Dan Weiderer, who also joined us. Alan Robinson, who came on. Ray Diaz and Tyler Bueberbaugh, you guys have absolutely done a tremendous job today. You always do. Thanks to Brandon Friar. Thanks to Cotter O'Donnell for turning around tons of videos today,

along with Jacob Curtis and Max Stutz. Thanks to Cody Westerlin for helping out too. Mark Grody, thank you to you. Layla. This was a fun show. We'd also like to thank in no particular order, Nikiel Harry, Byron Pringle, Josh Bellamy, Sam Hurd. Selfie steak. Somehow, Spiegel and Holmes, the show went from the breaking news that DJ Moore is being traded to the Buffalo Bills for a second round draft pick to the worst Bears wide receivers in history. and that is why if you look into your text line, all those names are popping up right now. Taylor Gabriel. Yes.

It's a pretty natural progression, though, when you think about it, because DJ Moore is the active leading wide receiver in the history of the Chicago Bears. What? At 3,000 yards of anybody. Had to get rid of him. Well, we can't have this happen. You've got to go.

In receiving yards of any position. DJ, you have received too many yards. We have to let you go. behind Cole Commet as the new leader on the Bears in career receiving yards. Do you know that he's the 20th? In the career? Yes. 20th leading receiver of all time is Cole Commet.

Which is pretty amazing, too, sir. Rome? Yeah, no, Lawrence is ready for the Rome show to go to a new place. Anyone mention Chase Claypool? Yes, yeah. We'd like to thank Chase Claypool for loving football. I thought he was going to be good. I liked the trade.

That was the Roquan Smith. That's okay. Chase Claypool's time. That's okay that you thought that. The problem is that Ryan Poles also thought that. The red flag is when you decided to trade a pick that's higher than where he got drafted for him. That's a red flag. Like that should never happen.

You know what I'm saying? Well, unless it's like Max Crosby or something. Yeah. Yeah. Gentlemen, it's good to have you guys in here. What did you think when you saw? I mean, we knew, here's the way I felt like. We knew it was coming.

It still stings. It still makes you feel assert. certain way, but on the overall, after going through all of it and the nostalgia and DJ Moore and all of his prowess, it's a good trade. It's a good trade. Getting a second round pick back, I think is a good trade. I don't think that we can say that yet. But I mean, in terms of the saving $16.5 million in cap space and getting a second round pick, unless you guys thought that they should have gotten more than a second round pick for DJ Moore, just on the surface, I'm not outraged by the deal that was made here for DJ.

I'm not outraged by it. I just don't think that I don't know if we need to grade the trade today because we don't know what the other side of that is. Like, until we have a good sense of what the Bears past game looks like next year, I'm not sure that we can say, man, that was a really good trade that the Bears made. I don't agree, actually. I think we can grade it in terms of assets, in terms of what assets you've acquired,

what assets you've dropped because you've dropped a $26 million wide receiver who is not going to be part of your team and you've gained the maximum possible salary dump and you got a second round pick. Yeah, you had to throw in a five to sweeten the pot

but a two is a big, big deal and you now have the freedom to do other things and a salary cap sport in terms of the assets I think this trade is a home run. I do think that they that's it. The position group that they were the most rich at, they had the most depth at, is the one where they were able to part with somebody. Unfortunately, that somebody is somebody of huge consequence. That's why he was paid so much on your team. They have three wide receivers

with somewhere between 630 and 690 yards receiving. Well, you needed every one of those yards in order to win in the playoffs. You can't pay $26 million to one guy who's one of three dudes in the 600s in terms of your production. Expensive wide receivers get traded all the time in this league. That's what happens to them almost all the time. And the fact that you got a two? When you need assets and you might be able to flip the two for something else? I think that's amazing.

Something else is the key here. If you're Buffalo, it's a great trade. You know, if you're Buffalo, I know that some people think it was an overpay by them because it was a second round pick. You got your receiver. But, but, well, and it's Joe Brady, so it's a system that could work there. But like... It's Joe Brady.

It's a system that DJ has already been in. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think that's key because, like, and Lawrence, I totally get what you're saying about what your wide receiver crew is going to look like. But by the same token, I think we can say that DJ wasn't a great fit for the Ben Johnson system. I'm not ready to say that either. Oh, I am.

And I, and I was towards the end of the year and I was at the end. I thought this was going to happen principally because of that. Here's one of the things that I think. think that DJ did, DJ was a bit of a flackjacket for other issues in the wide receiving core that didn't get as much of attention. Like, if you go back to the Green Bay game, if you go back to the Rams game, the stuff that happened before that interception, what were people mad about? They were mad about Rome not catching the ball.

For sure. And Rome not catching the ball was a thing last year when he was healthy. When he was healthy, then there was the issue of him not being healthy. with Luther Burden, who I think has the potential to be a star, there were issues with him not being properly lined up. There were issues with route efficiency. All I'm saying is that whenever a team makes a trade, we often will just default to. Well, they traded it, so it's good. The people in Buffalo are saying, man, what a great trade the bills made right now.

I'm saying that we don't have to grade it right now. Let's see what else happens. and let's see how they handle the past catching responsibilities and the wide receiver spot because there was a ton of angst about, hey, well, why isn't Rome the guy yet? The book is yet to be written on Rome and Luther and everybody else, and they'll add wide receivers. They'll probably add a free agent and draft somebody.

So that room is going to develop, but no roster is perfect. In a salary cap sport, you got issues. and if your issue is going to be figuring out who your wide receiver depth is as opposed to your center or your second edge rusher or your safety or your left tackle, that's why you trade $26 million. That's why it happens. But that's the other part of this to me, though, speaks. What happens now? Like that plays a role in how you view this. Now, my hope is that this will offer them the opportunity to really go all in.

like if they needed this relief, if they needed the salary cap relief, which to me is Fugazi, because of what you can do with the salary cap, then we got something. But I do feel like there's been a lot of, well, we got to get DJ out of here. He's the problem. And there are other issues in their past game. There are definitely other issues of the past game. But you touched on the good thing, which is that right now they're the, team of the effing moment.

Like, look around and the whole league is saying, oh, they just unloaded DJ Moore. I wonder if they're getting the best center in the NFL and Max Crosby this week. Wait, wait, wait. When did hit and run come on? Thank you. Thank you, Team of the Moment fans out there. You and Southside Run.

But, like, I mean, they, we were talking about this, and Tanny put it perfectly. He's like, they just lost Drew Dalman and DJ Moore, but right now it feels like they could be better next year because of the opportunities ahead of you.

You might be the team of the offseason. Possibilities are through the effing roof. Do you want to be the team of the off season, though? I mean, you were the team of the season. You want to be the offseason champs? Wasn't that the troll last year? We've done that. That was the troll last year.

Yeah, but how'd that work out this time? We've got a good coach now. So if we're the team of the season, wait a minute. We were the team of the off season and then one of the teams of the season. And now if we're the team of the off season again, I would take my chances with that. I mean, give me Linderbomb in order to make that happen. Let's go. Lindenbaum. Why not?

Lindenbaum is he's now lovingly referred to. It's coming. He's going to be a problem. He already got his name. If he's here, he's not going to get his R. He's not going to get his Linderbom. I already did Linderbomb, like for Dave Baum with the top up or the top down. Oh, is that why I heard you guys mention the champ champ yesterday? Because I was

giving bomb a Bown. He was really leaning in. I was chastised repeatedly. Yeah, but yours were sad. The distance as we're out every a little post-show meeting. I was there, Dave Baum. Why did they talk about Dave Baum in that room right now? Turn on Channel 1. Your Knitser switch.

Hair on, hair off. Wait, there was another thing that he called it. What was it when? If you couldn't see Channel 1, it was because of, I'll text Dan and ask him. He knew the whole bit. Yeah. That's because Dan was a little kid listening to it, I think. As he should have been, as we all were.

Things happen fast, though, man, like being in the red in the cap space, and now all of a sudden you're in the process, you're hoarding cap space. all of a sudden. Let's not go that far. That's true. But there's talk more about maybe another trade. Like, who knows what's going to happen for the rest of the day on the Spiegel and Holm the show.

That's what I'm saying. We could reach the end of the week or March 13th, right? We could reach March 11th is the league year. By March 11th, things could look vastly different and people could be flippet out about what the Bears just did. Kevin White could walk through that to work. Oh, man. Will his legs still be broken? Will that be the case?

Josh Bellaby can't. I think he's in jail. Selfie stick. Yeah. Best nickname ever. Was that Josh Bellamy? Yeah. Was he called?

Oh, I didn't. Alex would call him. Selfie stick. He was very interested in pictures of himself. He was very interested in being the center of attention, even though he wouldn't catch the ball. Was he? Chirk incorporated LLC did not have a good year. They liked him in the law.

He was a popular guy in the locker room. I mean, extroverted dude. I think a lot of people just sort of... I mean, that's how you get the nickname selfie stick. But I think it was sort of like that. Look at this guy. Look at this guy. His Josh Bellamy stuff.

People are still naming receivers. Ted Ginn. Ted Ginn. Oh, man, the draft of the Ginn family. He's down in Miami. Yeah, I mean, a great college career for the Ginn's. Keel Harry had been out of my brain. Like, it officially dropped out until somebody brought up the name to Keel Hary.

I was really hoping it would work out for him. Me too. You talk about, like, prototype. Redempt. Yeah, the height. The guy who looks like he should be playing wide receiver in the NFL. It was Kevin White. It was the same thing with Kevin White, like the full body and seem.

But the Nikiel Ari thing is like he had negative guaghi. Oh, you can't have that. I don't know that's a thing. He ran away from it? He did. Instead of rope and get it, you just run away from the ball? Yeah, like, run down and don't catch it. I don't know what that is.

Art Daki. But like he was big with leaping ability and good hands, but the ball would come and he would get six inches shorter and fall down. Okay, now people are going too far. Cordero Paterson does not count. this. Cordero Patterson, number one, was special teams OG. Number two, like, had valuable years of service for the Bears.

He was a good bear. No. It's like DJ Moore. He was a good bear. Not doing this. Yeah. Not here for the Corderole Patterson. Marcus Wheaton came up earlier, signed that two-year deal once upon a time. Yeah. That's sweet. What do you keep saying? It's not a good wide receiver history. It's not. It's a dawned because we do

that exercise with the quarterbacks, like once a year, it's starting to die out now that Caleb is getting good. But we could do the same list. We are doing the same. We have a fluid list of bad wide reasons. Justin Gage. Oh, how dare you mention Justin Gage? He was a fifth round pick. And he wasn't bad.

And he was not bad. I think he was bad. Missouri? Justin Gage. But he also fit the prototype, big, strong, tall guy that never quite got to... It's a tough league. It's a tough sport. It's just perfect. To end our show with this instead

of more talk of... And don't be put Cam Meredith on the text line, my ISU guy. Come on now. That's right. I liked Camp Meredith. I thought that his value was large, so value anyway. I do too. And then David Terrell, that's, I mean, that's more like.

Mexican man for life. I don't get that reference either. Because he said he was a Michigan man, but it sounded like he said I'm a Mexican man for life. I never realized that. That's hilarious, man. Yeah, he was a Michigan man. Bernard Barian. And he caught some touchdowns.

Oh, Bernard Barian. Bernard Barian was a good wife. He got paid by Minnesota. Yeah. Congratulations. Michigan Man for life. Play that again. Michigan Man or Mexican Man?

I'm a Michigan man for a life. He really is. That is hilarious things I never knew. So I went to... Ray Salutes. Yesterday, me and the boy went to one of the many imitation Chipotle's

around Chicago land. One of those places that's not Chipotle, but it might as well be a Chapoile. Cueva? No. Cudoba's like... Cudoba's making a comeback.

Yeah, well, and Cudomas has got a lot. Poizosa. This is what dose bros. It's called Dosbrose over there on South State. And it was like, what is this? Oh, I see. You're not Chipotle. They should just call themselves that.

But it's amazing how that particular style of eatery in every genre and cuisine. Assembly line. The kids call it corporate slop bowls. Is that what they call it? Yeah. Soilet green is people. It's people. Oh, Daz Newsom.

And you got that reference. Oh, Daz. But Dad's had Harold's. It was bussing. Remember? Dad's tried Harold's a chicken. That's what Angel Reese said about it too. She also said it was busting.

Lawrence, right there. You said it when he came in. Text's moving fast. Devin Aroma should do. He was what? Tall. Tall. Yep.

He was tall. Like when he got here, people like, hey. We got a tall guy. Bears got a tall, wide receiver. No more of this little Devin Hester. Put him to the side. Jay Cutler couldn't work with that. That was in the era when Troy Aikman was disgusted with the way that the Bears

thought about wide receivers. And he came on with Mully and Hanley at the time, I think. And just... Mully and them. Absolutely blasted the bears for not having any wide receivers of consequence. Don't put Johnny Knox on that list either. Put Johnny Knox with a seventh round pick, right? Could you do a tribute a Saura song to all these receivers?

I did. Those were actual songs that me and Mac did. We did put Johnny Knox in and Aroma Should Do to Love Me Do. It's ridiculous. I've been here too long, Lela. Two damn long. Spiegel's got something for everything. Johnny Knox is actually really good.

And a great story. But he was tiny. He was a tiny man, like in terms of physique. I thought we watched him die. Yeah, dude. Like I was, I was there, and I was like, oh, we just watched someone. Whenever I see him, I'm always like, are you okay? I love it.

I love, I'm so glad he can walk. Yeah, like, it's like genuinely, it's really good to see you. He's totally fine. Yeah, he's good. He's fine. It's us that are freaked out. We felt it because it was really scary when he got bent up like that. Don't forget Zach Miller?

Like, wasn't he like a quarter of a... He almost lost his leg. Yes. Yeah, like they said, it's like if the hit had been a quarter of an inch away from something or closer, like he came within a fraction of an inch with almost losing his leg. Johnny Knox had two seasons where he averaged 19 or above yards per catch. That's crazy speed, man. Big play receiver.

Yeah, I picture him down. I sat next to him at a Kalila Mac charity event back in. And just like you, I was like, oh, good to see you, man. Are you all right? You're good? You're good. Somebody texted us at to start the show and I was howling. When did you get in?

It's genuinely good to see you. Like, it's not good for you. It's good for me to see you. Tell me everything, Johnny. Let it out, man. He's like, I'm cool, man. What's up? I'm good.

I've been walking for years. Chill out. Give me another glass of wine. Dude, get out of here, Grody. Sweetheart of a guy, too. It seemed like it. Yeah, that was my only interaction with it. Mark Grody?

Yeah, sweetheart of a guy. Oh, yeah. I agree. That's why he gets all of those endorsements. Hey, F. He's trying to create friction because the current and former endorser of advanced hair are sharing a studio right now. It's been very awkward this whole time. People don't know it, but, yeah.

That's right. You came and you stole that endorsement. Hey, they just said, hey, man, you want. to do this and I said, yeah, I didn't know you were doing it. I didn't know it was yours? You didn't say, isn't that Spiegel's? No, no. Here's a number. Here's a thing. As Joe Buck say, it's disgusting

that you even have. Right. Mr. Thick hair. How dare you? Your hair is quite fine as well. It's fine, but it's not as good as yours. I mean, you got some recession going on here, got some thinning back here. He needs the product. You don't. I could use a graft, you know what I'm saying?

Which I'm working on. I might graft it up. I believe to get 150 free ones. If memory serves, it's been a while. You were way better at it than I am. No, no. Grotes don't sell yourself short. You're a tremendous slouch. Curtis Conway can't be on that list.

No, these people, nor can Bobby Ingram. Don't you dare put Marcus Robinson or someone like that on the list. Get out of here. And don't mention tight ends, you Jasper Horstead people. You could put Eddie Kennison on, though. Jasper Horstead was a pretty good call. No, it's not looking for wide receivers. He was a preseason hero, man.

And an undrafted free agent, right? Did somebody say Dane Sanzenbacher? Oh, yeah. You know that. That's flashed like 30 times. Was Cassius Marsh a titan, or was he a receiver? No, he was a linebacker. I used to call Danzanzibacher.

The linebacker that did the judo kick and got kicked out of the game. That's all I remember. 59? That's all I remember is the kick. It was awesome. It really was, actually. For the lions, right? No, no, he played for the Bears.

Remember, like, he came in. And he made this tag. And he made this tag. this tackle and then he did like this super kick and then they gave him a penalty. Yeah, yeah. And he was like, why did you give me a penalty? For taunting. Tanti. Yeah. Even though he did it towards his own sideline. He did do it toward his own sideline. That was kind of a ridiculous call.

I agree wholeheartedly. We have a lot to discuss about I am grading the trade and I say it's a home run of a trade. Lawrence is not grading the trade and I thoroughly understand that. We will talk about all the different angles regarding this trade though with a host of guests and topics. Anthony Herrong is going to join us. at 5 o'clock. James Palmer is going to join us at 4. Coach Wonsta was like, hey, I'd like to get on. Not doing something. Like, he wasn't doing anything, and he texted Alex and was like,

I would like to talk about DJ Moore. Seriously? Yes. That's awesome. So at 3 o'clock, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, and when it's 3 o'clock, where did we decide it was 5 o'clock at? Newfoundland. Not Newfoundland?

Chechnya. Puerto Rico, I thought that's what we said. The San Juan was where. Same time zone. It is? Yes, it's an hour east of eastern. Okay. Newfoundland, it is.

When did you get in? To Newfoundland. So coach is going to join us at 3 o'clock. We've got all sorts of other stuff, too. Our conversation with Olin yesterday, and his breakdown of Linderbomb is really, really good. And I am now more than ever feeling like, go for it. Go get them both. Did you see the tape?

Go get them both. Set off a Linderbomb. Go get them both. him both. He sets an edge like it's no big deal. He's a really incredible center and has a lot of special skills. Alex called his games in high school, right? Didn't we learn that? Is that what we learned? That's how he knew how to say the name and knew that you were doing too much with

Baum. I did. Yeah. It's true. Linderbomb? I might do it again. You don't know. You're going to do it again? Don't tell me what to do. Linderbombe with the bomb. Dang. Dang. Dingy. All right. We're going to take a break. When we come back, we will talk about the DJ Moore trade. and that is after Tanny's open, which you know is must listen radio. That is next here on the score.

Good job, Tyler. Thank you. And this segment is sponsored by Amazon Hub Delivery.