Are the Chicago Bears Just Cheap?

Josh Bullocks, Chicago Bears new signing.

I am a little bored and have some time on my hands, so here is my chat with I-truth reprinted from memory.

I-Truth: So did you hear the Bears signed some guy named Josh Bullocks? Who the hell is Josh Bullocks?

DaChiFAn: Some safety from the Saints. I have no idea if he’s good, but I read that he got benched at the beginning of the season for another player. And this is on a team that has the worst pass defense in the NFL. That can’t be good.

I-Truth: Well did they pay him a lot?

DaChiFan: Not really, it’s a one year deal for 1M, but only $500K is guaranteed.

DaChiFan: Yo, do you think that our criticism of Angelo and Lovie is unfair and that the real problem is the Bears and the McCaskey’s are a cheap organization? Or maybe they just don’t have enough money to pony up on a $15M signing bonus.

I-Truth: That’s crazy. It’s the Chicago Bears. They are like the Cubs, their tickets are sold out within 5 minutes. Every game is sold out and they have an amazingly large and loyal fanbase. No way they can’t afford to pay out a large signing bonus. Maybe they are cheap, but they have the money.

DaChiFan: How else do you explain their lack of signing players. They are $30M under the cap and haven’t signed anyone. I have no idea how wealthy the owners are, but what if their main source of income is the Bears. We already know that not all NFL franchises make money. I assume the Bears do, but that doesn’t mean they can afford to shell out $15M in signing bonus to a player in a lump sum payment, let alone the $100M they have to pay for all players during the year. $15M all at once is a lot of money, especially since a credit line is a lot harder to get a hold of these days.

I-Truth: No, I just think they don’t know what they are doing. They have the money. Again, they have the Cubs disease. Why shell out all that money? People are always going to pay to see the games, who cares if they are actually good. Cut down your costs on player salaries, make the same revenues, and put the profits in your pocket. It makes rational sense to me.

DaChiFan: It is kind of weird that they release Metcalf and sign someone else on the same day- sort of ironic.

I-Truth: Yeah, I saw that. They should have cut him 5 years ago. I have no idea how he got paid so much money and never once performed on the field.

DaChiFan: He must have had something on Angelo or Lovie. There is no reason he should’ve been paid that much and stayed that long.

I-Truth: No doubt.