Kap & J. Hood

8/8 7 AM: Expectations For The Bears This Season

Hour 1: It's all about expectations for the Bears this season seeing Bears GM Ryan Poles has made tons of moves to get the team ready to compete. Do the Bears need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success? Kap & J. Hood recaps their 2 days at Bears Training Camp.

Duration:: 47m
Broadcast on:: 08 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(crunching) Chicago. This is your morning routine. Listen to respect my name. Cap and G hood. That's right, that's right, we're bad. Watch the show on Twitch. Follow ESPN 1000 Chicago. Stream the show on the ESPN Chicago app. And on Instagram. 100.3 HD2. And on ESPN 1000 Chicago. No, no, no, no. David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood. Good morning, everyone. Bring 'em out, bring 'em out. Woo! ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ ♪ Bring 'em out, bring 'em out ♪ Woo! Oh! God, welcome in to the Cap and G hood morning show. On ESPN 1000 and we are streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. With David Kaplan, Jonathan Hood with you. We got Jay, we got Jay Moore, we got you. 4-3-R ride on this deal breakers Thursday with open phone lines for you. 3-1-2-3-2-3-7-7-6. That is our telephone number. And cap, we had a marvelous two days at training cap at House Hall. Just to be able to hear the pads pop, to be able to see the players out there moving around, getting ready for practice, getting ready for the second game of the preseason. And you know, the buzz up there at House Hall. The buzz around the media, the buzz from the fans that we interacted with. The buzz cap is expectations. And what we expect this season to be. There's been a lot of anticipation over the years for you and I and the fans about the Bears. Here we come, here comes the season, hits you right in the face, here we go. But there's a different vibe up there than we can recall, is it not? Everybody's so excited and back in the day when you and I were baby cub reporters. I don't mean Chicago Cubs, I mean we were the baby cubs. Every pass wasn't chronicled on social media. It was, you know what I mean? Yeah, fine. It was, it was, you didn't go. Well, he was 10 for 12 today and seven on seven, but only completed three of six. And no, nobody cared. Just get ready. Oh, how they went through practice today. Yep, that was it. Now everything is chronicled and they tell you when you use your phone and you can't use your phone and fans can do what they want. But like us in the media, we can't film practice on our iPhone, cannot. Somebody said to me yesterday I was in a golf event. Somebody said, do you have a lot of film that you take with your, like a camera or your phone? I said, no. Why not? Why don't you film that stuff? I can't. They'll take my credentials away and they'll cut my access. No, we're not allowed to do that. There are rules because. Okay, I'm calling it an audible. Do you see that? I didn't touch it. Okay, this is not. I did not touch it. Dang, nothing. Jay Moore is like, that's what happened to me on this day. Holy cow, wow. Okay. That noise was the microphone falling off the stand again. Heck of a mic drop, Cap. Thank you. Hold it up over your head, dude. Just like get it on, get it on a boom. Hold it up over your head. Okay, when it falls again, I go on and crack the screen in my phone. I mean, that is just. You got that fluffy mic condom on it. It's not gonna crack anything. I wouldn't worry about that. Wow. Wait, come on, man. This is a yes, frickin' P.N., Chicago. This isn't like, you know. Even more than that, it's good karma brand. This is like CSN South Dakota. Yeah. What do we do it here? They're Mike's work and they stay erect in South Dakota. Probably right. I mean, come on. K.K.C. I'm easy to manage. I just play hard every day. I don't complain. This is. How's that candy king? Our mike stayed up. We made sure 'cause we had wrenches to make sure they stay direct. (laughing) Oh, the candy cane college. Oh, I'm fine. Yeah. You want me to run across the street and get some gorilla tape or something? That where Willie Little was the head coach. He used to go into the candy cane, we're pretty. Yeah. Oh my God. I'm sorry, K.I.D. that's happened to you. But you know, again, in that chair, you got a bunch of rock stars that's holding onto the mike. You and Yurko and Waddle. Yeah, you know me. Once it's set, it's set. But everybody else-- But just so-- Oh, the bears! Oh! Everyone's springsteen over there in that chair. Right. But did I touch it? You did not. It just fell off while you were talking about the bears. Correct. OK, it's almost like I'm wondering, is it a rib now? Like, are they loosening it just to get to you? Right, like loosening the lug nuts so the wheel will come off when you pull away. Seriously? I mean, what? What? Yeah. That's a thing. That's a heinous crime. Oh, it was-- That was in high school? That was fun back then. You pull out of the driveway and as you started going, the wheel would just come off. Yes. That was not fun. Yeah. But that was also one of the cars that, as your late dad would say, an alley mechanic could put the wheel back on now. It's got sensors everywhere. Yes. No chance. Yes, exactly. All right, so back to what I was talking about with the bears for as long as my Michael stay erect. Sad. Like, you go through practice and this-- a guy walks off to go talk to the trainer and 79 people are tweeting, uh-oh. You know, so and so just walked off at the trainer. He may have said, hey, man, I got to go to the bathroom. Do we have a porta potty close here? But to everyone else, he may have just pulled his hamstring off the boat. Yeah. So I just-- I look at practice differently. I want to see them go through their work. I want to see it look like each day they make a little bit of progress. And when there's a good day for the defense, that's a good thing. That's a good thing too. They're both on the same team. Yes. We just had an MC, a salesperson just walked by. Hey, may you want to get a deal with Radio Shack or somebody that can help us with microphones? How about right to the local Radio Shack? Use the local guitars that help cap out for God's sakes. Anyway, it is true, Kevin. By the way, I got my hand slapped on Tuesday for filming. You did? Didn't know the rule. So it was just five seconds, though. And the guy came over and was like, hey, we're in our corner right now. It wasn't mean, he was just like, hey, not right now. Oh, click right when I go into the formations. And it's like a Lebanon 11. No filming. I understood. And I was trying to explain that to this guy at the golf course yesterday. And he said, they really care. I said, yes, because the other 31 teams follow all of us. Every reporter, they've got Twitter. And they're on every report. Oh, you think Adam Hogue or Mark Potash or you or me or whoever? They're following everybody. And they pour over that video. Oh, did you see that? Look at that formation that we saw. Oh, yeah. Well, you got about 17 or 18 potential counter stallions out there. Correct. You don't want to have that going on. Correct. Even though you're not trying to be, all of a sudden, hey, we got stallions video here from a reporter. And they do know they do film or watch every press conference of every coach. So even if this goes to the podium and says something, hey, so it's got a bulky hamstring. We can attack him on this in this way. That's why they don't say anything. Because everyone, it's not like the coach of the Colts isn't aware or somebody there, but aware of what's going on in Chicago if they're going to play the Bears. Yeah. But it was great to be up there. The vibe is good. It just feels different. So when we talk about expectations, we talk about a ball club that has Ryan Pols come to the Chicago Bears as a young general manager and says to, I'm sure the Bears, and definitely George McCasky, hey, you know, this team has potential, but I'd like to be able to reimagine the Bears by being able to do some do overs. There's some veterans here that make a lot of money. You're not winning with these veterans, so we're going to start over. And again, look through the history of the Chicago Bears. We have to find a pro personnel person or a general manager that said, yes, we're starting over. We're going to start from scratch. These had some bad teams right here, Cap. But as far as starting over, no. So it happened. And he had three wins. And then from there, seven wins. And now, the expectation for me is for the Bears to make the playoffs. I think as a show here every morning, we're thinking that the Bears are going to get to the playoffs. But the question is, is there a world where the Bears season is a success without a playoff berth? Now, football is different from baseball in this regard, Cap. And I'll give you the example. The Chicago White Sox will just start there. You know that the Sox made the playoffs in 2000, lost to the Seattle Mariners. Yep. When you take a look at the history of Jerry Manuel as the manager of the White Sox, not too shabby. A lot of seasons in which they were over 500. But they could not get to the playoffs. And then, as again, takes over. And then a year after, into his tenure, 2005, the White Sox win the World Series. So there are some times in baseball, where you and I and baseball fans have the patience to say, all right, it's not our year, but next year. It's not our year, but next year, because it's a long season. Football, I feel like it's different. Because of how this has been built so far, three wins to seven wins to the playoffs. So for me, it is a failure for the Chicago Bears if they can't get there, especially if they're blessed with good health. Listen, there's always things that happen in football. Hey, we couldn't get to where we want it to be, because our quarterbacks out or our key Y receivers out, or we're missing defensive players. But the expectation with a fully healthy roster is the Bears should make the playoffs this year. That's the expectation. Completely agree with you. 1,000% that that team should, should, be able to make the playoffs if they get solid health. I just think that that's the difference between baseball and football. Football, cap, you go through the draft and free agency you add on, and then you move forward. And football gives you all these opportunities with these extra wildcards. Baseball's getting like that as well. We're talking about a third wildcard that the Cubs are trying to get to at this point in time, right? Just trying to hold on for some postseason baseball in October. Well, to me, I think that because it's football, because the NFL, because it's only 18 games, I believe that it's not successful if the Bears will make the playoffs this year. I completely agree. Now, I would say this to you when we were discussing this earlier this morning. If you told me at the end of the year that they had an unfortunate run of injuries, but, oh man, Caleb is rookie of the year. And wow, that offense, like we could bank on that offense going forward. But unfortunately, they had five starters on defense, knocked out, and they had, you know, whoever else on offense knocked out, but they've been one eight games, nine games, and that's the guy right there at quarterback. I could accept it. If you tell me they go six and 11, and Caleb threw for 2,400 yards and 27 picks, and the offense looked inept, yeah, no, I can't handle that. Yeah, that's the thing. I'll use the Cubs for an example, same thing, right? Panella, back-to-back years of the playoffs with the Cubs. Yep, correct? And didn't win a game. Did not win a game. You get to a six-year drought. 2015, you lost in the NLCS, and you knocked it down in 2016 with the World Series Championship. Now, again, with baseball, it is different. However, the expectation was, once you get a taste of the playoffs in 2015, you expect to go further, or to be able to get to the World Series and win it. And it happened just like that. So, what I would say is because it's the Bears, and because they built it on purpose this way, they made sure that, hey, we're gonna knock this down to the studs as much as possible, and build this thing, as he said, the right way. My expectation, your expectation is the same expectation for Ryan Polls. Polls will tell you, okay, well, you know, I think we're in a position where we can get there. It's not even wait and see any more cap with the Bears. It's not wait and see, it's gotta happen at this particular time. Again, there's no magic to it. It's just effort. The effort is, is that all the work you put in in the off season, everything you had to do to get that number one pick, everything you had, where Adunze fell into his lap in the first round. Okay, so it's go time. So, to me, just taking another step. Three wins, seven wins, eight wins. Eight nine is not gonna get you to the playoffs. You gotta solidify yourself. Agreed. Totally agree. Totally agree, but it is a different vibe out there. People are so excited. So excited. So we're gonna see how this whole thing plays out. Again, it's a sport where one major injury can destroy you. That's true. More times than that, look through the NFL. Up to the Bengals. Yeah, well, I mean, look through the NFL. Once the quarterback is down, that'll be all. More times than that. Look at Cincinnati, Joe Burrell. Injuries his hand, done. That team was done. They had no chance. Cleveland, they made the playoffs, but they went through four quarterbacks last year. Yeah. Well, a strong team around those quarterbacks, but not enough to be able to knock it down to get to the Super Bowl. But it has to happen now, Cap. It has to happen because of all the work they put in, all the hours that they put in. I'm not saying other teams don't do that, but look at the Bears off season versus anyone else in the North. We'll just put it in the North. I mean, it's a complete change. When you look at this roster, I open up, as you well know, this depth chart every morning. And I think it is gonna ever change. I'm just looking at it because I'm just enamored by what polls have been able to do. Compared to where it was. Come on, man. Oh, man. You and I think we both picked them the first year. I know I don't want to speak for you. I know I said five trending down. Yes. They went three. It was going to be a non-playoff team. Correct. And then there were people who should know better. They can win 10 ball games. What? There was no world where they could win 10 ball games. None. And they weren't trying to win 10 ball games. You have friends, and I have friends of mine as well, that are wait and see Bears fans, or we've seen it all before. And that's just out of ignorance, the last part of that. Like we've seen it all before. It's not this. You've seen off seasons before, but you haven't seen the flurry of activity in the off season like we saw this past off season. You haven't seen it. You haven't. This is not just like nine or 10 draft picks. You just plug and play into a depth chart. It's not just, well, we've got the number one pick, and then you move forward. Now, Ryan Polls did a lot to try to get this team in the position to be a playoff team. - I agree. - That's the goal. That's the bar right there is the playoffs. I know Detroit's tough. I know Green Bay's tough. Minnesota will have something to say, but the Bears have to be there. Even with the Ricky quarterback cap, it's just like everything around him, the support system around him, says that the Bears have to be able to get there. And by the way, it's just not my opinion. - It's the opinion of Ryan Polls. - I agree. - So, 3-1-2-3-3-2-E-S-P-N-3-3-2-3-7-7-6 is our telephone number. Do the Bears need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success? You heard Cap and I talk about it, and we want to get your reaction as well. You know where the Bears have been the last couple of seasons. So where's the bar? When you take a look at this Bears team and everything they've done, is it a season of success if the Bears make the playoffs? But if they don't though, Cap, if they don't, is it a success as well? - Nuance, baby. - Nuance. - It is Nuance. Well, get your thoughts on that. Also still to come, money, money. Bears got money. What are they gonna do with it? We talk about it as we move forward here on Deal Breakers Thursday on Cap and J-Hood. - This is Cap and J-Hood. They beat in the traffic commute, so you don't have to... (upbeat music) - On ESPN Chicago. (upbeat music) - Don't forget to check out the ESPN Chicago YouTube channel, youtube.com. Look for ESPN Chicago. Hit that subscribe button. It's not just the shows. It's also special clips and special features as well. Go to ESPN at Chicago on YouTube and subscribe. But with you till 10 o'clock, then my Greenberg comes in at 10 o'clock followed by Carmine Yurko at 12. Waddle and Sylvie, 2.30 to 6.30 into Bears weekly with Jeff and Tom. And then Bleck them dollar at 7.30 right here. On your home for the Bears in the White Sox, ESPN 1000. If you're just joining us, we're talking about the Chicago Bears, of course, because the preseason game number two, will take place on Saturday. And we're talking about the Bears as far as expectations. Do the Bears need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success? Cap and baseball, when there was no wild card, and yes, we're old enough to remember when there was no wild card, you could be 20 games over 500. - Ah, but you're not in first place, so you're not in the playoffs. That sucked. And it didn't happen to us very often in this town, but if a team was second best, but would great, if you weren't in the playoff, if you weren't number one, you weren't getting in. - Oh, six, White Sox 92 and 70, right? - Good enough. - Oh, I remember that I don't know. I knew they had a good record, 92 and 70. And they didn't get in. Jim Tomi came over after the World Series, just didn't get there. But yeah, it's no fun to finish second. Last year's Cubs, I'm not telling you they won the World Series, but they were one game out of the playoffs. - Yeah. Sucked. The expectation starts from the top when it comes to Chicago Bears, because this is how they built it. Again, for those are pessimistic, Cap. I know you're going after some of your friends, 'cause they're like, ah, Cap, we've seen it before. I've seen it before. Well, you haven't seen it before. You haven't. - Correct. - 'Cause we are armed with the knowledge of what the ebb and flow of this organization has been for years, for decades. And when you have the general manager in place in Ryan Polls, it says, yeah, our expectations is to take it to another step, then that's my expectation. My expectation is the expectation of the general manager. Lot of times, Cap, you let the ownership or the general manager lead your opinion. When Jerry Ryan Zorff says, you know, we think we're gonna be good in a year. And then you have the general manager of the Chicago White Sox, Chris Gett, says I don't like our team. Oh, he doesn't like the team? I don't like it either. 'Cause he sees something I don't see. - Correct. - But I appreciated Gett's honesty. - When Jed Hoyer tells us an opening day, it's like, yeah, we're good, we're just not there yet. Okay, better believe him. Better believe him. That's what he said to us. Opening day in Wrigley Field. We're not, we're at the Braves. - Right, he said, the Braves, the Phillies, the Dodgers, they're at a different level than us. - Sometimes you listen to what they have to say. I'm glad it's more honesty now, Cap, than it was, say even 10 years ago, talking to people on and off the record about the organization, by any organization. They would lie to your face. Can't lie anymore, because people have the knowledge, they have the numbers, they know what talent is. - Correct. - And what stars are. - Correct. - But back in the day, they just lie to your face. You know, Mark Hadley, Phil Emery. Jonathan, please come on over, please. - If things are great around here. - Here, sit in my golf cart. Let's take a look right around the corner. - Oh God. - I heard you on the radio say that we're not very good. Let me explain to you. You're an average ball club, and guess what? They're an average ball club, eight and eight. - They used to think they could tell us anything and we'd buy it. I still remember, I remember Mark prior. - Yeah, he was wearing flip flops and he strained his foot. - No, he actually has an elbow injury. - Remember? - Lying, yeah. - Lying, just out, not lying. - There's too much information out there now, Cap. Can't lie to the audience. It's not about us previewing the information. It's the general fan base. Can't lie to Chicago. We know, 'cause we've seen it. - Correct. - So do the Bears need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success? 3, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, ESPN. Is our telephone numbers? We talk Bears with Shane and Niles on Cap and Jhood. Shane, good morning. - What's up, Shane? - Good morning, guys. How are ya? - I'm good, man. How are you? - Good, thanks. Love to show. Thanks for taking my call. - We appreciate you. - Good night, Colin. Is talk about expectations, and if we need to make the playoffs this year. And I'm all in. I'm just like you guys. I'm all in. I love the team, love what they're doing. But the thing I want to talk about is... Is it realistic to think that Caleb Williams is gonna be what CJ Shroud was? More realistically, it's what rookie quarterbacks do. I mean, like Josh Allen, Peyton Manning. I mean, a 20 TD, 20 pick season is relatively normal for a rookie quarterback. And then year two, year three, we see the giant leap. Is that more realistic to expect that? Or are we just hoping that we'll be getting what we had in CJ Shroud last year? - Okay, from my seat, hoodie may disagree. I think you make a valid point that it might be more realistic to temper expectation. But the game is also played differently today than when Aikman and Manning, like guys put up big time numbers, Justin Herbert, Andrew Locks, CJ Stradd. So while he may not be a finished product in January, where we go man, I wish he wouldn't throw that interception. I wish he'd have protected the ball better and I got it stripped out by some maniac coming to sack him. I do think his numbers will be better than the average rookie quarterback factoring in that he's super talented. Does that make sense? - Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But if the Bears do go nine and eight and he has an average rookie season, which not average, but you know, just what typically happens, are we gonna be, are fans or people gonna be like, "Oh, I can't believe this is isn't what we thought." Like expecting us to be 13 and four this year. But I think year two and year three is when we could see the giant leap where we're real contenders. - I think that's fair. But Shane, what I would say to you and all the other Bears fans is this, is that the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's based on how you feel, right? And how I feel individually as fans. Like I've told Cap, I've tried to hold Cap back 'cause Cap has got these, you know, again, these big numbers, these eye-popping numbers for Caleb Williams, 4,000 yards and a certain amount of touchdowns and interceptions. I said that I'm just going by what I've seen in the National Football League all my life. And that is, there are very few times where a rookie quarterback had these big eye-popping numbers and these difference-making numbers. Andrew Luck is one, Justin Herbert is another. There's very few that you could say, "Oh my God," in year one. But year two, year three, with some seasoning? Absolutely. - Hoodie has some audio that's on his board. I want Shane and everybody to listen. This is Nick Saban talking to Matt Eberfloos about why quarterbacks fail in the National Football League. - Here's my theory on why NFL quarterbacks fail at such a dramatic rate. To me, expectations are a killer. This kid you got, this kid's got so much media, so much hype, so much expectation on doing well. And he has to develop so quickly to meet the expectations that everybody has for him. It's almost impossible. The expectations are a killer. But yet, to use your word, development is the key for him. You know, like Peyton Manning through 28 interceptions when he was a rookie. It wasn't most in the history of all. - Man, he looks to throw tipped at Anderson. - It's unbelievable. - Put the nail on it. - But it didn't affect him. It was like the scoreboard. The scoreboard don't mean anything until the game moved. - Thoughts from Nick Saban with Matt Irafloos on HBO. - But as he, like, he's the goat. And as he says, and he went on to talk about how he watches quarterbacks, he stands behind the quarterback, he said, and then I asked him, what did you see there? Tell me what you saw, why you made that decision, as he tries to guide him through. And then the other thing that was super interesting was Nick Saban will never call out his quarterback in front of the team. He said, I do the quarterback different. I do it privately. We come in, we put the tape on. Okay, tell me why you did that. We had this play call on with this protection. Tell me why you did that, because that's not what I want. Here's what I want. And we saw the development of Jalen Milro, who at the start of the year, he was a running back trying to play quarterback and couldn't do it. And man, at the end of the year, I got, I was a pretty damn good football player. I'm having said all that. And I know I don't have the rings and the resume of Nick Saban. I'm just a college football fan. Would you just, would you agree that when you take a look at Caleb Williams, the expectations and the numbers you put on him is a great goal, but if he doesn't reach it, it's okay. My expectations for Caleb and the Bears are different. Because I said that when it comes to the Bears, I expect the Bears to be the playoffs based on everything else that Ryan Paul has done. There's this feeling, I can already feel a cap of, we're hoping that Caleb Williams will be able to blast past the numbers of Justin Fields. And I don't think that that's the measuring stick. It's not. - Just win games then what Paul said? - That's what I told you. That's what I've been telling you is that all that matters is that the Bears win more games they did last year and get to the playoffs. And the development of Caleb Williams, because I think he's that good, will happen. But it's not gonna happen as a step of a finger. There's going to be interceptions and mistakes he's gonna make. We're gonna come in here on Monday and get pissed because we're like, hey, the game was in the balance and this kid screwed up. But we know that the development's gonna get better. You're one for year two, you're two to year three. 'Cause that's how the NFL works. - Correct. - Just because Caleb Williams, the number one pick, does not necessarily mean the Bears get to the Super Bowl. And it doesn't work that way. - Don't disagree. - While everyone else in a different learning curve, when he's got all these veterans and second year players, here's Caleb Williams. As we even saw in hard knocks, yep, gotta get better with that. Gotta be able to get the ball out quicker than that. It's going to take a little bit. I'm not saying five years, but I know he's smart, but not so smart that all of a sudden he's just gonna set the whole world on fire in year one. I don't expect that. If it happens, it's great. But that's not what usually happens in the NFL. - No, it's gonna take time. I understand that. I just believe the way they want to play and the weaponry that they have, you're gonna see numbers we haven't seen from a Bears quarterback. That's what I believe. If he's healthy. - I think that is fair. And also a low bar. (laughing) - Basically, all the other quarterbacks we've seen come in here. - Yeah, I mean, we haven't been blessed with great quarterback play, obviously. But I just, I look at this kid and he's different. And then I ask guys who are on that roster. I've asked him. - Tell me about him. No microphone around, no camera around. Dude, he's different. He's different. - If you're on hold, you will be on the air. 3-1-2-3-3-2-E-S-P-N-3-2-3-7-7-6 is our phone number. Do the Bears need to make the playoffs for the season to be a success? Is it yes, is it no? Is there a nuance to that? Well, I'll talk to you about that. Also, money available for the Bears. As far as cap space, we'll give you that as well. So we move forward here on the home of the Bears. ESPN 1000. - Here's to Dave's headline, headline with cap and J-hood. - Cubs took two of three from the Minnesota twins at Wrigley yesterday pounding the Twinkies. Cubs are five back in a wildcard, baby. That's right. Get ready, still alive, hoodie. That's right, yesterday, E and half, Michael Bush went deep day off today and then the big tilt for two at guaranteed rate as they take on the White Sox for two and then a rare Sunday off for both clubs. White Sox blew another one with the bullpen. Tukey to son, hoodies guy blew the game, giving up three after the Sox had a 2-0 lead. They are mercifully off today. - Tune in. - As I said, the aforementioned Cubs come to town for Friday and Saturday, ball games and Hinsdale is going to the Little League World Series, baby. How cool is that? They walk off Jasper, Indiana. - Hey, dad, Indiana. - Here comes Hinsdale to Williamsport next week. - Jay Moore, right? - You cap and J-hood, I'm back. - You're back, baby. We are back. We are back. - What? - Chicago's home for sports, ESPN Chicago. - Cap and J-hood on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app, we got Shadow No Shot. Coming right at eight o'clock, we got deal breakers. We do it every Thursday. That's an hour from now right here on Chicago's home for sports. Cap, do you like the Bears roster? - I do. - I was presently constituted. - Yeah, it's not. - It's not the Chiefs roster yet. It's not the bills roster yet. The bills have accomplished a lot, although it didn't win a Super Bowl, the 49ers roster. But we don't have the drama going on in our camp either. The 49ers-- - Excuse me. - Oh, for heaven's sakes, we'll just clear it out, Harry. - Hello, my baby. Hello, my baby. - Just horrendous. Were you drinking last night? - I did not have a drop. - Just drinking. - Did not-- - Drunk, not a drop. - Just horrible again. - Nothing. - Nothing. - Well, what was that? - What do you want me to tell you, man? - I do nothing but talk. - You did more than that yesterday. - I did not-- I played golf. I did not cocktail. Nothing. Not a drop. - I don't believe you. Go ahead. - Okay. So-- - Do you like the-- do you like the raw? You know that I'm leading you someplace. I'm just asking, do you like the roster? - We don't have the drama that, okay, in Pittsburgh, they have a quarterback battle. In San Francisco, their top receivers probably getting traded in Brandon I.U.K. Their top running back and maybe MVP candidate, Christian McCaffrey has a calf injury and he's out for all the preseason. The Jets trade for Hassan Redick and he doesn't show up 'cause he didn't get a contract extension. The Cowboys have all their drama. We just are going about our business. Little banged up, but going about our business. - The Bears have $21 million in caps space available to them after the DJ more extension freed up some money this off season. Albert Breyer on the $21 million in cap space for the Bears, listen. - Well, I mean, first of all, remember, you can always roll that money over, right? Like, so I think that's, like, whether it's sitting there or not, you can always use that in the future. And, you know, certainly, you know, like being able to, you know, move 10 or $15 million over in a 2020 clock could help them. You know, they're building around their young quarterback team to build on their young quarterback. I think, like, what you're looking at there, as far as what they could do with the breathing room they have, goes back to what we've been talking about, really, to the whole office, right? Which is, is there some more pass rush help that they can get out there? And so, you know, Yannick and Gokway, somebody they stayed in touch with, I don't know the price point right now is where the Bears would be comfortable. I think Yannick's probably a little bit more of a pass rush specialist. You know, so he could be an option. Matthew Judon, I think, is available. And, like, if you are willing to give up what the Patriots would want for them, I think that's another, that's another name that you could be, at least, in the short term, a really productive guy, opposite Montez Sweat. And then, you know, I mean, I think part of this, too, kind of relates back to the development of guys like Austin Booker and what guys like that show the rest of the preseason. - So, thoughts there from Albert Breer. - He's so tapped in, and again, you can roll the money over and use it next year, and the cap will go up as revenues come in, so they'll be spaced, they'll be able to make moves, and they'll have Caleb in his rookie contract. And he wants to get to that big extension, like Mahomes did as fast as he can, so he needs to play well and be committed. But I think Paul has a move in him, if the right situation pops up. What if the Jets just go, we can't come to agreement here. Okay, we gotta make this right, we need a pick, and we'll give you Hassan Retik. What did they give up to get him? A second round pick? I think it was a second round pick. - Yes, I believe so. - So, if they said to you, second round pick, you can have Hassan Retik, and he'll be opposite Montez Sweat. You have to think about that. Hassan Retik is a monster. - Yes, conditional third actually. - Conditional third, so there it is, whatever it is. He's a monster, can you imagine putting him there? We'll take him a little time to ramp up, but oh man, yeah. Or what if there's an offensive lineman out there? What if there's an opportunity to make your team better? You gotta do it. - Yeah, and the reason why we bring this up cap is because I'm wondering, the names that you just mentioned, is that the difference between the playoffs or not? See, again, we're relating this to baseball. For the Cubs, as I've been selling you since the beginning of the season, like hey man, they just need a little bit more offense, just a little bit more juice. Because we come to find out that the starting pitching, and it was good enough to carry him, and now the relief pitching has come together, still, if the Cubs had another bat or two, man, they'd be a juggernaut, they'd be in the mix in the playoffs. You don't have to worry about trying to cling on to the third wild card. But with this Bears team, I asked whether or not you like the Bears roster, and I like it as well. But does the move have to happen today? Or can the move happen before the deadline? Because I think that it's a good defense, not great defense yet, obviously Montez, what shines on the line. I'm a big fan of the linebackers and the secondary on this team. I think that you have a good running back room, solid tight end room, top five wide receiver room, if everything works out well. So what I'm asking you is, do you think as is, it's good enough? As is. Good enough to just make the playoffs? You're not talking about the Super Bowl. Yeah, that's not happening. As is, is it good enough? Yes, I think you can get there. Again, the quarterback has to take a big step. You have to be blessed with health. You have to. I just don't want to be be the guy that says, you know, if you just added that one pass rush, or you add that one offensive lineman, that at some point you have to like what you have, but also you still have room between now and even the deadline to be able to pick up someone. Like Montez, what was a real find? They didn't have to do that. They knew they weren't going anywhere. You know, the ass of Michael Lombardi. Lombardi thought that this was just going to be a one off to try to get him into the playoffs. That's a trade you shouldn't have made. Yes, that's not. He's going to ask maybe to go back to Washington. Stop tonight. Come on, man. You're smarter than that. We'll call this this idea that even though the bears are up the track, it was a bigger plan for the future. Yes, like if you had gotten Chase Young, who's got all sorts of health issues, that's a short term play. Yeah, Niners were trying to win the Super Bowl. They did that. Now I think he's in New Orleans. Montez Swett was a long term play. And then he's not going to sign an extension with you. A week later, he gets $100 million. That's right. Come on. And Waddle said to me recently, he's like, dude, I got to get you and Michael Lombardi together. If you guys got the same room and had a steak and a couple of drinks, you would really like the guy. OK. I'm willing to sit down and break bread with him. But I want to go at it with him. I want to debate. Yes. A lot of times too, he just didn't know, Cap. I mean, he didn't know. Correct. I mean, anybody that was a good NFL mind would say, well, the bears are picking up Montez Swett, not because it's going to be a playoff run, not for a one-off. You make the trade because you want him to be part of your mix of your core. Correct. When you're good, like the bears. No, that's correct. So what I guess my overarching point is is that if these moves, as you mentioned, these names, don't happen for the bears before they break camp. I'm good with it as long as you could see while the season's going on. Hey, man, we could use a pass rusher here, or we could add someone on the offensive line and utilize your money there. It doesn't have to be used today. But it can be for the future, like this season. Just like the Swett pickup. Yes. That's what I'm saying. And maybe if whatever the deadline is, I don't know the date off the top of my head. But right before the deadline, the bears are playing really good football. They're like, wow, they're off to a really good start. How cool is this? Who's available? What team is going to get rid of them because they're having a bad year? Yeah. In. You don't know that. We didn't see Montez Sweat coming here. Not. Which also as a feather in the cap of the general manager. Yes. There was no rumor in innuendo about that at all. That general manager is, again, he hasn't won anymore games than Hebrew foods. They're tied together. They're both 3 and 14, 7 and 10, both. Right. Right. That's the new drinking game, by the way. We'll get into that. But Ryan pulls that aero is trending up, man. Sure. And then you get a guy in DJ Moore, how many-- like with CD lamb, and he may be a better player than DJ, but he's not markedly better. He's a good player. How many of those guys would have said, I'm not taking that deal. Where it can get out of it easy after 26. The cap hits going to help him this year. A lot of guys-- nope, I got to have Brandon Ayuk. I got to have the number has to have a 3 in front of it. 30 million plus. Right. DJ Moore's like, that's fair. That's good. It's good for both sides. I'm in. Really? Most athletes would do it like LeBron did. Like, I'm going to sacrifice for the team. He didn't get a haircut. It was the barber that just took a little hair off the top. Who's a tweezers with one hair out? Clip. Here you go. LeBron took a lot less. Instead of 100 and whatever, 150 million will call it. He took 149.5. He really was. That was really generous. He really was. Like Brady Jeter. Who were the three that Jalen Brunson referenced? Brady Jeter and Mahomes. Mahomes, yeah. He said, those guys wanted to keep winning. They wanted to build a winner, so they took markedly less. If you're on hold, you will be on the air on the Cap and Jhood Morning Show. Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention? I've just been handed an urgent news story. Cap and Jhood are back. Cannonball! On ESPN Chicago, Mike Wilbur Wilbur. Cap and Jhood on ESPN 1000 and streaming on the ESPN Chicago app. Let's go to Atlanta, Georgia, listening on the ESPN Chicago app is landing on Cap and Jhood landing. Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for having me. Yes, sir. What's going on, buddy? So, the conversation earlier was about whether or not the Chicago Bears should be expected to make the playoffs. And the conversation I'd like to have with you guys is about the trenches. We know the game of football has won in the trenches. I've been saying for years that Ryan Polls has not done enough to address the trenches. Now, what we have this season, and what I heard Jhood say earlier on the show is, now that Ryan Polls has gotten Tina now in it, he's gotten Roma doomsday, he's gotten Caleb Williams, that we should expect them to win more games and make the playoffs and all that great stuff. What I'm saying is, what Ryan Polls has done has gotten us gaudy and pretty things, but the foundation of the house is still not built. But when you say he hasn't done enough in the trenches, and I'm not saying you're right or wrong, he did spend the 10th pick in the first round, wasn't that what Darnell Wright was? 10th pick in the first round. He took a third rounder this year to take a tackle. He traded a fifth round pick to get a stardering offensive lineman in Ryan Bates who he's got. He signed Coleman Shelton, he drafted Braxton Jones, he inherited Tabith Jenkins. He spent $30 million on Nate Davis. He went and got Montez Sweat, Demetrius Walker, Andrew Billings. What I say. Oh, Demarkus Walker. No, you're absolutely right. All of those, all of those, all of those things happen. All of those things happen. But look at the quality of what we have. We have a starting left tackle that was wrapped in the fifth round of, from Tukaluki University. I don't even know where he's from. It's nowhere. No where competitive. But solid. A left tackle that you said, I'm sorry, left left guard that has started 20 games in three seasons. He can't say healthy. The center that was brought in was average at the career average center in the best offense in the week. So now you bring him over here. Is this offense going to be as good as the Rams? No. So he's not going to be as good of a center. The right guard that you spent $30 million on doesn't want to practice doesn't want to play. And there's a competition now with him and somebody that neither of us have ever heard of. Montes Swett is the only name on defensive line. You've got a hole on the other side opposite him. There's no defensive in the speak of. Dexter, great. I like him, but it's still yet to be determined. Is he going to be the three technique that Ibra Fus has been saying now for three years is the engine of the defense. And buildings I like, but he is two years there. I think you've got what one year left on his contract. Yeah. So it's nice to have Keenan Allen. It's nice to have Roman doomsday is nice to have Taylor Williams. I love all of it. All I'm saying is to put the expectation on these guys to succeed right away might be a misstep because they do not have protection on the offensive side of the ball. And they do not have the engine on the defensive side of the ball. I love the move that we've made, but I think it's a little, but we are at least one season too early to be saying, Hey guys, Ryan Paul gave you everything you need. So now you've got to put up or you're worthless. I think we need some work to try because the trenches has not been addressed. You're very fair. You're very, very, very fair. I agree with him that and as much as I think they're going to have a really good team, you give him whatever the number of picks we have left. I think we were at 11. I know they traded a pick to get Ryan Bates. They have, I want to say they have Jake and look it up. I think he has, we have nine picks left in next year's draft. They're going to have whatever they roll over plus whatever the cap goes up, plus whoever doesn't return. Very, I believe need to use next year's number one pick. And then they have two second rounders, ours and Carolina's got to be able to use those picks to add a pass rusher, a tackle, or maybe a guard or an elite center. Whatever the case may be, I don't disagree with Landon. They're probably a year early, but I do have a high expectation. Well, I have high expectations as well, Cap, and here's the reason why is because of all the moves that were made, I don't think these moves were cursory moves. These were moves to be able to elevate the team from seven wins to what's next. I can understand if you're making these moves in your Washington, or if you're Carolina, or if you are the Arizona Cardinals, but that's not where the bears are. They're the arrows pointing up for the bears. Yes, it's a house that has been built, but you're waiting for the mortar to get dry. That's what you're waiting for right now. Fair enough. That's what you're waiting for the mortar to get dry fair enough. And once it's dry and it holds that concrete holds, that's when you're looking at a playoff team. And like I said, it didn't happen in August, but moving forward, you have enough, I believe, to be able to gel, to be one of the best better teams in the NFC. That's what that's my expectation. Fair enough. Fair enough. Shire no shot in two minutes on Captain Jay Hood.