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I am a multimedia nut, journalism, photography, videography, radio broadcasting and production. I’ve done it all, but I love to write and have a lot to say. I live in the Chicagoland area now and have always had an extreme love and passion for the Chicago Bears
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Written by Brett Solesky
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Sunday, 10 January 2010 14:35 |
 Just how crazy is it to consider one of the best and most valuable assets on the offense of the Chicago Bears the player the Bears SHOULD trade?
Greg Olsen is one of the best athletes at the TE position in the league with his combination of size speed and leaping ability. Olsen is one of the few successful draft picks the Bears have had in the last 10 years that we can point to and say he's had the best value for where he was selected in the NFL draft, 31st overall in 2007.
In each of his first three seasons in the league Olsen has increased his production from one season to the next. In 2009 Olsen was the team's leading receiver and one of Jay Cutler's favorite targets and was amongst the top-5 in the league in receiving touchdowns and top-10 in overall yards amongst tight ends.
It often takes two defenders to cover Olsen, teams usually bracket him with a safety over the top and a linebacker in man to man or a corner man to man on him. Teams have had the best success against Olsen when the Bears haven't gotten much production from any of their other receivers on the field.
Problem is Olsen hasn't been consistent throughout much of his career, shining for one to two games a season, instead of putting up a consistent level of dominant play. For a player of Olsen's caliber he hasn't been as dominant as he should be, nor is he any type of consistent blocker. Olsen consistently struggles not only pass protection but also in run blocking. At 6-foot-5 and 252-pounds Olsen shouldn't have much problem throwing a crack down block on the DE to the inside. He also shouldn't have any problems manning up on an OLB (especially in the 3-4 when the Bears want to run) and getting big blocks to spring Matt Forte on the G-power or any other play to the outside.
The Bears should have a huge advantage with the versatility they have in their two TE package, Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen should be able line up and help the Bears pound it down the throat of any defense. Again especially a 3-4 defense because your TEs should be able to attack that extra back leaving a guard to start a combo block on the NT until the center is engaged and then leap out to the next level to take on that extra ILB in the 3-4.
But Olsen as mentioned does not bring anything to the rushing game as a blocker. He struggles against DE and LBs and leaves the Bears at a point of weakness instead of advantage.
Now onto why the Bears should look to trade Olsen for at a minimum a second round draft pick in the 2010 draft. Olsen has value to another team in the league as a down the field threat who can open up the middle of the defense. Most importantly he still have two years left on his rookie deal that would make him most certainly cap friendly for any team in the league. He could easily be moved and the Bears could off-set the loss of his production by using that second round pick on a pass rusher, which provides a huge advantage over the loss of a TE.
More to the point, if the Bears bring in Mike Martz to be the offensive coordinator Olsen is even less valuable to the Bears because Martz rarely implements the TE into his offense. With the likelihood that Olsen's production in a Mike Martz offense drops off it would lessen Olsen's overall trade value after one season.
Kellen Davis has shown that when he is given the chances to actually step in and make plays as a receiver he can do so. Plus he's a better blocker meaning he could be more productive in a Martz offense than Olsen could be. If Davis can be just as productive in Mike Martz's offense as Olsen can be, and the Bears can draft a pass rusher they don't hurt their offense, while simultaneously upgrading a weakness in their defense.
Future complicati ons for Olsen could arise in trying to sign Olsen to a long term contract extension given his agent is Drew Rosenhaus. This takes nothing away from the success the Bears have had in negotiating with Olsen it's just the bar set by other TEs in the league that have been only slightly more productive than Olsen or not as productive in some cases puts Rosenhaus at an advantage.
Kellen Winslow Jr. has set the salary bar for TEs at around six years and in the 35 to $40-million dollar range with around 10-million in guarantees. While Winslow has more receptions overall than Olsen, Winslow only has one more career touchdown than Olsen has, a sure fire number Rosenhaus will point to when negotiating Olsen's extension.
Plus if another team is unable to re-sign Olsen to an extension, Rosenhaus will probably be MORE than happy to let his client hit the open market and enter a bidding war for his services.
Again the offense can be successful without Greg Olsen and with Kellen Davis in place in just about any offense. The defense can't be successful without a strong pass rusher or a ball hawking safety in the secondary, again two places of need that far out weigh any loss of production the Bears would incur by trading Olsen.
Olsen has done just enough to put his value as a TE at a high enough level for the Bears to get a nice draft pick out him, on top of having two years left on his rookie deal. Trading Olsen away would be the most minimal risk to the Bears' offensive production that they could afford to take.
With greater needs on this team than TE, needs on the offensive line, in the secondary and at pass rusher and those needs far outweighing the need of getting production from your TE in your offense. The Bears should do everything in their power to trade Olsen on draft day. No need to rush to trade Olsen, but make the trade after fully evaluating the potential talent that exists in what is said to be a very deep and talented draft pool.
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