Bears Trade Thomas Jones To Jets

League "sources" are reporting that the Bears have dealt 1,200 yard rusher Thomas Jones and their 2nd round pick (63rd overall) for the Jets' 2nd round pick (37th overall). Wait a minute...WHAT?!? You mean to tell me Angelo just gave one of the better back in the league away for nothing? In fact, the Bears gave up more than they got. HUH? I understand Angelo wanting Benson to take over full-time, and I've gone on record as saying that I think Benson will be a star in this league, but when you have a chip with as much value as Jones to trade, and a team like the Jets who were desperate enough for a RB, how do you not come out of the deal with AT LEAST equal value?

The first thing I thought upon hearing the news was that this was too preliminary of a report to be completely true. There has to be other picks in either this draft or in the future coming to the Bears. I think that it is very possible that these "sources" haven't told the whole story so it might be prudent to wait until tomorrow when the deal is officially announced and we have all the information before we pass judgment. But let me say one thing: if this is true, if this report is 100% accurate, this is a disgrace to Angelo and the entire Bears front-office. The team needed an OL, a TE, a Safety, a DT, and a FB, and the Bears should have demanded at least a first rounder, if not a starter at one of those positions I just listed, in exchange for Jones.

But not let's look at it through the Bears' perspective:
1) Thomas Jones is 30 years old and it's common knowledge that a RB's production drops drastically at this stage of their career.
2) Thomas Jones was demanding out of Chicago which takes Angelo out of the driver's seat during negotiations. Whenever another team knows that you are going to have to get rid of your player, their offer automatically comes down.
3) The Bears basically now posses two first round picks, although the second one is early second round. Who is to say they are done dealing? They could package those two picks in order to move up into the top 10.
4) If Angelo did decide to keep the two picks, there's no doubt that he would be able to find two impact players. Starters Devin Hester and Danieal Manning were both second-round picks.
5) This frees up money and allows the Bears to be bigger players in free agency if they so choose. It definetly gives them the money they would need to sign a player drafted with one of the first ten picks.
6) All of a sudden, there are a number of RBs who hit free agency (McGahee, Rhodes, Jamal Lewis etc.) that the Bears could add for depth

Like I said, I'm holding out until further details are presented but either way, wow.


Headlines...

• The Bulls made a miraculous comeback and erased an 18-point deficit in the 4th quarter to beat Milwaukee in overtime. Ben Gordon scored 20 of his 48 points in the 4th quarter and OT. Michael Redd added 52 of his own and it marked only the 8th time in NBA history that two players combined to score 100 points. The Bulls need 15 more wins to get to 50 on the year. They only play 6 teams with winning records the rest of the way. An interesting stretch to register in your datebook: the Pistons, who lost to Golden State tonight, will play the Suns, Mavs, Spurs and Rockets from March 16-23, with only one of those games (Dallas) at home. Perfect time for the Bulls to gain ground.
• The refs screwed up 18 plays in the Bulls game which is the second highest total since I started the "Missed Call Counter." The worst of their errors was, again, during the final sequence of the game. The Bulls battled back to take a 111-110 lead with about 20 seconds left when Chris Duhon was whistled for a reach in. When looking at the replay he clearly made a clean strip of the ball. Luckliy Rueben Patterson only shoots 63% at the line and he missed the first of two free throws.But with about 3 seconds left, Gordon tries to move the ball up the court and gets knocked on his backside...no call. Keep in mind that Gordon's teammates say that they have to check his pulse from time to time because he is so calm but after he got knocked to the ground on the final play, he got up and began yelling at the ref. He usually doesn't open his mouth unless it's something big so there was undoubtedly a foul. Once again, bad officiating at the end of games. What a shame for the league.
• Apparently, Lance Briggs wants out too. He says that he loves his teamates and the city of Chicago but is not so fond of the front-office. If they trade him the Bears should accept nothing less than a starter and a 1st round pick in return but after reading what the initial reports say Angelo settled for in exchange for Jones, who knows.
• By the way, Forbes.com ranks Jerry Angelo as the eight best GM in sports. Jim Paxson is tenth. While I think Angelo and Paxson are great at what they do, Kevin McHale sits atop their rankings so you have to question the validity of that list. In case your wondering Jim Hendry is 58th, Kenny Williams 67th, and Dave Tallon? He's not even included.
• Mark Prior wasn't effective in his first spring training appearance, but more importantly his arm felt 100%. Kerry Wood, on the other hand was impressive, going one-two-three in the fifth inning. He got the fastball up to 95 MPH and had tremendous movement on his slider. Wood had one strikeout and threw 12 pitches, 8 of them for strikes.
• ESPN.com's Jemele Hill wonders if Alex Rodriguez's lastest comment that he considers Lou Piniella to be a father figure is a silent plea for the Cubs to rescue him from New York. What a lineup they would have with A-Rod but for it to work he would have to move back to SS because Aramis Ramirez can't play anything but third. I truly believe that he is looking to leave after this year and, hey, why not the Cubs? After all, Piniella would represent the deciding factor if it came down to, say, the Cubs or Mets.
• Ron Artest has been arrested for domestic violence. As if abusing his dogs wasn't enough.
• David Beckham is out for a month after injuring ligaments in his knee during a game for Real Madrid. He was given a $250 million deal by the LA Galaxy for next season despite not even being close to the best player in the world. Now he's damaged goods on top of that. Soccer players with bad knees usually don't last too long. Mark my words, Backham's signing will go down as one of the biggest dissapointments in sports history, espcecially for a league which is already considered second-class.