Four days at the combine and a flurry of activity since has left the in box stuffed with some good questions. So we’ll do our best to tie up some loose ends before moving toward free agency, which opens at 11 p.m. Thursday.
The action should be furious from the start. So many teams have an abundance of salary-cap room and the agents are going to prey on this, working one deal against another to score top dollar for their clients in the first two to three days. It will be a whirlwind of activity with the Bears doing their best to monitor linebacker Lance Briggs, wide receiver Bernard Berrian, special teamer Brendon Ayanbadejo and don’t forget about tight end John Gilmore.
Q: It would be nice to have some follow up on how Shane Longest, the local Saint Xavier University kicker performed at the combine. How did he do?
Ron C., Chicago
A: Most workouts, including those for punters and kickers, are closed to the media. So, I tracked down a scout who was in attendance and got his take on Longest’s day last week. He wasn’t overly encouraging.
``He didn’t have a good workout,’’ the scout said. ``He’s a combination guy, he tried to do both, and he’s not a punter. If he makes an NFL team, it will be as a kicker. But he’s got a long way to go. It seemed like he was nervous and it was a bit too big for him. He just looked nervous as hell. He missed two out of three extra points when he first started out. But he settled down, I can say that. At the end, he made all three 50-yard field goals. He’s got a ways to go.’’
