Bears' Offseason Needs

Now that the Bears' front office has provided the team with stability by signing Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo, let's take a look at the team's needs (listed in order of most importance), now that free agency has begun, and how they plan to better themselves...

Offensive line: The offensive line proved to be a strength of the team. The Bears went 14 weeks with the same starting linemen, then substituted a veteran reserve at left tackle for the final two games to let Tait heal up for the playoffs. This is a quality group with proven reserves, but it is the right time for Chicago to begin to develop young, talented offensive linemen for the future. The NFL free agent market has become as ridiculously inflated, it seems, as baseball's was this winter. Yesterday, the Redskins signed Derrik Dockery to a seven-year $49 million deal. The Browns followed that by giving Eric Steinbach, a player that the Bears had on their radar, a 7-year $49.5 million dollar deal. A year ago, no one ever thought an offensive lineman would make $7 million a year, but Steve Hutchinson put a rest to that theory when he signed with Minnesota. With Leonard Davis and Kris Dielman as the only two legitimate OL left, the price will be high for either, so don't expect the Bears to improve their blocking through free agency. A more realistic scenario would be either to trade Thomas Jones to Houston, who has contacted the Bears in regards to the veteran RB, and use Houston's 8th overall pick to select Levi Brown of Penn State or to stay at the 31st slot and take Aaron Sears of Tennessee.

Strongside linebacker: Hunter Hillenmeyer has done a solid job, but an upgrade at strongside linebacker, alongside MLB Brian Urlacher and WLB Lance Briggs, would arguably give the Bears the best linebacking corps in the NFL. The Bears placed the franchise tag on Briggs, meaning it's likely that he will return to Chicago. The Bears will seek an athletic linebacker quick enough to match up with receiving tight ends in coverage and stout enough to play on the line of scrimmage in an underfront (a 3-man line with the same effect as a 4-man line), taking on blocks at the point of attack. Call me crazy, but doesn't it sound like Jerry Porter is exactly what they need? He fits the bears perfectly with his explosive first step. He is quick enough to put pressure on the quarterback or run with a tight end such as Dallas Clark. Along with Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown, he would bring a stabilizing veteran presence to a team filled with young defensive stars. Six teams have already checked in with Porter's agent and they are taking the weekend to figure where he is going to make his visits. The only reason the Steelers let him go is because they have too many key free agents next year, a list that includes Alan Faneca, safety Troy Polamalu, linebacker Clark Haggans, fullback Dan Kreider, and guard Kendall Simmons. If not Porter, the Colts' Cato June, who played in Tony Dungy's Cover-2 scheme, is available as well. He is comparable to Lance Briggs, with less power but more speed. He led the Colts in tackles this year and earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl. If Angelo decides to address this need through the draft, look for him to take Paul Posluszny who set the record for most tackles by any Penn State player ever.

Safety: After another season-ending injury to Pro Bowl standout Mike Brown, it is evident that the Bears must look for a talented, young safety to develop behind Chris Harris, Todd Johnson and Danieal Manning, giving the back end depth. The Bears have done an excellent job in recent years of evaluating defensive backs and adding to the overall talent at the safety position. These players not only provide depth in the secondary, but also impact the Bears' excellent special teams. From what I hear, the team has their radar set on Seattle's Ken Hamlin whose scouting report reads, "Overcame serious head injury sustained in 2005 to reclaim his starting spot last season and played well, especially versus the run. A big hitter with limited range and is always going to be most effective playing close to the line." Perfect, that is exactly what the Bears need, a punishing safety who would stuff the opponent's rushing attack and make receivers think twice about going over the middle, ala Sean Taylor or Roy Williams. The team already has quick cover safeties, so Hamlin would provide the perfect complement with his physical presence. After looking at countless mock drafts, I haven't seen anyone project the Bears to take a safety with the 31st pick, so either Angelo is weighing his options via free agency or he feels he has another sleeper in the later rounds of the draft. Just a feeling, but I think the Bears are going to sign Hamlin.

Defensive tackle: After playing dominant football on the defensive interior, three-technique Tommie Harris was lost for the month of December with a serious hamstring injury. With the loss of Harris, the Bears were even more susceptible to the run, and they lost any inside push in the pass rush. Chicago would improve tremendously with a stout, run-stuffing nose guard alongside Harris. A tough run defender would keep Tank Johnson, Alfonso Boone, Ian Scott and Harris fresh. It would make the coaches' decision of which rotation to play a difficult one. ESPN predicts that the Bears will sign San Francisco's free agent Anthony Adams to add to the depth on the defensive line. Here's the scouting report on Adams: "An undersized but active interior lineman who was not served well by the 49ers' defensive changes of the past couple seasons and probably needs to get to a team with a one-gap system. In the right situation he can be extremely disruptive." Undersized is another word for "fits the mold of the Bears perfectly." The team's DL is smaller and more athletic than normal and Lovie Smith would have it no other way with the defensive system that he uses. It sounds like Adams would be a solid and cheap pick-up for Angelo. Again, there is no DT good enough at pick number 31 for the Bears to take, so look for Angelo to draft one in a later round if they do not sign Adams.

Fullback: With the offensive firepower on the Bears' roster, adding a powerhouse fullback would complete the package, opening up holes for the outstanding running back duo of Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. Jason McKie is adequate as a receiver, but is not a strong lead blocker. He is better than rookie J.D. Runnels. Runnels is more physical, but is not as good of a receiver as the injury-prone McKie. Adding a strong lead-blocking fullback will give the Bears' ground game more juice. But doing so through free agency will be hard considering the mind-bogging $18 million deal that Atlanta just gave to Ovie Mughelli. Brian Leonard of Rutgers, a player that Angelo has said to really like, should be available in the 4th round if the Bears want to draft him. He is the number one rated FB in this year's class of rookies and is considered to be the total package.

Headlines...

• Carlos Zambrano said yesterday that he will win the Cy Young Award and the Cubs will win the World Series. Gotta love his confidence, but let's get to the All-Star break in first place before we make any predictions.
• Ozzie Guillen went off on Brandon McCarthy after the ex-Sox pitcher made comments questioning the team's makeup, saying that the clubhouse was filled with negative energy last season. At a certain point, you have to ask yourself what is the one constant in all these feuds that Guillen takes part in? The answer: Ozzie Guillen. But, according to him, it's everyone else who's got the problem. Hmmm...
• Is Jerry Hairston involved in the same steroid controversy as Gary Matthews Jr.? Boy, if he was on juice, it sure was hard to tell. The guy's had 13 homers in 5 years for crying out loud. In the last 3 seasons, he's only stolen 26 bases. So, he's not hitting for power and he's not any faster than before but he's taking steroids? For what? At least with Matthews Jr. it makes sense when he all of a sudden has a career year (.313 avg, 80 RBI, 20 HR). I vote for Hairston as the worst cheater in the history of sports.
• Tyson Chandler took his public frustration with Scott Skiles to new heights, saying that the Bulls' coach was a "bad person." Tyson Chandler was met with a chorus of boos when he came back to the United Center last night, something which confused me. The only reason that I could think of is because Bulls fans regret Chandler saving his best basketball for another team. If it were up to him he would still be playing in Chicago, so the rude reception made no sense, but I loved it nonetheless. As for his criticism of Skiles, it sounds to me like sour grapes, doesn't it? The Bulls won the game 104-93. Only 16 more wins needed to get to 50 on the season.
• Oh yeah, the "Missed Call Counter" read 16 after last night's game. That's 4 less then Wednesday night, but still not good enough. On a positive note, the refs only misjudged two plays the entire third quarter, but made up for it with 4 botched plays in the other three periods. Still unacceptable. Put a replay system in for calls other than buzzer beaters. Let the coaches throw red towels on the court, whatever. I don't care what you come up with, Stern. Just fix the problem.
• The Bears raised ticket prices for next year. The announcement comes a few days after they sign Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo to extensions. Could they be any more transparent?
• Dennis Savard has decided to cut the ice time of his team's veterans because they're the ones playing like rookies. OK, that's one sentence too many on the Blackhawks. Here's a deal: I'll write about them in depth once they sell the team. Sounds fair to me.
• The Fire traded Goalie Zach Thorton to Colorado. Honestly, I didn't even know the guy still playing.