CHICAGO SPORTS BLOG - RECENT ROSTER MOVES BY THE BEARS SIGNIFY MAJOR CHANGE
The
Bears have made some interesting moves of late and it points to a possible rebuilding era although Head Coach Lovie Smith denied that notion just a couple of days ago. The Bears have decided to not place the franchise tag on wide receiver,
Bernard Berrian. So, they have to work out a potential deal with Berrian, although he now can test the free agent market. Also, the Bears have to decide what to do with linebacker,
Lance Briggs who will command good money for his Pro Bowl caliber play.
In addition, the Bears made other moves releasing veteran wide receiver Mushin Muhammad and two offensive linemen, Fred Miller and Ruben Brown. It points to the Bears needing a very active off season to take a close look at free agents they can bring in to fill these spots in particular. GM Jerry Angelo wants to be aggressive with filling these spots but said the other day in an interview that the Bears will be prudent with what they spend. Incidentally, the Bears have plenty of cap room to be active in free agency so let's hope that positions the Bears to be successful in acquiring playmakers on both sides of the ball.
Finally, the Bears have just worked out a $3 Million one-year deal with quarterback, Rex Grossman, who will remain a Bear. It is possible the Bears will look to add a quarterback in the April draft but that remains to be seen and wouldn't answer the question marks for that position this year or even next year for that matter. Given the Bears propensity to be conservative in free agency it will be interesting to see how the Bears get better play out of the quarterback position with the latest indications showing that the Bears coaching staff is likely going to turn to Grossman again for the starting job and relegate Brian Griese and Kyle Orton to the backup slots.
With so many questions unanswered I look upon the upcoming season, although its several months away, with much trepidation as it seems the Bears went from Super Bowl contenders to a plain, old average team in such a short period of time. There is much to do in the coming months and I'm really interested to find out how the Bears will once again put together a contending team.
JEFF ARDITO & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
