Jerry Angelo Fired: Why This Is a Great Day for Chicago Bears Fans

It's not like me to celebrate another man's job loss, but in this case, I'll make an exception. The Bears relieved GM Jerry Angelo of his duties on Tuesday and it's a good day for the future of the team.

I had recently written about my reasons why Angelo needed to go, but this is quite a surprise as he had one year remaining on his contract.

Left unsaid in this process is whether or not head coach Lovie Smith will continue in his present capacity. UPDATE: The Bears announced on their website that Lovie Smith will remain as coach. A news conference is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.

On the one hand, he is still under contract,; however, a new GM usually gets to pick his coach.

One curious development is that the firing happened one day after the Colts fired their GM, Bill Polian. He has ties to Chicago so it would not surprise me int he least to see him get an interview, if not the actual job.

Meanwhile, Angelo's poor draft record probably figured into the decision to let him go. Over the years, he failed to bring in enough quality young players and now the Bears face an aging defense.

Another thing that likely damaged Angelo was the signing of Sam Hurd, who was arrested last month on charges of attempted drug trafficking.

Angelo certainly did not have a good year. In addition to signing Hurd, he also brought in two other ex-Cowboys who had problems.

Roy Williams failed to make an impact at wide receiver and Marion Barber's brain cramp (when he didn't go out of bounds) and fumble helped seal the Bears' fate.

But perhaps most egregious of all is the fact that Angelo traded for Jay Cutler, yet did not build solid offensive weapons or protection around his franchise QB.

Poor offensive line play, accentuated by two drafts of offensive linemen who were injured in Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi, and a lack of a good receiver corps doomed the Bears.

When Cutler got hurt, the season was basically over because the Bears did not have a capable backup. This is the second year in a row that a backup QB failed to help the Bears.

My fear is that they will simply promote Tim Ruskell. But I hope not. I would like the Bears to bring in fresh blood to tackle an offseason with many holes to fill.

But this is a good start.