Chicago Bears: Is Jerry Angelo Asleep at the Wheel?

I've knocked Jerry Angelo in the past, and have been very critical of him, but after last season's offseason and free-agent signings, I really felt that he had finally gotten the hang of it. Then he apparently didn't comprehend the gravity of the shortened offseason this year that began on Tuesday. 

Not only has he failed to truly pursue a free agent worthy of front-page press, he has not even made serious attempts to sign any of our free agents, in fact allowing most to just walk without a problem. The Bears are just over $35 million underneath the salary cap and according to the new CBA, he has to spend up to 99 percent of the salary cap, so he has plenty of room to move.

Bears' Own Free Agents

Let's go through his bungling on the re-signing of our own free agents. Let's start with Olin Kreutz, a 13-year veteran of the Bears and six-time Pro Bowler. How do you not have a package ready for him to review on day one of the offseason? Then, how do you lowball him and even let another team come in and start making a move for him? 

Now it seems that the Bears have a good chance of losing him to San Francisco, taking away our top offensive lineman on what is definitely a place the Bears need the most improvement.

Now let's look at Rashied Davis and Devin Aromashodu. They aren't big-name receivers, definitely a pair of No. 3s who spend time on special teams, but how do you let them just walk away to division rivals, as they signed with Detroit and Minnesota respectively? At least Aromashodu was a restricted free agent, so the Bears will receive some compensation in return.

Danieal Manning is another massive blunder by the Bears this offseason. While they attempted to court Brad Smith to come to Chicago and play receiver and take over the kick returning duties, Houston took Manning right out from under us. Angelo didn't even put up a fight to try and keep his nickelback and primary kick returner, and clearly put forth a poor effort to sign Smith and he has now signed with Buffalo.

Then there is Anthony Adams and Caleb Hanie. Adams has all but said he'd give the hometown discount to stay in Chicago. What is the problem there? He had a solid season last year and is a very serviceable defensive tackle in the Bears' current system. 

In Hanie, the Bears have a serviceable back up that knows the system. After all, this is a shortened preseason and the time isn't there to teach the system to a new quarterback. Also, Hanie played solidly last season both when filling in during the regular season and especially during the NFC Championship Game in the second half.

Finally, Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa. The linebacker situation is even more disturbing than any other hole the Bears currently have other than the offensive line. The Bears play a three linebacker set and currently only have two linebackers with actual game experience, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. 

Those are two great guys to have, but when the rest of your linebacker corps consists of five rookies and two second-year players, none of whom were drafted, that is a real problem. So why then is Angelo not making an overture to at least one of these guys? They know the system and, as highlighted earlier, in a shortened offseason it is important to maintain continuity and people that know what is expected.

It is very distressing the way Angelo is managing our current players, not to mention it now looks as though our superstar Matt Forte will hold out awaiting a new contract. If Angelo doesn't figure out that we have to keep around some of the guys we already have, there is no way we can repeat as NFC North champions, let alone get back to the NFC title game.

Players the Bears Have Missed

The Bears have also missed a whole bunch of players that could have filled a few holes that they currently have. Angelo's sit-back-and-do-nothing attitude has cost the Bears some serious opportunities to make a move on a few quality players.

On the offensive side of the ball the only lineman that the Bears missed out on that changed teams was Robert Gallery, a former first-round pick by the Raiders who has had a solid and serviceable career. But there will be a few linemen that are released later this afternoon that are going to deserve some serious consideration, including former Bear Marc Colombo, and Leonard Davis, both from the Dallas Cowboys.

Where the Bears really dropped the ball, though, is at the wide receiver position. It is one of the biggest holes on the team and has been for a few years now, and Angelo refused to address it early on in the free-agent period. While most of the big names—Santonio Holmes, Santana Moss and Vincent Jackson (franchised)—all ended up returning to their teams, there were also two big names on the move. Steve Breaston went from Arizona to Kansas City, and Sidney Rice went from Minnesota to Seattle. 

Letting Breaston slide by is understandable. He had a solid year last year, but has yet to prove he is a No. 1 wide receiver, which is always hard in the shadow of Larry Fitzgerald. He will be serving the same purpose to Dwayne Bowe in Kansas City. 

But letting Rice go by without even putting forth the effort to even try is inexcusable. He is a true No. 1 receiver and could have done wonders for the Bears receiving corps that desperately needs an upgrade to operate in the Martz system and help out quarterback Jay Cutler.

And the Bears didn't even take a look at Chad Ochocinco, who the Patriots got at a steal yesterday for two future late-round draft picks. The lack of attempts or even interest in improving the receiving corps has been atrocious.

On the defensive side of the ball, it is equally upsetting, although not as many players have jumped to new teams yet.

Jason Babin, coming off of a Pro Bowl season, signed a contract that the Bears easily could have competed with. Then Ray Edwards, coming off solid back-to-back seasons playing opposite of Jared Allen, signs a pretty pedestrian contract with the Falcons this afternoon. Both of these players would have complemented Peppers quite well on the other defensive end position, yet they both signed without the Bears even entering the rumor mill on them.

At the other defensive positions there haven't been as many players jumping and most of the top free agents are still on the board. But it is still troubling to not even hear the Bears brought up in any of the conversations.

Who the Bears Should Look At

On the offensive side of the ball, obviously the line and wide receiver corps need to be addressed the most. The Bears had one of the most porous offensive lines in the league last year and it was a downright disgrace. The receiver corps lacks a true No. 1 receiver and any kind of veteran presence to mentor and teach some of these young up-and-comers.

On the offensive line, obviously the No. 1 priority needs to be to re-sign Olin Kreutz, which is beginning to look harder and harder. After that, as mentioned above, they need to look at both Marc Colombo and Leonard Davis, who will most likely be released by the Dallas Cowboys later this afternoon. They have made up the right side of the line for the Cowboys the last few years and bringing them in would help shore up a whole side of the line.

Other guards to look at include the Falcons' Justin Blalock and Harvey Dahl, as well as even considering the aging Alan Faneca, assuming he doesn't retire. Blalock and Dahl started all 16 games for the Falcons at either tackle position and it's never bad to cherry pick off one of the top teams in the conference if you get the chance. Faneca is still a serviceable guard that can contribute to this team.

At tackle the Bears should be considering the Patriots' Matt Light, an 11-year veteran who will demand the respect of the offensive line and give rookie Gabe Carimi a mentor. After all, Light has spent the last 11 years with a winning organization and protecting Tom Brady. He's going to be a good addition to any team.

Wide receiver is a whole other ball game. As pointed out, they already dropped the ball on two of the top guys in Steve Breaston and Sidney Rice. They also botched the entire Brad Smith situation. 

Now the big names left on the market are Braylon Edwards, Steve Smith (from NYG), Roy Williams (whom the Bears will sign later today), Malcom Floyd and T.J. Houshmanzadeh. Not to mention that Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens are all also available free agents.

First let's discount Burress, Moss and Owens. Their personalities are a little too big for the Bears and all come with a lot of baggage. Of the three most likely is Plaxico Burress, because of his size and most likely relatively cheap price as he is just trying to get back in the league. Owens is just way too much of a problem for a reserved guy like Lovie to handle and if the Bears get off to a slow start Moss would start to cause the same problems.

The top receiver still available is Braylon Edwards. He could come into the Bears' current system and be a definite No. 1, opening up the field for the Bears offense and attracting attention away from Forte as an actual offensive threat. 

Floyd, Williams and Smith are all potential No. 1s, especially if Floyd can stay healthy. It was announced this morning that Williams will sign with the Bears later this afternoon, but that doesn't eliminate the Bears from looking at the other two. Both are coming off injury plagued seasons, but still put up good numbers.

They'd both fit well with Williams as a one-two combination for Cutler, with Knox or Hester playing the three, which also frees up Hester to go back to returning full time, which the Bears need now that Manning is gone.

Houshmanzadeh is a bit old and struggled in the Ravens' mostly pound-the-ball-and-run offense.  However, he can still make contributions and wouldn't be a bad look at the two or three spot in the Bears receiving corp.

The defensive side of the ball also has a lot of holes to fill right now—especially in the front seven, where the Bears lack depth both on the defensive line and in the linebacker corps.

At defensive tackle, as stated earlier, they really need to work on a deal to bring back Anthony Adams. After that they need to look at a few veterans, such as Chris Hovan, Kris Jenkins and Pat Williams. 

Jenkins, if healthy, and Williams are both big veteran bodies that are going to be able to take up space and offensive linemen. This will give Urlacher and Briggs chances to run free and do what they do best and that is make plays. The Bears aren't going to ask these guys to be everyday players, but to platoon in with the rookie Paea, Idonije and hopefully a returning Adams.

Although Hovan had a bit of a down year in Tampa Bay last year, he showed his durability by playing in every game last season and as a veteran might be able to help mentor some of the young up-and-coming defensive tackles the Bears have. Again, he won't be asked to play every down but be a part of a tackle platoon that the Bears have used in recent years.

One defensive end position is locked up. Julius Peppers isn't going anywhere hopefully for the rest of his career. But the other one is a big-time question mark. That is why passing on Babin and Edwards without as much of a whisper is inexcusable.

The Bears could look to take a risk here and go after either Marcus Spears of the Cowboys or Robaire Smith of the Cleveland Browns. Both are coming off injuries that sidelined them most of last season. This translates into a one-year contract at a discount so they can try to make a name for themselves and then get back into the market for their pay day. Not a bad option while the Bears wait for Corey Wootton to mature or go looking for someone else next offseason.

Also in the mix should be veteran Shaun Ellis, who had a solid season but is an aging veteran.  The guess is he wants to be back with the Jets to finish his career, but if that isn't the case he would definitely suffice for the Bears opposite of Peppers.

The linebacker corps presents a very interesting situation. As stated above, Urlacher and Briggs are the only two players on the roster right now with any real experience, so there are plenty of holes to fill. A few guys the Bears should look at are Stephen Tulloch, Rocky McIntosh and Nick Barnett. 

Tulloch had a massive season for the Titans last year, racking up 160 tackles, with 111 of them solo. Putting him on the strong side with Urlacher in the middle and Briggs playing the weak side would be a dangerous combination. He has the speed and tackling ability to really be a force.

McIntosh also is coming off a solid season with 110 tackles, 73 of them of the solo variety. He did have trouble adjusting to the 3-4 defensive scheme in Washington, which is why he probably would fit in much better in the Bears' 4-3, Tampa 2 defense.

Barnett will be released by Green Bay this afternoon and would be a great pick up by the Bears.  Not only do you take a spectacular defensive player, you take him away from your biggest rival.  On top of that, he gets to see them twice a year to exact his revenge for letting him go. 

Hopefully Angelo has his eyes open and is looking to stock the roster a bit with all the money that he has to spend.

The Trade and Tight End Debacle

Yesterday's trade of Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers for basically nothing was not only frustrating, but downright ridiculous. This capped off the entire day of tight-end drama that the Bears decided to put in play on the first day of training camp.

First, they started the day by releasing tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who they brought in last season and signed to a three-year deal to be the blocking tight end in the Mike Martz offense. 

The Bears followed that up by signing Matt Spaeth from the Pittsburgh Steelers, who is supposed to take Manumaleuma's place as the blocking tight end.

Next, they give Olsen away for the third-round pick. It's understandable that Olsen didn't fit the ideal Mike Martz system, but isn't a coach's job to adapt his system to the players he has? Couple that with the fact Martz has made it no secret he would like to be a head coach again—what if he leaves next season? Now we've given away another first-round pick for basically nothing.

This brings up another failure of Jerry Angelo: getting quality players in the first round of the NFL draft. Of the nine first-round picks he has made as General Manager of the Bears, only two remain on the Bears roster. Those two are Chris Williams, a first-round pick in 2008 who has yet to live up to his hype, and the newly drafted Gabe Carimi from this year. 

His other picks are David Terrell (2001), Marc Colombo (2002), Michael Haynes (2003), Rex Grossman (2003), Tommie Harris (2004), Cedric Benson (2005) and Greg Olsen (2007). That is purely shocking. Not to mention that he traded away first-round picks in 2006, 2009 and 2010.

The Big Splash?

After two days of silence on Tuesday and Wednesday the Bears finally made a ripple, if you can call it that, on Thursday with the signing of punter Adam Podlesh to replace Brad Maynard and tight end Matt Spaeth. Really? That's the Bears' big dive into free agency this season?

Then Angelo follows that up with the announcement Friday morning that he signed Roy Williams and Sam Hurd, two wide receivers from the Cowboys. Williams is a solid receiver who will hopefully flourish again in the Martz offense as he did during his time under him in Detroit. But Sam Hurd?

Basically this offseason the Bears signed two special teamers in punter Adam Podlesh and Sam Hurd, a hopefully No. 1 receiver in Roy Williams and a blocking tight end in Matt Spaeth. Meanwhile, the Bears lost return man Danieal Manning and backup receivers to division rivals and traded away a potential Pro Bowl tight end. Not to mention, making no real attempts to re-sign any of the guys from last season's roster, unless you count the lowball attempt on Kreutz. 

The only reason that Jerry Angelo is not the worst General Manager in Chicago is that Jim Hendry is still in the front office of the Chicago Cubs.

UPDATE: While writing this article, the Bears did re-sign Anthony Adams to a new two-year deal.

UPDATE: Since this article was published, the Bears have now re-signed Nick Roach and Caleb Hanie as well, maybe Angelo was just wasting time until Friday to do anything.