NFL Free Agency 2011: How the Chicago Bears Have Closed Gap on Green Bay Packers

A year ago, the 11-5 Chicago Bears won the NFC North Division title and were the No. 2 seed in the NFC Playoffs, playing their way to the NFC Championship game.

The Green Bay Packers beat the Bears and ultimately won the Super Bowl.

As we all know, the two teams are arch rivals and both hate each other.

Even though the Bears experienced the joys of a division championship last year, losing to the Packers left a distasteful feeling in the organization and fans everywhere.

With that, it can be easily assumed that the No. 1 priority for the Bears this off season was narrow the gap between the defending Super Bowl Champions and themselves.

Here are seven offseason moves that show the Bears have done just that.

Roy Williams

Roy Williams struggled mightily in Dallas for two years, and the lack of production was highlighted even more because of what the Cowboys gave up for his services.

After the Cowboys cut the former Pro Bowler in July, the Bears decided to take a chance and in my opinion a good one.

Williams is reunited with his former Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz with whom he posted 82 catches, 1,310 yards and seven TDs in 2006.

Although Williams is 29 years old now, the pairing of Jay Cutler, Mike Martz and Roy Williams is close to a perfect fit.

Williams hates going across the middle, Martz loves throwing ball to the outside of the hashmarks and Cutler has a cannon for an arm.

Sounds good to me, but we'll have to see.

Vernon Gholston

Vernon Gholston has been dubbed as one of the biggest draft busts of the last 10 years. So how would the addition of him to the Bears be seen as a positive?

Gholston has an incredible amount of untapped talent but never quite learned how to be a leader on the field.

Learning from two veteran Pro Bowl linebackers in Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs is probably the most ideal situation for a young linebacker like Gholston.

He has a lot to prove but the veteran Bears defense is a great place for Vernon to revive his reputation within football circles everywhere.

Departure of Tommie Harris

Tommie Harris was once the most promising defensive player on a Bears team already littered with a plethora of talent on that side of the ball.

The past two years, injury after injury has led to one of the steepest declines in production a defensive lineman has seen in years.

Even with the talent that Harris posses, the amount of money he was eating up and the lack of production he was providing, he became an expense to the Bears.

Harris will be missed as a player, but in regards to the team, his departure is one that makes the Bears better.

The Drafting of Gabe Carimi

With the 29th overall selection in this past year's draft the Bears selected offensive lineman Gabe Carimi.

The pick was nothing of a surprise for the Bears' contingency due to the atrocious play from the OL in the 2010 season.

Carimi is a 6'7'', 315-pound beast of a Right Tackle that is going to come in and instantly help out the Bears running game as well as helping in the passing offense.

The jury is still out, but for now it seems as if the organization got this pick correct.

Amobi Okoye

Defensive Tackle Amobi Okoye is another gamble the Bears took this offseason after signing him from the Texans on July 30th.

Luckily the Bears have such depth at DT that they could afford making the move and aside from contrary belief it's going to be a good signing.

Okoye is only 24 years old and is going to replace an unproductive Tommie Harris in the rotation and add some instant pressure up the middle.

With the skill of Okoye added into the mix with Anthony Adams and rookie Stephen Paea the Bears will be able to rotate lineman and keep the line fresh on long defensive series.

This addition is going to be one with many positive notes.

Marion Barber

Another Cowboys deportee, Marion Barber is a running back with No. 1 skill. 

Unfortunately for him, he is going to be backing up touchdown machine Matt Forte.

Fortunately for the Bears, a fresh start could mean fresh legs and a new rejuvenation for Barber.

The former Cowboy scored a combined 24 touchdowns in 2006 and 2007 and that's what the Bears hope that he can bring this year. The also hope he will become a major factor on many "third-and-shorts."

A facet of the offense that the Bears struggled in heavily a year ago.

With Barber's carries per game surely decreasing this season in more of a backup role, there is a good chance we see sightings of the old Marion Barber once again this year.

QB and WR Training During the Lockout

I don't know if you've watched ESPN at all lately, but many a time I have seen Aaron Rodgers and other Packers players priding themselves on how they did not meet as a team to train during the lockout. 

Now why they didn't train doesn't yet make sense to me, one thing that I do know is that all practice you can get as a team is probably a good thing.

Throughout the lockout Chicago Bears quarterbacks and wide receivers have been meeting up working on timing and chemistry.

Both Jay Cutler and Caleb Hanie teamed up with receivers Rashied Davis, Johnny Knox and Devin Hester in what most would see as beneficial workouts to improve chemistry between an already weak relationship between the two. 

All that Bears fans can hope from the offensive core this season is that every single speck of practice is going to propel the Bears closer and closer to the defending champion Packers.