Bears Sign TE Bennett

Go HERE for the news.

2013 Bears Offseason Plan

Go here to see what the bears could do to get more salary cap space.
CLICK HERE

This article is a little dated but gives some good insight on what the bears need to do to get the free agents for the future.

Bears Offseason action items:

 1) Sign a solid offensive linemen - Note: OT Jake Long will be too expensive

 2) Draft a solid offensive linemen

 3) Sign Brian Urlacher obviously within reason. He is the leader of the defense and needed for overall success.

 4) Look for Brian Urlacher's replacement. Moment of silence....Brian has been the middle linebacker as long as I've been a serious fan.

 5) Draft best available. With a salary cap we can't keep looking for answers in free agency we need to develop players that become starters. Phil Emery please step up.

Round 1 Draft Prospect: Quinton Coples

Round 1 Draft Prospect: Stephen Hill Highlights

Was Forte Disrespected?

Who the Bears Should Target

Profootballweekly.com has ranked the top 100 free agents and we listed here who we think the Bears should pursue that is still on the market.

Rank Name: Pos: Previous Team

28 LaRon Landry S Washington Redskins

55 David Hawthorne MLB Seattle Seahawks

62 Mark Anderson DE New England Patriots

99 Marcus McNeill OT San Diego Chargers

?? Kamerion Wimbley DE Raiders

According to here the Bears have 6 million left to sign free agents. I hope they fill in one more hole with that cash.

Bears Interested in Laron Landry

According to here the Bears are interested in Laron Landry. Not as sexy as Mario Williams but the defense or the Offensive line needs another upgrade.

Bears Current Salary Cap Status

According to here the Bears had 28 Mil going into free agency. Heres how it plays out:

Forte: -7.7

Marshall: -5.8 to -10.4 (Check here for cap hit) For the 10.4 figure see here.

Campbell: -3.5

Davis: -3

Redskins/Cowboys Donation: +1.6

Draft Picks: -5

Misc: -1

Estimated Total Salary Cap Space Left: 0

Resigned Israel Idonijie too.

If I'm wrong correct me...

Its rumored that Kamerion Wimbley will become a free agent today. Its expected that any team pursuing Mario will now be pursuing Wimbley. Bears should be interested we hope.

Marshall ESPN Analysis

Bears Rumored Free Agent Radar Tracker: Updated

BEAR SIGNINGS:

QB - Jason Campbell (Raiders) Signed with Bears

WR - Brandon Marshall (Dolphins) - TRADED TO THE BEARS FOR 2 3RD RD DRAFT PICKS - EXTENDED CONTRACT THROUGH 2014

See article here about Brandon "slugging a women".

CB - Tim Jennings (Bears) - Resigned with the Bears

DE - Israel Idonije

TE - Kellen Davis

Bears also added a LB and WR for special teams.

Likely Targets:

CB - Kelvin Hayden (Falcons) Visiting Bears see here for article.

G - Anthony Herrera - (Vikings) - Veteran Guard visiting Bears today

RB - Michael Bush - (Raiders) - Visiting the Bears

OG - Ben Grubbs (Ravens) - Signed

OT - Jared Gaither (Chargers) - Resigned with the Chargers

OT - Levi Brown (Cardinals) - Resigned with Cardinals

DE - Mario Williams (Texans) - Signed with Bills - Boring.

DE - Mark Anderson (Patriots) - STILL AVAILABLE

DE - Jeremy Mincey (Jaguars) - Re-signed with Jaguars

DE - John Abraham (Falcons) - Re-signed with the falcons

LB - David Hawthorne (Seahawks) - Rumored Target of the Bears.

TE - Martellus Bennett (Cowboys) - Resigned?

Possible Other Moves:

DE - Dwight Freeney (Colts) - NOT FA

DE - Kamerion Wimbley - Rumored to be released today

QB Jason Campbell is a Bear

See Here.

We say deep into the playoffs this year. Bears are making a run for it.

ESPN VIDEO: BRANDON MARSHALL TRADE

Bears Trade for Brandon Marshall

According to chicagobears.com the Bears have traded "undisclosed draft picks" for WR Brandon Marshall.

According to Jay Glazer CLICK HERE the Bears have traded a 3rd Round 2012 and 3rd 2013 Draft picks for Brandon Marshall.

Brandon Marshall has signed an extension through 2014.

Here are the stats on Brandon Marshall according to NFL.com:

2011

Receptions: 81

Yards: 1,214

TDs: 6

Check out cool video about Brandon Marshall Here:

http://bcove.me/gr4uoijp

Analysis:

Emery is hitting homers at his first swing at the plate!

Bears finally land a consistent #1 WR!

Awesome. We suspect now they will be going after Mario Williams.

Speculation:

Miami moved Brandon Marshall in order to sign the Peyton / Wayne tandem.

Bears In Negotiations with QB Jason Campbell

Get the scoop HERE.

Bears Eye: DE Williams, WR Jackson, WR Colston, TE Carlson, DE Mincey

According to here the "Bears believed to have interest in DE Williams, WR Jackson, WR Colston, TE Carlson, DE Mincey."

Mario Williams Fits in Bears Cap Space

See great article below about Mario Williams projected salary and how that fits into the Bears future.

Check it out HERE.

Bears Favorite to Land Mario Williams

According to multiple sources the Bears are favorites to land Mario Williams.

See here:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/12/in-chicago-bears-viewed-as-favorites-to-land-mario-williams/

ESPN HOT BUTTON: Mario Williams vs. Vincent Jackson

2 Dog Race for VJAX?

With the Redskins getting stripped of 36 Million of cap space it would be our understanding that they couldn't realistically be players for VJAX services anymore.  See more info on Redskins taking huge salary cap hit HERE.

Now it looks like the Bears will be competing with the Bucs and they have a lot of room in their salary cap but not a lot of other enticements with future prospects of winning a superbowl on the downtrend.

So if the Bears can be competitive with their offer VJAX might be coming to the Bears!

BearsRumors.com opinion: VJAX isn't worth leveraging our future but if the price is within this universe adding that kind of weapon for Jay Cutler will help in a variety of ways.

Bears Interested in David Hawthorne: See Video Highlight

Peter King's Top 50 Free Agents

Check out this link:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/03/08/top.50.free.agents/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

NFL Off-Season Dates

March 5: Deadline to Apply The Franchise Tag

March 13: Free Agency Begins At 4 p.m.

April 26-28: 2012 NFL Draft

Late July: Training Camp Begins

September 6: Regular Season Kicks Off

Top WR Free Agents

Resigning and franchise tags aside these are the best free agent wide receivers available:

http://www.footballsfuture.com/2012/fa/wr.html

Check it out

Bears to Interview Four GM Candidates.

Heres the link:

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=8563

I'm surprised there not interviewing Snead out of Atlanta. With that said, I'm happy the Bears put this list together and haven't defaulted to Tim Ruskell.

2012 Off-Season Needs

1) Wide-Receiver

The Bears have gone too long experimenting and trying to develop guys that haven't worked out. I like seeing flashes from Knox, Hester and Sanzenbacher but by the end of the season they come up short in production. Keep Bennet and Hester(for punt returns) and let other guys compete in training camp. Depending on who ends up being available in free agency the Bears may need to get active in the draft. Maybe a Falcons Julio Jones move is in the works with our new General Manager...

2) Offensive Tackle

It seems that many analyst have forgotten the patch work line that we had for the first quarter of the season. After Lovie laid the smack down and returned the offense to run first it seems the Bears O-Line got a passing grade. With that said, I think the Bears need to get a starting left tackle if they don't have one already in Gabe Carimi.

3) Safety

I hear that we need a new safety but not totally sure this a huge need. It seems that the Bears defense was dominant at times in the season and can use guys on the current roster.

4) Pass Rusher inside or outside

The Bears pass rush dissipated by the end of the season and we need some salt with our pepper...

Bears interested in lb tatupu

Bears are interested in tatupu. See here

Malcolm Floyd is Dreaming...Asking for 5M

According to this link, Malcolm Floyd is asking in the neighborhood of 5 million...We assume that is 5 Million per year.

Is this guy better then Bennet, Williams, Knox, Hester?

We think so....We have him slotted as the #2a WR spot on the Bears starting roster.

2a - Malcolm Floyd
2b - Bennet
2c - Hester
2d - Knox

Nobody is a #1 but it could be worse...

What do you think?

Conflicting Reports: Bears Sign Anthony Hargrove DT

There are conflicting reports that the Bears have signed Saints DT Anthony Hargrove.  Injured last year but the year before was very productive. Has struggled with personal life but seems to be on the right track now...

Bears Have 24 Million Left in Salary Cap

According to PFT the Bears and 10 other teams have considerable amount of cap space.  The misconception out there is that they need to spend 89% this year.  According to the new CBA that minimum of 89% goes into effect for the 2013 season so the Bears can continue to think their done....

Remander of off season wish list:

1) Proven starter offensive line help - Could be a veteran for a one year deal but we need some insurance to back up our youth and tuck us in at night.

2) Sign WR Malcolm Floyd - The Bears might get better with the addition of Williams but the key word is "might."  Superbowls aren't won with "mights" there won with reliable playmakers.

3) New Deal for Matt Forte - The guy is a class act and he is better than just a RB, but critical to Martz's offense with his out of the backfield catching ability.

Steer Clear of Braylon Edwards

Check out this article why the Bears should avoid Braylon Edwards as they should have with Cedric Benson:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/08/01/braylon-edwards-has-another-brush-with-the-law/