The Bears have two of the league's best linebackers in Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. But, they are looking to add some youth, and one of the players they are looking at is Justin Durant.
A second-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Durant has 42 NFL starts, after playing at Hampton University. His best season was 2009, when he had 98 tackles, one sack, one interception and one forced fumble.
It's believed the Bears also want to retain former Northwestern standout Nick Roach.
But with only Urlacher and Briggs under contract, they'll need to sign several players.
I am looking forward to the Bears roster moves at the linebacker position. If there is one position where we should be confident, it would be linebacker. For one thing there is a lot of Angelo's "low hanging fruit" on the street right now. For another, the Bears model for linebackers is different from most of the league's. They value speed and quickness in their 4-3 over the size and strength preferences of the clubs with 3-4 schemes. Finally the management core of the Bears came up through the "linebacker" career path. Angelo and Smith should know a good linebacker when they see one.
At the end of the day, Bear fans should expect to see a good stable of linebackers behind Urlacher and Briggs. Let's see if it happens.