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April 28, 2008

Walker lands in Carolina day after Bears replace him

Darwin Walker has a new home.

The ex-Bears defensive tackle signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers today to help shore up a need that became glaring after Kris Jenkins was traded to the Jets and the club passed over the position in the draft.

Walker was cut loose in February following an injury-riddled season as the Bears opted not to pay him a $5.2 million roster bonus. At 30, he can still be effective but he has to stay on the field.

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March 26, 2008

Bears check in on South Carolina St. prospects; Currie surfaces

We’re still waiting for information to trickle out of Baton Rouge, La., concerning LSU’s pro day, but there’s more to report.

Bears Southeast scout Mark Sadowski was at the South Carolina State pro day on Tuesday. The Bears were one of three teams there along with Kansas City and New Orleans. Former Bears wide receiver Airese Currie, who has been hampered since his senior year at Clemson with foot problems, also showed up in hopes of generating interest. Currie was released last May 7 and the Bears are not expected to give him another shot.

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March 04, 2008

Rivera's final career sack came vs. Favre

It was in one of the Bears-Packers meetings shortly after Lovie Smith’s staff was assembled in 2004 that then defensive coordinator Ron Rivera got together with Brett Favre at midfield before the game.

They are the kind of conversations that can happen on a lake fishing, on a shady porch on a hot summer day, or at the end of the bar in a tavern. Tales are told and sometimes legends are expanded.

This time, with Rivera and Favre in a group of people, Rivera reminded the quarterback just how long ago he stopped playing—1992—the first year for Favre with the Packers.

Happens to be the last of Rivera’s seven career sacks came against Favre.

The Bears were on their way to a 30-10 rout of Green Bay on Oct. 25, 1992, at Lambeau Field—just the fourth start of Favre's career—when Rivera was sent in as a rush end at the start of the fourth quarter with injuries forcing him from his linebacker position.

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March 02, 2008

The art of the deal: How Berrian reached $42 million

A day after Minnesota’s blockbuster signing of wide receiver Bernard Berrian, league insiders are still wowed by the $42 million, six-year contract he received from the Vikings. There’s a price to pay when doing damage to your division rival. The Bears have only two wide receivers under contract—Mark Bradley and Devin Hester—who have caught a pass in an NFL game.

The Vikings have a proven deep threat that is going to force opponents to think twice about stacking eight defenders in the box to stop the two-headed rushing attack of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. Before you throw darts at the Vikings for overpaying, recall they had the most lucrative offer extended to Kevin Curtis last offseason and he spurned them for Philadelphia. A good offense got better.

It’s been hailed as one of the three or four best contracts for a wide receiver in the league. And it goes to a guy who has yet to make a Pro Bowl or have a 1,000-yard season. But consider there is some projecting involved with the contract. Berrian played with Bears quarterbacks, several of them, and it’s not fair to pass judgment on an offensive player on this team over the last four seasons.

The Bears changed starting quarterbacks 10 times in Berrian’s four seasons. It went like this—Jonathan Quinn, Craig Krenzel, Chad Hutchinson, Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, Orton, Grossman, Brian Griese, Grossman, Orton.

We’ve got a good handle on how the numbers stacked up for Berrian all along, including when the Bears first went to him last June with a contract proposal that included $8 million guaranteed.

Continue reading "The art of the deal: How Berrian reached $42 million" »

Berrian media session in Minnesota

Need more Bernard Berrian?

Jump in. Here is a transcript of the press conference held in Winter Park, Minn., Saturday night introducing him as the Vikings' $42 million man.

Head Coach Brad Childress: OK, a couple of things before I introduce Bernard Berrian to you. This really ends up being a tremendous collaborative effort here, whether it starts with our travel people coordinating this whole thing. I can't say enough about the effort that Rick Spielman and George Paton, as well as Jeff (Robinson) and Ryan Monnens and Scott Kuhn have done and filtered through this pro personnel. Obviously the coaches have their hand in that as well, and then Dave Blando and Rob Brzezinski sitting there and hammering it out. I sat in there and listened today and I get more nervous in doing some of that stuff than I do standing on the sideline for Pete's sake. I had to get up and walk out a couple of times. Like I said, a tremendous collaborative effort and I would be remiss in not mentioning the Wilfs as I always do about their ability to spend, quite frankly. You've got to have the willingness to want to be good. They trust us to identify those people and then Rob and Dave and Rick to hammer out a great deal. I'm grateful for all of those people, and as I mentioned, it's a good team. Then a few words about Bernard Berrian; i, a, n, you know there is a large Armenian population in Fresno, some of you may or may not know. Bernard is not Armenian however with the i, a, n at the end of his name. We talked about heritage last night, right? We had a great visit here and had to keep him busy all day long with video games, etc., a lot of different things going through his head. On a more serious note, I'm very excited to have Bernard. Being able to watch him up close here over the last four years and grow, we've watched his receiving total grow each in every year. A little known fact about him, he is a tremendous return guy. Not that we'll use him in that area, but he's led the country before in the return game at Fresno State, both punt and kickoff return, so that's a little added bonus. Then I've gotten a chance to see him compete at a very high level, and competes are what it's all about. I'll answer some questions afterward, but I'm very excited to introduce you to Bernard. It's always nice to be able to take somebody from a divisional opponent in Chicago and make them weaker and make you stronger. Without further ado, Bernard.

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February 28, 2008

Moose dishes on the offense again

Wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who agreed to a contract with he Carolina Panthers on Wednesday, visited with Ray Buchanan on Fox Radio on Thursday.

Again, he said he was not a fit in the offense and pointed out the Bears are still trying to figure out what to do on offense.

RAY BUCHANAN: “Not too really burn a bridge with the Chicago Bears man, but what was it like not really being able to be yourself? I know the Moose that we’ve seen back in Carolina, but tell them what it was like actually being there with Chicago.”

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February 27, 2008

Gage catches windfall in Tennessee

You can bet the Bears wish they had Justin Gage on the roster right now as they brace themselves for the possibility Bernard Berrian exits via free agency.

Gage, a fifth-round draft pick in 2003, never made it to the open market. He agreed to a four-year contract with the Tennessee Titans on Wednesday worth $14.5 million and including $6.5 million in guaranteed money. It is similar to the package Dallas gave Patrick Crayton earlier this year.

Continue reading "Gage catches windfall in Tennessee" »

February 26, 2008

Safety Wilson to hit the open market

The Boston Globe reports safety Eugene Wilson, and Illinois product, will reach the free-agent market.

The Globe also says ex-Bears linebacker Rosevelt Colvin will hit the market as his salary-cap figure is too high. He is expected to be released. Colvin missed the Super Bowl with a broken bone in his foot.

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February 18, 2008

Edinger gets the boot from Rush

That was quick.

Paul Edinger’s stay with the Rush of the Arena League lasted only a week as it was announced he was released Monday evening.

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October 07, 2007

Tank hoping to roll early

It looks like ex-Bear Tank Johnson is up to his good behavior shtick again. According to the Dallas Morning News, Johnson is attending counseling sessions at the Dallas Cowboys' facility with the hope of being able to persuade commissioner Roger Goodell to allow him to return after just a six-game suspension which would make Johnson eligible to play in two weeks.

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September 21, 2007

The return of Marc Colombo

Talk about sneaking into town quietly. Former Bears’ first-round pick Marc Colombo arrives with the Dallas Cowboys Saturday without having said a word about facing his former team. Dallas’ right tackle rejuvenated his career after signing there nearly two years ago, and the Bears always hoped he would do well elsewhere.

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