Lovie Smith was exasperated when asked if there will be changes on the offensive line, particularly at left guard where it is believed Josh Beekman took reps with the first team on Wednesday.
"We don't want to give the opponent an advantage. We want them to wonder what we're going to do, like you are right now,'' Smith said. "That's the way it's been throughout. So it's not like there's something new that I'm coming up with right now.
"OK, I'm not going to talk about anything personnel-wise. To me that's pretty clear. If that's all you want to talk about there's nothing else to talk about."
General manager Jerry Angelo announced that he expected some potential changes in personnel on the team's Web site this morning.
"I don't want to go too far into this, but certainly there are things that need to be corrected and things that we need to do better,'' Angelo said. "Do we need to look at some personnel? Yeah, we do. There's some of that going on as you'll see Sunday. But we can't overreact. I feel very confident that Lovie [Smith] and his staff see that and will get the wrongs righted. We're going to focus on what we can control, and that's Sunday's game against Cleveland."
CINCINNATI--I'm pushing off to the airport here very soon but I wanted to put together some contrasting takes on the situation involving Tommie Harris and why he did not play Sunday in the 45-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
That's because this story is becoming more bizarre. I wrote about it here in the print and online edition of the newspaper but want to use this space to tie together the comments by the men involved and let their words speak.
First, here is what we know: Harris did not practice any day last week. Coach Lovie Smith said following the loss at Atlanta that Harris was dealing with soreness in his chronic left knee. He was listed on the injury report all week, and was classified as doubtful Friday afternoon when the final report came out.
Harris did some work on the field at Paul Brown Stadium about two hours before kickoff, not unlike work rehabbing players do from time to time before games even when they're not playing. It didn't look to be anything too rigorous. He was in shorts and a T-shirt. Anyway, let's back up to last week first.
General manager Jerry Angelo appeared on WSCR 670-AM last Thursday morning, before Harris had missed his second practice of the week, and was asked about the player:
"Tommie is healthy. That is not an issue,'' Angelo said.
"We've seen the flashes during the games. So I feel good he has the physical traits to continue to be a top rusher and really that is what we're looking for Tommie to do. On Sunday, we haven't seen the consistency, I think he would say the same thing. Parts are there but again the tape is the tape. We'll continue to coach him and monitor him. Hopefully we're going to see the things he can do on a real basis for four quarters.''
Jerry Angelo took the high road when it came to comments made by Warren Sapp about the Bears' general manager Wednesday morning on the Mully & Hanley Show on WSCR, 670-AM.
Sapp, who was drafted in the first round by the Buccaneers in 1995 when Angelo was the director of player personnel, said he wasn't a fan of him and asserted that Angelo didn't trade for quarterback Jay Cutler as much as the Denver Broncos gave him away. Sapp said Cutler will be the perfect quarterback for the Bears when the weather turns at Soldier Field this winter.
"I'm not an Angelo fan. He was in Tampa the whole time I was there,'' Sapp said. "Trust me we had discussions about different things, no, no thank you, you all can have him.
"Trust me, we were discussing players, this player, that player, because I was [there] in the beginning back in '95 when we were building the thing, you know before Mike Alstott, before [Warrick] Dunn, you know Karl "The Truth" [Williams], all the players we were picking up when [Tony] Dungy was there, and I was watching the evaluation. I had conversations so trust me, you all can have him.''
Sapp said Angelo was averse to making drastic moves and he "just [did] enough to not get noticed and not get fired.''
The Bears have won three division titles since Angelo arrived in 2001, although it's fair to debate the impact he had on the first one in '01. Since 2005, a year after Lovie Smith was hired as coach, the Bears are tied for the second-best record in the NFC at 43-26.
It was with a smile that Jay Cutler said congratulations to Eli Manning and Philip Rivers as they pulled down blockbuster contracts this summer, and the Bears quarterback was able to smile about his own deal on Wednesday.
Cutler signed a $30 million, two-year extension Tuesday night that gives him protection against the possibility of a lockout in 2011, something he said is on the minds of all players. The Bears, according to general manager Jerry Angelo, didn't plan on addressing a deal with Cutler during the season as he was signed through 2011 on his rookie contract when they traded for him with the Denver Broncos.
But agent Bus Cook approached the team and they quickly found some common ground that made sense for both parties.
"We felt given the uncertainty of the CBA, given the fact we had the cap room, this was a good time for us because what it does for us is it helps our planning going forward,'' Angelo said. "This will not impede us to not do anything we need to do in free agency moving forward. In fact, it's going to help us now because there's real clarity because Jay was always in the plans. It was just when we were going to do it and how much it was going to ... the cost. All that got resolved in a timely manner.
"We're very very happy with that. I know Jay is happy with that. He made it very clear he wanted to be a Bear. Money was never an issue when we made the trade with him."
Cutler had a $12 million roster bonus due in 2011, money that wasn't guaranteed. In the extension, he moved a lot of money forward in the deal--he'll pocket $16 million this season--and protected himself at a time when no one can predict the future between the owners and players.
"I think every player in the league is probably concerned with that because we don't know what is going to happen, is there going to be a lockout or what's going to happen?'' Cutler said. "You know, the (players association) is advising everyone to save money. So any money you can get before that point is going to be good for any player.''
The Jay Cutler contract extension on Tuesday night sets the quarterback to be on board for the same length of time as general manager Jerry Angelo, who is also signed through 2013. The Bears took advantage of their surplus of salary cap this season--they had nearly $20 million available when the season began--and applied a chunk of the space to this season's cap.
Cutler gets some security with $20 million of the $30 million in new money guaranteed, and that was significant for him with the chance of a lockout in 2011 when he had a $12 million roster bonus due. If he plays like the Bears believe he is capable of--and they think the sky is the limit--they'll be back to the bargaining table before this deal is done. Cutler is now set to make roughly $50 million over the next five seasons and elite quarterbacks are already in the neighborhood of $15 million per year. But with two years after this one remaining on his rookie contract, Cutler didn't have a lot of leverage. Remember, his contract is one thing he never talked about in wanting out of Denver as a 25-year-old Pro Bowl performer.
So where does this leave the Bears? Well, they have a quarterback to build around longterm right now, and early results show things are working well with his young wide receivers Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett. Are there any players the Bears would seek an extension with now during the remainder of the season? It's possible, you can't rule anything out, but it looks unlikely at this point.
Let's review when contracts are up for the team:
2009: DE Mark Anderson, S Josh Bullocks, S Danieal Manning, LB Darrell McClover, DE Adewale Ogunleye, RB Adrian Peterson, LB Nick Roach, LB Tim Shaw, LB Pisa Tinoisamoa, DT Matt Toeaina, LB Jamar Williams
Comment: With the possibility of an uncapped year hanging over the game, the Bears will be able to control most of these players (if they want to) if there is not an extension of the CBA. The only players coming out of contract who are ensured of being unrestricted free agents are McClover, Ogunleye, Peterson and Tinoisamoa. Coach Lovie Smith has been excited about Manning, but we haven't seen a lot from him on defense so far. As often as the Bears have gone hot and then cold on him, it might make sense to take the chance at a one-year tender on him to wait and see some consistency. Of course, the revolving door at safety will not stop until the Bears get some players they can plug in and count on. Ogunleye is an interesting case. Angelo said the trade for Gaines Adams didn't have anything to do with Anderson or Ogunleye. It's a situation where Ogunleye, 32, will probably test the market. He's known to like Smith, he likes the team and he's a captain. The Bears would probably have an opportunity to match an offer if they wanted. The guess right now is they might. Roach will be a restricted free agent. Anderson could return on a one-year tender if he plays well, and he'd actually earn more than Adams in 2010 with a tender.
ATLANTA--Time will tell, but it could prove to be one of the most productive scouting trips of general manager Jerry Angelo's career.
He was headed to Tampa last week to scout the South Florida-Cincinnati game, and after some initial discussions with Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik, who was groomed for a time under Angelo, they agreed to meet face-to-face. That is how the trade on Friday for defensive end Gaines Adams got done with the Bears shipping out their second-round draft pick in 2010 for the No. 4 pick in the 2007 draft.
Angelo understands that Adams, who will not be active for tonight's game against the Falcons, is being labeled a bust in Tampa. They said the same thing about Cedric Benson, who he drafted fourth overall in 2005.
"I have seen situations like that,'' he said. "You get a few position coaches and a scheme change, the fourth pick in the draft, big fish bowl not living up to expectations. Hey, I have been part of it. We've seen it. We feel very strongly about our scheme, we feel very strongly about our coaches, we feel very strongly about the way we evaluate players. We did all of our due diligence and we felt like we're going to make this happen. There are risks to a draft pick, there is risk to this. I'm just hoping he is coming in here wanting to be a great player. If he is, I feel like we have all the tools to facilitate him coming to fruition.''
Angelo understands it probably didn't make the guys already in the Bears defensive line room happy. Adams will join a rotation that right now is Alex Brown-Adewale Ogunleye-Mark Anderson. It's not that he's unhappy with any of those players, and, yes, Ogunleye and Anderson could both return next season.
"I'm sure I didn't make any friends over this with the defensive line,'' Angelo said. "But I like them all. I just feel like you can't have enough of them. Unlike the offensive line, you play a lot of defensive linemen. We have a rotation. It's a pretty good rotation. He is hopefully another player that is going to add to the mix. It starts with the front, you know that, both on the offensive and defensive lines. I just felt like the value of what he does was too great not to take advantage of this opportunity.
"I'm not anticipating us doing anything with anybody other than what they are already doing. We just got another guy to be in the mix. It's a second-round draft pick. Does he have to be special? He doesn't have to be special. He has to be a good rank-and-file player we can win with. His position, and I can't minimize this, has tremendous value in our scheme. That had a lot of weight in our decision. These guys aren't easy to find and when you get an opportunity to potentially get one, you act on it."
The trade for defensive end Gaines Adams on Friday turned into a loss for tight end Michael Gaines today.
The veteran tight end is the player the Bears released in order to create a roster spot for their new pass rusher. It's not a shocking move, although the Bears could have also picked from some rookies who do not figure to see action this season. Gaines was one of the final players to make the 53-man roster as a fourth tight end. He didn't have a role on special teams like Kellen Davis, the third tight end, and opportunities for him to play as an H-back type didn't really materialize. Gaines, who was signed on May 12 was inactive for two games and appeared as a sub only in the Seattle game.
This leaves the Bears with three tight ends, which is what most teams typically carry. Gaines' base salary was $650,000, so the remaining amount on it will cover about half of what Adams is earning this season, the pro-rated amount of $900,000. Gaines received a $250,000 signing bonus and a $100,000 roster bonus. His base salary was $650,000 and as a vested veteran he is eligible to put in for termination pay and receive the entire amount, which would be 11 remaining weeks of pay.
Gaines Adams will arrive from Tampa this morning to take his physical, and then it could be back on a plane for him to head to Atlanta with the Bears. The team is scheduled to leave Halas Hall before 2 p.m. The team will have to make a roster move before then in order to clear a spot for Adams on the 53-man roster. I speculated here about some players who could potentially be released to make room for Adams.
His comments about the trade, his new team, working with Rod Marinelli and more are in the main story here.
Now, let's take a spin around the Internet and see what they are saying about the second big trade in two weeks in the NFL. Cleveland dealing wide receiver Braylon Edwards to the New York Jets got things started last week.
Kevin Seifert at ESPN.com writes about the transformation of general manager Jerry Angelo, who barring a trade will go without first- and second-round picks for the second straight draft. Angelo traded out of the second round this past April. It used to be Angelo's draft picks were next to untouchable.
Pat Yasinskas, also at ESPN.com, reports that Stylez G. White is likely to take over for Adams in the starting lineup for the Buccaneers. if that name doesn't sound familiar, it should. He was with the Bears in training camp in 2005. That is when he was the pass rusher known as Greg White.
Stephen Holder of the St. Petersburg Times reports that first-year Bucs general manager Mark Dominik said Thursday, "When we're not getting consistent play out of an area, we've been making changes. And that could continue." Talk about foreshadowing. The trade gives Tampa four picks in the first three rounds of he 2010 draft.
Now that the dust has settled, sort of, on the Gaines Adams trade, let's examine the roster move the Bears will have to make Saturday to add him to the 53-man roster.
Adams will come aboard after he passes his physical Saturday morning after arriving from Tampa. The Bears will have to release a player to make room, and with no significant injuries it is unlikely anyone will be placed on injured reserve. The club has not announced its intentions.
You don't have to look too far to find some candidates. We'll list some possibilities with a reason why they could be cut, and a reason for them to stick around. This list is in alphabetical order, not the order in which I see it playing out. Go ahead and make your own choice known.
Josh Bullocks. Why: The Bears have an excess with five safeties on the roster. Why not: Bullocks is starting to figure into the special teams mix, especially this week with running back Adrian Peterson out with a knee injury.
Michael Gaines. Why: The fourth tight end was a luxury to make the 53-man roster and he's barely been used. Why not: The broken rib suffered by Desmond Clark is a clear sign of how tough it is to keep players healthy at this position.
Juaquin Iglesias. Why: The third-round pick has yet to be active this season and did not perform well in training camp and preseason. Why not: He's a third-round pick and Jerry Angelo is unlikely to give up on a third rounder when he just traded a second-round pick.
Lance Louis. Why: He's a project who was one of the final players to make the roster and could probably be waived and re-signed to the practice squad. The misdemeanor assault charge against him in San Diego doesn't help. Why not: Louis is a young lineman who was used at guard and tackle in preseason, and the Bears need to develop youth on the line.
Darrell McClover. Why: The Bears are starting to get healthy at linebacker and he plays a role on special teams only. He was added just three weeks ago and would seem to be expendable as a seventh linebacker. Why not: The Bears added him because they needed a boost on special teams. Adams might add to the defense, but he's not going to help special teams.
D.J. Moore. Why: Moore has yet to be active and if the rookie fourth-round pick cannot carve out a role for himself on special teams, he's not going to contribute this season. Generously listed at 5-9, he's not big enough to be an every-down cornerback any way. Why not: Like Iglesias, Angelo doesn't want to get rid of a draft pick when he just traded one away to weaken his 2010 draft. Moore sticks because he's a developmental project.
Matt Toeaina. Why: Adding Adams gives the Bears 10 defensive linemen and Toeaina is the least used of the bunch. Why not: Tackles are impossible to find this time of year and just like you can't have too many pass rushers, you can't have too many tackles. He's needed for depth.
The Bears didn't trade for Terrell Owens, but they did make a trade tonight for a young pass rusher that will be given to defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to develop.
General manager Jerry Angelo traded his second-round draft pick in 2010 for Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Gaines Adams, who had fallen out of favor with first-year coach Raheem Morris.
Adams, a first-round draft pick in 2007, had 12 1/2 sacks through his first two seasons. He was drafted by the Bucs to play in the Tampa Two scheme, and now the Bears have some youth moving forward at the position with Adewale Ogunleye and Mark Anderson coming out of contract after this season. The Bears are looking at Adams to help now though.
The cyber mailbag has been getting stuffed in e-mail and on my Twitter account.
Are the Bears in play for Terrell Owens?
My initial take on T.O. to the Bears is NO, but keep in mind that the N in NFL stands for never rule anything out.
Before we go any further, let's get to the genesis of these e-mails and the rampant speculation that is all over the Internet. ESPN's Adam Schefter speculated that the Buffalo Bills could look to trade Owens before the NFL's trading deadline, which is next Tuesday. Schefter's short item starts out: "About a week before the Oct. 20 NFL trade deadline, the Buffalo Bills are not shopping wide receiver Terrell Owens." Then, he goes on to explain why it would be a good idea for the Bills, who could lay off roughly $4 million of the $6.5 million contract Owens signed with Buffalo this season.
The Bills are going nowhere in 2009, only to an offseason rebuilding with a coach not named Dick Jauron, but they built energy in their club and fan base by surprisingly signing Owens after he was cast off in Dallas. Do they want to admit failure and deal away the one player who spurred ticket sales? You've got to keep in mind the issues Owens caused in Dallas and before that in Philadelphia when you consider the idea of adding him to a locker room that Lovie Smith likes right now, one that is calm, veteran and clear of pretty much anything in the way of controversy. A ripple in the Bears locker room occurs when tight end Desmond Clark announces on his Internet radio show that he has a fractured rib. That's controversy for the Bears.
Owens has 12 catches for 202 yards and one touchdown for a miserable Bills' offense. He turns 36 in December, and he simply doesn't get off press coverage at the line of scrimmage like he did before. Scouts will tell you he doesn't have to be defended the way he did three or four years ago. If the production of the Bears' wide receivers has not been a surprise to the team, then it has been a surprise to everyone not residing at Halas Hall. Devin Hester, Johnny Knox and Earl Bennett are all on pace to have more than 750 yards receiving, something no trio in franchise history has accomplished. Is any receiver going to the Pro Bowl? Probably not. But the Bears are far ahead of where many upset they didn't swing a trade for Anquan Boldin figured they would be.
Owens is a big target at 6-3, 224 pounds, and he could probably excel with Jay Cutler throwing him the ball. Cutler likes big targets, and he's not the least bit surprised that Kyle Orton has found success with Brandon Marshall in Denver. Throw it up for a big receiver and watch him go get it. Cutler likes big receivers and it's one reason he took to Devin Aromashodu in training camp and preseason. Owens would offer that dimension to the offense, one it really has not been getting from tight end Greg Olsen, who was supposed to have a breakout season.
A case can be made that Michael Crabtree made $2 million for each of the first four games of the season he missed for the San Francisco 49ers.
The package the wide receiver received Wednesday when he finally ended an exhausting contract impasse with the organization was for $8 million more than the club had on the table. Now, Crabtree has to go about his business on the field and that's the big question, what can he accomplish as a rookie? The 49ers received a roster exemption from the NFL for this week, and he'll be able to make his debut Oct. 25 at Houston. The Bears travel to San Francisco shortly after that for a Nov. 12 game, which could be Crabtree's fourth game in uniform.
Can he be productive by then in offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye's conservative attack? Will the 10th pick in the draft be a difference maker.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo had some strong feelings on the issue--rookie holdouts--in general. Of course, he went through one four seasons ago when running back Cedric Benson showed up 36 days late after a holdout that involved Eugene Parker, the same man who represents Crabtree.
